The Cantonese chorus responds to Mt. Denali

Did you see that President Obama's renaming of Mt. McKinley up in Alaska was called  a "political stunt" ?  You could find "stunt" in big letters on the Beacon Journal's front page, courtesy of an "irritated" former Rep. Ralph Regula, 90,  a Republican from Navarre who has fought the name-change idea well before Obama  entered office.

It figured.  Obama's opponents have found him to be a convenient lightning rod for anything that goes wrong in our daily lives, from rain delays in baseball games to pie crust that sticks to the pan.  In this instance, however, the president's co-conspirator is Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a  Republican who introduced legislation  in January to change the name to Mt. Denali.  (Her name never appeared in either BJ  story this morning.) She had this to say about Obama's "stunt":

"For generations Alaskans have known this majestic mountain  as 'the great one'.   I'd like to thank the president for working with us to achieve this significant change to show  honor, respect and gratitude  to the Athabascan people of Alaska."

 In the two long BJ articles, however, I did read of how other Buckeye Republicans wailed at Obama's action to placate those constituents who might want to pile on. .  Rep.  Bob Gibbs, of Lakeville, called it an "insult to all Ohioans" .  Rep. Jim Renacci, of Wadsworth, said Obama was guilty of diminishing the nation's "values"  - as if the GOP controlled Congress hadn't already done so.  Sen.Rob Portman a Cincinnatian who tagged along for the ride, wasn't very happy either.  Nor was Gov. John Kasich.

Unsurprisingly, some of the strongest complaints came from McKinley's adopted hometown of Canton, a name which has Chinese roots thanks to a surveyor named Bezaleel Wells in the early 1800s.  Canton is the traditional name of Guangzhou,  China. But we can't  imagine any Ohio city named  Guangzhou. The mountain was later tagged  for McKinley.

I have a solution to mollify the outraged  governor.  Why not name one of those  Indian mounds in Ohio after the governor.  Mound Kasich?  

That's not a typo.

Rep. Peter Beck standing his ground in another way

State Rep. Peter Beck, a right-wing Republican from Mason, Oh., is a co-sponsor of a Stand Your Ground piece of legislation in Columbus and maybe not a moment too soon.  He's the guy who was just indicted on 16 felony charges of securities fraud and could  be standing on less agreeable ground for years if convicted.

Not being geographically correct, I looked up Mason and found it to be just north of Cincinnati.  It once again upheld southwestern  Ohio's miserable record of sending  wingies into public service.  Mason also is the home of the Voice of America Museum,  which is not something Beck is in any position to brag about given the awful mess he's in.

According to Beck's lawyer, Konrad Kircher, his client is prepared to offer a "vigorous defense" when the case reaches the courtroom. Not original, but what else can a  defense lawyer say?

As for the Stand your Ground proposal, it was headed by Republican State Rep. Terry Johnson, who is from McDermott ( pop. ca. 400), down in Scioto County  north of Portsmouth.  We're told,  however,  that it does  have a Post Office.

Geography is becoming far more important in Ohio these days as the state retreats into an agrarian society. There is growing evidence of the handiwork of the legislative rustics  who are setting the pace  for your state and mine.  As we've noted in previous posts, even the Ohio Republican Party prefers landscapes with barns.






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Tale of two Americas, Romney style

TWO VIEWS OF AMERICA:

From the June 12, 2012 New York Times quoting Mitt Romney on his notion that we don't need more cops, firefighters or teachers:

"[The president] wants another stimulus, he wants to hire more government workers.  He says we  need more firemen,  more policemen, more teachers.   Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It's time for us to cut back on government and help the American people." - Mitt Romney

From  the Oct. 5 Akron Beacon Journal, reporting the fire that destroyed  the Father's House Church in Norton:

"It was a small fire that had plenty of opportunity to grow before we could get there," Chief Mike Schultz said of the blaze that started about 11 p.m. ...Our efforts were pretty much hampered because we had a longer response time and no personnel."

Failed levies have forced the station to close without on-duty personnel from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Note to Mitt:  Got any other ideas on "helping the American people?

Whatever turns a killer on...

Columbia Journalism Review, one of  the few remaining guardians of lucid journalism, offers this headline from the The Messenger, of Athens, Oh:

Police:  Dismembered woman lived with killer