Larry Webster is sweet on Penney Sanders. Who Knew?

At the end of his regular highland rant in today's Herald-Leader, mountain lawyer Larry Webster took a break from his on-going conversation with Tie-Rod to spend a few paragraphs waxing rhapsodic about the good ole days of education when Penney Sanders stalked the hills; kicking butt and taking names.

Democrats return in blaze of mediocrity

Only 23 chopping days left for Gov. Ernie Fletcher, and then the mediocrats ride their newspaper-fueled political machines into Frankfort with plastic banners sticking up from the side windows proclaiming their righteousness.

Mediocrats are the fusion of Democrats and their old ally mediocrity. Mediocrity is demanded by Kentucky voters, and the Democrats have always delivered it, knowing full well that the media will lavish it with praise...

...In the past when the merit system rules weren't necessary because only members of one party got hired, Democrats and their newspapers treated intramural crime in that party like those nuns who stole the distributor cap so the Nazis couldn't catch the Von Trapps, something sort of cute and justified because of the obvious moral superiority of Democrats...

...As the governor ponders yet another career turn in his varied life, he may want to consider newspaper arson, but whatever he does, he is likely to dwell in the high country, and we ain't talking Gatewood Galbraith here, but the uplands of society where doctors and congressmen dwell and where likability is something you buy from an ad agency...

...Those Von Trapps got me to thinking about Penney Sanders. Every day that goes by without her as commissioner of education is a bad day.

The education system of Eastern Kentucky, providing mediocre students for our mediocre colleges, is crookeder than a shepherd's stick. But there was one bright time and that was when Sanders watchdogged the schools.

She made school administrators follow the rules, something amazing and encouraging to the country people up here. School officials had not obeyed the law before her and haven't since she left.

For this recommendation the state Board of Education owes me $50,000, and Sanders can just knit me something.

I think the board ought to pay the search firm that found Barbara Erwin. She was starting to look pretty good to some of us, but then Republicans are known to harbor crooks.