If anyone could ever say this wasn't in the job description, it's the governor of Kentucky. This is not what Andy Beshear signed up for.
I had my doubts about Andy. I wasn't a fan of his Dad and figured Andy would be more of the same.
But Andy ran for governor against the biggest jerk that ever carpetbagged his way into Frankfort. Nobody wanted Bevin back. He'd have never been elected otherwise.
Thank God for Matt Bevin.
No sooner had the governor taken office, the coronavirus pandemic hit. While the pretend president declared nothing to worry about, governors were watching their constituents dying left and right.
Because the virus was new, no one knew what to do. The biggest question was how do you get through this with the fewest people dying?
Every state shut down. Businesses and schools closed. People started wearing masks. Others didn't. People died.
Andy listened to public health experts and acted. Not everything he did was right, but everything was right for what was known at the time.
He was, above all, compassionate as over 4000 Kentuckians died of Covid in 2020. Kentucky's death rate from the pandemic was lower than all of its neighbors. To date, Covid has taken over 18,000 Kentuckians and over 1,100,000 Americans.
On December 10, 2021, tornados in western Kentucky devastated several towns, destroyed at least 1000 homes and killed 74 people. One of the flattened towns was Andy's dad's hometown. The governor led a national charge to help victims pick up the pieces.
On July 28, 2022, a 1000 year flood killed 38 people in southeastern counties. The flash flooding wiped out towns and destroyed thousands of buildings and homes. Again, the governor's compassionate leadership was evident.
Through it all he's held people's hands, hugged many, and prayed with many more. He's shown a conviction to actually help the people he serves, from Paducah to Phelps. I've seen him in action and it's hard to doubt how much he cares about folk.
Before this week, no Kentucky governor has had to deal with so much tragedy. A pandemic. Riots and school shootings. Devastating natural disasters. All with a hostile legislature.
But now we've had another mass shooting in our home state that could have been averted if one individual had not been able to walk into a store and walk out with an assault rifle. Five innocent people dead in a bank and one cop in critical condition. One dead gunman.
Among the dead was a close friend of Andy Beshear. Because he was governor, he learned the identity of the deceased early. Because he was a friend, he was the one to break the news to his dead friend's wife.
Beshear made that call knowing nothing he can do will bring his friend back or break his opposition's fealty to the gun lobby. How does a person deal with that? After all he's seen in only three years, you've got to wonder why Andy still wants the job.
This is not what he signed up for. But I'm sure glad he did.