Somehow, I think I’m going to be writing a Stupid Shit My Governor Does column enough so that I should just make it a weekly “all in one place” kinda thing.
Anyway. now that ol’ Matt has had a few weeks in house, he’s starting to warm up to this whole “executive order” thing when it comes to those pesky same-sex mariage licenses that cause trouble over the fall.
To ensure that the sincerely held religious beliefs of all Kentuckians are honored, Executive Order 2015-048 directs the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives to issue a revised marriage license form to the offices of all Kentucky County Clerks. The name of the County Clerk is no longer required to appear on the form.
So a win for Kim Davis. Who else can Bevin make happy? You remember Steve Beshear signing an order to restore voting rights to felons?
GONE.
While Governor Bevin has been a strong advocate for the reinstatement of non-violent felony offenders’ voting and civil rights, Executive Order 2015-052 suspends the provisions of Executive Order 2015-871 as that order is contrary to the Kentucky Constitution and undermines the very right it seeks to restore by circumventing elected representatives in the state legislature and the voice of the people at the ballot box. The Office of the Governor will continue to utilize the processes and procedures under current law in the same manner as the previous administration pending further study and consideration by the Kentucky General Assembly. This Executive Order does not affect anyone whose rights have already been restored by the previous Executive Order.
Also gone, higher minimum wages for state employees and vendors
Executive Order 2015-049 relieves executive branch agencies and vendors of the obligation to comply with the higher minimum wage established by Executive Order 2015-370, except as to classified employees with status who have already received increases as a result of the Executive Order. Their remuneration will not be affected.
…and a new permanent hiring freeze on state positions.
Executive Order 2015-050 prioritizes effective and efficient management of state government operations by implementing a new moratorium on hiring. This order removes all oversight of the merit system hiring from the Governor’s Office. Unlike Gov. Beshear’s Executive Order, which had the Secretary of the Governor’s Executive Cabinet approve all personnel actions regarding merit employees, this Executive Order transfers that responsibility to the Personnel Secretary. Approval of non-merit employees will remain the duty of the Secretary of the Governor’s Executive Cabinet. Furthermore, effective immediately, all vacant positions in any agency will be reviewed to determine if they are necessary to the maintenance of essential government services.
Going to be real fun when Bevin determines that current employees are no longer essential to government services and fires tens of thousands of state workers.
The fun’s just beginning here in Bevinstan, folks!
rikyrah
I feel for you, Zandar. I feel for you being surrounded by enough idiots to put this muthaphucka in office.
rikyrah
PHUCK.OUTTA.HERE.
They wanna cling to the Whiteness…let them.
not my problem.
Barack Obama has been a better President to them than they deserved…phuck ’em.
Why Obama Must Reach Out to Angry Whites
White America, fast becoming a minority, needs to hear reassurances from somebody other than Trump.
By Issac J. Bailey
December 22, 2015
Paul in KY
My sister met him recently. Said in one on one conversations, he is very personable. More so than other 3 governors (Patton, Fletcher, Beshear) she had met with.
Yippie
Paul in KY
@rikyrah: Hope you feel for me too ;-) (and Botsplainer, etc. etc.)
terraformer
I might live in a box down by the river, but as long as that guy next to me doesn’t have a bigger box, then I’m all good.
Linnaeus
@Paul in KY:
Seriously. Having a beer with a guy isn’t all that great if he’s stabbing you in the back at the same time.
Suzanne
@rikyrah: Fuck ’em. Let them be angry.
Specifically, it is non-college-educated whites that go for this shit. They didn’t want to earn a degree, and now they’re pissed that others did and are moving into a higher social class than them. Too bad so sad, fuckers.
Linnaeus
@Suzanne:
You’d be surprised how many college-educated whites do go for this kind of shit, even if they express it in a more genteel manner than those without a college education. Having a degree does not make one “better” than one who does not have a degree.
Paul in KY
@Linnaeus: I know that, she knows that. Just giving her take on his inter-personal or retail political skills.
Suzanne
@Linnaeus: No, it doesn’t. But statistically, college-educated whites are much more pro-Obama than non-college-educated whites. This is racial and socioeconomic.
Nevertheless….fuck ’em.
Linnaeus
@Paul in KY:
Oh, sure, I understand. Just a gut reaction on my part.
Kay Eye
@Paul in KY: That’s what Texans used to say about Governor Bush.
benw
“Good morning, everyone. Let’s get the meeting started. What’s the first agenda item?”
“Well, Governor Bevin, people around the statehouse are pretty disgruntled. They’re already working unpaid overtime to get everything done, so no new hires is going to hurt. Plus, they found out about the pay cut right before Christmas.”
“See, I sympathize, guys, I really do. But government’s not a handout center, you know. Got to run it like a business, make some profit.”
“Sir, that’s not really the function of gove-”
“Well, nevermind that. They’ll have to cope. What’s the next item?”
“The allocation of several million dollars to design, print, and distribute new marriage license forms to all county clerks in the state. So that one clerk doesn’t have to feel sad if she ever starts to do the job that the state is still paying her to do that she’s not doing.”
“Sounds great!”
…and scene.
Brachiator
*Sigh* When did it become the duty of the state to make sure that sincerely held religious beliefs had to be honored?
Who administers the sincerity test?
And how much does that job pay, again?
Kropadope
Wow, it’s somehow as if executive orders, what I understand as instructions on how to enforce existing laws; while a clear sign that an executive-level Democrat s abusing his power; are somehow….OK…if you’re a Republican.
Linnaeus
@Suzanne:
But that’s a pretty crude measure of racism. Other factors need to be considered, too: age, location, union membership, etc.
I’m pushing back on this a little bit because I think a lot of liberalish college-educated whites buy into stereotypes about working class people and try to place the burden of white racism all on them. So they can decry the guy in the trucker hat at the Trump rally (which is fine), but they don’t think about the nice yoga mom next door who’s voting Republican, too.
Some folks you just can’t reach. I get that. But some folks you can, whatever their social class. So I say fuck social class.
rikyrah
And the idiots who voted for him and don’t think he’s gonna take away their Kynect—-good luck with that.
SenyorDave
I feel bad for the children of the idiots who voted for this assclown, knowing full well that he will try like hell to take care away their health care. Their parents who voted for Bevin? No sympathy whatsoever. They voted specifically against the best interests of THEIR OWN CHILDREN, because they can’t deal with the fact that a black man is president. Because when you come right down to it, that’s the main thing that bothers them.
SenyorDave
@Brachiator: Who administers the sincerity test?
A sincere person, one who sincerely believes that the one true religion is Christianity.
C.V. Danes
And here I was entertaining the possibility of moving to Lexington. Thanks for reminding me why I left Kentucky 20+ years ago and never looked back :-)
C.V. Danes
@Linnaeus: This.
C.V. Danes
@Brachiator: It seems that he believes that all the residents of Kentucky are homophobic Christians.
catclub
@rikyrah: I can’t seem to recall any articles in national magazines where someone like George Bush is told he needs to reach out to angry blacks. Or angry latinos. or angry women.
Maybe I just missed them.
Quelle surprise.
debbie
@rikyrah:
This is the kind of thing that drives me nuts. Why is it always on Obama to reach out, whether it’s Congressional Republicans, bitter gun-toting whites, or Hillary’s PUMA gals? I’ve yet to hear of any of these groups reaching out to him at any point these past seven years. Obama’s always been willing to talk to anyone, but everyone seems to demand that he come to them in a subservient posture with a contrite look on his face. Screw them all.
Suzanne
@Linnaeus: All of what you say is true. But the thrust of the article is that whites are fearful of losing a place of privilege in society. That is not merely due to the falling percentage of whites as part of the population. They are also fearful because they are not really middle class anymore, or that “middle class” is less economically secure than it used to be. Erosion of lifestyle.
And short of being born or marrying rich, the single thing someone can do to improve their personal socioeconomic status is to finish college (this isn’t a sure thing, but it’ still a good bet). Far fewer white people that finished a bachelor’s degree are losing their shit about this than white people who stopped at high school. You are certainly correct that there are other social markers at play—religion, union membership, sex/gender/orientation, etc. But the education split amongst white people and who they support and what policies they support is incredibly important.
And I’m sorry, I’m just not that sympathetic. If we’re going to have “social positions”, they should be earned rather than granted by virtue of race.
Zandar
Meanwhile, one in five black people in Kentucky lose the right to vote again.
Not that Bevin was going to approve any petitions to reinstate voting rights, but at least there was a process to get those rights restored.
Oh well.
Linnaeus
@catclub:
I agree that that’s bullshit. And when Republicans do “reach out” to people you’ve listed, it’s just to demonstrate to white people that they’re not racist; it has nothing to do with actually considering the interests of those audiences.
scav
Apparently “sincere” Xians believe they can get cooties from having to witness people living, worse, living happily in ways other than they do. And those cooties are even worse if their job involves interacting with the dreaded others, most notably by serving them pizza or affixing their signatures to documents. Sincere Xians are only truly free in a clone world surrounded by their ilk and nothing but their cloned, synchronized ilk, wherein they can sing paeans to their baby jebus giving them free will.
rikyrah
THIS is what they have produced.
THIS is who they are.
THIS is a damn shame.
And, I still say, juxtapose Muslim with Jew.
America with Germany.
2015 with 1937-38.
And, you will see that there’s not a damn bit of difference.
Except, there were no Nazi Soldiers telling the Jews that they’re not coming for them.
……………………………………….
#IWillProtectYou: U.S. service members soothe scared Muslim girl
8:11 p.m. EST December 22, 2015
U.S. service members are using the hashtag #IWillProtectYou to show support for a young Muslim girl who believed her family would be forced to flee following Donald Trump’s call to ban Muslims from the country.
Melissa Chance Yassini of Dallas, Texas, said she came home Dec. 8, to find her 8-year-old daughter packing her bags, Upworthy reported.
Yassini said her daughter was terrified after she heard Trump call for a ban on all Muslims entering the country following the San Bernardino massacre.
“Sad day in America when I have to comfort my 8-year-old child who heard that someone with yellow hair named Trump wanted to kick all Muslims out of America,” Yassini wrote in a Facebook post on Dec. 9.
In response to Trump’s words, Yassini said her daughter began “collecting all her favorite things in a bag in case the army “came to remove the family from their home.”
“She checked the locks on the door 3-4 times,” Yassini wrote. “This is terrorism. No child in America deserves to feel that way.”
The post quickly went viral, and it wasn’t long before Army veteran Kerri Peek saw it, according to Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Peek decided to take action.
“Post a picture of you in uniform with the hashtag#IWillProtectYou to let these children know that we will not hurt them,” Peek wrote in a Dec. 17 Facebook post. “That they are safe here in America. That we will protect innocents as we always have.”
Linnaeus
@Suzanne:
Let me say that I agree with your and rikyrah’s criticism of the article. It is too sympathetic to folks who think their race entitles them to a higher rank in society.
And I’m all for expanding college education. Hell, I’d love to see free tuition. Everywhere. I also think (and I’m guessing that you’d agree) that we also need to have expanded opportunities for people who don’t go to college so that a degree doesn’t have to be a requirement for a decent life.
delk
According to the ACLU:
Governor Bevin’s executive action has added to the cloud of uncertainty that hangs over marriage licensing in Kentucky. The requirement that the county clerk’s name appear on marriage licenses is prescribed by Kentucky law and is not subject to unilateral change by the governor — conceded by the previous administration in court filings.
scav
@delk: Why should Bevin be bound by mere law when Davis is asserting her right to transcend same? All that’s needed is the correct brand of religious sincerity and beeeeeleeeeeef and whoof!
Belafon
@Kropadope: Find me an executive order Obama issued that contradicted a current set law. The problem with Bevin’s law removing clerk’s names is that state law requires them to be on the licenses. And then find me some that limit rights like Bevin did.
And while we’re at it, note that Obama is way behind other presidents in terms of executive orders specifically because of the reason that another president could end them.
Kathleen
@delk: Laws, schaws. They’re allowed to create their own reality. Can’t wait until Bevin decrees slavery to be legal. #FunInKenklannistan
Paul in KY
@Kay Eye: Agree. They did say that about him.
Paul in KY
@Suzanne: Yeah, and all those African American CEOs and millionaire business owners are who screwed it all up for them…
Paul in KY
@Zandar: You know, why did Gov Beshear wait until a week before he left to do this? He knows his order could be revoked.
Kropadope
@Belafon:
I don’t think any of his have. I was just trying to reconcile Bevin’s actions with the conventional wisdom.
Tenar Darell
@delk: So, wait. Does that mean, if they follow through on changing the license, of which the format is mandated by Kentucky State Law, all marriages registered with the new forms in Kentucky are void?
delk
@Tenar Darell: Nobody seems to know for sure, but the ACLU is arguing that is the case: The ACLU continues to work with loving couples who hold marriage licenses of questionable validity and for those who are waiting to legalize their unions until this is resolved.
And the ACLU will continue to challenge government officials who disregard the law in favor of promoting their own personal beliefs to the detriment of the rights of others. Government officials, from the highest to the lowest, have a duty and responsibility to impartially administer the laws that exist, not the laws as they wish them to be.
Arcadia Berger
[Prioritize] effective and efficient management of state government operations by implementing a new moratorium on hiring
While you’re at it, prioritize clean drinking water by implementing a connection between sanitary sewers and water pipes.
Neutron Flux
I like you so I will share this with you. I live in Kansas. I had much the same thoughts when Brownback was elected. My advice, go to your Dr. and see if you can get anti-depressants early. It’s one thing to live it, it is another to look at the list and watch it grow. It becomes seemingly hopeless. Whatever you decide, good luck, and stay strong.
ETA: Standby for a constant barrage of people lampooning your state. Even if you think you don’t care, it gets tiresome.
jackmac
@rikyrah: When a Republican gets in the White House and starts another war or trashes the economy (or both) those “angry whites” are going to realize how much they miss Barack Obama that maybe the Muslim upsurper wasn’t such a bad president after all.
WereBear
@Suzanne: I would tend to agree with you… But as a nation, we are surrounded with PhDs working as Uber drivers, Starbucks baristas with Masters, and countless young people, and people over 50 years old, with no job at all.
We need to address the fact that US business just doesn’t want to hire anyone. Degree or no.
Arcadia Berger
@rikyrah: Speaking as a veteran, I was about to say that #IWillProtectYou was no better than the ironically-named “Oath Keepers”, but then I remembered that my oath was to “protect, preserve and defend the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic”, and that definitely includes Trump in a way it never included President Obama.
Of course, currently-serving members of the Armed Forces will not be able to directly protect American Muslims, but they can lawfully refuse by saying, “Sir/Ma’am, I believe this to be an unlawful order, the carrying out of which would cause irreparable harm and therefore must respectfully decline. Please place me under arrest, Sir/Ma’am.” Unless they want to go full Unlawful Order and say, “I relieve you, Sir/Ma’am.” and then say to the second in command, “Please place both of us under arrest, Sir/Ma’am.” Veterans, OTOH, may feel free to uphold their oath however they please.
But, of course, I’m sure the Oath Keepers will be just as strident and determined under President Trump.,(/sarcasm)
Tenar Darell
@delk: #headdesk – such a useful term for these moments.
Express concern that the “state is broke,” then waste money printing new forms which may invalidate everyone’s marriages, creating a brand new court case that the state will have to pay to defend. A perfect circle of government waste. #headdesk
Arcadia Berger
@rikyrah: Also, there were Wehrmacht soldiers who refused to round up Jews for the camps. And since even under the Nuremburg laws the order was unlawful (and ultimate responsibility for its being issued would fall on the Fuhrer), they were usually just reassigned, and the job given, alas, to a soldier who was willing to carry it out.
Donalbain
Fuck Kim Davis and her “win”. Far more importantly, she had no excuse to stop gay people getting married. We win. She loses.
WereBear
@Arcadia Berger: Actually, one third of them refused. Which fitted into Milgram’s findings, later.
OGLiberal
@jackmac: Not going to happen. They’ll eat a shit sandwich – literally, I mean actual turds on white bread – before doing anything of the sort. (and they’ll eat a shit salad with it…and a shit pie for dessert) Doesn’t matter how much of what he did helped them – he’s black and what he did also helped a bunch of lazy, undeserving black people. And they’ll do the same thing in 2020, etc, etc. Racism, hate and fear will defeat rational thinking, always and forever.
OGLiberal
Zandar – I have sympathy for you, personally, but the folks in your state voted for this – or allowed it to happen by not voting or by voting without thinking about what they were voting for. I’m guessing that a lot of those folks who we’re hearing about now who are just realizing that Bevin – as he said he would – is taking away stuff that help them ignored the fact that he said he was going to take that away and voted for him anyway because he was against the black guy or didn’t vote because “it won’t matter anyway”. The former are lost and not worth even spending an ounce of energy on….the latter are potentially winnable…do Dems in KY have a plan to win them and get them to the polls that doesn’t involve Jack Conway?
Yutsano
@scav: There are branches of Christianity that teach just this in fact.
SteveKnNKY
@Paul in KY: a bill Stumbo and Beshear were pushing to restore voting rights never made it anywhere. Beshear took the executive order route.
SteveKnNKY
For those counting, Bevin needs 5 (although I would say seven to beat Stumbo into the dirt) has 1 flipped and 2 in pocket ready. That leaves 2 or less to have complete Kansas/Wisconsin stupidity here in KY. Medicaid expansion will take a back seat to unloading every KY pension retiree participant onto the free market.