Op-Ed & Politics Lawrence County Advocate Newspaper 2019 June 5 Trump, Russia, and patriotism: It’s reckoning time 2018 October 30 Healthcare: What is at Stake in This Election October 24 Party of Fiscal Responsibility? October 17 The Fourth Estate July 4 Kanew Comes to Lawrence County Part 1 July 4 Kanew Comes to Lawrence County Part 2 June 20 Stand With the Poor and Marginalized June 13 The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, Hangs on for Dear Life March 14 I Am an American First 2017 November 8 Climbing to the Top of the Conspiracy Chain September 20 Facebook and the Challenge to Americans’ Integrity August 23 Americans’ Lost Humanity August 7 The Boy Scouts of American Deserved Better July 12 No One has Dibs on American Pride June 7 Pulling our Heads out of the Partisan Sand March 3 The Trump Circus This article sparked a rather passionate response from a conservative reader. In his lengthy rebuke, he repeated my name no less than seven times and referred to me as a “keeper of hate for Trump.” It’s a very good thing that I have thick skin when it comes to political debate and answers to my opinion editorials. March 1 On Grassroots and Free Speech I would like to note that I took the photo of my friend, Ron Brown, who is holding the sign “A FREE PRESS IS NOT THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE” in the photo next to my column. Incidentally, the backside of the sign said “I AM NOT BEING PAID TO PROTEST.” Clever man, my friend. Passionate too. February 2 America’s Voice Mustn’t Be Silenced January 1 There’s No Need to Fear Underdog is Here! 2016 November 2 A Strong Two-Party System is Healthy for our Democratic Republic October 26 The GOP’s Frankenstein October 19 “Smart” or Just Rich Enough to Lawyer-up? (At the Expense of Those Who Can’t) This op-ed sparked some ire with at least one reader. He said in his letter to the editor: “I have gone past disappointment to a state of anger. In the past year or so I have observed the Lawrence County Advocate go from gradually leaning toward the left to a sharp left turn. Some of the recently added wont[sic]-to be writers have attempted to take the paper away from being a county newspaper, fairly representing all the citizens of the county, to a liberal rag. An example of this is the article in the Wednesdays [sic] Advocate by the Kennedy woman…who wrote a very radical left wing article which implied that all Republicans are stupid. Many people took this to be a direct insult to half of Lawrence County. May 18 So You Think You’re Starting to Like the Donald February 24 A Justice’s Death Breaks the Silence 2015 September 30 I Love a Pope Who Can Laugh September 9 Settle Down Now, Broom July 29 A Fair Day’s Pay for a Fair Day’s Work July 15 I Know You Are But What Am I? or How to Highjack a Good Debate June 10 Stop 20-Something Abuse April 15 The Racoon, the Salamander, the Nut, the Fish, and the Bible March 25 Civics 101 2014 December 17 Immigration: Truths and Myths October 29 Government, More or Less October 8 Plainspeak for the Masses, Please August 20 Staking Out the Moral High Ground? July 2 Oops! They Did It Again A lady wrote to the editor to say that I “completely misinterpreted the recent Supreme Court decision in the Burwell v Hobby Lobby case.” She said I believe that “just because the closely held corporation, known as Hobby Lobby, objected to being forced to pay for abortion inducing drugs and devices, that meant ALL contraceptive medications were being denied to women.” She goes on to explain, “Of the 20 known contraceptives currently available on the market, the continues to make 16 contraceptives available through the company insurance, free of any co-pay, to its employees.” A gentleman followed with a letter a week later suggesting “Ms Kennedy offered no evidence to support her premise and even went as far as to show her ignorance or intellectual dishonesty concerning the issue.” He ends with “This ruling did not take away any of the women’s right to choose how they will practice birth control; it only took away the mandating of who would pay for the means to accomplish it.” April 16 Tennessee Dodged a Bullet This Week 2013 December 25 ‘Tis the Season to Examine Our Hearts November 20 Feeding the Hungry Among Us October 30 Who is Wearing No Clothes? This op-ed got a slew of attention, apparently. Two letters to the editor supported my stance. One said, “Thank you Emily Kennedy for your well written, informative letter in response to Doug Patton, who will tell Obama he has no clothes. I appreciate you[sic] taking the time to get the facts correct about where we stand on health care.” Another said, “I wish to commend Emily Kennedy’s article…She backed up her article with obvious and factual statements.” But, two other readers didn’t appreciate my words. One said, “I…was surprised to read such a radical left wing article as that written by Emily Kennedy.” Another commented, “I was very disappointed to read the article by Emily Kennedy on the Editorial page…It was the most unprofessional, one-sided piece of political garbage I have ever seen in the Advocate. It read like something one of Obama’s staff members would write.” I think I’ll take that last statement as a compliment! The letters to the editor about my Who is Wearing No Clothes? article prompted a response by my publisher, Sam Kennedy. In his op-ed, he defended my right to speak my mind by saying: “…To listen to her critics, you would think she has committed a heinous crime, rather than exercise her right of free speech and her right to support the President, and I am somehow her accessory! Actually, she did what we always want our letter writers to do, and that is to provoke thought and public discussion of current issues…Whether you agree or disagree with her thoughts, unlike our Congressmen, you should value honest differences of opinion as a cherished American right.”
