Editorials

Column as I see ’em …
The next time a state legislator starts talking about forcing you to have a prescription to buy cold medicine due to the evils of methamphetamine, ask him or her to explain the following.
Tuesday morning I sat in awe as two of the three people found living in a drainage pipe and using meth behind Rite Aid nearly two years ago received probation after pleading guilty to the charges against them.

It’s like your teenage daughter coming home and announcing she’s just a little bit pregnant.
Of course there’s no such thing, nor is there a “minor” violation of the Constitution.
Pretty heady declaration, I know, particularly when former Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist declared police roadblocks “minor” violations of the Fourth Amendment — you know, the pesky one that deals with unlawful search and seizure — but allowed them to continue out of concern for public safety.

Column as I see ’em …
The old adage that figures lie and liars figure has never been truer than it is today, especially when it’s the government doing the figuring.
Each month I receive unemployment data from the state’s office of employment and training, and it’s about as useful as tickets to have watched Louisville play in Monday’s NCAA finals.
This month’s data claim that unemployment fell in 111 of Kentucky’s 120 counties when comparing this February to last.

Column as I see ’em …
Let’s start this week’s column off with some good news for a change, OK?
One of former health director Brandon Hurley’s biggest supporters on the Anderson County Board of Health is no longer there, I’m happy to report.
Joy Hoskins, a nurse who works for the state health department, was not reappointed.
That’s a fact. Of course that wasn’t supposed to be known, so the official word from people in Frankfort who ultimately dodged my questions is that she “resigned.”