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A Few Thoughts

By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

1.  New Energy Policy - President Bush’s new energy plan involves shifting away from gasoline-powered cars to those powered by hydrogen fuel, because it is clean and does not require the use of oil.  That’s fine as far as it goes, but has anyone considered the fact that hydrogen fuel doesn’t come out of the ground like oil?  It has to be generated by using some other form of energy, such as oil.  Has anyone said what that energy source will be?  Will it be coal, or nuclear, or some magic, yet-to-be-discovered energy source?  Or are the politicians so interested in pacifying the public, and is the public so poorly educated in science, that the politicians just need to talk as if they are doing something about the energy problem without having to explain where the energy will really come from?

2.  Thunder Over Louisville was a great success this year, with a record-breaking crowd of about 800,000 people watching the excellent air show and fireworks.  We were there, and I nearly got into a fight with a policeman early in the day as I was trying to figure out how to get to the Kentucky Center For The Arts from the Belvedere, since we had tickets to view the event from there.  The policeman didn’t know the answer to my question, but, instead of admitting that he didn’t know, decided to be rude and obnoxious.  As it turns out, the Belvedere was completely fenced off for the employees of two of the sponsors of Thunder – LG&E and Chase Bank, leaving the Kentucky Center ticket holders squeezed into a little patio on the Belvedere, so it was not surprising that the policeman couldn’t tell me how to get there from where we were standing.  I have no problem with the city giving the choicest public viewing space to the sponsors of the event for use by their employees – after all, they are not giving the money out of the goodness of their hearts – they are businesses and want something in return for their money.  However, I do think this gift from the city, and all other gifts and favors from the city, should be clearly posted on a web site so the public knows what is being given and can decide whether these gifts and favors are in their best interest. 

3.  If Kentucky’s Governor Ernie Fletcher is proud of his accomplishments of passing a primary seatbelt law and giving $75 million dollars of tax money to build an arena, then I wonder why we need a Republican governor.  The primary seatbelt law will allow police to pull people over when they are not doing anything to endanger others.  This is a waste of public resources and an intrusion on the privacy and freedom of drivers.  And the $75 million of tax money is being given for an arena to be built in the flood plain on a site that will cost $114 million more than an alternative site only three blocks away.  Gee, thanks, Governor Fletcher!  With friends like you, who needs enemies?

4.  Diversity Disaster - As we were leaving the Thunder Over Louisville festivities, we encountered real hostility from black women who were walking along the street.  Of course, there is always congestion, and tempers can get short, as hundreds of thousands of tired people all try to leave downtown at once, but we encountered clear hostility, as these women ignored all traffic rules and dared us to run over them.  One woman pushed her stroller out in front of our car and shouted, “I dare you to run over my baby!”  I understand that politicians like to gather people into voting blocs, making groups of people feel victimized and pitting one group against another in order to gain political advantage, but that little incident was an example of the very unhealthy results of such policies.  Common courtesy and respect for fellow human beings apparently have become relics of the past.  Not to mention the government policies that tend to cause any mother to be so willing to put her own baby at risk of serious injury!  And, sadly, not to mention the government policies that caused this group of women and children to be walking alone, without any fathers to support and protect them.  Yes, those black women are victims, not of us drivers trying to get home from Thunder Over Louisville, but of politicians, race pimps, and socialist class warriors who all are claiming to “help” them.

5.  State Funding of Higher Education -  There has been quite a stir recently about a religious-based Kentucky college throwing out a student for engaging in homosexual activity, which was against the school’s policy.  Apparently, the state had been planning to give money to that school, and the homosexual activists are upset that tax money would go to a school with such an intolerant policy.  As it turns out, all taxpayers are being forced to finance schools that support policies with which they disagree – as they are forced to support both state schools that turn a blind eye to students’ promiscuous activities and private schools that forbid such activities.  There is no such thing as a neutral policy, and forcing taxpayers to support any of these schools – public or private – forces them to act against their own consciences, which is against basic American principles.  The solution to this problem is a separation of school and state.  Let people support the educational institutions of their own choosing, not the institutions selected by politicians.

6.  Illegal immigration – Our current immigration policy is a disaster.  By turning a blind eye to all the illegal immigration and telling the INS and police not to enforce the immigration laws, our politicians have encouraged a lack of respect for the law, which is a very bad precedent.  And the current proposals to grant amnesty to the people who have been breaking the laws the longest would make matters even worse!  While I have great sympathy for people who come here to work hard and support their families, and I favor the expansion of legal immigration, we certainly do not need a policy that would reward law breakers.  Our policy should encourage illegals to go back to their home countries and apply for legal entrance into this country.  It also should encourage their home countries to adopt policies, such as respect for private property, that would create prosperity and would make people less desperate to immigrate.

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