Contrary to his soaring campaign rhetoric, John Kasich failed to land his plane at the Republcan debate in Milwaukee. Maybe his Ground Controlled Approach system that he's been trying to perfect in New Hampshire sent him back to Marysville or Lima instead. He didn't even enjoy a celebratory flyover.
Once again, our agitated guv kept bursting into the conversation (eight times) to the point where one of the others could have fairly called for a restraining order. GCA landings notwithstanding, he managed to get few kind words from his political and media critics. Oh, the non-partisan Associated Press did shelter him from further abuse by simply reporting in the last paragraph that he was "also on the stage".
On the other hand, polling guru Nate Silver likened him to Hensley "Bam'Bam" Meulans. It's OK if you don't know that Meulans was a baseball player of sorts who is now the hitting coach of the San Francisco Giants. Few people know the name, but that seems also to be the lot of Kasich's csmpaign. (In Iowa, 0 pct. in the polls)
National Review conservative Jonah Goldberg said Kasich is "done. He came across angry, condescending and uprincipled." It gets worse, but if there are any kids reading this, I'll stop right there.
His problem, as we've noted early in his first term, is his harsh, snappish, rough edges that presents him badly to people beyond the reach of the Columbus Dispatch as a school yard bully. There had been words that he's become the "New Kasich", with Biblical references on his lips and expressed concern for the underclass. Didn't last long because it didn't give his poll numbers a lift. So it was back to "no more Mr. Nice Guy", which we already knew he wasn't anyway.
Even in Ohio, his protective media custody has begun to falter. The Plain Dealer's Henry Gomez began his report with "Maybe John Kasich would have been better off at the kiddie table." And the Columbus Dispatch, his leading chaperone in Ohio, headlined: "Kasich heads back to New Hampshire amid unfavorable reviews."
But a Republican Party that was hospitable to the Tea Party and evangelicals when the latter began to invade it en masse years ago must now contend with the reality so vivified by Kasich's demolition by the hard right that doubts his conservative purity. No longer is the GOP the only party separated from Democrats. It must contend with being in third place, at least what's left of it, behind the fringe that encourages Ben Carson to blatantly lie about so many things and Donald Trump to make history with nonsense about shipping 11 million illegals back to Mexico.
Kasich's empty boast that he knows how to land an airplane (which qualifies him to handle government's course!) seems so trivial in comparison.
That much the Kasich campaign, as frivolous as it has been at times, has shown us with his mauling by the current proprietors of the old Republican Party.
Showing posts with label Columbus Dispatch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Columbus Dispatch. Show all posts
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Dispatch rapid-response team fuels presidential speculation
NOTES FROM THE SECOND MORNING AFTER...
Well, it was just a matter of hours before the Columbus Dispatch set all of us on the right track for the 2016 presidential election with whoopie speculation about two of its favorite Republican Buckeye politicians, Gov.John Kasich and Sen. Rob Portman.
In a long front- page piece, the story began by describing Kasich's "smashing" win and Portman's "key role in helping the GOP take control of the Senate".
Smashing? But only if you merely consider the raw numbers after the governor ran up the score against Ed FitzGerald's posthumous campaign to a cheering section filled with huge donors, media accolades and those practiced in convenient references to the Lord. You may recall that Kasich went to Nevada and cast God's blessing on casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, in a blatant appeal for Big Money. On Election night, caught up in the reverance of the moment, Kasich told us that God had placed a hand on him. That doesn't leave much hope for Portman.
To speculation about his future, Kasich stayed in form by coyly dismissing the question. He said he's not "thinking about the future''. As for Portman, his chief of staff told the Dispatch that the senator is "going to meet with his family about this issue over the coming weeks" and then with "trusted advisors", a process that could take months. That has always impressed me as Portman's normal speed.
Meantime, let the speculation roll.
Political experts quoted in the story agreed that both would make "viable" candidates - but as President Obama once said, "You can only have one president at a time" in deference to the fact that George Bush still had a few weeks left in his tenure following the 2008 election.
A cautionary footnote: The Dispatch poured out its heart to elect Mitt Romney and its home county of Franklin went for Obama.
* * * * *
More Grumpy style Meet the Press: The Beacon Journal, as is its wont to be kind to spoiled victors, described Kasich as '" governing from the center". Oh? With hefty right-wing pals like Adelson and the Koch Brothers looking over his shoulder?
* * * * *
While we're at it, might as well note that Armond Budish, a Democrat, defeated his Republican opponent, Jack Schron, for Cuyahoga County Executive rather handily despite the paper's endorsement of Schron. The paper accused Budish of being " too partisan". And for years I thought that partisanship was high up on the to-do list of a politician!
* * * * *
Finally, we turned to Huey Long's immortal words for the benediction on Tuesday's nightmare: "One of these days the people of Louisiana are going to get good government and they aren't going to like it.":
.
Well, it was just a matter of hours before the Columbus Dispatch set all of us on the right track for the 2016 presidential election with whoopie speculation about two of its favorite Republican Buckeye politicians, Gov.John Kasich and Sen. Rob Portman.
In a long front- page piece, the story began by describing Kasich's "smashing" win and Portman's "key role in helping the GOP take control of the Senate".
Smashing? But only if you merely consider the raw numbers after the governor ran up the score against Ed FitzGerald's posthumous campaign to a cheering section filled with huge donors, media accolades and those practiced in convenient references to the Lord. You may recall that Kasich went to Nevada and cast God's blessing on casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, in a blatant appeal for Big Money. On Election night, caught up in the reverance of the moment, Kasich told us that God had placed a hand on him. That doesn't leave much hope for Portman.
To speculation about his future, Kasich stayed in form by coyly dismissing the question. He said he's not "thinking about the future''. As for Portman, his chief of staff told the Dispatch that the senator is "going to meet with his family about this issue over the coming weeks" and then with "trusted advisors", a process that could take months. That has always impressed me as Portman's normal speed.
Meantime, let the speculation roll.
Political experts quoted in the story agreed that both would make "viable" candidates - but as President Obama once said, "You can only have one president at a time" in deference to the fact that George Bush still had a few weeks left in his tenure following the 2008 election.
A cautionary footnote: The Dispatch poured out its heart to elect Mitt Romney and its home county of Franklin went for Obama.
* * * * *
More Grumpy style Meet the Press: The Beacon Journal, as is its wont to be kind to spoiled victors, described Kasich as '" governing from the center". Oh? With hefty right-wing pals like Adelson and the Koch Brothers looking over his shoulder?
* * * * *
While we're at it, might as well note that Armond Budish, a Democrat, defeated his Republican opponent, Jack Schron, for Cuyahoga County Executive rather handily despite the paper's endorsement of Schron. The paper accused Budish of being " too partisan". And for years I thought that partisanship was high up on the to-do list of a politician!
* * * * *
Finally, we turned to Huey Long's immortal words for the benediction on Tuesday's nightmare: "One of these days the people of Louisiana are going to get good government and they aren't going to like it.":
.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
update: corrected version Pepper for Turner
Can we talk?
As some of you surely know, much of my professional career plunged me into the printed word - newspapers, magazines, books, some crabby letters to editors and now the digital offspring, blogs. I say this only because some of you may be wondering why I' ve been picking on newspapers so much during this dreadful election year for which they must accept some of the responsibility for its odor.
I do want to say that the decline of newspapers, which is now past the point of no return, gives me no joy. Still too much printer's ink in me. Nor would I deny that newspapers have their rights to endorsing whatever candidate they find in their comfort zones. But this year they seem intent on dwelling in conflicts of interest with themselves, thus costing them more ounces of credibility. That hurts.
The most blatant recent example derives from a story in the Columbus Dispatch, in which Republican endorsements have been grandfathered since Gutenberg. (Good grief! Josh Mandel won the paper's approval? )
Still the Dispatch published a piece reporting that during Atty. Gen. Mike DeWine's four years in office, Ohio has filed 53 amicus curae (friend of the court) briefs, at taxpayers expense, with the U.S. Supreme Court on out-of-state cases. Unsurprisingly, many of them satisfy his need to demonstrate his support of social conservative issues - his long-held opposition to same-sex marriage, abortion, gun control, ObamaCare.etc.
You might say, as others have pointed out, that he has converted his office into a chapel.
The defining paragraph in the Dispatch story confirms that.
He was asked about his defense of Hobby Lobby 's denial to employes of health insurance coverage that includes birth control.
Did he base his decision on these matters simply on his opinion or what's best for the state?
"It's both, really," DeWine replied. "Do my principles, do my beliefs in what is right, impact it? Well, sure."
OK, he's made it clear on women's issues. Not only in the Dispatch but whenever he has been asked about the access to hospitals by abortion clinics.
But about the time that the Dispatch was parsing his positions, the BJ's editorial page, a pro-choice advocate, bore a column by Michael Douglas, the editorial page editor, pointedly complaining about the anti-abortion obstructionists.
Douglas wrote: "Gov. John Kasich and the Republican legislature have embarked on a mission to all but eliiminate abortion rights in the state" - without mentioning DeWine as one of the perps.
He concludes by disapprovingly asserting:
"The fight over abortion in the courts and elsewhere won't end soon. Yet, for now, one thing stands: Abortion is a right, and those exercising that right deserves to be treated accordingly."
But shouldn't the treatment be applied accordingly to DeWine, too? The paper has maintained a cozy attitude with the AG and even endorsed him despite his closed-fist activism against abortion. In so doing, it rejected DeWine's opponent,
David Pepper, a pro-choice Democrat and aggressive campaigner.
Don't spend too much time trying to follow the bouncing ball, folks.
As some of you surely know, much of my professional career plunged me into the printed word - newspapers, magazines, books, some crabby letters to editors and now the digital offspring, blogs. I say this only because some of you may be wondering why I' ve been picking on newspapers so much during this dreadful election year for which they must accept some of the responsibility for its odor.
I do want to say that the decline of newspapers, which is now past the point of no return, gives me no joy. Still too much printer's ink in me. Nor would I deny that newspapers have their rights to endorsing whatever candidate they find in their comfort zones. But this year they seem intent on dwelling in conflicts of interest with themselves, thus costing them more ounces of credibility. That hurts.
The most blatant recent example derives from a story in the Columbus Dispatch, in which Republican endorsements have been grandfathered since Gutenberg. (Good grief! Josh Mandel won the paper's approval? )
Still the Dispatch published a piece reporting that during Atty. Gen. Mike DeWine's four years in office, Ohio has filed 53 amicus curae (friend of the court) briefs, at taxpayers expense, with the U.S. Supreme Court on out-of-state cases. Unsurprisingly, many of them satisfy his need to demonstrate his support of social conservative issues - his long-held opposition to same-sex marriage, abortion, gun control, ObamaCare.etc.
You might say, as others have pointed out, that he has converted his office into a chapel.
The defining paragraph in the Dispatch story confirms that.
He was asked about his defense of Hobby Lobby 's denial to employes of health insurance coverage that includes birth control.
Did he base his decision on these matters simply on his opinion or what's best for the state?
"It's both, really," DeWine replied. "Do my principles, do my beliefs in what is right, impact it? Well, sure."
OK, he's made it clear on women's issues. Not only in the Dispatch but whenever he has been asked about the access to hospitals by abortion clinics.
But about the time that the Dispatch was parsing his positions, the BJ's editorial page, a pro-choice advocate, bore a column by Michael Douglas, the editorial page editor, pointedly complaining about the anti-abortion obstructionists.
Douglas wrote: "Gov. John Kasich and the Republican legislature have embarked on a mission to all but eliiminate abortion rights in the state" - without mentioning DeWine as one of the perps.
He concludes by disapprovingly asserting:
"The fight over abortion in the courts and elsewhere won't end soon. Yet, for now, one thing stands: Abortion is a right, and those exercising that right deserves to be treated accordingly."
But shouldn't the treatment be applied accordingly to DeWine, too? The paper has maintained a cozy attitude with the AG and even endorsed him despite his closed-fist activism against abortion. In so doing, it rejected DeWine's opponent,
David Pepper, a pro-choice Democrat and aggressive campaigner.
Don't spend too much time trying to follow the bouncing ball, folks.
Saturday, July 12, 2014
GOP convention in Cleveland? Credit Democrat FitzGerald
Re-Posted from Plunderbund
Days in Northern Ohio have become much livelier in the heat of summer. The past week or so, for example, has produced three tornadic events: A real tornado in Medina County, LeBron James' epic decision to return to the Cavaliers, and, of course, the Republican eruptive choice of Cleveland for its 2016 national convention.
So far, the GOP hasn't found a way to blame the tornado nor LeBron's flight from Florida - a key battleground state - on President Obama. But Marco Rubio is doubtless still working on it in James' case, including it in a new immigration reform package that will ship him back to Miami in cuffs.
The most interesting response, however, is how the mainstream media virtually ignored Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, the Democratic candidate for governor, in the symbiotic local effort to lure all of those Republicans to the oft-maligned city on the lake. The hometown paper, with one major exception, handed out huzzahs for the efforts by the convention bureau, Cleveland companies and the Cleveland 2016 RNC Host Committee, headed by Terry Egger, the PD's former publisher.
The Beacon Journal, on the other hand, delivered to its readers a puffy Page One story from the Washington Post that "affirmed the influence of Sen. Rob. Portman" in the GOP's decision under the headline "GOP's choice of Cleveland reflects power of Portman". The Republican senator, the article said, "pushed for months for the city as the site". Hint: Portman was again elevated as a potential presidential candidate. For now, it couldn't hurt. Or could it?
(About presidential politics: The Columbus Dispatch, which appears to be torn between advancing Gov. Kasich or Portman as the paper's choice for the Oval Office, focussed on Kasich, satisfied that the convention would be a perfect national stage to dramatize the "revitalization and fiscal turnaround that Ohio's Republican governor, John Kasich has managed to pull off in a few short years...")
And as for Kasich himself, he had nothing to say at all to the Dispatch's Joe Vardon who asked about FitzGerald's role. Said the governor: "That's a question - I'm not in the middle of that kind of question. I have no answer to that right now."
That non-rsponse measures well against one of George W. Bush's when a reporter asked a question about a nominee: " I would have to ask the questions...I haven't had a chance to ask the questioners the question they've been questioning."
And where was FitzGerald in the planning and rollout of the convention site? It wasn't until veteran writer Brent Larkin, who retired as the PD's editorial director five years ago, stepped up.
Summing up his column in the subhead over his commentary: "Credit FitzGerald with leadership, vision in landing 2016 GOP convention."
Larkin noted that FitzGerald, with Positively Cleveland CEO Dave Gilbert as early as two years ago engaged in planning for a convention proposal. Wrote Larkin:
"And Republicans may not like it, but FitzGerald, a Democrat, deserves far more credit than any other elected official for the city landing the GOP presidential nominating convention. Anyone who tries to suggest a public official other than FitzGerald is the father of this process is simply not telling the truth."
Well, now. Larkin's incisive observation certfainly bumps up against the PD's own editorial page think tank that recently devoted a full page to questioning FitzGerald's ''leadership".
Having worked in the field with Larkin for years, I'll take his word for it.
Days in Northern Ohio have become much livelier in the heat of summer. The past week or so, for example, has produced three tornadic events: A real tornado in Medina County, LeBron James' epic decision to return to the Cavaliers, and, of course, the Republican eruptive choice of Cleveland for its 2016 national convention.
So far, the GOP hasn't found a way to blame the tornado nor LeBron's flight from Florida - a key battleground state - on President Obama. But Marco Rubio is doubtless still working on it in James' case, including it in a new immigration reform package that will ship him back to Miami in cuffs.
The most interesting response, however, is how the mainstream media virtually ignored Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, the Democratic candidate for governor, in the symbiotic local effort to lure all of those Republicans to the oft-maligned city on the lake. The hometown paper, with one major exception, handed out huzzahs for the efforts by the convention bureau, Cleveland companies and the Cleveland 2016 RNC Host Committee, headed by Terry Egger, the PD's former publisher.
The Beacon Journal, on the other hand, delivered to its readers a puffy Page One story from the Washington Post that "affirmed the influence of Sen. Rob. Portman" in the GOP's decision under the headline "GOP's choice of Cleveland reflects power of Portman". The Republican senator, the article said, "pushed for months for the city as the site". Hint: Portman was again elevated as a potential presidential candidate. For now, it couldn't hurt. Or could it?
(About presidential politics: The Columbus Dispatch, which appears to be torn between advancing Gov. Kasich or Portman as the paper's choice for the Oval Office, focussed on Kasich, satisfied that the convention would be a perfect national stage to dramatize the "revitalization and fiscal turnaround that Ohio's Republican governor, John Kasich has managed to pull off in a few short years...")
And as for Kasich himself, he had nothing to say at all to the Dispatch's Joe Vardon who asked about FitzGerald's role. Said the governor: "That's a question - I'm not in the middle of that kind of question. I have no answer to that right now."
That non-rsponse measures well against one of George W. Bush's when a reporter asked a question about a nominee: " I would have to ask the questions...I haven't had a chance to ask the questioners the question they've been questioning."
And where was FitzGerald in the planning and rollout of the convention site? It wasn't until veteran writer Brent Larkin, who retired as the PD's editorial director five years ago, stepped up.
Summing up his column in the subhead over his commentary: "Credit FitzGerald with leadership, vision in landing 2016 GOP convention."
Larkin noted that FitzGerald, with Positively Cleveland CEO Dave Gilbert as early as two years ago engaged in planning for a convention proposal. Wrote Larkin:
"And Republicans may not like it, but FitzGerald, a Democrat, deserves far more credit than any other elected official for the city landing the GOP presidential nominating convention. Anyone who tries to suggest a public official other than FitzGerald is the father of this process is simply not telling the truth."
Well, now. Larkin's incisive observation certfainly bumps up against the PD's own editorial page think tank that recently devoted a full page to questioning FitzGerald's ''leadership".
Having worked in the field with Larkin for years, I'll take his word for it.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Vardon arrives in Akron with a Dispatch mission
Joe Vardon, the Columbus Dispatch's poliltics and government writer, turned up at a news conference Wednesday following Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald's luncheon speech at the Quaker Square Inn. Actually, it wasn't so much a news conference as we have come to know them. With notebook and pencil in hand, Vardon turned it into an inquisition of the candidate regarding questions raised by the other side of the Cuyahoga county inspector general who has been accused of doing campaign work on public time.
In fact, State GOP Chairman Matt Borges has called for the inspector's resignation, which was a little odd inasmuch as he once paid a $1,000 fine after he admitted "misusing public office".
That aside, Vardon was on a mission, determinedly consuming most the news coference with his repeated refusal to accept FitzGerald's reponse as several reporters stood around waiting for turns that never came. Way to go, Joe. The event was about you.
As we have commented in past posts, Vardon is the apparent designated hitter for a paper that will unsurprisingly endorse Gov. Kasich's re-election He has written glowingly about Kasich's ubiquitous out of state appearances, which only counts if your paper is hoping to stage his rise to the Oval Office someday.
But my point today, having covered one or two or these things in a half century of political reporting, is that there are some unwritten rules of courtesies to your colleagues that exclude boorishly pigging out on the candidates. Say, a question and a follow-up. In Vardon's case, he was the transparent story, not FitzGerald. Tsk. Tsk.
I gave up and left the room as he was asking still another question. But I was later told the Beacon Journal reporter did manage a single question as time was running out.
Vardon did write a piece about the inquisition in which he dwelled on inspector general Nailah Byrd, leading his report with Borge's call for her resignation. Vardon obviously didn't come to report the speech itself, because there wasn't a word in the story about the Democrat's questioning references to Gov. Kasich.
P.S. I didn't plan to ask a question anyway, so no sour grapes here. Over the years, my questions too often turned up on TV with the camera showing the station's own reporter. So I stopped asking questions.
In fact, State GOP Chairman Matt Borges has called for the inspector's resignation, which was a little odd inasmuch as he once paid a $1,000 fine after he admitted "misusing public office".
That aside, Vardon was on a mission, determinedly consuming most the news coference with his repeated refusal to accept FitzGerald's reponse as several reporters stood around waiting for turns that never came. Way to go, Joe. The event was about you.
As we have commented in past posts, Vardon is the apparent designated hitter for a paper that will unsurprisingly endorse Gov. Kasich's re-election He has written glowingly about Kasich's ubiquitous out of state appearances, which only counts if your paper is hoping to stage his rise to the Oval Office someday.
But my point today, having covered one or two or these things in a half century of political reporting, is that there are some unwritten rules of courtesies to your colleagues that exclude boorishly pigging out on the candidates. Say, a question and a follow-up. In Vardon's case, he was the transparent story, not FitzGerald. Tsk. Tsk.
I gave up and left the room as he was asking still another question. But I was later told the Beacon Journal reporter did manage a single question as time was running out.
Vardon did write a piece about the inquisition in which he dwelled on inspector general Nailah Byrd, leading his report with Borge's call for her resignation. Vardon obviously didn't come to report the speech itself, because there wasn't a word in the story about the Democrat's questioning references to Gov. Kasich.
P.S. I didn't plan to ask a question anyway, so no sour grapes here. Over the years, my questions too often turned up on TV with the camera showing the station's own reporter. So I stopped asking questions.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Political civility: Hardly concern for Kasich's guy
No one has taken on a more challenging mission in Columbus than State Sen. Frank LaRose of Copley, a Republican, and former State Rep. Ted Celeste of Cleveland, a Democrat . In their laudable bi-partisan effort to restore a hint of sanity to politics, they are pursuing a goal of creating more civility in political discourse. Good luck on that.
They have scheduled an off-the-record meeting on Sept. 17 at the Statehouse of dozens of lawmakers to work out a plan to advance their goal. My guess is that it would be easier to squeeze the juice back into a lemon.
Until then, they could have a sitdown with Gov. Kasich's top spokespserson, Rob Nichols, who resorted to a sneaky form of Red-baiting in his attack on Democratic Rep. Debbie Phillips, of Albany.
Phillips had written to Kasich and Scott Nally, director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, demanding an official explanation of why the director of the EPA's surface-water division was forced to resign.
George Elmaraghy had informed his staff that his resignation was prompted by "considerable pressure" on the Ksaich administration from coal companies. The coal industry has been among Kasich's biggest political donors. The Columbus Dispatch reported that King Coal has given $1 million to Kasich and some friendly lawmakers.
But we digress: Asked about Phillips , Nichols snapped in an email to a reporter:
"You'd be hard-pressed to find a job creator that she hasn't opposed, vilified or protested at some point. If she had her way, we'd all be living on a collective farm cooking organic quinoa over a dung fire. So, I think we'll take her views in context."
By the way: Not being a quinoa kind of guy, I had to look it up. Glad to know the people around the governor are so clued in these days. .
They have scheduled an off-the-record meeting on Sept. 17 at the Statehouse of dozens of lawmakers to work out a plan to advance their goal. My guess is that it would be easier to squeeze the juice back into a lemon.
Until then, they could have a sitdown with Gov. Kasich's top spokespserson, Rob Nichols, who resorted to a sneaky form of Red-baiting in his attack on Democratic Rep. Debbie Phillips, of Albany.
Phillips had written to Kasich and Scott Nally, director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, demanding an official explanation of why the director of the EPA's surface-water division was forced to resign.
George Elmaraghy had informed his staff that his resignation was prompted by "considerable pressure" on the Ksaich administration from coal companies. The coal industry has been among Kasich's biggest political donors. The Columbus Dispatch reported that King Coal has given $1 million to Kasich and some friendly lawmakers.
But we digress: Asked about Phillips , Nichols snapped in an email to a reporter:
"You'd be hard-pressed to find a job creator that she hasn't opposed, vilified or protested at some point. If she had her way, we'd all be living on a collective farm cooking organic quinoa over a dung fire. So, I think we'll take her views in context."
By the way: Not being a quinoa kind of guy, I had to look it up. Glad to know the people around the governor are so clued in these days. .
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Never too late for payback by a deceased Browns fan
OK, fun time from a Columbus Dispatch obituary:
When long time Cleveland Browns fan Scott Entsminger died in Mansfield, his obit airily included his reputed last words: "(Scott) respectfully requests six Cleveland Browns pall bearers so the Browns can let him down one last time."
His brother Bill explained that the Browns line was an inside joke in their family. "We had knocked that around before," Bill said. "It was nudge-nudge, wink-wink, whichever one of us goes first".
.
When long time Cleveland Browns fan Scott Entsminger died in Mansfield, his obit airily included his reputed last words: "(Scott) respectfully requests six Cleveland Browns pall bearers so the Browns can let him down one last time."
His brother Bill explained that the Browns line was an inside joke in their family. "We had knocked that around before," Bill said. "It was nudge-nudge, wink-wink, whichever one of us goes first".
.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
A Portman in the (gay- marriage) storm
Sen. Rob Portman, a dutifully faithful inhabitant of the Party of No, said "yes" this week and you would have thought that he had just endorsed universal medicaid even for the one percenters. Instead, he ended his long opposition to gay marriage, thus becoming the first Republican senator to do so. Do we need further evidence that Republicans on Capitol Hill have all arrived from the same hatchery?
Portman, an Ohioan, was clearly influenced to change his mind by the fact that his 21-year-old son Will is gay - a revelation that young Portman advanced to his family a couple of years ago. But it wasn't until lately that Rob finally decided that maybe gay marriage isn't such a ghoulish idea after all now that one's sexual preference is shown to be non-partisan and even all in the family.
The response, as you might expect, has ranged from one end of the political spectrum to the other. Doug Preisse, the gay chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party, told the Columbus Dispatch that he is "pleased and proud" of Portman. On the other hand, Speaker John Boehner, who has been in a snit about a lot of things, disagreed with the senator's about-face.
One of the papers that arrives on my breakfast table every morning did see something positive in Portman, declaring in a front-age headline that his new position could mean that he's a Republican "open to change". The analysis by Henry Gomez, the Plain Dealer's politics writer, was largely friendly and even noted that Portman was once the reputed trusted economic advisor to George Bush the Second.
As we rummage through the ruins of Bush's economic catastrophy, I doubt that Portman is eager to be reminded of his role.
It is now fair to ask that if the senator's son weren't gay - as are many sons and daughters across the land - would he be so willing to change his mind? Let me stretch my neck way out and say that in this instance, his new form followed function for Portman as a caring father.
And I doubt he will be left without scars by the social conservatives who control the party at its aorta. Before his announcement, the senator tweeted back on March 8: "Today is the last day of National Invasive Species Awareness Week. It's a great way to focus attention on an important issue for Ohio."
He just did. All the way to his Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill.
Portman, an Ohioan, was clearly influenced to change his mind by the fact that his 21-year-old son Will is gay - a revelation that young Portman advanced to his family a couple of years ago. But it wasn't until lately that Rob finally decided that maybe gay marriage isn't such a ghoulish idea after all now that one's sexual preference is shown to be non-partisan and even all in the family.
The response, as you might expect, has ranged from one end of the political spectrum to the other. Doug Preisse, the gay chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party, told the Columbus Dispatch that he is "pleased and proud" of Portman. On the other hand, Speaker John Boehner, who has been in a snit about a lot of things, disagreed with the senator's about-face.
One of the papers that arrives on my breakfast table every morning did see something positive in Portman, declaring in a front-age headline that his new position could mean that he's a Republican "open to change". The analysis by Henry Gomez, the Plain Dealer's politics writer, was largely friendly and even noted that Portman was once the reputed trusted economic advisor to George Bush the Second.
As we rummage through the ruins of Bush's economic catastrophy, I doubt that Portman is eager to be reminded of his role.
It is now fair to ask that if the senator's son weren't gay - as are many sons and daughters across the land - would he be so willing to change his mind? Let me stretch my neck way out and say that in this instance, his new form followed function for Portman as a caring father.
And I doubt he will be left without scars by the social conservatives who control the party at its aorta. Before his announcement, the senator tweeted back on March 8: "Today is the last day of National Invasive Species Awareness Week. It's a great way to focus attention on an important issue for Ohio."
He just did. All the way to his Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Portman checking with Tea Party on matters of state
"I don't agree with everything he does," Littleton told Hallett, "but I'm pleased with his approach to every problem" Read: When Tea Partyers say nice things about somebody, he's their guy.
Portman, a Republican once known as a harmless right-leaning centrist, has been drawing renewed attention since his bid to be Mitt Romney's running mate came up empty. (Maybe the Mitties thought he was a tad too dull despite his credentials as a senator from a battleground state. Or maybe they were skittish about his work as George W. Bush's budget director and let's not go into that.)
Since then, Portman has emerged as anything but the middle-of-the roader that he promised to be when he ran for the Senate. He has joined the GOP goon squad filibustering President Obama's nomination of a highly qualified woman - Xenia native Caitlin Halligan - to the appellate court of the District of Columbia because, um...she's a "judicial activist".(When Republicans can't find anything scarier to say about a judicial nominee, they put their pennies into the machine and out pops "judicial activist".)
Oh, Portman has also walked away from fellow Ohioan Richard Cordray, opposing Cordray's recess appointment as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau because he doesn't like the Bureau's consumer mission.
I've written about Portman's developing taste for right-wing issues several times merely to call attention to his dual brand as a moderate and now a Teabagger. Hallett mentions that Portman could be shoring up his credits with the Republican wild side to run for president in 2016. We can hope.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
OSU speaker not a Dispatch favorite
The announcement that President Obama will be Ohio State University's commencement speaker on May 5 could hardly have uplifted the editors of the Columbus Dispatch to a state of chest-pounding hometown pride. No paper in Ohio worked harder to defeat Obama in last November's election with its editorial endorsement of Mitt Romney, a candidate it credited with possessing "real-world experience to lead nation out of economic malaise".
As for Obama, the paper complained that he had traveled in the "left lane" all of his life, had no real-world experience and was an absolute failure in correcting the national economy's dismal course during his first term. The president's health care plan, it declared, was nothing more than a " ham-fisted power play". When it comes to attacking Democrats, the paper always adds a lot of etc. etc. etc's.
Well, as history will show, the paper's home county of Franklin was hardly persuaded by the Dispatch's eternal struggle against Democrats and voted for Obama anyway.
So now, with the kindly attention of OSU President Gordon Gee, who invited him, Obama will arrive as the national five million vote victor over the wealthy what's-his name opponent in the last campaign.
I don't mean to be churlish or anything about the Dispatch, but I did want to point out that the Obama visit will present itself more as a Mayday for the paper's deep thinkers.
.
As for Obama, the paper complained that he had traveled in the "left lane" all of his life, had no real-world experience and was an absolute failure in correcting the national economy's dismal course during his first term. The president's health care plan, it declared, was nothing more than a " ham-fisted power play". When it comes to attacking Democrats, the paper always adds a lot of etc. etc. etc's.
Well, as history will show, the paper's home county of Franklin was hardly persuaded by the Dispatch's eternal struggle against Democrats and voted for Obama anyway.
So now, with the kindly attention of OSU President Gordon Gee, who invited him, Obama will arrive as the national five million vote victor over the wealthy what's-his name opponent in the last campaign.
I don't mean to be churlish or anything about the Dispatch, but I did want to point out that the Obama visit will present itself more as a Mayday for the paper's deep thinkers.
.
Monday, February 11, 2013
The governor's food for political thought
Privately run prisons, as the New Yorker recently described the TV series "Girls," has become a "trending topic". That's because Gov. Kasich, determined not become privatized himself when the voters head out to the polls in 2014, has found still another way to downsize the government he manages with swagger each day. He wants to turn over food services at Ohio's prisons to the non-elected entrepreneurial class that swells with each new opportunity for its investments. He says it will save the state maybe $16 million a year.
Like so many of his "bold'" initiatives, once the headlines fade into yesterday, you have to pay more attention to second opinions. Privately run prison services have a history of failure that equal the inmates they're supposed to contain.
Cost savings for taxpayers? As Paul Krugman has pointed out, a study by the U.S. Department of Justice has concluded that such savings in other states "have simply not materialized.''
"So let's see," Krugman wrote, "Privatized prisons save money by employing fewer guards and other workers, and by paying them badly. And then we get horror stories about how these prisons are run. What a surprise!"
Reviewing earlier consequences, Plunderbund reported an audit by former Republican State Auditor Jim Petro of privatized food service at the Noble Correctional Institution in Caldwell, Oh. The audit showed Aramark, the company involved, "failed multiple sanitary inspections and was unable to provide acceptable portion sizes as agreed upon in the contract. What's more, Plunderbund said the audit revealed that "Aramark ended up billing the state for millions of meals it never actually served resulting in $2 million in overpayment being made to the company."
Never mind, the Kasich people contend, we're looking at $16 million in savings even though a transfer to private hands would eliminate 456 state jobs. Oh, it says here, the private operators would hire some of these people.
And now we come to the real bottom line. Kasich, who has no use for unions, would eliminate that many jobs covered by Civil Service. Christopher Mabe, president of the Ohio Civil Service Employes Association, is already preparing for a brawl. "This is unfair, unsafe and hurts us all and we will not stand for it," he told the Columbus Dispatch.
From the standpoint of purely practical politics, after being drubbed in his fight against public employe unions with Senate Bill 5, is Kasich really prepared to provoke labor again in an election year?
Like so many of his "bold'" initiatives, once the headlines fade into yesterday, you have to pay more attention to second opinions. Privately run prison services have a history of failure that equal the inmates they're supposed to contain.
Cost savings for taxpayers? As Paul Krugman has pointed out, a study by the U.S. Department of Justice has concluded that such savings in other states "have simply not materialized.''
"So let's see," Krugman wrote, "Privatized prisons save money by employing fewer guards and other workers, and by paying them badly. And then we get horror stories about how these prisons are run. What a surprise!"
Reviewing earlier consequences, Plunderbund reported an audit by former Republican State Auditor Jim Petro of privatized food service at the Noble Correctional Institution in Caldwell, Oh. The audit showed Aramark, the company involved, "failed multiple sanitary inspections and was unable to provide acceptable portion sizes as agreed upon in the contract. What's more, Plunderbund said the audit revealed that "Aramark ended up billing the state for millions of meals it never actually served resulting in $2 million in overpayment being made to the company."
Never mind, the Kasich people contend, we're looking at $16 million in savings even though a transfer to private hands would eliminate 456 state jobs. Oh, it says here, the private operators would hire some of these people.
And now we come to the real bottom line. Kasich, who has no use for unions, would eliminate that many jobs covered by Civil Service. Christopher Mabe, president of the Ohio Civil Service Employes Association, is already preparing for a brawl. "This is unfair, unsafe and hurts us all and we will not stand for it," he told the Columbus Dispatch.
From the standpoint of purely practical politics, after being drubbed in his fight against public employe unions with Senate Bill 5, is Kasich really prepared to provoke labor again in an election year?
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Terhar's Tea Party Links Overlooked in Media
The media reports I've seen have overlooked an essential asterisk to Bebe Terhar's denial that she intended her reference to Adolf Hitler to point to President Obama in her Facebook rant against gun control. As you probably know by now Ohio Democratic Party leaders have called on Gov. Kasich to fire the president of the Ohio Board of Education.
In the wake of a Columbus Dispatch news story regarding her Facebook post, Terhar denied that she was comparing Obama to Hitler. Still , as I mentioned in an earlier post, Terhar has boasted of membership in several Tea Party groups in southwestern Ohio. Attacks on Obama with swastikas on placards have been common at Tea Party gatherings. Could that be where she got the ugly idea that she now dismisses?
In the wake of a Columbus Dispatch news story regarding her Facebook post, Terhar denied that she was comparing Obama to Hitler. Still , as I mentioned in an earlier post, Terhar has boasted of membership in several Tea Party groups in southwestern Ohio. Attacks on Obama with swastikas on placards have been common at Tea Party gatherings. Could that be where she got the ugly idea that she now dismisses?
Friday, November 16, 2012
Columbus Dispatch to GOP: Lay off Planned Parenthood
Just a thought: We're happy to report that the backlash against the GOP's fixation on right-wing social issues reached a new level in today's Columbus Dispatch. The conservative paper, which endorsed Mitt Romney, began an editorial with the following assertion:
One other incisive observation in the editorial:
P.S. The results of the presidential election has already forced some Republicans to reflect on their own wayward path. Might the Dispatch now be thinking about the possible damage that the right-wing antics might inflict on their friend, Gov. Kasich, when he seeks reelection? Just a thought, folks.
"Ohio lawmakers have no valid reason to steer Medicaid funding away from Planned Parenthood."Yep. You read it right. But read on. It gets better later in the editorial:
"Ohioans want lawmakers to focus on restoring the state's economy and managing its budget wisely, yet Republican lawmakers persist in pushing divisive measures that pander to a minority in the party's base of support."The "Big D", as the Dispatch has often been called as it rises across the street from the Statehouse, is reacting, of course, to the Republican dominated House Health and Aging Committee's vote to deliver a proposed law to the House floor that would "reprioritize" the use of federal funds for family planning services in the state as a way to curb abortions.
One other incisive observation in the editorial:
"Beyond all of the ideological posturing, another fact remains: Better access to contraception, including that provided by Planned Parenthood is the surest way to prevent abortions."The editorial didn't got so far as to describe the GOP lawmakers as morons. I will.
P.S. The results of the presidential election has already forced some Republicans to reflect on their own wayward path. Might the Dispatch now be thinking about the possible damage that the right-wing antics might inflict on their friend, Gov. Kasich, when he seeks reelection? Just a thought, folks.
Monday, November 12, 2012
The speculation continues: Portman? Kasich?
In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the long-suffering protagonist laments to his friend Horatio that his mother remarried so quickly after his father's death that the leftover "funeral bak'd meats" for his father's wake were served at his mother's wedding.
Methinks there is something Shakespearean in the rush of speculation in the wake of Mitt Romney's political death last week about what leftovers will seek to succeed him four years hence. Alas, politics is forever impatient and doesn't provide for pauses or vacuums.
Amid all of the speculation, a case in point arrived via the Columbus Dispatch that centered on an Ohio dream candidate featuring either leftover Sen. Rob Portman or Gov. John Kasich at the top of the heap.
Or as the Dispatch's Jack Torry wrote on Sunday:
Oh, about Harding... He was dead-set against taxes, opposed America's entrance into the League of Nations and on other matters raised the generic Republican flag. Some historians also suggested that his rise was clearly aided by the fact that he very much looked like a president.
Some familiar?
Methinks there is something Shakespearean in the rush of speculation in the wake of Mitt Romney's political death last week about what leftovers will seek to succeed him four years hence. Alas, politics is forever impatient and doesn't provide for pauses or vacuums.
Amid all of the speculation, a case in point arrived via the Columbus Dispatch that centered on an Ohio dream candidate featuring either leftover Sen. Rob Portman or Gov. John Kasich at the top of the heap.
Or as the Dispatch's Jack Torry wrote on Sunday:
"Less than one week after President Barack Obama defeated Mitt romney, Kasich and Portman are being talked about as serious candidates in 2016. If they run, they could provide that most prominent moment for Ohio politics since 1920, when Republican Warren. G. Harding of Marion defeated Democrat James Cox of Dayton for the Presidency."The article even quotes John Brabender, a senior advisor to Rick Santorum's dead-end campaign (!), as describing both guys as "certainly credible." Some other Republicans gave pro-forma applause to both Ohioans. That much alone could get the juice flowing. Are you ready for it, Iowa?
Oh, about Harding... He was dead-set against taxes, opposed America's entrance into the League of Nations and on other matters raised the generic Republican flag. Some historians also suggested that his rise was clearly aided by the fact that he very much looked like a president.
Some familiar?
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Christie: High praise for Obama's efforts in critical times
While New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was praising President Obama's intense engagement in the post-Sandy devastation of Christie's state, Mitt was doing photo-ops in Ohio on a day when he said he wouldn't be campaigning at all. Christie emphatically described Obama's quick action to expedite FEMA's assistance as ''outstanding" and said he didn't care if such praise violated party loyalties in the presidential race.
Meantime, Romney was more circumspect about FEMA, the agency that he has long dismissed as a drag on the federal budget, having once said that critical disaster work could best be handled by the private sector! He didn't say how that would be fail-safe but it is a clue to his secret plan to end the deficit. Does that make you feel more secure these days if your town is hit by another disaster with him in the Oval Office?
On Tuesday, trapped by his past feeble notions, he ignored all questions from reporters on whether he now felt that FEMA was necessary for the nation's domestic emergencies. It was just Mitt being Mitt when he faces an unpleasant situation that can't be solved by metrics and IPOs.
Having watched this guy since the start of the primaries, I've concluded that his campaign is much like the Seinfeld series: It's a campaign about nothing.
That being the case, the narrative must find a way to gain traction with lies. Not that he nor his supporting cast worry much that it all reflects on Romney's incurable waffling and dishonesty. Indeed, any challenge to his plot devices is merely cause to repeat them. When top Chrysler executives criticized his fictional Jeeps-to-China TV ads, the trash talk continued to turn up on TV and radio, especially in the Toledo area where the auto industry has heavy impact on the economy.
* * * * *
Poor John McCain. He grows more erratic by the hour. There he was in Ohio with Josh Mandel at his side - ya know, the old soldier and his young aide-de-camp - asserting on TV that Obama was "unqualified" to be America's commander-in-chief. The only thing I can figure is that McCain is bored and needs to hug up to Romney for a possible appointment to Team Romney if Mitt lands in the White House. I think he might be holding a pair of sixes against a full house.
* * * * *
The Columbus Dispatch today endorsed Sherrod Brown over Josh - the second conservative Republican paper forced to concede the wide gulf that separates the two candidates.The other paper: The Cincinnati Enquirer.
* * * * *
My column on the Romney campaign's lies about Obama and the auto industry is posted on Plunderbund.
Meantime, Romney was more circumspect about FEMA, the agency that he has long dismissed as a drag on the federal budget, having once said that critical disaster work could best be handled by the private sector! He didn't say how that would be fail-safe but it is a clue to his secret plan to end the deficit. Does that make you feel more secure these days if your town is hit by another disaster with him in the Oval Office?
On Tuesday, trapped by his past feeble notions, he ignored all questions from reporters on whether he now felt that FEMA was necessary for the nation's domestic emergencies. It was just Mitt being Mitt when he faces an unpleasant situation that can't be solved by metrics and IPOs.
Having watched this guy since the start of the primaries, I've concluded that his campaign is much like the Seinfeld series: It's a campaign about nothing.
That being the case, the narrative must find a way to gain traction with lies. Not that he nor his supporting cast worry much that it all reflects on Romney's incurable waffling and dishonesty. Indeed, any challenge to his plot devices is merely cause to repeat them. When top Chrysler executives criticized his fictional Jeeps-to-China TV ads, the trash talk continued to turn up on TV and radio, especially in the Toledo area where the auto industry has heavy impact on the economy.
* * * * *
Poor John McCain. He grows more erratic by the hour. There he was in Ohio with Josh Mandel at his side - ya know, the old soldier and his young aide-de-camp - asserting on TV that Obama was "unqualified" to be America's commander-in-chief. The only thing I can figure is that McCain is bored and needs to hug up to Romney for a possible appointment to Team Romney if Mitt lands in the White House. I think he might be holding a pair of sixes against a full house.
* * * * *
The Columbus Dispatch today endorsed Sherrod Brown over Josh - the second conservative Republican paper forced to concede the wide gulf that separates the two candidates.The other paper: The Cincinnati Enquirer.
* * * * *
My column on the Romney campaign's lies about Obama and the auto industry is posted on Plunderbund.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Romney endorsement: the Dispatch's 96-year habit
No one should have been surprised that Mitt Romney picked up an endorsement from an Ohio newspaper long sworn to fealty to Republicans - the Columbus Dispatch. As Plunderbund pointed out recently, the Dispatch hasn't endorsed a Democrat for president since 1916. You would agree, I'm sure, that 96 years is a long time for the needle to be stuck in the groove.
But the paper had an even greater inspiration to praise businessman CEO Romney, noting that Mitt's "effect on business confidence would be dramatic and immediate." Mitt, it glowed, "knows what he is doing" in economic matters.
And what the paper anticipates he would be doing would be furthering the business empires of folks like the powerful Wolfe family, the Dispatch's owners, whose sprawling outreach in the private sector includes The Ohio Company, land owning and TV-radio outlets WBNS-TV in Columbus (Wolfe Bank, Newspaper, Shoes. - got that?)
If a Democratic presidential candidate ever ran unopposed, the Dispatch would find a way to invent an opponent.
But the paper had an even greater inspiration to praise businessman CEO Romney, noting that Mitt's "effect on business confidence would be dramatic and immediate." Mitt, it glowed, "knows what he is doing" in economic matters.
And what the paper anticipates he would be doing would be furthering the business empires of folks like the powerful Wolfe family, the Dispatch's owners, whose sprawling outreach in the private sector includes The Ohio Company, land owning and TV-radio outlets WBNS-TV in Columbus (Wolfe Bank, Newspaper, Shoes. - got that?)
If a Democratic presidential candidate ever ran unopposed, the Dispatch would find a way to invent an opponent.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Mitt spins health care; Josh visits us with robo-calls
When Mitt Romney dismissed the problems of those without health insurance by saying they can always call an ambulance to take them to an emergency room, it made one wonder how far he has strayed from the struggles common to many Americans.
We got more evidence of that hollowness from his remarks to the Columbus Dispatch that people don't die from a lack of health insurance. Would that this be true. Indeed, as Talking Points Memo has noted, there have been several authoritative studies that debunk Romney's cold-turkey opinion.
Let me refer to the 2009 study by the Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance that said as many as 44,789 Americans die each year because they have no health insurance. Furthermore, it reported, "that alternative measures of access to medical care for the uninsured, such as community health centers, do not provide the protection of private health insurance."
Other studies have turned up similar results.
So, folks, I must ask: Will it take an emetic to find out where Mitt is getting his information these days?
* * * * *
Josh Mandel's field hands have now robo-called my home to complain about Sen. Sherrod Brown's' disposition to be less than thrilled by Josh's oft-repeated boots-on-the-ground tales of his tours in Iraq. I would have been more tolerant if Josh would simply tell us what he was doing all of that time in the Green Zone, a story commonly making the rounds today. How about it, Josh? Want to tell us?
We got more evidence of that hollowness from his remarks to the Columbus Dispatch that people don't die from a lack of health insurance. Would that this be true. Indeed, as Talking Points Memo has noted, there have been several authoritative studies that debunk Romney's cold-turkey opinion.
Let me refer to the 2009 study by the Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance that said as many as 44,789 Americans die each year because they have no health insurance. Furthermore, it reported, "that alternative measures of access to medical care for the uninsured, such as community health centers, do not provide the protection of private health insurance."
Other studies have turned up similar results.
So, folks, I must ask: Will it take an emetic to find out where Mitt is getting his information these days?
* * * * *
Josh Mandel's field hands have now robo-called my home to complain about Sen. Sherrod Brown's' disposition to be less than thrilled by Josh's oft-repeated boots-on-the-ground tales of his tours in Iraq. I would have been more tolerant if Josh would simply tell us what he was doing all of that time in the Green Zone, a story commonly making the rounds today. How about it, Josh? Want to tell us?
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Mandel campaigning in light of full moon
At first glance, I once thought that Josh Mandel was simply careless about his words and actions because so little of either made much sense. But as the whiz kid's campaign against Sen. Sherrod Brown becomes more visible, I''m now convinced that his every move as a walk-on to the political stage is calculated with steaming caldrons by the light of a full moon.
The latest example - and there have been many - is his moronic charge that Brown is "un-American" - something Joe McCarthy would have said long before Mandel was born. And we all know what happened to Tailgunner Joe, whose name is now an eponym for the worst in political assassination. Will Josh be remembered from the ashes of his ruthless campaign as Mandelism? Give him time, He's only 34.
His disloyalty charge against Brown was reported by the Columbus Dispatch in a piece following a Brown-Mandel sitdown with editors and reporters. He based his troubled remark on Brown's support of the auto industry bailout. The story reported that Josh never answered directly when he was asked what he would have done differently than Brown on the loans that saved the auto industry and thousands of jobs. His calculated accusation against Brown was so locked into his psyche that he couldn't come up with a reasonable alternative other than to mention "regulations, energy production and the U.S. Tax Code," the paper said. Strictly GOP boilerplate.
Josh, please. You are the Republican/Tea Party nominee for the U.S.Senate. You are running in Ohio. Auto industry recovery of jobs is even making Governor Kasich look better (though he didn't
have a damn thing to do with it).
Tone it down, Josh. Check Brown's birth certificate. Find out whether he's ever been to California.
Ask him whether he's ever skinny-dipped in the Sea of Galilee. And why he's never sent a Christmas card to Netanyahu. Show some...um...gravitas, for God's sake. Many of us won't vote for you but maybe when you run for president someday a few people will forget your un-American crap that you laid before the Dispatch people.
The latest example - and there have been many - is his moronic charge that Brown is "un-American" - something Joe McCarthy would have said long before Mandel was born. And we all know what happened to Tailgunner Joe, whose name is now an eponym for the worst in political assassination. Will Josh be remembered from the ashes of his ruthless campaign as Mandelism? Give him time, He's only 34.
His disloyalty charge against Brown was reported by the Columbus Dispatch in a piece following a Brown-Mandel sitdown with editors and reporters. He based his troubled remark on Brown's support of the auto industry bailout. The story reported that Josh never answered directly when he was asked what he would have done differently than Brown on the loans that saved the auto industry and thousands of jobs. His calculated accusation against Brown was so locked into his psyche that he couldn't come up with a reasonable alternative other than to mention "regulations, energy production and the U.S. Tax Code," the paper said. Strictly GOP boilerplate.
Josh, please. You are the Republican/Tea Party nominee for the U.S.Senate. You are running in Ohio. Auto industry recovery of jobs is even making Governor Kasich look better (though he didn't
have a damn thing to do with it).
Tone it down, Josh. Check Brown's birth certificate. Find out whether he's ever been to California.
Ask him whether he's ever skinny-dipped in the Sea of Galilee. And why he's never sent a Christmas card to Netanyahu. Show some...um...gravitas, for God's sake. Many of us won't vote for you but maybe when you run for president someday a few people will forget your un-American crap that you laid before the Dispatch people.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
A satisfied media accepts the Husted Hustle
They had me going for a moment. The vigilant Ohio urban newspapers, I mean. When Secretary of State Jon Husted delivered his mandate that all voting hours should be uniform, who besides cynical pests like me could challenge the political correctness of the Husted Hustle?
The Plain Dealer's editorial follow-up to his ruling concluded that the decree was, um, "acceptable". After all, it said, "What Husted has ordered may not completely satisfy anyone, but it at least treats everyone equally." Of course.
That's after it opined that it would have been "preferable " if Husted had "included a week end or two" for early voters." Shucks, he didn't. And isn't that at the heart of the problem?
Not fully dismayed, the PD's closing argument meekly ended: "Imperfect though it may be, this solution will suffice." Imperfect?
Down in Columbus, the Dispatch's editorial declared: "Vote for fairness". The paper didn't waste time in sharing its satisfied view, beginning the editorial with...
"Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted has struck a fair compromise by standardizing early-voting hours throughout the state." Whoopee! Compromise! Who could complain?
Meantime, the Beacon Journal conceded that the ruling "has not pleased everyone and even recalled that in 2008 the early voting proceeded "smoothly." However, it said Husted has "leveled the field for early voting hours."
What the editorial writers didn't level about was the ugly source of this year's election scandal. None of the papers bothered to mention that the Republicans had set out early to suppress minority voters. African-Americans, in particular. And they slyly confiscated a system that worked four years ago and found an "acceptable" way to fix it to increase their party's chances against President Obama. 'Tis a fact that was buried in much of the latest round of editorial page coverage, where outrage was replaced with studious defenses of a political plot that can't be remedied by uniform voting hours.
But wait!
Over the week end Plunderbund, ThinkProgress and other sources reported more evidence that the GOP mission all along was to shrink the black vote.
That word came not from those awful libs but from Doug Preisse, the Franklin County Republican chairman and member of the board of elections. In an email to the Dispatch, he conceded:
"I guess I really actually feel we shouldn't contort the voting process to accommodate the urban - read African-American - voter turnout machine. Let's be fair and reasonable."
Lets.
This is the same perp who, according to the Dispatch, said claims of unfairness were "bullshit. Quote me."
In fairness, I will.
The Plain Dealer's editorial follow-up to his ruling concluded that the decree was, um, "acceptable". After all, it said, "What Husted has ordered may not completely satisfy anyone, but it at least treats everyone equally." Of course.
That's after it opined that it would have been "preferable " if Husted had "included a week end or two" for early voters." Shucks, he didn't. And isn't that at the heart of the problem?
Not fully dismayed, the PD's closing argument meekly ended: "Imperfect though it may be, this solution will suffice." Imperfect?
Down in Columbus, the Dispatch's editorial declared: "Vote for fairness". The paper didn't waste time in sharing its satisfied view, beginning the editorial with...
"Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted has struck a fair compromise by standardizing early-voting hours throughout the state." Whoopee! Compromise! Who could complain?
Meantime, the Beacon Journal conceded that the ruling "has not pleased everyone and even recalled that in 2008 the early voting proceeded "smoothly." However, it said Husted has "leveled the field for early voting hours."
What the editorial writers didn't level about was the ugly source of this year's election scandal. None of the papers bothered to mention that the Republicans had set out early to suppress minority voters. African-Americans, in particular. And they slyly confiscated a system that worked four years ago and found an "acceptable" way to fix it to increase their party's chances against President Obama. 'Tis a fact that was buried in much of the latest round of editorial page coverage, where outrage was replaced with studious defenses of a political plot that can't be remedied by uniform voting hours.
But wait!
Over the week end Plunderbund, ThinkProgress and other sources reported more evidence that the GOP mission all along was to shrink the black vote.
That word came not from those awful libs but from Doug Preisse, the Franklin County Republican chairman and member of the board of elections. In an email to the Dispatch, he conceded:
"I guess I really actually feel we shouldn't contort the voting process to accommodate the urban - read African-American - voter turnout machine. Let's be fair and reasonable."
Lets.
This is the same perp who, according to the Dispatch, said claims of unfairness were "bullshit. Quote me."
In fairness, I will.
Monday, April 9, 2012
GOP's Bob Bennett may be back in town
ALL OF THE talk that former Ohio Republican chairman Bob Bennett will return to that high office as the new Ohio Republican chairman can only bring remorse to Summit County GOP chairman Alex Arshinkoff. Over the years, Arshinkoff, having once aspired to the state job himself, never had anything good to say about Bennett. And now that Gov. Kasich, who rules the GOP plantation these days, has succeeded in brutally dispatching the party's current chairman Kevin DeWine, Alex can expect no favors from the party's downstate headquarters. Or maybe at 73, Bennett will generously disregard past insults.
* * * * *
The headline in today's Columbus Dispatch has this to say about the Republican whiz kid who is running for the U.S. senate against Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown:
Mandel campaign endures 'rocky start'
And then some! So far, all we've learned about Josh Mandel, the 34-year-old Ohio treasurer, is that he's challenging Romney for empty talking points but an avalanche of campaign cash. Avalanche may be too cautious. Two major conservative Sugar Daddies, the American Petroleum Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are among the majors who have plowed more than $5 million into TV ads bashing Brown . And there is doubtless a lot more on the way.
Among Mandel's weirdest charges against Brown is that the senator, a longtime friend of labor, has been in the forefront of sending American jobs to China. When challenged on that easily refuted form of political idiocy, Mandel blithely says he has no reason to stop saying it and plans to utter it "again and again''. He also boasts that he is an ex-Marine with two terms in Iraq. Thank you. We can honor that. But I can also add that as an ex-Air Force officer myself, I would have made an awful senator. Frankly, the young man gives me a headache.
* * * * *
Well, here come the birthers again. Two Republican congressmen are now expressing grave doubts that President Obama's birth certificate is authentic. So naming names, they are Rep. Cliff Stearns of Florida, and Rep. Vicky Hartzler of Missouri. Says Hartzler, one of the people minding the Tea Party store: "I have doubts that it is really his birth certificate." Can you imagine how much more of this nonsense we'll be hearing into November by Republicans who want to lead this country into ...um...greatness?
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