And they wonder why conservatives hate trial lawyers...

Disgust, revulsion, nausea, anger...

These are just a few of the words that can be used to describe the emotions and feelings that resulted from scanning the Wednesday, Aug. 30 Lexington Herald-Leader.

Contained in that edition were at least three ads from law firms seeking to play on the grief of the Comair crash victims' survivors. The full-page ad from the out-of-state firm was probably the first one that caught everyone's attention, and was probably the most sickeningly worded, but watchful eyes were able to pick out two smaller but no less grossly disgusting ads.

All three ads carried basically the same message: "Make 'em pay! Sue the bastards!!!!! Teach 'em a lesson!"

And if you need proof that the Herald-Leader's ad department and editorial department do not communicate, there was an editorial blurb in that same paper urging lawyers to show restraint (and follow state law) in contacting survivors of the deceased.

If anyone ever wondered why lawyers in general, and trial lawyers in particular, have a bad name, look no further. We won't even get into the discusson of whether or not the paper should have published those ads. (It shouldn't have, on general principles). The fact that so soon after such a tragedy, some unscrupulous shysters would spend thousands of dollars on such a message in a grief-stricken community that is still reeling from the enormity of what happened Sunday morning, speaks volumes about the state of the legal profession today.

Officers of the court, my left tusk. (A little pachyderm lingo for you there). More like greedy disciples of the almighty dollar and general insensitive boors and boobs.

May those lawyers and any others who try to profit from the sad events of Sunday morning rot in hell.

A quick thought on the Fletcher-Stumbo settlement

Now that this case is officially over, Greg Stumbo is free of any ethical constraints precluding a run for governor.

(Not that Greg Stumbo ever had any ethics, personally or professionally, to begin with, but that is a whole 'nother story).

Anyone want to guess how long it'll be before he is unofficially on the stump? He's already floated a trial balloon on casino gambling that was strangely out of place for someone planning to run for re-election as attorney general.

Let's hope he does run. It'll be interesting to see how his background as a philanderer, deadbeat dad and drunken driver will play with the voters now that the political motivation behind his persecution/prosecution of Ernie Fletcher is exposed.

Stumbo once said he didn't plan to run for governor unless Fletcher became politically damaged. Well, Stumbo inflicted the damage, giving us the classic example of a self-fulling prophecy. Now let's see how Stumbo's past, meshed with his blatant political posturing, will play with the voters.

The guess here is not very well. And it couldn't happen to a more deserving scumbag.

Please pardon this diversion...

News item .. the nation's first offiically "married" homosexual couple splits up.

The pro-gay "marriage" crowd, appalled that social conservatives would have the nerve to disapprove of their relationships because God disapproves of them have frequently told us to look inward; that the New Testament has more to say on the subject of divorce than it does homosexual behavior. They tell us that we need to work on and worry more about our own marriages and Jesus' cautionings about divorce than we should their efforts to change the traditional definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman.

Well, in Vermont, a lesbian couple rushed to be the first to "wed" after that state -- the home of Howard Dean -- rewrote the dictionary. Now their "marriage" is over, having ended in whatever one might call the ending of a "marriage" that isn't really a marriage.

So, now ... what argument are the gay activists going to use now to try to blunt our opposition to their perversion of the institution of marriage now that the divorce one is out the window?

Greg Stumbo's Accomplices in the GOP

Greg Stumbo must be smiling from ear to ear.

The attorney general, who has taken the lead for his party in the assault against Gov. Ernie Fletcher through his politically-motivated hiring investigation, has been getting aid and comfort from the most unlikely of sources.

It's not enough that the relentless persecution of several present and former Fletcher aides, and the indictment of the governor himself, has dominated the news for well more than a year.

Now Fletcher is having to deal with assaults from within his own party.

First there was Senate President David Williams, who publicly expressed reservations about Fletcher's re-electability.

Then the Jefferson County GOP chair, Jack Richardson, weighed in with his own asinine comments.

Finally, Secretary of State Trey Grayson -- who is in office only because of Fletcher's coattails in 2003 -- floated a trial balloon about a possible governor's run at Fancy Farm, getting in a gratuitous and unnecessary slam at his governor in at the same time.

Memo to Williams, Richardson and Grayson: Fletcher is not the enemy. He's on your team. Greg Stumbo is the enemy, not the governor.

Instead of complaining about Fletcher's chances in his re-election bid, you need to be doing something to improve them. Don't be giving Stumbo and the Democrats more ammunition. There's plenty of ammo to be used against Greg Stumbo -- starting with the letters he wrote on House of Representatives letterhead in an attempt to politically influence hiring decisions within the Patton administration.

Grayson's remarks about Fletcher engaging in the same kind of conduct as the Democrat administrations did for years ring hollow, considering that those who routinely violated personnel laws now have the audacity to accuse someone else of wrongdoing.

The dominant media in this state have equated Sen. Mitch McConnell's silence on the Fletcher matter as abandonment. While it's true that the federal delegation could have done a lot more to support one of their former colleagues, recent information has come to light that indicates the state's GOP DC contingent hasn't waved the white towel just yet.

Reps. Ron Lewis and Ed Whitfield, both known to be close to McConnell, have issued statements of support of Fletcher. Bless them for their loyalty.

We need more like them. Unless Richardson, Grayson and Williams are trying to be political opportunists seeking to further their own goals at the expense of Ernie Fletcher, it's time they stopped helping Greg Stumbo and started helping the governor from their own party -- a governor who has done everything the party has asked of him since he took office.