She was against it before she was for it

THE CLEAR WINNER in mountainous competition for another Grumpy Abe Linguistic Lunacy (GALL) award is Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who rose before her Alaskan state legislature to warn of the dangers of volcanos, particular the one that is quite active in her backyard. She declared:

"And I can assure you, Mr. President, that monitoring volcanos is critically important to the nation, to the world, and particularly to Alaska right now where we are being held hostage to a volcano. " 

Right. Except Murkowski, like Gov.  Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, who criticized spending money on volcano monitoring,  voted AGAINST the stimulus package that contained money for that very purpose.       What am I missing here?  

Wagoner's $20 million pain pill

SHALL WE SHED no tears for Rick Wagoner,  GM's hitherto chairman and chief White House.  For a man who presided over a thudding crash of the giant auto company, he will live out his years in private life with a $20 million  "allowance" from the company.  The transition might be a little  bumpy in the short term; sky-high CEO royalty doesn't  adjust easily, I'd guess, after living  cloistered lives surrounded by servile enablers whose own jobs are on the line every moment of the day.  There may be exceptions, of course, but I don't know of any.  

That fact of corporate life, of course, will not discourage the usual chorus of Cassandras who are already counting down the minutes to doomsday with the arrival of  Barack Obama in the White House.  His most secure refuge, however, is the silliness of the Republican responses to his every move.  

Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell continues to belabor the notion that his party has been shut out of any discussion of the stimulus package, although there are plenty of videos around that can be shown of the President reaching out to the GOP,  whose leaders didn't even bother to respond to some of  Obama's invitations.    I don't know what House minority leader John Boehner wants except to haul out his tax cut litanies as well as a shallow budget plan that must have embarrassed a lot of folks in his own party.  And Sen. John Cornyn, the Texas no-man and chairman of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, has now threatened to delay a resolution of the Minnesota senate contest  forever, if not longer. It is further evidence of what  desperate Republicans are thinking these day.  And it  has even annoyed Minnesota's Republican governor, Tim Pawlenty, who objects to a state with only one senator. 

Until the GOP starts acting like a party of grown-ups, with a leader who can begin to capture the imagination of the voters,  it seems unlikely that it will be anything more than it is today, a bunch of trapped whiners that has not yet found a way to unlock the barn door.  

                                                                       *   *   *

Anyone who has followed this  blog knows that I have been critical of  Summit County Chairman Alex Arshinkoff on occasion for some of his inexplicable antics.  But having just been introduced to his Republican opponents' blog, I have to wonder what wannabe comedian is  trying out, badly at that, for Comedy Central. The anti-Arshinkoff post on - get this, Fat Al is Not My Pal -  is juvenile cutesy pie stuff with references to blonde bimbos, Bryan "Fredo Corleone" Williams (the guy at the Board of Elections). an unnamed  "bumbling former retired executive" and "Boy wonder Jon 'Teddy Bear'  Husted. There is also an incoherent reference to Arshinkoff's dancing style. Do they do these things because they can?  Or is it that they just don't know any better?  Unless the level of opposition  rises to adulthood, I pass.                                        

 

 

On recalls, Italian festivals and Voinovich non-stimulus

WEEK END WITH WARNER:  Warner Mendenhall's mad dash to recall Mayor Plusquellic hit a few bumps Friday with the report in the Beacon Journal that two guys who figured to aid and abet the assault are now declaring their opposition to the whole idea.  That's  the word from Joe Finley, the former Democratic councilman who opposed Plusquellic in a primary; and Ward 2 Councilman Bruce Kilby.  Based on their past opposition to the mayor, neither would likely send him a Christmas card.  But Finley told the BJ that  a recall movement is a much too extravagant reprisal:  "While I oppose Plusquellic, I believe that recalls should be reserved for gross malfeasance, not for resolving simple policy differences or personality conflicts." 

Mendenhall seems to be taking the bad news in stride, forever trying to rise above the madding crowd to describe the whole spectacle as an exercise in democracy, thereby rudely disrupting City Hall and the city's business with his door-to-door cavalry.  I can't deny that democracy makes allowances for recalls, although people with a mind to remove a pol from office usually wait until the election season to advance their grievances.  Having said that,  might Mr. Mendenhall should be reminded that democracy also allows people to make foolish nuisances of themselves in public. 

 To cite the cautionary words of the late Hubert H Humphrey: The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously. 

           

                                                                    *  *  *

Cuyahoga Falls Mayor Don Robart's crowing that he salvaged part of the Italian summer festival, the bulk of which is moving to downtown Akron from his city, leads me to wonder whether Republican Robart will claim this as part of his own stimulus program.   The festival split is a continuation of the rivalry of Italian clubs in the Falls, but a long-time observer, whose company had a major role in the festivals in the Falls,   expressed doubts to me that the spin-off will be a success for the smaller group that remains on the Riverfront Mall.  "They're having some problems lining up vendors so soon after the Akron festival," he said.   Aside from the rivalry, the economic realities were clearly in Akron's favor.  The city won't charge the festival.  On the other hand,  the sponsors' bills from the Robart administration  have  continued to rise .  So you pays your money and takes your choice.  Buona fortuna!

                                                                    *   *   *

Speaking of crows, the Plain Dealer caught Sen. George Voinovich in his own stimulus-puffing trap when he reminded voters that he was out front in 2005 to get some money for an Inner Belt Bridge project  and is now citing the importance of  the new outlay of $200 million in the stimulus package to cover the bridge construction project.  As columnist Michael McIntyre alertly pointed out:  Voinovich voted against the Obama stimulus package, calling it a Washington "slush fund."    

Plain Dealer: Praise for corruption probe

TALES OF TWO NEWSPAPERS:  Thursday's Plain Dealer gave  readers further evidence of the critical need for  sustaining the hometown press.  The PD's cascading Page One story told of the resignation of Cuyahoga County Sheriff Gerald McFaul, one of many targets of a corruption probe in which the paper has played a relentless role.  As the forceful print next to McFaul's picture noted: Longtime sheriff received envelopes stuffed with  cash from employes. And beneath that: More than a dozen Plain Dealer reports in 2009 revealed McFaul's pattern of misconduct.   (It ain't bragging when you can produce such results!)  

To the right of the McFaul story was another headline:  Building inspector to admit to bribery, courtesy of the Feds' multifaceted corruption probe.  In this instance, the PD said, Richard Huberty  "is accused of taking  bribes and shaking down business owners..."  His lawyer said Huberty will plead guilty. 

Had enough?  Not quite.  On the Metro page of Thursday's paper, there was a piece about a Parma schools real estate consultant who was fired from his $1,500 a month job after the paper started asking questions about his contract for which he "did little".  Parma school superintendent Sarah Zatik told the PD:  "I'm furious, I don't believe he is performing any service right now..."  Added Bruce Basalla, the school treasurer when the PD inquired: "I can't tell you what he's done.  I feel stupid for not being able to do that."

Well, it is Cuyahoga County and a lot of stupid things have been done under its zip codes.  But it is fair to ask:  How much would we know about this if there were no papers?  The broadcasters would hardly spend a tiny fraction taking up the slack.  TV is largely a hit-and-run exercise and commercial radio spends most of its time yakking without substance. Without aggressive newspapers, the political deer and antelope will range freely - and play to their hearts content.   Count on it.

Oh, I did mention two newspapers at the start of this post.  A Page One story in Friday's Beacon  Journal reported how the stimulus money will be spent in the Akron area.  The headline said the city's Y-bridge will be fenced.  And the subhead noted, Some call plan wasteful. Fair enough, so far.  But reading the entire report (quite long) to learn who objected  enough to merit recognition in the headline,  I found  the only reference to wasteful spending was near the end of the story which said: 

"Some would argue Akron's Y-Bridge project would be a waste.   One person, responding to a request for stimulus comments on Akron's Web Site, wrote, 'Please do not build a fence on the Y-Bridge.'"

 One anonymous person snags the headline?  You lost me.  

Pence crunches the numbers

BY THE time that Rep. Mike Pence,  the hard-right guy from Indiana, arrives in Akron Friday evening to speak at the Summit County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner, he may have had enough time to answer a question by MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell that he couldn't answer on her show: Will the GOP's counter-budget cut or increase the deficit?  The inquiry was quite appropriate for a severe critic of  President Obama's budget.  But Pence couldn't answer it, saying the GOP plan is a "broad outline" short on numbers.  But I'm sure it won't deter 

chairman Alex Arshinkoff from giving his guest a rousing welcome. No questions asked, of course.      

Arlen Specter: The fading old soldier

LIKE THE old soldier, Sen. Arlen Specter is fading away.  At 79, the Pennsylvania Republican is a textbook example  of how his pre-Whig party is hellbent on erasing any vestige of moderation. Faced with anticipated insurmountable odds in winning the GOP primary against probable hard-right icon Pat Toomey next year (Specter's favorability rating among Pennsylvania Republicans: 30 pct.) the five-term senator  sought  to appease the conservatives by announcing his opposition to the labor-supported card-check organizing bill, a measure similar to one he had earlier supported.  Specter has been pawing around in this trough before, trying  to establish his credentials with left and right, only to make matters worse.   

Clearly, the GOP "thought police" have  little patience with Republicans who don't meet their severe standards of ideological purity.  Their  comfort zone is represented instead with the Palins, Jindals and Cantors, each of whom has sounded quite foolish when the occasion called for it.   Well, it's their party and they can do as they please, I suppose.  But one less Specter won't do a thing for their plans for rising from the dead.   

 

Eric Cantor: swimming up mainstream

AND ANOTHER Grumpy Abe Linguistic Lunacy (GALL) award goes to Rep. Eric Cantor, of Virginia, the ubiquitous right-wing Republican who tried to explain why he is so frustrated that President Obama is not paying more attention to advice from the GOP.  Appearing on C-SPAN, Cantor opined:

"Look, we want to work with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle.  We want to try to bring this president into the mainstream."

Mainstream?  Eric, Eric!  The latest CBS poll gave Obama a 64 pct. public approval rating against  20 pct. disapproval! ( For his studied research on the Obama Administration, Cantor attended a Britney Spears concert during the president's news conference.) 

Will somebody please hold a mirror up to Cantor's nostrils to see if he is still breathing?   

The Beltway media finessed

MORE ON THE news conference:    As one who labored through too many Q&A's with public figures, I now find myself more engaged in the tone of the  show than the substance.   And with Barack Obama, the inquisitors are going to have to be prepared  with a well insulated gotcha question if they want to stay in the ring with him.  On a couple of occasions he made simple basket catches on intended hard balls from his audience.  ("I  like to know what I am talking about before I speak,"  he told a reporter who wondered why the president tardily took a day or two to respond to the AIG bonuses.  The media folks have not experienced such finesse in, oh...8 years? ) 

Presidential  news conferences are not the same as a one-on-one drill of  a VIP in the privacy of his or her own office.  The event flies around the world in seconds and reporters are quite aware that they can be an instantaneous VIP, too, with a hot-wire encounter, for better or worse, with the speaker at the lectern.  Television has created  much of the posturing that might occur when one reporter is acknowledged and another ignored.  (Immediately after Obama's conference, it was reported that he had snubbed the major print media. How do you like that?) 

But given the fact that Obama has been in office no more than a couple of months, the Washington media seemed more aggressive than it chose to be with George Bush and the weeks and months  (and even years)  that followed 9/11. The mighty Washington Post gave precedence to pro-invasion stories over those that suggested we were headed into a quagmire. War critic Phil Donahue's TV show was canceled  by his network, which decided his voice was inappropriate for the times.  In short, the Beltway media, including assistance from liberals, failed to serve their calling,  and the presidential news conferences  - the few that occurred - and the talking heads that supinely gave Bush the benefit of the doubt,  aptly demonstrated that. 

So now we'll watch to see how the Obama years are played out vis-a-vis the media herd.  But, please, no more questions about why he hasn't called upon Americans to make sacrifices - certainly not from a well-paid TV newsman who currently has a job.   

Todd, the sacrificial lamb

DURING PRESIDENT O'BAMA's press conference, NBC's Chuck Todd neatly framed the fallen level of awareness of the Washington media by asking why Obama had not called upon Americans to make sacrifices during the current recession.  Obama fielded the astonishing challenge cleanly, noting that Americans are sacrificing in numerous ways, including job furloughs and pay cuts.  Sit down, Chuck.

The question did, however, recall a similar question to George Bush by NBC's Brian Williams in the days following 9/11.  To which Dubya staggeringly replied:

"Americans are sacrificing.  I mean, we are, we are...You know, we pay a lot of taxes. Um, the uh...Americans sacrificed when they, um...You know when the economy went into the tank.  Americans sacrificed when...you know, air travel was disrupted." 

    

                 

Jindal silent until the dust clears

I'M BEGINNING to feel a tinge of sympathy for the GOP's would-be Stupor Star, Bobby Jindal. After flubbing his TV audition in response to the Obama's address to the Congress, he is now having to again explain his aversion to volcano monitoring, an odd  thought that he slipped into his maiden national address.  You may recall that he was critical of $160 million in the stimulus package  for scientific monitoring of things that can go bang at any time, like volcanos. 

Enter Mount Redoubt, a restless volcano 100 miles south of Anchorage , Alaska, that is currently rocketing ash and dust 12 miles into the atmosphere and forcing some of Sarah Palin's constituents to wear dust masks while creating a health hazard to anything else exposed to its eruptive menace.    

The Louisiana governor must be fretting about  the timing of nature these days.  His office isn't returning phone calls from the national media.