I hope he fails

In January 2009 -- has it really been nearly 11 years ago since this happened? -- as Barack Obama was on the cusp of being inaugurated as president, The Wall Street Journal contacted a number of prominent American commentators, political figures, business leaders, and others to submit a 400-word essay on their hopes for Obama's presidency.

Included in that invitation was Rush Limbaugh, America's foremost conservative voice. But instead of submitting his written thoughts, Limbaugh famously took to the airwaves on his radio show and gave his thoughts.

"I don’t need 400 words, I need four: I hope he fails.’"

Needless to say, the left and the Republican establishment went bonkers. How could he say that? How dare he wish ill upon the country?

But naturally, that's not what Limbaugh meant at all, if anyone cared to listen to the context beyond the shock value of the four words. He explained it carefully: Obama's policies are bad for America, and if he succeeds in implementing them, it will be harmful to the country. Therefore, I want him to not succeed in what he wants to do.

"What they purposely got wrong was they reported that I was hoping America failed, that I was so rank partisan that I was willing for my country to suffer in order for Obama’s presidency to fail. And it was the exact opposite. I wanted Obama to fail so that my country would not. I wanted Obama’s liberal agenda, his socialist community organizer agenda to fail.," he said two years ago in response to continued mentions of that incident.

Even eight years later, the left couldn't get over what he'd said.

Or, again in his own words: "I did not and never have and never will want America to fail. Never. No way. This was my point of trying to articulate the difference. I wanted Obama to fail implementing things like Obamacare. I wanted Obama to fail in letting the Iranians have nuclear weapons. I wanted Obama to fail at keeping our borders open. I wanted Obama to fail at everything he did. I wanted Obama to fail at the stimulus. I did not want America to fail. I wanted America to be saved."

Why say this here and now? Just as Limbaugh hoped that Obama would not succeed in implementing policies that would hurt the nation, I feel the same way as Andy Beshear takes office as Kentucky's governor.

I hope he fails.

That does not mean I want Kentucky to fail. On the contrary. I love this state and want it to succeed beyond anyone's imagination. I want to prove all those stereotypes wrong that the big-city dwellers and coastal elites have about us. I want our economy to soar. I want our freedoms to be preserved. I want to see life protected and government constrained. And I want to see the progress of the past four years continue.

We aren't going to get that with Beshear in charge. He's already indicated he wants to make changes to the state board of education and replace the commissioner. That would preserve the status quo instead of making it possible to reform our public schools and implement changes that would lift our educational system out of the abyss it's in. He wants to stop the implementation of work requirements for Medicaid, meaning more people will continue to leech off the system without earning their benefits. He will roll back regulatory restrictions on abortion clinics, reversing four years of protection of innocent life. And given the history of his father, who's his ideological twin, regarding pension reform, it certainly doesn't bode well for any attempts to preserve pensions for current public-payroll retirees and workers while ensuring there's some sort of viable retirement plan for future employees.

Those of us who are hoping that Kentucky doesn't retreat from its forward progress during Beshear's term have to hold our hopes out for the Republican-dominated General Assembly, and Attorney General Daniel Cameron, but it could be that our hopes are misplaced. The legislature certainly hasn't behaved in a conservative fashion the last year or so, and keep in mind that Cameron is a protege of the quintessential "go along to get along" Republican, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell. And with a number of conservatives blaming McConnell for co-opting Matt Bevin's administration and re-election campaign, they're viewing Cameron with skepticism. Will he target Beshear's administration the way Beshear did Bevin when Beshear was attorney general? Or will he take a more conciliatory path?

Hoping Andy Beshear fails in implementing his liberal agenda after four years of a Republican, mostly conservative governor, isn't wishing ill for the state or its residents. To the contrary, it's looking out for the state and its best interests. While all of us should be in prayer for the new governor for strength and wisdom, none of us who call ourselves conservatives should in any way want him to proceed with liberal policies that we think will put the brakes on this state's forward progress and throw it into reverse.

So, for the next four years, we will hope that the new governor is stymied in implementing misguided decisions. We will view gridlock as a good thing if it keeps harm from being done, and will support inaction over improper action. We'll cheer on the Republicans in the legislature and the other constitutional offices when they stand on principle, and criticize them when they yield to a liberal agenda. We will pray for Kentucky to continue to thrive as it has the past four years.

That thriving will not occur under the policies of the past, under the leadership of politicians cast from the same mold as those who led our state into the abyss for decades. Which party has controlled this state for 40 of the past 48 years? Not the Republicans. Republicans have had two four-year shots at trying to clean up decades of bad decisions. In both cases -- Ernie Fletcher 2003-07, and Bevin 2015-2019, Democrats got angry because their old way of doing things had been upended in the name of progress.

If Andy Beshear can move this state forward without doing harm to our values and our economy and our educational system, then by all means I hope he succeeds. But is that really possible under a liberal framework that imposes regulations that stifle growth, limit freedoms, restrict innovation, and return to failed ways of doing things?

So trust me. I have the commonwealth's best interests at heart when I say to Andy Beshear: I hope you fail.