The only thing spreading to Clarksville is fear.
As you probably expected, the new Louisville no-nudity ordnance has the self-righteous crowd in Indiana rocking the Fear Machine and renewing a fight against adult superstore Theatair X in Clarksville.
Logic might suggest that adult businesses will set up across the River, so yesterday the fear-mongering ROCK group held a meeting. And WHAS-TV cameras obliged them, repeating at least one unfounded claim, which is really a pretty funny one — “They call Theatair X a bully in the sex industry – where gonorrhea, syphilis, Chlamydia, and HIV/AIDS thrive. They say it’s a breeding ground for predators.”
Of course, there’s no evidence to back that claim. The station runs it anyway.
Others were quoted fearing for their children. The WHAS-TV story led with the nonsensical quote that “What happens inside Theatair X doesn’t stay inside Theatair X.”
It’s a great TV story, just letting the paranoid spout their opinions, knowing no one from the other side will appear on camera to refute their claims. To their credit, Clarksville government officials aren’t jumping on the bandwagon the way Metro Council officials have done, jeopardizing 300 jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue.
OK, now that’s off my chest, some other disappointing news:
Greed Kills: The Derby Festival will start charging you to watch Thunder from the Great Lawn on the Waterfront. They’re really screwing things up — first the name-change controversy, then the Marathon course change. Mike Berry, what are you thinking?
No To Mexico: It’s about 1,200 miles to the nearest Mexican border, so why are old, white Kentucky lawmakers so fearful of a Mexican menace? Costly, racist Senate Bill 6 seeks to fix a problem that barely exists — allowing people not from around here with different-colored skin to live and work here. It’s a federal issue, but those rural politicians want to score political points with the rednecks. The bill passed the Senate, but is likely to be stopped in the House. A different immigration bill in the House passed despite opposition from local Reps Tom Burch, Mary Lou Marzian and Jim Wayne.
Rally on Whiskey Row: So you think the Mayor caved on Whiskey Row, letting Todd Blue have his way with those old buildings on Main Street? Then join up with Curtis Morrison Thursday morning and stand on the street and yell about it. Bring a sign. Me, I’d rather see the stretch torn down, even if the method Fischer and Blue used to strike a deal is sickening.
Though It Does Make You Think of a Big Daddy Burger: I thought this piece in Insider Louisville was right on — comparing what’s happened to Blue with the way things turned out for Genny’s Diner operator Frank Faris. Wouldn’t it be great if Blue were to invite Faris to open a new Genny’s right there on Whiskey Row?
Do I Seem Angry to You? Maybe it’s because Louisville is at the top of Men’s Health’s listing of angriest cities, rated by aggravated assaults, high blood pressure, traffic and how many anger management specialists live here. We’re 87th out of 100, and much angrier than Lexington or Cincinnati.
Scum of the Day: This idea occurred to a local couple – “hey honey, let’s get a wheelchair, put Junior in it, then load it up with shit we wanna steal at JC Penneys. If anybody tries to stop us, we’ll punch ’em out.” Hard to believe that plan didn’t work.
