In finding Chris Morris' Green Deal (sic) "oops-ed" to be disinformative, misinformative, objectionable and dismissive, our guest columnist is being charitable.

I had planned on writing a response of some sort to one of Chris Morris' worst ever News and Tribune opinion column outings: OPINION: Green Deal a little farfetched. Morris' column truly is abominable, but Randy Smith beat me to the critique. Here it is.

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Keep Chris Away from the Children.

I'm a writer and have been a writer most of my life. I've also been a newspaper reporter and newspaper news and copy editor (over the course of two decades), a book editor, and a published author. I also wrote a nationally distributed column on topics of my choosing for a few years.

On Tuesday, I woke to find a Twitter referral to an opinion column by Chris Morris, an assistant editor of the Jeffersonville daily newspaper. Given that Morris is a member of that paper's editorial board, I don't know whether that particular piece would be called an op-ed, but in my view, it certainly qualifies as an "oops-ed."

I consider myself a fairly sophisticated reader of mainstream science and politics, so the error in the very first sentence was jarring to me.

Morris referred to something he calls the "New Green Deal." No one else has ever heard of it, though there is a dramatic proposal circulating about a "Green New Deal." That was either a glaring mistake by the writer or a disingenuous attempt to belittle by mis-terming something one opposes. In modern times, such mis-terming has been a primary tool for disinformation, popularized by former Speaker Newt Gingrich and his technocratic ally, Frank Luntz.

Nothing if not determined, the columnist continues to refer to his bugbear as the "Green Deal" throughout his editorial. Again, there is no such thing. There is a Green New Deal.

Morris at least acknowledges that the proposal, in its breadth and ambition, hearkens back to the second President Roosevelt's New Deal designed to address a nation in crisis.

The column's headline calls this new proposal "a little farfetched." In most dictionaries, it would be "far-fetched," but I'll postpone further criticism of what could have been a difference of opinion on orthography.

However, as an aside, Mr. Morris's newspaper is becoming known for its near-daily errors in facts, spelling, grammar, and word choices that are, to me, risible.

As a natural editor, I've made a pest of myself in pointing those out, sometimes privately but more often via social media. And sometimes, it is appreciated by the reporter, who tries to correct the errors in online editions. I'm sure others resent my suggestions.

I do this for historical reasons. I became a precocious and accomplished reader early in life because I read newspapers. My parents modeled this and I, being an eldest child, emulated their example. In short, I learned to read by reading newspapers. Over the years I developed a highly advanced ability to proofread, a skill that no longer offers remuneration.

A newspaper that has no standards when it comes to spelling, grammar, or word choice puts children (and adults) like me at risk of being "word dummies." Beyond that, for a certain class of individual, it diminishes greatly the reputation of the newspaper. We can ill afford that.

But back to Mr. Morris's opinion piece.

I'm generally inclined toward the ideas of the Green New Deal. I see them as ambitious but doable. Mr. Morris sees them as far-fetched.

And I'm certainly not the person within his readership who can best refute the disinformation and misinformation Morris relies on to form and express his opinion. But I'll bet I can express mine in a more credible way than he has done with his.

Mr Morris unintentionally "blows it" in his second graf, one in which he poo-poos recent reports of climate change scientists with incendiary intent. He exaggerates:

The basis behind the Green Deal (sic) is a recent climate change report which (sic) basically states if (sic) we don't change our ways, the Earth as we know it will cease to exist and be swallowed up by floods, out-of-control fires and will basically be inhabitable.

Inhabitable means capable of being inhabited. That is, those bad things (can we agree?) will make life on earth, "basically," livable. If the mischaracterization hadn't already undermined the editorial, the poor word choice essentially refutes the point Mr. Morris was (presumably) trying to make.

Later in the piece, Mr. Morris does it again. See if you can pinpoint the moment where he undercuts the credibility of his own piece.

I do believe many Americans, however, have absolutely no conscious when it comes to littering and being more environmentally friendly.

I am conscious of where Morris went wrong here. How about you? He may have meant to write "consciousness" here, but it's more likely he meant to say "conscience." These are different words with different spellings and meanings. One implies awareness. The other implies guilt and a need for correction.

Morris continues:

Do I believe in a lot of what this Green New Deal [ah-ha!] is pushing [you know, like a drug dealer]? It is way too left of center for me and unreasonable.

There are many places you can go to read more about current climate science. I believe we are already seeing the effects of anthropogenic global warming and the resultant extremes in temperature, precipitation, winds, captured oxygen, etc. It's plausible that we are very near a tipping point where we will be unable to reverse the effects of the gases we are injecting into our atmosphere.

I'm eager to see if we have politicians and policy makers who can come up with an American and a global solution.

I don't believe I've read an opinion from a masthead editor of a mainstream newspaper that used such pejorative and dismissive language. The piece does little to inform while hurling insults at broad swathes of Americans. Had I been in charge, it would never have been published.

I could critique it line-by-line, but as I said, there are others who can do that better than I can. Chris Morris, after all, is paid to inform and opine. I am not.

I am, however, willing to submit an invoice if his newspaper is willing to underwrite a well-researched op-ed column.

Let's leave it at this: Almost every paragraph is acid-tongued, deliberately insulting, objectionable, misinformative, or disinformative. That's not what I look for in a newspaper or from a man who represents the editorial board of his publication.

And far sooner than 11 years from now, Mr. Morris will disavow this contribution to the public discourse. If his is the view from the "center," God help us all.

GUEST COLUMN: Councilmen on Reisz: "You have a duty to treat public money as the public’s money. You can’t just spend it on what you WANT."

This commentary is contributed by Randy Smith, owner of Destinations Booksellers. 

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A fictional council member of a Second Class City in Indiana:

· I WANT to give taxpayer money to a church. Sorry, it’s not allowed under the constitutions of the United States and of Indiana.

· I WANT to give taxpayer money to a charity. Sorry. Indiana has given the trustee the ability to levy taxes for such purposes. They have not given it to you. Go talk to the trustee.

· I WANT to give taxpayer money to the schools. Sorry. If you hadn’t given up the authority to levy taxes for schools years ago, it could be done. But you did and you can’t.

· I WANT to create a public transit system with public money. Sorry, you gave that authority and all available revenues to TARC.

I WANT a new city hall. Hmmm. Do you have a need for new space? Is the space you have too small or is it unusable? Do you have financial obligations that make that too expensive? Do you have a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers that overrides what you WANT?

Guess what? If you want a new city hall, it’s not illegal. In the current circumstances, it’s evil, but it’s not illegal. Considering the vastly inflated costs, there are almost certainly individuals who can be indicted, and even if I’m wrong, it stinks to high heaven.

You have a duty to treat public money as the public’s money. You can’t just spend it on what you WANT.

Now, if you want to raise your personal pay packets, I might just come down and speak in favor of it. It certainly would improve the talent pool at election time. Then, if you WANT something, you can spend YOUR money on it. If you want to preserve old buildings, you can invest YOUR money. If you have a pet charity that involves, oh, let’s say backpacks, you’ll have extra money you can donate. Gosh, I guess if you want to give money to a church or a school, you’ll be able to.

But keep your hands off my money.

No Democrat, no Republican, no independent is looking at next year’s municipal election and saying, “You know, if those Democrats would just demolish half of all public housing, I’ll vote for them.”

No Democrat, no Republican, no independent is looking at next year’s municipal election and saying, “You know, if those Democrats would just build a new city hall, I’ll vote for them.”

Votes matter. Machines don’t. You may think you’re invulnerable from defeat. You are not. Ask the people you replaced if they thought they were popular, if they were sure they would win reelection. You may say, well, I’m a Democrat in a Democratic district. So long as I play along with the machine, I’ll be safe.”

You may be saying to yourself, “This is New Albany. This is Indiana. There won’t be any newly energized voters looking to lop off the heads of incumbents.”

You may be saying to yourself, “I’m giving up my seat after next year, but at least my name will be on the plaque for a city hall that should last a while. This ‘yes’ vote will be my legacy.”

It’ll be your legacy, alright. It will haunt you. It will diminish your reputations. This is but another in a long line of decisions made in the shadows – most of it was even kept from this body, although I can’t speak to how many private conversations with particular councilmen led to this vote.

Why do we need new space for city hall? Because Jeffersonville and Clarksville got new ones? Why are we renting such an enormous amount of space? Because the city civilian staff has tripled? Why are we choosing the Reisz warehouse? Because the developer took decision-makers on a junket to Keeneland with paid escorts? Why are we paying such an exorbitant rent when we don’t have to?

How much more are we going to pay in utilities? Who is going to perform and pay for the maintenance of this ancient building? How is security going to be handled? Are we going to replicate the guarded entrance and metal detectors at the current site? New furniture is a given, but how much MORE furniture will be needed for triple the space? Will there be a vast public hall available for public meetings, government or community? Will that public hall be designed for the broadcasting of official meetings and with a sound system that allows all in the hall to hear? Will the building have public wi-fi and will it be strong enough to accommodate hundreds?

The building exists. It is old. But in the words of Councilman Barksdale, does it even meet the criterion of “contributing?” Why have we not had a vigorous discussion of this warehouse’s historical significance? There are many buildings that have been torn down, much to the regret of historic preservationists LIKE ME. Most were torn down because the city wanted them gone, or at least, were willing to let them be. Who says this building is about to be torn down? Jeff Gahan? What the hell does Jeff Gahan know about historic preservation? Does he even give a fig?

I don’t think even one councilman is urging this building be torn down. In fact, I believe every member is in favor of the building being put to an adaptive reuse. The city can prevent demolition and if they won’t, the council can defund the administration until they comply with the council’s wishes. They can make the position of mayor an unpaid position. They can impose new restrictions on the RDA and RDC until they comply with the council’s wishes.

If every single member were in favor of this expensive relocation, would the Reisz building be the place to move?

Mr. Barksdale is so clearly compromised in this matter that he must abstain from voting, particularly if he stands ready to provide the fifth “yea” in a 5-4 vote. David, have you come to some sort of accommodation with Mr. Coffey whereby he can provide the fifth vote? How about with David Aebersold? Councilman Blair? President Knable? And if there are not even 4 “yes” votes without you, don’t tarnish your integrity. Tonight, I don’t ask you, David, to vote against this boondoggle. I insist, however, that you have such obvious conflicts of interest that you must abstain. Give up your seat temporarily and march to the podium as a citizen with a special interest and make your best advocacy case. But don’t pretend you are objective.

A 4-4 vote will set the stage for a reasonable exploration of ways to reclaim the Reisz building and to determine if a relocation of city administrative offices is wise.

NICK VAUGHN: RFK’s Legacy and What It Can Mean for New Albany.

RFK’s Legacy and What It Can Mean for New Albany

By guest contributor Nick Vaughn -- thanks, Nick.

Robert F. Kennedy visited New Albany three times in his political career. Once as a U.S. Senator, RFK visited New Albany High School in a lead-up to his Presidential Campaign. Twice RFK visited New Albany during the Indiana Primary Campaign, on April 24th, 1968 and May 5th, 1968.

Kennedy’s visit on April 24th is the most well-known and also has the most information regarding the visit. As I was researching and putting my thoughts together for this remembrance piece, I was able to get into contact with the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. The wonderful people there were able to supply me with photographs as well as a detailed schedule of RFK’s visit on April 24th, 1968.

The Schedule:

"RFK arrived in New Albany around 7:00 p.m. on April 24, 1968. According to that schedule, he drove in a motorcade with Judge Paul Tegart, Leo Fentress (Floyd County Democratic Chairman), and Mary Townsend (Floyd County Democratic Vice Chairman).

"At around 7:30 p.m. they were to arrive at corner of Pearl and Norfolk Streets via the route: ‘IS 65 to 31 W - 31 W to Vincennes St. - left on Vincennes to Spring St. - right on Spring to Pearl St. - left on Pearl St. to Market St.’

"The schedule goes on to say: ‘The Senator should recognize in addition to the above three: Art Caulfield -- Dem. Treasurer of Central Committee; and John Wilcox -- Floyd County Chairman of Citizens for RFK. Judge Tegart will introduce the Senator.’

"Another copy of schedule says: '7:00 p.m. RFK speaks under auspices of Kennedy for President Committee of New Albany, at corner of Pearl and Market Streets.'

"Around 7:45 pm they left New Albany for Jeffersonville.”

(News and Tribune, 2018)

May 5th:

Kennedy’s visit to New Albany on May 5th was much more brief, and the schedule of events has been lost. However, according to the RFK Human Rights Foundation Switzerland (which has been recounting RFK’s Presidential Campaign’s day-to-day activities) “It was an airport rally.” I am unsure of what airport that could have been at, however after the airport rally Kennedy embarked on a short car ride to Jeffersonville.

(“RFK’s Plane en route to New Albany.” Courtesy of
the RFK Human Rights Foundation Switzerland)

RFK’s Legacy and New Albany:

While the exact words Kennedy spoke in New Albany are not available in any format (yet!), we can make an educated guess about the kind of remarks he delivered in our Southern Indiana city.

Kennedy’s message was that of hope, togetherness, and peace. They're three things you’d be hard pressed to find in any campaign rhetoric today. In a speech delivered at Kansas University, Kennedy said, “And this is one of the great tasks of leadership for us, as individuals and citizens this year. But even if we act to erase material poverty, there is another greater task, it is to confront the poverty of satisfaction - purpose and dignity - that afflicts us all. Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things.”

In this speech he underscores what is good in America as well as the issues that face America. I, like he, believe we must face these issues together. I think our community would do good to heed the words of Bobby Kennedy. At a time when we see immense discontent and unfathomable amounts of poverty across the wealthiest nation in the world, and at a time when politics divides and solutions are fickle even at the most local levels of government, we should be seeing great voter turnout and community based action.

But voter apathy in New Albany may be at an all-time high, allowing those taking us on our current trajectory to keep their status quo. Like Bobby Kennedy did in 1968, we need to run against and as far away from our current trajectory as possible. In his Presidential Campaign Announcement, Kennedy said “I do not run for the Presidency merely oppose any man, but to propose new policies.” This is what we must do.

While it may be easy to feel frustrated, disillusioned, and discontented with our current trajectory, I urge you, like Bobby Kennedy urged Americans 50 years ago, to begin coming together. The only way we can begin to heal the wounds of society are with peace, love, and togetherness.

Additionally, we should remember and find a bit of pride in the fact that Bobby Kennedy visited New Albany, because that means he believed his message would resonate with us, and I believe that message still resonates today.

Finally, in the spirit of Bobby Kennedy, and to better remember what he stood for, I ask you to not have a moment of silence today on the 50th anniversary of his death, but instead to have a moment of action. And then another. Then another. Whether we agree politically or not, we need to change the motivations in our community and beyond to the broader land we call home. Remember, celebrate, act.

I know what I will be fighting for. Do you?

Acknowledgements:

First off, I would like to thank the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library for their support via the detailed schedule and pictures (theirs unless otherwise marked).

Additionally, I would like to thank the News and Tribune for the article covering RFK’s visit to New Albany, published earlier this year. Finally, I would like to thank Roger Baylor for allowing me to continue to write (and more importantly publish) my ramblings.

For Your Further Interest:

● RFK’s Presidential Announcement
● RFK’s Remarks to Kansas University
● RFK Announcing the Death of Martin Luther King Jr.
● Columbia University Forum 1964
● The Road to Camelot, by Thomas Oliphant

Guest columnist Nick Vaughn: We must stand together and renounce Donald Trump.

Editor's note: Owing to Nick's topical subject matter, I thought it best to publish these thoughts immediately and not as part of his periodic Friday column slot.

Initially, this article was going to be an update on what I had been up to regarding my college life, my studies, and other exciting ventures I am a part of. Unfortunately, that article will have to wait. Something much more important has happened in the last 24-48 hours that deserves the utmost attention.

Donald Trump yet again confirmed to everyone willing to listen (without Trump shades on) that he is categorically unfit to be President of the United States. Some of my friends and fellow Republicans will be questioning why I am not writing this same article about Hillary Clinton’s email scandal or even Bill Clinton’s alleged extramarital affairs (Lewinksy is confirmed). Shouldn’t that disqualify her too? Maybe, however, the bottom line is that no woman should be talked to, talked about, or acted upon in the way that Donald Trump has displayed.

There have been several high ranking Republican lawmakers who have rescinded their endorsements and/or asked Donald Trump to withdraw from the race and I have the utmost respect for those who have and I encourage more to do the same. Even Governor Pence seems to be dramatically recoiling from Donald Trump’s disturbing comments. Of course, the alt-right, Trump-or-go-home supporters are going to call those officials and probably even myself traitors, RINOS (Republican In Name Only), blind, sensitive, in some cases maybe even “beta males.”

I don’t have any obscene insults for those who have hijacked my party with down right insane and unfeasible plans and ideas. I have no fancy acronyms for the Tea Party leaches (is that too mean?) who have created a disgusting political environment and who have thrown my party into dismay.

You see, those who still, after all of this straight-up garbage, downright racist, completely irrational 100 days of Donald Trump’s nominee status have the worst case of confirmation bias I have ever encountered in my entire life. These people look at news sites like “Breitbart,” “Free Republic,” “The Volokh Conspiracy,” and “Campaign for Liberty” as well as listen to Ann Coulter and other right-wing conspiracy theorists like they are preaching the gospel.

I know that any Trump-or-go-home supporters still reading this have already written me off as a liberal media hack so what I am going to say next won’t be heeded by those it is directed at but: these news sites with clickbait titles are taking advantage of you. These sites spew whatever they can chalk up so that they can make money off of you. What these “news” sites “report” are conspiracy theories, straw man arguments, and do nothing but confirm your biases.

Donald Trump is a parasite that the Republican Party has put up with for much too long. It is time we all stand together and renounce Trump and force him to step down from the race. There are many other good alternatives we can pick from and while I already voted I know there are millions of others who want a better option in this election. So please, get off of your alt-right horse. Stop with the racist “build a wall” and stop and frisk banter. Stop with the conspiracy theories of Clinton murders and extramarital affairs that have no basis in reality. Stop and just think for yourself. Ask yourself what you would do if Trump was talking about your wife, your mother, your sister, your daughter. What then? Yes, people make mistakes, however, this type of regard for women has no place in the Oval Office.

In your heart, you know he’s wrong.

I leave you with this, the quote of the day: “The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority. The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking " -- AA. Milne.

WITHIN CITY LIMITS: Episode IX, The Nineties Are Calling ... They Want Their Politicians Back.

Within City Limits

Episode IX, The Nineties Are Calling ... They Want Their Politicians Back.

By Nick Vaughn, Guest Columnist

With Evan Bayh announcing he is seeking his old senate seat and Hillary Clinton being endorsed by Bernie Sanders, I felt like a baby again. Being born in 1997, I am only familiar with the political landscape by looking backwards, something Democrats are never advocating -- until now.

When President Obama was running for President and reelection, he had the slogans of “Forward” and “Progress,” but today's Democratic Party is running on nostalgia and backwardness. You can argue with me about platform points and “evolving on issues” like gay marriage, but the bottom line is that these politicians who are the standard bearers for the Democratic Party nationally and on an Indiana state level are still the same politicians who were the standard bearers in the 1990s.

The top three candidates on the Democratic ticket in Indiana are all rehashes from a bygone era where the state's economy was in the toilet, brought on by large deficits and high taxes. We looked a lot like Illinois back then. Hillary Clinton, John Gregg, Evan Bayh; all rehashes. While their talking points are much different than they were back then, they are still the same people. 1990s politicians should not be the ones solving the problems of the 2000s and beyond.

Beyond my displeasure and discontent with the rehashing of candidates, all three represent special interests, Wall Street, and back room politics at their absolute worst. John Gregg is still taking advantage of the state’s healthcare for elected officials being paid by the taxpayers, a practice that has ended. Furthermore, Gregg was a lawyer for the Bingham McHale law firm, where lobbying records show he was a well connected lobbyist for various topics. You can read more about his lobbying here: Gregg's lobbying record doesn't worry Democrats.

Evan Bayh used to be a public servant until he decided to retire from the U.S. Senate to take a lobbying job. Bayh epitomizes what is wrong with Washington, D.C. He went there as a senator and cashed in on the special interest money by fighting the laws he helped pass (including Obamacare). Plus Bayh just recently moved back to Indiana. He had previously lived in DC in a $2.9 million dollar home and had a modest vacation home in Florida worth over $3 million.

Bayh saying he will represent everyday Hoosiers might be the biggest lie of the campaign season. He is out of touch and filled to the brim with special interest money. Read more about Bayh the Lobbyist here: Lobbyist Evan Bayh Lit On Fire By The Left and here Evan Bayh Won’t Rule Out Becoming A Lobbyist After His Term Ends.

Hillary Clinton. Well, enough said.

So that I get my point across, I think it is inherently hypocritical and ironic that the Democrats have long been the party of vilifying the rich and lobbying class that infests Washington, D.C. and Indianapolis, yet all three of their candidates at the top of the ticket have deep ties to Wall Street, special interest money, and lobbying. For Pete’s sake, two of them are former lobbyists! Not to mention all three are rehashed candidates of a bygone era.

My question is: will the people of Indiana hold these three accountable? Or will they be fooled by the talking points? Also, do the Democrats who reject the Wall Street, special interest, and lobbying culture of Washington, D.C. and Indianapolis hold their nose and vote for three candidates who epitomize what is wrong with our system of government? Or will they stand for what they believe in and hold their party and their candidates accountable?

And as always, I leave you with the quote of the day: “In 2005, the progressive watchdog group Public Citizen reported that 43 percent of the members (of Congress) who retired from 1998 to 2004 registered as lobbyists.” -- Huffington Post

Nick Vaughn's full ride.

On Thursday night Nick Vaughn, NAC's Friday guest columnist, was awarded the Benjamin Templeton scholarship for a full ride at Hanover College.

As noted on Fb, "This scholarship is given to students who have worked to build strong high school communities by bridging gaps among economically, socially, and racially diverse groups."

It has been a pleasure to get to know Nick. Contrary to what you might believe, it is not disconcerting to think that I'm old enough to be his father.

Rather, it's disconcerting to think that I'm old enough to be his grandfather.

Ouch. Good luck to Nick, and we'll read him again next Friday.

Wait; I meant to ask ... did this guy help arrange Nick's financial aid?

WITHOUT CIVIC MINUTES ...

WITHOUT CIVIC MINUTES: Episode V, County Election Preview (The Democrats Strike Back).

At the request of the substitute for the columnist, I've agreed to pull this post.

WITHIN CITY LIMITS: Episode IV, The Saga Continues: My Trump Soap Box.

WITHIN CITY LIMITS: Episode IV, The Saga Continues: My Trump Soap Box.

By Nick Vaughn, Guest Columnist

With the recent news of Donald Trump missing the next debate (which will have happened by the time you read this) I felt that now was the time to dust off my anti­-Trump rhetoric and bless you all with an article filled with my anger, because this is a blog after all.

Initially when I had first become aware of the Trump phenom, I had thought that his support would fizzle out, that it was just name ID helping him in the polling. Then he started saying things, very rude things, things that are not feasible, things that pander to the very same base that started the Obama birther rumors and the idea that he was a Muslim (why would that even matter?) As his support grew and poll numbers increased, I began to think that his supporters are just straight up delusional, but that’s when I came to the realization that these people actually believe what he is saying.

Now, I tend to agree that these people are well intentioned and absolutely love America, but their anger is misplaced and over the top, which blinds them from the real issues at hand. Spewing pure hatred for Muslims and Hispanics because of the actions of a few is so wrong on so many levels. Do we have an illegal immigration problem? Yes. Does that mean we shut out those who are in dire need of the opportunities America can provide them? Absolutely not.

The dehumanization of Hispanics and Muslims must come to an end. That’s now how we “Make America Great Again.” We don’t shut people out. Since our inception we have been the beacon of hope and freedom in the world. A place where immigrants could come and get a good paying job and raise a family. The large majority of immigrants have good intentions when coming to America. We know this from the high number of them who are employed and raising a family.

So how can Donald Trump and his supporters so rabidly preach and promote hatred and bigotry towards these groups of people? This is a classic example of misplaced conservatism. When I think of conservatism, I think of an ideology that is wary of government intervention, advocates for fair taxes, promotes free market ideals, and limits government spending.

What we currently have is a conservative movement of hatred, and I would like to mention the following, for all you conservatives out there who are head over heels for Trump because of his conservatism:

1. He supported a single ­payer healthcare system.
2. His immigration plans will expand government spending by over 600 billion.
3. His idea to create a database of all Muslims to track them goes against the 1st and 4th amendments to the Constitution.
4. (And this one is important for you conservatives) he has donated to both Hillary and Bill Clinton and has supported them in the past.

I know some of you out there say that as a businessman Trump had to donate to the Clintons and other politicians because he is so smart and is just playing the game. Well, what if I told you he was a liar? What if I told you about how many times his businesses have gone bankrupt? What if I told you that Mr. Self Made Trump used his daddy’s money to begin his terrible run in private sector business? What if I told you Donald Trump is such a good politician, that you think he is the anti politician who will end the corruption in Washington but will instead run America into the ground because that’s what his track record would suggest?

Would you care? Or will you just keep going along?

Donald Trump may be the Republican nominee, but he will not be President of the United States. Donald Trump’s nomination only ensures a Democrat in the White House, something you conservatives really don’t want, remember?

So, when you all decide to wake up, let me know. I’ll be here holding onto what we have left of our country.

WITHIN CITY LIMITS: Episode III, “We Choose to Control the Weather.”

WITHIN CITY LIMITS: Episode III, “We Choose to Control the Weather.”

By Nick Vaughn, Guest Columnist

My past articles have been pretty serious, more or less, so I thought I’d take a turn to the satirical. I hope you get a laugh out of this and find it as funny as I do.

Yesterday in New Albany it snowed around four to six inches, give or take. But the real silver lining in this is the fact that Jeff Gahan has been Mayor for over four years now and he still has not shown the leadership, the guts, or the initiative to control the weather.

I alluded to this a bit when I aired my grievances with the city this past Festivus, but seeing as the snow prevented me from going to school, from going to various political events -- from even going to the store -- I figured I should further express my concern and disdain in the most public manner I can.

After everything our Mayor has accomplished the past four years (the expansion of debt, degradation of credit ratings, and ignorance of poverty), I would have thought he would be making more of a push on this issue. Controlling the weather would pair very nicely with one of his golden projects he likes to brag about, the Aquatic Center. If he could merely control the weather in New Albany to a nice 78 or so degrees daily, then people would magically float to the Aquatic Center to ride down one of the underwhelming water slides or maybe swim a couple laps ... err, never mind.

In fact, I think attendance would increase through the roof. You know how building a park in a depraved area deep in poverty magically increases people’s wages and livelihood? Yeah, same principle here. A temperature increase would definitely increase attendance. Also, if we had Florida­esque temperatures year round, I’d bet people would just abandon their Disney World vacation and come visit New Albany! At that point it would basically be the same thing, right?

If Mayor Gahan wasn’t such an inept leader, he would walk straight into the City Council chambers and communicate his intentions to begin research, using a combination of TIF and EDIT funds to pay for (of course), the ability to control the weather. After all, maybe after 50 years or so we might see the budget become revenue neutral, maybe!

Of course, no one will be in the Council chambers during the Mayor’s fiery address, where he hopefully says something along the lines of: “We choose to control the weather, not because it is easy, but because this is New Albany!” How very Kennedy of you, Mr. Mayor.

I guess the real question is, is the technology there to be able to control the weather? Well, that depends on who you ask. Ask your local UFO aficionado and he/she will tell you the government has been controlling the weather since the Cold War. Ask your local scientist and he/she will tell you the technology, unfortunately is not quite there yet. Ask your local UN official and they will tell you it’s a war crime.

Sorry.

Nonetheless, I took to the streets to survey regular New Albanians like me and you to see if they would be in favor of Mayor Gahan controlling the weather. I walked around Market, Main, Pearl, and Bank streets to look for locals shopping around the area. Unfortunately, no one was there. I did, however, find a couple from Louisville who said they would be in favor of the Mayor controlling the weather.

“Yes, I think we would be in favor of that. We could bring our kids to the Aquatic Center more often,” said the clearly excited woman.

“Yeah, we’ve been to the Aquatic Center several times and brought quite a bit of our friends and family. We even ran into a ton of friends from Louisville while we were there over the summer,” explained the clearly freezing man.

I didn’t catch their names, but as they were walking away they let me know they were related to the Mayor and voted for him in the general election.

I hope they meant Greg Fischer.

Vaughn, Within City Limits: Episode II, The State of Our City.

Vaughn, Within City Limits: Episode II, The State of Our City.

By Nick Vaughn, Guest Columnist

With the President giving his final State of the Union Address and our Governor giving his annual State of the State address, I thought it would be fitting to give a State of the City Address.

The Mayor of New Albany is not required to meet a congregation of City Council members, Board of Works members, etc., but maybe he should. Admittedly, our Mayor doesn’t show up to regular City Council meetings. He merely sends a representative to read a glowing written statement about some vague platitudes along with your typical “I am still the Mayor” hoorah that is all but expected anymore.

But what if our Mayor were required to give a State of the City Address? Would he do it? He wouldn’t be required to do so, but it would be the right thing to do. What would he say? I’m sure there would be sharp contrasts between mine and his. The following is what I would say in an address to city officials if I were Mayor.

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“President McLaughlin, City Council Members, distinguished guests, and my fellow New Albanians.

I could stand here and rattle off all of the negative aspects that are holding our city back. I could talk about how poverty hasn’t been fully addressed when nearly a quarter of our fellow citizens live in dire, dire poverty. I could talk to you about the lack of transparency and general openness our city government lacks. I could even talk to you about our misuse of TIF funding, our bloated budget, and large amount of debt. But I’m not going to. I am instead going to focus on what we can do to make our city the wealth of opportunity we all know it can be.

It’s easy to complain. To come up with solutions to our problems is the tough part that many people stray away from. Everyone wants New Albany to succeed, and we can accomplish this shared goal by making it easier for our local businesses to flourish and by building a better business climate. We need to look into ways that we can cut our wasteful and inefficient spending so that we can put our money back into the local economy and the pockets of our fellow citizens.

Let’s partner with our local industries to help end poverty by creating job training partnerships that allow those in poverty to get back into the workforce so they can become self sufficient and rise through the income levels.

Let’s take a real hard look at our downtown area and figure out what we want it to be. We need to have an actual discussion about two­-way streets and how they could help develop our downtown area into something truly magical. This clearly won’t happen overnight, but the discussion needs to be started now; we paid lots of money for a professional study to be conducted on our street grid and there has been nearly no action.

Let’s say no to irresponsible TIF use and begin to construct the path towards responsible spending. If we are to use TIF, we need to use it for economic development, and I am honestly not convinced an aquatic center was the right move.

When I think of economic development, I think of reaching out to businesses, seeing what their needs are, as well as creating fair incentive packages for developers so that New Albany is an attractive place to be for them. There is a very fine line, however, between a fair incentive package and corporate welfare, we all need to be wary of this fact so that we don’t show favoritism towards some corporate entity before we make sure our fellow citizens don’t get screwed out of the deal.

In closing, our city is not Jeffersonville or Clarksville, and I am very much okay with that. We don’t need to be anybody but New Albany, we need to use our unique environment, location, and wonderful people to craft what we want New Albany to look like down the road. Our biggest asset is our potential, and it is time we seize the moment and channel that potential into actual results.

We have many obstacles facing us in the coming days, months, and years. But let us not fear the obstacles. Let us not waver. We can be the best city in Southern Indiana to open a business, to live, and to raise a family. It will just take some effort, concentration, and an open dialogue. Let’s get to work!”

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Thanks for reading! I will leave you with this eloquent quote from Martin Luther King Jr.:

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

Vaughn, Within City Limits: Episode I, The Phantom Menace.

Vaughn, Within City Limits: Episode I, The Phantom Menace.

By Nick Vaughn, Guest Columnist

This is where it begins. The first installment of my new weekly column you, the lovely reader, will be able to find every Friday here on NA Confidential. Luckily, I was able to steal the title of the worst Star Wars movie ever made, although I fear coming up with future titles will become the hardest part of this new hobby.

The title is very fitting for this topic that hits close to home. As many of you know, I have begun the process of starting a nonprofit venture that will, hopefully, begin to curb poverty in our city (although, possibly in my naivety, I have found the process to be very tedious). The title is fitting, however, because poverty in New Albany really is the Phantom Menace of our city.

It is one of the few things that I think is really holding us back from major successes. Poverty is nearly never talked about by our Mayor; he seldom if at all mentions it. In fact, I think the only time in the entire campaign he even was aware of the immense poverty issue in New Albany was at the New Albany Housing Authority Forum, where I filled in for Kevin Zurschmiede and brought the issue up.

The past four years of Gahan saw immense spending: spending on a water park, spending on numerous other parks (some susceptible to flooding), and a very large sports complex. All these projects look nice, but what do they do for the 22.5% of New Albanians who are in deep, dire poverty?

How can spending millions on a water park that 22.5% of New Albanians can’t afford to play at be justified? In the low income housing area by the Floyd Memorial Hospital, the average income per year is a little over $8,000. $8,000 in one year to live off of! I challenge the Mayor to try living off of that instead of the $84,000 he makes in a year (which I might add is a little much, but that is an article for another day).

The reason poverty is the Phantom Menace of New Albany is because you would never think it is as big of a problem as it actually is if you ask our Mayor. If you look at his actions as Mayor, this either shows he doesn’t care about the high rate of poverty, or else he just doesn’t know about it. I’m not sure of the dynamics in his administration, but I find it very hard to believe he doesn’t know nearly a quarter of the population he represents can’t afford to use his shiny new water park, let alone pay their bills on time.

I don’t want to accuse the Mayor of not caring about the impoverished. I don’t think that is the case. However, I do think that his actions and blatant disregard for even talking about the issue makes it tough to debunk, whether he cares or not. I just hope that in these next four years the Mayor begins to address this very pressing issue.

I have already extended my hand for support, if he needs it, and I am very willing to help him tackle this. This issue crosses party line; I just hope everyone realizes that.

So, what is there to do? How about we first start caring and become compassionate people who care about our fellow men, women, and children. I have several ideas that I cannot fully explain in this medium, mainly because I want to keep my articles fairly short and focused, however, I am hoping to share my ideas in coming articles and I do hope our elected officials reach out to me.

Until the next article, I will leave you with this first of many weekly quotes:

“We must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” ­
-- John F. Kennedy.

Nick Vaughn's column: "A Spoonful of Trumpmania."

For 2016, Nick aims to write regular Friday columns, though this week's submission is running early owing to the holiday weekend. If you're reading today and think you have what it takes -- the few, the proud, the terminally splenetic -- to author regular columns at NAC, then please get in touch and we'll talk.

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A Spoonful of Trumpmania

I’m sure that the title has caught you off guard, seeing as this is typically a local oriented blog, sorry, but this needed to get off my chest and Roger has been kind enough to allow me to send him content. When I initially began to write this article, my words were not coming from a happy place, in fact they still are not. Nevertheless, this draft is a lot less hate filled than my first draft.

Admittedly, I am quite furious with this Republican Primary; Donald Trump is leading in all national polls and seems to continue to make inroads by exploiting very angry, very fed up conservative voters. So on one hand, I hate to see my party take this route right off of the deep end into the sea of defunct political parties (i.e. the Whigs, Democratic­Republicans, and the National Unioners), but on the other, this creates a very unique situation for our country. It has the potential to blow the two party system away and bring in with it several parties? Maybe. One party? Hopefully not. Who knows! Let’s dive in and find out!

First, let’s put into perspective just what Republicans have at stake here. Currently, there are 32 Republican Governors, over 5,000 Republican State Lawmakers, a very large majority in the House of Representatives, a slight majority in the Senate, high voter turnout, and a general upward trend nationally. These are all of the makings for a very strong push into the White House.

But what happens instead? Donald Trump is leading national polls, he wants to build a wall, he wants to discriminate against a religion because a small percentage are terrorists, and wants to shut down the internet, which truthfully seems ridiculous and nearly impossible.

Donald Trump knows nothing about foreign policy, creating a working budget, crossing the aisle (except for own personal gain), and doesn’t understand the Constitution. When you have someone talking about creating a database of citizens based on religion, why are alarm bells not going off? Is that not an encroachment on our basic rights of privacy, freedom of religion, and freedom of expression? Oh, and he wants to end birthright citizenship. Does Donald Trump hate the Constitution?

The truly sad and infuriating part of this whole process is that Donald Trump is playing his supporters like a fiddle. Yes, it’s the year of the “outsider,” but never have I seen a more masterful politician. Is Donald Trump a career politician? No. But he is a politician in the most generic sense: he is a straight up liar.

Of course, in the same breath I will say he is also the worst politician in the most generic sense: he alienates voters. His off the cuff, downright deplorable comments about women ranging from Michelle Obama to Megyn Kelly (not to mention his obvious hate for anyone not a White American) should disqualify him from running for President. But they don’t and he continues to rise because he has appeal.

People, specifically conservatives, are very angry. We have unfortunately come to a point in the Republican Party where negotiating and compromising are signs of weakness instead of examples of getting things done. Instead of celebrating and rallying behind Speaker Ryan and his efforts to keep the government open and running so that after the New Year he can begin to make meaningful reform, we have instead a far right wing sect of the Republican Party that feels they are being betrayed because Planned Parenthood isn’t being defunded in this Omnibus bill.

It’s not being defunded in this bill because it can’t be! If that was attached as an amendment the bill would be vetoed and the government will shut down and Republicans will take the blame (because it really would have been our fault). No, we should not defund Obamacare for the 50 millionth time, it’s just going to get vetoed by Obama! That’s not smart governing, that is very, very dumb governing.

As Republicans, we should focus on fights we can win with a Democrat in the White House. We should not get angry and blame a certain race or religion for our woes because when that happens, not only our party declines but so does our very nation.

So, what if Donald Trump is the nominee? Well, I think that makes for a very interesting scenario. I think that if it becomes clear he will be the nominee the RNC should make the convention brokered, this way delegates have free range and can vote for the best candidate. Although, I think an actual brokered convention seems very unlikely. Instead I think you will see prominent Republican figures like Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, Jeb Bush, and their loyalist walk out of the convention.

From there you have an even further unique scenario because what will those thought to be “establishment” supporters do? I would think that fracturing the party with such a stronghold on state offices would be a very chaotic, some would say it would be a mistake. I’m not sure though. Yes, there would be growing pains and obvious confusion and turmoil. But creating a new Republican Party might be the best avenue to take. Yes, it would almost secure Hillary Clinton’s ticket to the White House, but I think long term it might be a good choice.

With a new Republican Party, those a part of it could begin to appeal to new voters, voters who otherwise wouldn’t vote Republican today. You would also see a lot less pandering to hardline conservatives and begin to see less of an emphasis on socially conservative causes and instead more focus on fiscal issues and common sense solutions to government waste. It will be very interesting to see the coming events and how they play out.

Buckle up, America!

Guest columnist Nick Vaughn airs his grievances for Festivus.

I've asked Nick, and I'll be asking a few others, to consider writing columns for NA Confidential on a regular basis. If you're reading this and think you may have what it takes -- the few, the proud, the terminally splenetic -- then get in touch and we'll talk. 

Thanks to Nick for this 

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Happy Festivus!

As many of you may or may not know, Festivus is a parody and secular holiday where the airing of grievances is commonplace and highly encouraged. Festivus first appeared in 1997 on the popular show Seinfeld. While there is a little more to Festivus, I will just be participating in the airing of grievances (because if everyone else can pick and choose, so can I).

1. Six votes is a tough pill to swallow. While I maintain that I absolutely loved the experience, I can't help but think the District 6 race would have ended a little differently if I had gotten through the primary. Maybe that's just my youthful inexperience talking (although I never made that an issue of my campaign).

2. Polling has really let the country down this year. First in Kentucky where Matt Bevin was projected to lose to the illustrious Jack Conway and then in the New Albany Mayoral Race. My faith in polling has fallen lower than my trust for gas station sushi.

3. Speaking of the Mayoral Race, can you believe Gahan was re-elected? I mean, I know we have a water park. Well, that's about it, I know we have a water park. Anyone know the protocol for a recall?

4. This one really isn't much of a grievance seeing as watching the opposition party fade away bodes well for the future of my party here in Floyd County. Nevertheless, I am going to complain about the systematic degradation of the Floyd County Democratic Party. I just remember the good ole days when the Democrats stood for something and I'm not saying they don't nationally (albeit I disagree with the vast majority of it), but here locally in Floyd County they have lost their way. I hope they find their way, I mean not really, but in the competitive spirit I hope they find their way (but they don’t have to, like, it's just a suggestion).

5. Now I'm getting into the gritty grievances. I thought it was just so nice for the city to “allow” the Republican City Councilmen (Al Knable, David Barksdale, and Dave Aebersold) to be sworn in at the over¬the¬top, brought to you by Mayor Jeff M. Gahan, Jingle Walk/Street Piano/Where You Should Be, City of New Albany Swearing in Ceremony. Almost made me forget about the hundreds of millions of debt, misuse of TIF, and lack of transparency.

Almost.

6. Remember the Street Piano? Mrs. Gahan wishes you would forget. After the multi-month long fight with The Board of Works, my teacher, Hannegan Roseberry finally saw her vision of a street piano come to fruition in a beautiful ceremony at the piano’s home (although I think it has gone into retirement) in front of proud Gahan supporter, Jimmy of Jimmy’s Music Center.

7. We often hear about “leading from behind” in national politics as it is a big conservative talking point. But what do we call Gahan’s leadership? It's not so much leading from behind as it is not leading at all. I hope that his New Year’s resolution will be to take less vacations and attend at least 1 City Council meeting this coming year.

8. In such cases like the Jingle Walk and the Halloween Trunk or Treat (brought to you by Mayor Jeff M. Gahan and Mayor Jeff M. Gahan, respectively) the City subjected us to a “rain or shine” policy. This only further proves Gahan’s lack of leadership seeing as he hasn't yet learned how to control the weather. Oh no, I've given him a new idea. I can see it now: “Today we are looking at 73 degrees, sunny, a nice calm breeze coming from the southwest all brought to you by Mayor Jeff M. Gahan.”

9. The difference between a city logo and city seal should be the topic of conversation in the coming 4 years. It is something that just needs to be discussed after the fiasco in the City Council Chamber where Dan Coffey expressed his approval since the steamboat Robert E. Lee is inherently racist while Scott Blair just asked for clarification. I hope he leads the effort on defining the difference.

10. Lastly, I’d like to point out the fact I was not on Roger’s list for “New Albany Person of the Year.” Probably just goes back to my youthful inexperience, although I could have sworn he said he wouldn't make that an issue of the campaign. What? That was Reagan? Oh, I get the two confused sometimes.

Happy Holidays all! I hope the New Year brings you all success and prosperity. A huge thank you to Roger for letting me air my grievances on his blog! I'm hoping to get some new routine down for more content on a consistent basis. To all those I mentioned, I hope you find the humor in this and will be good sports. At the end of the day we all love New Albany and want it to succeed!