The Doctor is In The House

Sometimes a legislator will just make you smile, take first term Legislator, Rep. David Watkins for instance.

From the Courier-Journal:

The Health and Welfare Committee voted 9 to 6 to reject Senate Bill 112 -- but not before committee member David Watkins, D-Henderson, delivered a tongue-lashing to the bill's sponsor, Sen. Vernie McGaha, R-Russell Springs.

Watkins, a family physician, called the measure divisive and said the Senate is ignoring the state's biggest health problems, including smoking, obesity and a lack of adequate mental health services for its citizens.

"I am tired of the same petty issues coming before us when we've got major issues to address," he said.

Right On!

The good Doctor is also pushing for a 70 cent increase in the cigarette tax, has yet to show me anything I don’t like.

He is absolutely right that McGaha in the Senate and likes of Stan Lee in the House continue to push petty issues and not addressing the major issues. They are caught up in gay bashing and blaming Hispanics for the ills of the Commonwealth instead of dealing with real problems.

An Editorial in La Voz makes this true point about McGaha, Lee et al:

It is problematic when public offices are used to feed the fire and propagate the ideology of the extreme right that in no way represents the majority.

In fact, each and every politician that aligned his or her electoral campaign with those ideas was defeated. Let’s ask Ernie Fletcher and Stan Lee, who both were completely rejected by the Kentucky electorate when they played the anti-immigrant card.

I guess Vernie couldn’t believe that someone in the General Assembly would tell him the truth so he pulled out the sanctity of marriage argument. I’m still waiting to see the marriage that was saved by that constitutional amendment.

Again from the Courier-Journal:

McGaha said his concern is the "sanctity of marriage" and said he was offended by Watkins' comments.

"Dr. Watkins is totally off-base," McGaha said. "He is a disgrace to the process we have here."

I think Watkins is a credit to the Commonwealth and General Assembly, McGaha may think Watkins is a “disgrace to the process” but as near as I can tell he was just using my Duck rule.

If it sounds like a duck, looks like a duck and smells like a duck, then it probably is a duck.