THE DAY AFTER John Kasich was elected governor last November, he warned a luncheon audience of Statehouse lobbyists that their day-and-night jobs were about to change. Assuming a divine right of governors, Kasich combatively told all within listening distance that he, not they, would determine what was best for Ohio so they might as well get the message about the new sheriff in Columbus town. As reported by the Columbus Dispatch at the time,, Kasich asserted in blunt terms that amounted to an ultimatum:
"Please leave the cynicism and the political maneuvering at the door. Because we need you on the bus, and if you're not on the bus, we will run you over with the bus. And I'm not kidding. " He then declared: "And if you think you're going to stop us, you're crazy. You will not stop us. We will beat you. And that's not arrogance."
That was a lot of Kasich's patented hubris to be passing around only hours after he had been declared the winner by a thin plurality. That alone offered a strong clue to what we could all expect from him in the months that followed. Humility and grace are not among his strong points. Maybe I should add intellectual honesty.
If you've read this far , I think you probably know where this is going:
Today, the Dispatch's Joe Hallett reported that three of Kasich's inner-circle advisers are now quite active as lobbyists and enjoying more than average success in their line of work. Wrote Hallett:
Gov. John Kasich's best friend [Donald G. Thibaut] has set up a lobbying shop, signing up a dozen blue-chip companies. His overnight success as a first-time lobbyist is turning heads on Capitol Square - and testing the credibility of Kasich's oft-made promise that friends will get no special treatment. Neither Kasich nor Thibaut see any problem but others wonder whether the governor's close ties to Thibaut and two other lobbyists who are members of Kasich's inner circle of advisers might open the governor to charges of hypocrisy."
But wait. Kasich said he and Thibaut never talk about his good friend's clients when they are together.
So much for that hypocrisy.
Posts
4 comments:
And thanks to the good people of Ohio, this astounding ass will be with us for the next three and a half years.
It's about JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!
(and corporate welfare and high paying jobs for pals and cronies and privatizing state services and agencies and slashing worker rights and eldercare and....oh, you know the rest)
No, wait. Today, as never before, the words "Republican" and "hypocrisy" are so closely intertwined as to be inseparable. Just look around...
It was astutely pointed out by a reader in today's ABJ that Kasich wants metal detectors installed in the State House while the rest of us have to worry if the guy sitting next to us in a restaurant is carrying a weapon.
Hypocrisy is too kind a word.
Considering the generosity of his friends who delight in picking up the tabs, Kasich would never have to eat at the OK Corral.
Post a Comment