Cartoon of Daniel Cameron as a puppet was drawn by Marc Murphy.
This article was originally posted before the KENTUCKY Governor’s election, and has been updated to reflect a victory in two of the races where we endorsed.
WE DID IT!
At least for now, we kept
MITCH McCONNELL’S KNEE OFF ALL OUR NECKS!
Kentucky is one of only three states that had an important Governor’s race going on during an “off” year this November. The other two are also red states: Louisiana and Mississippi. Being that Kentucky is the stomping ground of unpopular and corrupt Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky’s race especially risky and worthy of the nation’s attention.
Making the stakes even higher is the fact that the GOP nominee for Kentucky Governor is none other than Daniel Cameron, the state’s current Attorney General, who is a close, personal ally to Mitch McConnell and a member of the MAGA cult.
Before the nation had President Donald Trump, Kentucky had Governor Matt Bevin. Endorsed by Trump, Bevin made headlines for refusing to concede his reelection campaign loss in 2019. The following year, Trump did the same (and continues to this day).
Bevin also abused his power to make deals with a buddy of Putin’s, pardoned child predators, promoted agendas of hate and division and repeatedly made national news (and ultimately lost his bid for reelection) for disrespecting teachers.
He even crusaded with a Bible in an effort to “pray away” the gun violence. If I didn’t know better, I’d think they all had the same campaign consulting team. (Actually, I think they do.)
But who is the mastermind providing all the strategy and dark money behind them? ALEC and the Kochs? SCALA and the Joneses? Maybe one in the same. And what does any of this have to do with Mitch McConnell? Let’s explore, shall we?
Keeping up with the Joneses
David Jones, Sr. was the co-founder of Humana, the highest ranking Fortune 500 company in the state of Kentucky. After his passing in 2019, his son, David Jones, Jr., has essentially taken his seat in the family affairs, even though he dismissed any conflict of interest charges when he served as Chairman of the Board on the state’s largest public school district.
Here comes Junior abusing his power in 2015 to trick the freshly sworn-in, trusting JCPS school board, over which he chaired, into voting “yes” and prematurely approving the renewal of his carefully groomed, willfully inept superintendent’s contract.
Maybe he thought voters wouldn’t notice or care, but we did. A local activist named Chris Kolb stepped up to run against him and, with the endorsement of grassroots groups, and the silence of the teachers’ union, Jones, Jr. was handily defeated. That was the end of it, or so we thought.
We would soon learn of secret society meetings and back-room deals with some of the city’s most powerful business leaders and GOP heavy-hitters. We nicknamed the group #Louminati. Their real name was something something about Louisville’s Agenda, or SCALA.
Once public pressure was applied, some members would ultimately denounce their membership in the group. They ended up changing their name and working their deals more discreetly. Although, all indications are that they are still pulling strings in public education policy-making, including the role they and their agents played in the 2020 tax increase and the passage of SB250 in 2018, which continues to make our public schools vulnerable to outsiders and predators pushing charter schools, vouchers, online schools, reducing teacher qualifications and pay, dismantling pensions and all the other plays from the ALEC playbook we’ve been warned about.
Before his passing, Jones Sr. and Mitch McConnell often exchanged words of mutual respect and admiration, serving as chair of each other’s fan clubs. Things may have gotten a little more intense toward the end, judging by this letter is from the “Jones Family Office” in 2018, pleading with McConnell to rein in the dangerous behaviors of their latest laboratory creation.
Source:
Jane’s April, 2020 article in the New Yorker revealed a great deal more about this relationship between David Jones, Sr. and Mitch McConnell, which should give us all pause. But I think those of use who live in this quagmire quicksand on a daily basis can’t really make out the shapes through the gaslight’s soft glow. We get moments of clarity but as soon as we realize what we’re looking at, we get woozie and have to look away. We need an intervention. And if since it affects EVERYONE, we are asking for your help.
In this floor speech made by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell upon the passing of David Jones, Sr, he referred to Senior as a “devoted son of Louisville, Kentucky” and a “very dear friend.” He went on to say “without exaggeration” he “was the single most influential friend and mentor I’ve had in my entire career.”
According to Mitch, David Jones, Sr. once said to him, “The most important word in the English language is FOCUS!” Speaking of focus, we need people all over the globe to focus #AllEyesOnKentucky just long enough to let us catch our breath, regain our strength, check on our loved ones, align our strategy and charge the hill. We need reassurances from people who have been in our shoes and recognize these predatory tactics, since they’ve already been tried in other states, often to some very detrimental outcomes, to tell us we’re not wrong in our resistance. We need YOU, the good people of America, to remind us that our indignation is righteous, since our very own local leaders won’t. Between now and Nov. 7, watch their behaviors and if you see some you recognize, call them out. Look for our contentious objectors to take it from there, and cheer us on!
We cannot let Daniel Cameron become Kentucky’s governor. EVER. And we can’t look away between now and then because, even though our state has had a democratic governor for the past four years, which allowed more Kentuckians to survive a pandemic than would have under the party of denial, voter suppression still happens. Maybe not in the way people think, but in gerrymandered maps, vicious disinformation campaigns, mail-in votes discarded, and polling places locking doors on (mostly Black) people who were legally in line.
Daniel Cameron, Kentucky’s current Attorney General, is Mitch McConnell’s hand-picked protege. As you can see from the screenshots above, Cameron and received a scholarship from the McConnell Institute and served as general counsel to Mitch McConnell.
They even exchanged hugs at Daniel Cameron’s wedding, where he exchanged vows with a beautiful woman rumored to be related to Mitch, although those rumors were denied. Regardless, these corrupt individuals have been keeping their knees on the necks of Kentuckians for far too long.
Kentucky’s Attorney General seat, currently occupied, by Cameron, is also on this November’s ballot. Instead of running to retain that seat, he and Mitch are going for the shiny, brass ring with everything they’ve got. My theory is, just like their buddies Bevin and Trump, they know their crimes are destined to catch up with them. So, unless they hold onto ALL the power, they might as well surrender. They’re simply not willing to do that.
Please help us keep #AllEyesOnKentucky until the November 7 election. For the liberation of our state, our country and our planet, we must keep Daniel Cameron and Mitch McConnell from continuing to sell us out.
Re-elect Andy Beshear for KY Governor on Nov. 7!
For more information on ways to support Kentucky’s public schools, visit:
Dear JCPS.com and SaveOurSchoolsKY.org. Thank you!
2023 Elections (See more info on Ballotpedia.)
The General Election is Nov. 7, 2023.
- Special Election
- Metro Council 3 – Shameka Parrish-Wright – WON!
- Statewide Executive Offices
- Governor
- Andy Beshear (D) – WON!
- Auditor
- Kimberley Reeder (D)
- Agriculture Commissioner
- Robert Conway (D)
- Secretary of State
- Charles Wheatley (D)
- Treasurer
- Michael Bowman (D)
- Attorney General
- Pamela Stephenson (D)
- Governor
2024 Elections – Please come back next year and help us do our part to keep MAGA out of our State House and our White House.
- President/Vice President
- Biden (D)
- KY House and Senate
- Metro Council
- School Board