The mice are again roaring at President Obama

Reposted from Plunderbund

Well,the mice are roaring again.

Instead of Benghazi, it's  Ukraine.  They've discovered a new level of hell in which to punish President Obama by demoting him from Tyrant-Dictator-King to the depths of weak, naive pushover in a one-on-one with Putin. It is an irresistible opportunity  for the mice to roar  as they often do minutes after daybreak when  Obama heads for the office.

There was, for example, John McCain, pathetically still trying to stand his ground  after  his own Arizona Republican Party has censured him for being "too liberal".  Rising before a TV camera with arms flaring, McCain heatedly described the President as the "most naive president in history." (Speaking  of superlatives, you have to wonder  whether McCain wasn't the most naive presidential candidate in history  by posting Sarah Palin on his ticket. It's perfectly normal to quake when you think about it. )

Others took the time to roar  that Obama was a wimp.  From Benghazi to Ukraine, growled Sen.Lindsey Graham,  the GOP whiner-in-chief, Obama has shown weakness that will invite more retreats from around the world.  Michelle Bachman and  Palin, the latter with the best view of Putin from her front porch,  added their apocalyptic voices to the chorus in their usual sassy look-at-me style. And I had to wonder whose idea it  was to haul out dead-ender Rudy Giuliani   on TV with his worldly roaring mouse schtick.

Truculence is clearly the order of  the day for this bunch, even if they never bother to explain what we should do to scare off Putin.  As with Obamacare, immigration, the economy and all of the other issues, the mice live in the pale luxury of never proposing solutions while screaming  Obama down the road.

 Still, Obama might try to shut them up  by beating them at their own game with a macho display perfected by George W. Bush.  He could head out to  an aircraft carrier in the Pacific in a fighter pilot's regalia to exclaim Mission Accomplished.  That might even work better than luring these creatures with cheese.

The rush is on to host a presidential convention

Every four years, as if I need remind you,  America stages a presidential election.  That's as it should be in a democratic society. But there is a downside.

A couple of years before the Big Event, like now, local city officials start beating the drums to convince the national parties that they would be fools not to choose, say, Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati  or maybe even  Lima in case of a tie. Seldom does anyone  say a city would have an enormous positive effect on the party trying to come to its senses to  nominate a winning ticket.

Instead the sales message is that there is no better place to enjoy a week away from home in a city thriving with 5-star restaurants, hotel rooms, ripping night life,   congenial hosts and unspeakable diversions (often on the prowl).

It can quickly get out of hand.  Years ago, Cleveland Mayor Ralph Perk, faced with a shortage of hotel rooms that would have forced some of the visitors to bed down in, say, Coshocton,  promised to dock an ocean liner on Lake Erie  near downtown.  The idea sank without lifeboats.  But Perk did get a few style points to impress his people that he was trying.

But conventions have changed and leave little in doubt,  with the nominee already chosen in the primaries.  The delegates come well prepared to escape the boredom of so much grandstanding in front of the nearest tv camera..

 The last ones that I covered were  preceded by my bouts of  depression over the uninteresting things that I was paid to write about.   The late Jack Germond, a perceptive old hand at reporting these events, conceded over spirits one night  that he had just written  a column for his paper that was addressed to his mother.    He wanted her to know that "we're fooling the readers again by suggesting something of  substance was happening."  Dick Feagler, at a loss for a column idea,  finally paid the bartender and went outside  to interview a horse. Gov. Rhodes was so bored that he wrote a column about me that, I must admit, was one of the funnier pieces to leave the convention.

Hope this gives you a little taste of  what the convention fuss is all about. Now let me tell you about the great Bar-B-Q spot in Detroit...

.









.

Are bobblehead dolls becoming the new gold watches?

News of the arrival  of a bobblehead doll in the likeness (sort of, if you only consider the black suit and yellow tie) of retiring University of Akron president Luis Proenza  may foretell a new era in which these novelties will become the traditional gold watches once handed out for long years of service.

Not that the sparkling  watch will be missed by  Proenza, who will be leaving with a future  adequately  sustained by a golden parachute that could have  easily covered the school's enormous debt.  Bon voyage

* * * * *

One of the highlights of the past week's cable shows was the appearance of neocon mogul William Kristol on  Bill Maher's Friday evening show. When Maher  asserted that much  of the opposition to President Obama was the result of his being a black man in the White House, we got a less genteel  version of the usually suave, smirking Kristol seething in a voice-over:  "That's bullshit.  That's bullshit!"

Well, now.  Is that any way for a pompous  pundit to talk?  Yet here he was, fuming as the  profound sage  who has erred so often in  facts and judgment that the New York Times was forced to rid itself  of his column.  Two egregious ones come readily to mind: a hawkish, Cheney-like  defense of America's  invasion of Iraq that he guaranteed would bring enormous glory to the U.S.; and his burdensome influence in recruiting Sarah Palin as John McCain's veep candidate.

But Kristol will continue to present himself with that self-satisfied smirk and his followers will bow  in appreciative  genuflection. In the gated realm of Kristol 's conservatism, errors of fact don't matter that much.

* * * * *

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a decision by Federal Judge John
Adams in the suit by then-Stow firefighter Anthony Rorrer  against the city of Stow.  Rorrer based his suit on a serious  eye injury suffered in an accident, blinding him in one eye.   Adams dismissed the suit.  However, the appellate court questioned Adams' handling of the case.  In a rare rebuke, the appellate court  "actually misconstrued its own discovery order"  with apparent bias toward Rorrer  and  remanded the case to the district court, calling  for another other judge to hear it.

* * * * *

Who knew? Rush Limbaugh  came on in another  racial burst after  "12 years a Slave" won the Best Film Oscar.  Rush said the picture won only because slave is a "magic word".  Anybody remember  how Rush downgraded a black NFL quarterback by accusing sportswriters of promoting African American QBs. (As I recall, a black QB led Seattle to a Super Bowl championship a few months ago.) Isn't it time that we stop referring to this crowd as the "far right" and call it instead the "far wrong"?

Ohio's pot-holed track to so-called election reform

Re-posted from Plunderbund



If you have been trying to follow the tinkering and tampering of voting rights by the Republican hoofbeaters  in Columbus these many months,  you might  have found yourself stumbling  along  a pothole-filled road in the dead of night.  Despite haloed denials by guys like Secretary of State Jon Husted that he has pointedly cooked the voting laws to shrink the turnout of  certain voters (read: minority voters) there is no evidence that supports his latest boast that he had done his "utmost to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat".  By the way, that silly notion appeared on one of his campaign's "Dear Friends" fund-raising letters. So you can see  where it might next appear on bumper stickers.

To know whether it will be easier to vote, simply ask the tens of thousands of eligible voters who will not be able to cast ballots  during Golden Week,  that extra  week that has been slashed from the law.  In 2012, as many have already pointed out, 59,000 Ohioans voted in Golden Week.   As far  as making it hard to cheat,  the GOP's hysterical rationale that there is widespread fraud at the polls has yet to be validated.

But the pain of living with these ghost stories has created an interesting clash betrween the editorial positions of the Plain Dealer and Beacon Journal, which have been existing in a kind of entente.

The Beacon Journal, a paper that once could be counted on for progressive insights, astonishingly  saw goodness  in praising  Husted for his handiwork for in-person early voting.

"The  directive is the product of Democrats and Republicans crafting a worthy compromise, putting aside the calculated outrage and hollow claims, finding a a middle ground that works for all counties," the BJ glowed.

The Plain Dealer, however,  took a strong view against the Republican nastywork.  It appeared under a headline that didn't even spare Gov. Kasich:

 GOP, abetted by Gov. Kasich, continues its shameful assault on voting rights in Ohio.

The editorial accused Husted of compounding the "assault on voting rights for early-voting hours for Ohio elections that eliminate in person voting on Sundays.  Sundays are a particularly popular time for early in-person voting among minority voters (who votes tend to go to Democrats.),"  the paper asserted.

 The PD did mention that Husted was following  a directive that "incorporates the recommendation by the bipartisan Association of Election Officials. But the PD cautioned:

"Indeed it does.  But that doesn't mean they are appropriate or - or that Republicans don't have ullterior motives in pressing them"

I would add for the benefit of the BJ that bipartisanship isn't always what it seems to be.   As for  the  Ohio Association of Election Officials, the group's  five officers,  including the president,  hold a 3-2 Republican majority. You should know that all five are from non-urban small rural counties - Delaware (2), Brown, Hancock and Fayette.

Want to guess where that thought is going?

Nothing lost by quoting the governor, right?

Reposted from Plunderbund


Supporters of Ed FitzGerald, Democratic gubernatorial  candidate, are said to be getting a little restless because Gov. Kasich is hogging all of the  news stories  and editorials in Ohio's newspapers.  Some of are even looking for shockers to grab the attention of the state's corporate editorial writers.  One idea is percolating  to the top:  Create a 30-second TV spot with Fitz taking  up where Kasich once left off.  With a police officer at his side, the Democrat would  scowl into the camera and call Kasich an idiot.

County Dems: A new chairman on deck?

Slowly, and possibly even surely, the Summit County Democratic Party appears to be reaching a consensus on its  leadership for this election year and beyond.  For months, rumors have intruded upon any discussion of where the party is headed.  Such talk usually derived from the frustration by the party's achievers of not really knowing what the next  chapter would tell them.

The puzzle led to the chairman himself, Wayne Jones, who has long delivered money and votes to his candidates but is now a  Parkinson's victim that limits his presence in the arena.  Ironically, the illness is the one matter that co-exists with his Republican rival, Alex Arshinkoff, whose mobility has been seriously limted since an auto accident.

As recently as a few days ago, some Democratic insiders were telling me  that Jones would definitely seek reelection;   others said he would not, and several weren't sure one way of the other.  Furthermore, most lamented that it was a delicate issue because nobody wanted to force him out on the basis of his infirmity.

So I called  Jones yesterday afternoon and asked him point blank: Are you running?

He replied:  "Probably not".  End of conversation. Got that, undecided Democrats?

I'm told by a few others that it's a "done deal':  Jones will remain on the Board of Elections and at-large city councilman Jeff Fusco will become the new chairman although board membership normally is accorded the chairman.  With so many Democrats in office hereabouts, however,  there could be a half-dozen more candidates for the job when the party central committee meets in May to elect a new leader.

Never the most disciplined souls when it comes to party politics, Democrats can be quite independently free-spirited when the the moment calls for cohesion.    As for Fusco, the city's former deputy service director, he said he's willing to take on the  chairmanship, adding that he wanted to serve in whatever way would benefit the party and the community.

From a political writers' standpoint, glad that all of this is settled.   Or so it seems.

Kasich came and went. Can we now talk about reality?

Reposted from plunderbund: 


Well, we managed to get through  the governor's State of the State speech unscathed in the comfort of our home with nary a word of parting seas. (If you missed his arrival in Medina,  I can report that it was in all of the papers, just as he had planned it.)

The pageantry far exceeded the accuracy of Kasich's assessment of the actual state of the state, which was sort of a spin-off of Voltaire's Dr. Pangloss, the rosiest soul among fictional characters. It began with  the first notice that the governor had chosen the Republican Town of Towns as his visible launching  pad for re-election - no small concession to hometowner Bill Batchelder, the retiring Ohio House speaker.

The buildup of Medina's small-town recognition for  such an event soon assumed a merry life of its own.   The medieval aspects of the governor's entry into town (as  shown in the French art here)  reflected what was once called "royal entry"  with an endless  line of  trumpeted fanfares, caparisoned  horses and, of course, the king himself lofted in full bejeweled regalia in the sheltered kiosk above the procession.

Departures are never recorded by classical artists, although the awed media told us about it the next day in Olympian terms.  The Beacon Journal, enjoying the bottom-line benefit of not having to spring a  reporter or two to yet-to-be discovered places in southern Ohio, took up a large  portion of the front page and a full page of photos and stories inside to report the governor's vision of the Ohio Miracle  during  his stay in the governor's office today and possibly for at least five more years.

Such grandiose occasions, complete with the entire General Assembly and doting locals   seated within eye contact, seldom deal with realities. You needed only to see the Beacon Journal's' day-after Page One headline to note the disconnect:

                                   Kasich talks education, jobs. 

 Talking education by the governor has meant his enthusiastic support of charter schools  sapping the public arena after he sternly issued a long-term threat to the education lobby to get out of his way when he first arrived on the scene from a Wall Street and Fox News job  nearly four years ago.

Jobs?  Is it nit-picking to mention  the state has fallen to 47th place in providing private  sector jobs?  The governor is forever confident that Ohioans are too dumb (or lazy) to do the math.

Well, he's had his vastly overripe royal entry into another campaign. It has been generously exclaimed by the media.  And yes, I rained on his parade.   Should we now see him get down to confronting all of his unfinished business as the state's CEO without the blaring fanfare of the moment?  I wouldn't count on it.

The ordeal of diving into the Republican Party Part II

As I mentioned to you earlier in my exclusive report, I am converting to the Republican Party.  Update:

I went to the Board of Elections fully prepared to change parties   with valid credentials as an American citizen.  Among the many documents I handed to the clerk were a letter from the library that I was not in arrears on overdue  book fines; a dog-eared copy of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged;  a snapshot of Ronald Reagan in a Hollywood Air Force uniform;  a birth certificate signed by the police chief in my hometown; an honorable discharge from the Air Force; before-and-after photo IDs of when I had a full head of hair; an invitation to speak at Kiwanis luncheon;  and a note from my childhood doctor  clearing me of mumps.

"Have you ever been out of the country?" a suspicious clerk asked me.

''Yes," I replied, meekly.  "A number of times to Italy."

"Hmmm..." she said with a frown,  writing in her tablet. "Have you ever been on death row?"

"Whooaa..."

"Why do you want to be a Republican?"

"I want to move in different circles," I stressed.    "Get an appointment to a well-paid job.  Share golf stories with the guys at  the club.  Be invited to a fancy dinner for no good reason.  Be around people who can tell me how hedge funds work."

She continued to take notes.

"Do you have a sponsor for this game-changer in your life?"

"I need a sponsor?"

"I'm afraid so, sir.  We have no way of knowing that you won't be a spy for the other party. Moles are everywhere these days."

"But I explained why I want to be a Republican---"

"How much are you pledging to donate to the party up front?"

"Donate? I'm not even a member yet."

"It's earnest money, sir."

"Well..."

"Thank you for coming in," she said impatiently.  "We will forward your request to the chairman, who will get it back to us in 45 to 60 days. He's a very busy man, you know."

"Wha---."

"Your telephone number will suffice. We'll call you if and when you are validated. Even if you are, there will be a six-month  probationary period, or the receipt of a large check to the party  - whichever comes first."

"Large check???"

"We accept Visa and Master Card."

Is keynoter Laura Ingraham ever 'not political'?

Akron General Health System's centennial celebration this week produced, if nothing else, an odd public relations failure with a remarkably poor antidote  for whatever ails health care today.

In short, it invited a widely known right-wing TV commentator to be its keynote speaker and paid her well.   Yep.  Laura Ingraham, she of Fox News and all of the journalistic darkness that such employment portends.

No fool to blow such a festive opportunity, Ingraham struck her sword at Obamacare.  According to the Beacon Journal, she asserted:  "I would say that Obamacare is the most glaring example of government overreach [read: President Obama] that I've seen probably in my lifetime."

In a city with a long progressive health care tradition, I'd say her invitation was the sort of overreach that served only the partisan speaker and her hosts.  There was nothing in her attack mode for the Democratic leaders in the audience or the new health insurance applicants around town. Talk  about public relations! (I did today with two former veteran PR guys from the rubber companies.  Both said they were astonished by  the choice of Ingraham).   Is anybody having any fun yet?

The hospital's president and chief executive, Dr. Thomas "Tim"  Stover, described Ingraham as "dynamic", but made the situation worse with a strategic retreat by saying:
"It wasn't anything political".  Even when you stand at the podium  blasting President Obama's calling-card  initiative?

 It wouldn't  have been more political had Ingraham been led to the podium arm-in-arm with  Mitch McConnell and  John Boehner.

Time for some triage called Damage Control 101.

Major disclosure: I will be a Republican!

OK! That's it!  I'm heading down to the Summit Count Board of Elections to register as  a Republican.  (Which will finally satisfy my late father and let him rest in peace.)

I've been tinkering with the idea ever since they started paying GOP chairman Alex Arshinkoff $10,000 a month to be a University of Akron lobbyist.  And after Bryan Williams (Alex's heir-apparent as chairman?)  landed on the county Board of Elections  following his resignation as a board member  of the State Department of Education under fire for a conflict of interest.   After all, I have to eat, too.

But the decisive point in driving me into the land of the enemy  was the announcement  that Don Robart,  the recently defeated ex-mayor of Cuyahoga Falls, has been hired as the "eyes and ears"  of Secretary of State  Jon Husted to keep book on several Northern Ohio counties for an annual fee of $40,000. As you can see, conservative distaste for public spending doesn't include the immediate family.

Well, folks.  As one who has not had a regular  pay check since I left the sagging newspaper world in the late 1990s, you should not ask why  I am so sour about certain people returning to the inglorious public trough for jobs that don't require much heavy lifting.

Robart told the Beacon Journal that he hasn't ruled out running for elective office again.  If so,  I would be interested in the eyes-and-ears job.  After all, as they say, the legs go first.