This guy is unreal.
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From the monthly archives:
July 2007
EOG magazine has done some grading of Congressmen For and Against Online Gambling. “The higher the letter grade, such as an A+, the more favorable the candidate is towards online gambling.”
Here’s how some of Ohio’s Representatives did:
Tim Ryan [D]: A
Dennis Kucinich [D] and Pat Tiberi [R]: A-
Stephanie Tubbs Jones [D]: B
Steven Chabot [R], David Hobson [R] and Ralph Regula [R]: F*
John Boehner [R] and Paul Gillmor [R]: F
And here’s what I don’t understand: how can someone like John Boehner, with a strong pro-business reputation, take such a strong anti-business stand on an issue like this?
What ever happened to keeping government out of our lives?
It’s issues like this, that pit the social conservatives against the libertarians, that are going to tear the Republican party apart.
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If you thought David Brennan was only trying to influence Ohio politicians, think again.
Brennan’s White Hat Management group, an Akron-based, for-profit charter school company, “currently operates schools in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania” and is building schools in “Texas, New Mexico, Indiana, New York and other states across the US.”
And it looks like he’s trying to use campaign contributions to influence politicians in those states just like he’s been doing in Ohio.
According to an article in today’s Denver Post:
A liberal activist group on Monday accused Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer of selling his vote on the Colorado State Board of Education to the owner of a charter school company.
ProgressNowAction contends that Schaffer rewarded a campaign contributor, David Brennan, with a vote in favor of Brennan’s company, White Hat Management.
Schaffer’s response?
The fact of the matter is the poor and underserved children who are dropouts or have been rejected by Denver Public Schools are far from the highest donors to my campaign
Huh?
So you would have sold your vote to poor kids if they could have come up with more money?
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There’s been a lot of talking about Strickland being a possible running mate for one of the Democratic candidates and an article in yesterday’s Washington Post does a good job explaining why:
Among Democrats, Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio is starting to generate some buzz. Hardly a surprise, since Ohio will be a hugely important swing state in 2008. But check out these other vital statistics about Strickland. He’s the son of a steelworker. He’s a former Methodist minister. He has cut taxes. As a House member, he earned an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association. But he supports abortion rights and universal health care.
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The Plain Dealer ran a ridiculous editorial piece on Sunday accusing the Strickland administration of “siphoning … millions for pet projects” because they are using Third Frontier money for the broadband initiative Strickland promised to voters during the campaign.
I was just getting up the energy to write about it when I read Bill Callahan’s post on the topic. He covers everything I was going to say and more…
Third Frontier Broadband Money: What We Voted For
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PBS provides evidence of the GOP fixing the election here in Ohio. Of course, this will be ignored because of “media bias”.
Was there a White House plot to illegally suppress votes in 2004? Is there a similar plan for the upcoming elections? This week NOW examines documents and evidence that points to a Republican Party plan designed to keep Democrats from voting, allegedly by targeting people based on their race and ethnicity with key battleground states like Ohio and Florida of particular interest. “It was a partisan, discriminatory attempt to challenge voters of color,” Eddie Hailes, a senior attorney for The Advancement Project, a civil rights group, told NOW.
Was the White House involved? David Iglesias, one of the fired U.S. Attorneys, thinks so: “It’s reprehensible. It’s unethical, it’s unlawful. It may very well be criminal.” Iglesias told NOW he was repeatedly urged by his superiors at the Justice Department to investigate allegations of false voter registrations. After his investigations came up short, Iglesias said Republican officials got angry and complained to White House aide Karl Rove. Soon after Iglesias lost his job. As a result of allegations by Iglesias and others, Congress is investigating whether the White House acted unlawfully.
While Attorney General Alberto Gonzales refused to answer many questions about the controversy as he testified before the Senate this week, Iglesias told NOW he believes the White House is keeping documents from Congress to protect the Bush Administration. “That’s why there has been such a circling of the wagons around Karl Rove and Harriet Miers and Sarah Taylor. I believe there to be incriminating, possibly criminally incriminating evidence contained in those e-mails and other memoranda,” he said.
You can view the entire video online.
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So it turns out that Rudy and Mitt are pulling out of the planned YouTube/CNN Republican Debate.
So much for the questions that I was planning to submit.
For example:
Mr. Giuliani: Which of the current democratic candidates do you believe hates america most?
and…
Mr. Romney: Given than you want to make abortion illegal, how long do you think a woman having an abortion should spend in prison?
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I was never a big John Mayer fan in the past, but I absolutely love this song. And if it offends you, you suck.
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I saw this on CNN the other day. Watch it a couple of times- it gets more funny each time…
So what do YOU think… Is the reporter squatting down for some reason? Is he sitting on a sinking chair? Did the camera guy just get lazy?
Not sure. But it’s still pretty funny.
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Give it up for Governor Strickland, folks. More internet access means more blog readers…
Governor Establishes Broadband Ohio Network To Expand High Speed Internet Access in Ohio
In order to coordinate and expand access to the state’s broadband data network, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has signed an executive order establishing the Ohio Broadband Council and the Broadband Ohio Network.
The order directs the Ohio Broadband Council to coordinate efforts to extend access to the Broadband Ohio Network to every county in Ohio. And the order allows public and private entities to tap into the Broadband Ohio Network – all with a goal of expanding access to high-speed internet service in parts of the state that presently don’t have such service.
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Long awaited and long promised, the PlunderTee is here! Long ago when I coined the term “Plundercrew” (before Jerid’s apt Plundermonkey), I promised those on the crew T-shirts. Well, not only did I deliver for them – I’ve delivered for you. These are going to be hot kids. HOT! I had 20 made and before I could even get home was down 4. There are currently only 10 in inventory and I’m sure they won’t last long at Bloggapalooza, but never fear. We’ll make more.
If you’ll be at the ‘plooza you can get one there. Hope to see you. If you are not, you can order one online quickly and easily. I’d like to thank ELK promotions who did an outstanding job on these. If you ever have promotional needs, these guys pretty much rock.
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I’m sorry, I couldn’t let this slide. Maybe it has something to do with the last name? From Pandagon:
Janet Folger, head of Faith2Action, wrote a completely unhinged column at WorldNetDaily in support of the madness of homophobic Mayor Jim Naugle, who wanted to install $250K autocleaning toilets to prevent the nonexistent gay sex that occurs in the public beach restrooms.
The Homosexual Agenda’s opposition to Naugle, in her mind, is that the LGBT community and its allies are proponents of nonstop man-on-man sex in beach restrooms. [Oh, nevermind Naugle’s decade-long obsession with gays and how he believes they are going to take over the city.]
Scratch out the words “Mayor” and “Jim”, and you’d think they were talking about our own Matty. Go on – try it for yourself! I’ll wait while you find the white-out and apply it to the appropriate portion of your screen.
Done?
Check this video out too. Funny stuff. (Somebody’s not very good with the ol’ PowerPoint!)
Hit Pandagon for all the relevant context, plus links to “Naugles”.
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In case you couldn’t tell, I’m a fan of lists.
So here’s one more for you…
The latest issue of the Other Paper has a list of Best Of Columbus top picks made by the paper’s readers.
Readers voted Governor Ted Strickland the top Democratic Politician and State Senator Steve Stivers the top Republican Politician.
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Senator Brown didn’t make the top 10 list, but he was listed as one of the top 50 in The Hill.com’s 50 Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill
…
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)
Age: 54
Hometown: Mansfield, Ohio
Political party: Democrat
Dating status: Married to wife, Connie SchultzOhio’s Democratic senator may not be as sharply dressed as his home-state colleague, House GOP leader John Boehner, or as smoothly polished as another Midwestern freshman, Barack Obama of Illinois. But Sherrod Brown’s combination of rumpled cool and passionate progressivism makes him the unsung beauty of the upper chamber.
For proof of Brown’s stealthy sex appeal, look no further than the new campaign memoir of his wife, Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Connie Schultz. Her tome, …And His Lovely Wife, chronicles Brown’s rise from seven-term House member to senator—and his dedication to making his marriage to Schultz even stronger in the process.
Brown leaves his wife love notes, takes her to the theater, serenades her with the Beatles, and manages to seem winning even while driving her crazy. After all, how could a woman not fall for an workers’-rights advocate who wears a pin with a canary in a cage instead of the ubiquitous American flag, all while lovingly calling his wife “baby”?
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Montgomery County BOE reconsiders allowing pollworkers to wear “right to life” shirts
by Lorraine on July 27, 2007 · Comments
When I finally got close to the front of the line at my polling place in 2004, a pollworker told me to cover my T-shirt. It had the words “Vote Explosion” on it.
Seeing as I had nothing to cover it with and had just spent 3 hours in line, I politely pointed out that there was no partisanship expressed by the shirt. Vote Explosion was just a loose group of friends registering folks to vote at rock shows. She replied that they were trying to avoid even the slightest possible implication of impropriety.
OK, fair enough. Polling places are supposed to be inner sanctums of nonpartisanhip. Neither voters nor pollworkers may wear political shirts, stickers, or buttons within a 100 foot radius. Although the words “Vote Explosion” aren’t explicitly partisan, neither are the words “Eagle Forum” or “MoveOn.” I think it was a wise move to err on the side of overzealousness, and simply prohibit T-shirts bearing all of the above.
The guy behind me in line loaned me his sweatshirt, and I was able to step forth to express my partisanship in the privacy of the voting booth. As an ongoing tribute of thanks to sweatshirt guy, ever since that day I’ve stowed an extra large, plain T-shirt in my purse whenever I go to vote – just in case a fellow voter is asked to cover up.
Until I read Monday’s Columbus Dispatch, it had never occurred to me that I might someday want to offer my spare shirt to a pollworker.
As part of its “Day of Democracy” effort to fill 2,200 pollworker spots in 548 precincts, Montgomery County Board of Elections deputy director Betty Smith told Dayton Right to Life executive director Christi Dodson that the organization’s logo would be permitted to be emblazoned on the chests of pollworkers.
According to the Dayton Daily News, “although Right to Life sent people to work at the polls in May, none wore the group’s shirts because they were not ready, said Christi Dodson, executive director.”
Did Smith think that as long as all the organizations that produced pollworkers were allowed to wear their t-shirts, it would be o.k.? Equal opportunity and such?
Betty Smith obviously showed unacceptable ignorance and lack of good judgment, but equally culpable are organizations that took her up on the offer. Leaders of any politically-oriented organization should know better than to participate in this “marketing” plan. But Dodson, executive director of Dayton Right To Life, was prepared to take the opportunity a step further. In reference to her organization’s members who would be acting as pollworkers on election day (italics mine):
Well, that got the attention of the good folks of the Montgomery County BOE. I’m not sure where they all were back when the “Day of Democracy” program was approved, but anyway:
I can think of one cause that is appropriate for pollworkers to champion on election day: upholding the letter and spirit of election laws. That includes maintaining an atmosphere of impartiality. Anyone who is incapable of that has no business being a pollworker.
Which brings us back to the chronic pollworker shortage, which unfortunately is not limited to Montgomery County. Here in Franklin the BOE has over 5,000 spots to fill. Cuyahoga County needs 3,000 poll workers.
So I’m going to be a pollworker November 6 and I assure you I won’t be wearing my Vote Explosion shirt. Or my Planned Parenthood pin. Heck, just for kicks I might even make sure I’m not wearing pink, orange, or black.
It will be tough to keep my opinionated nature under wraps for a full day, but I’m up to the challenge. If you’re up for it too, please join me – sign up to be a pollworker. Click here for a full list of county Boards of Elections.
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