Next GOP chief: blessed or not a dime's difference?

THURSDAY'S WASH:

Today's book-length profile of Tea  Partyer Tom Zawistowski in the Beacon Journal even overwhelmed the return of Mike Brown to the Cavaliers, who merited no more than a front-page blip directing the readers to the sports page.

The latest threat to the GOP establishment, Zawistowski has decided to offer himself up as a candidate for the chairmanship in a showdown with Matt Borges, whom the party's front office had projected as a replacement for Bob Bennett.  But new concerns about Borges arose among the Party's moral compasses when it was learned that their man owed more than $161,000 in federal taxes.

On the other hand, his challenger, who is from Portage County, said he was urged by local party officials to rescue  the older party from its certain fate.  He has the typical Tea Party profile, including his expressed opposition to the bailout of General Motors.

Enough of that.  I was more interested in the skittish responses to BJ inquiries from two  of the most prominent GOP locals regarding their preference in this historic clash.  County Chairman Alex Arshinkoff said he wants whatever Gov. Kasich and the four state officeholders want, whomever that may be.(Guess!)  And then Lauren LaRose, a Republican central committeewoman and wife of State Sen. Frank LaRose, offered still more perspective on the party's untidy situation.  She thought  the party was "blessed to have two good candidates for chaiman".   But she  thought the better of the blessed  would be Borges as "the best fit to lead our party".  Even with the tax lien.  

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Speaking of Mike Brown, he was replaced by Byron Scott a couple of years ago for not winning a championship with LeBron James on the floor.   So now we have more to add to the Cleveland athletic teams' revolving doors, through which an endless number of coaches and managers come and go.  Mike Brown is now back to replace a fired coach (who replaced him when he was fired.)  Owner Dan Gilbert , however, says Brown, a former Coach of the Year  winner,  should not have been fired in the first place.   Go figure.

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The fallout from some Republican senators who voted against the background check law is getting serious.  Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire has seen her approval rating drop 15 points.  And Sen. Rob Portman is drawing a lot of heat in  the letters I've seen from his hometown area of Cincinnati..  Some of this miscalculation by the Ayottes and Portmans has the taint of  the Iraq invasion apologists like Dick Cheney , who declared the U.S. would  be recognized as saviors in a war that might not last more than a few monthe.  Portman, a positive thinker, says background checks are useless, which is what the NRA says,which is not what 90 pct. of the public says.

Limbaugh's landfill is overflowing

WHAT A SPECTACLE! I refer, of course, to the ugly meltdown of Rush Limbaugh, who delights in his slanderous attacks on Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke as a "slut" and "prostitute" while demanding that she provide videos for her alleged sexual encounters! It is the latest political porn from Limbaugh. This, from the guy who as early as 1994 was chosen by GOP congressional conservatives as an "honorary member" of their caucus. But by the looks of things, that, too, is hardly the worst of it. Rush is actually the heart and soul of the Republican Party, and their leaders would agree if they had an ounce of courage to confirm it as we head into the

Super Tuesday GOP primaries.

His intrusion into the campaigns' narrative has drawn the the two Abbot and Costello frontrunners - McMitt Romney and Mc.Rick Santorum - into offering silly, don't-

-bother-me responses. "It's not the language I would have used," shrugged Romney as though he was objecting to a distasteful dressing for his artichoke salad. If not that language, then what other one? He didn't say. Santorum said only that the choice of words was "absurd", but absurdity is not the same as outright slander. John Boehner's aide said the Speaker described Limbaugh's comment as"inappropriate," but added that was also true of the Democrats' trying to raise money from the viral controversy. The round-the-clock primal partisan, Boehner always try to draw blood from the other side.

Interesting how these guys who are forever accusing President Obama of being soft on our overseas enemies cannot solidify their spines to stand up to their honorary congressional member.

No one should be surprised that the Fox folks immediately circled the wagons around Rushbo by deflecting the issue away from birth control, while isolating the debate as solely a religious freedom matter. Echoing the maniacal Limbaugh, Bill O"Reilly accused Sandra Flute of wanting to have others pay for birth control with company-paid insurance. Huffed Dr. O'Reilly (father of two) that birth control was in no way related to health, while Viagra, which was OK with him, dealt with real male health problems. (He said what ?!?!?)

Well, some of Limbaugh's sposnors , including Dan Gilbert, the owner of Quicken Loans Inc. and the Cleveland Cavaliers, has now reversed himself as the kitchen got hotter and withdrawn his ads from Limbaugh's syndicated radio show. But we would be more impressed if Limbaugh's fearful minions in the GOP told him that enough is enough. Fat chance. It's tough to give up your pre-Jurassic notions.