If only Kentucky’s children and families could invent a massive traffic jam on a Kentucky interstate! Apparently, interstate messes are the best means to kick Frankfort into high gear.

While I was not headed to Sparta, I do understand the frustration of sitting for hours in traffic, especially for those who never even got to see the checkered flag drop.  BUT I must admit to being green with envy to see the fire and brimstone being applied to solve the problems of last Saturday.

I am envious because I am not sure if I have ever sensed this kind of urgency coming from both the legislative and executive branches before.  Where is that urgency when a kid dies from abuse or neglect?  Where is that urgency when another family loses its home and another child becomes homeless?  Where is that urgency around the more than one in four Kentucky children living in poverty?  Where is that urgency when the news breaks about uninsured children or predatory lending rates or more than 50,000 kids being lost in the state’s alternative school programs?

You are hearing a lot of talk about the NASCAR problems being a national embarrassment – that the parking lot on I-71 gave us a “black eye.”  Well, that may be true and certainly we need to make sure that next summer’s race is as smooth as the competing events in Talladega, Indy and Daytona.  But when are our elected leaders going to get as hot under the collar about the national embarrassments and “black eyes” we get because of the “state of the state of our kids” as they are about the NASCAR pileup?

If only Kentucky’s children and families could invent a massive traffic jam on an interstate in Kentucky.  Maybe add a prominent leader or three to the mess.  Is that when our youngest citizen’s needs become an urgent priority instead of a backburner constituency? Kid champions, start your engines and let’s head to an interstate.