Sunday, May 15, 2005

Malone Arrest Fall-Out Begins

In today's updated Enquirer article we get more details as to how Malone’s actions were reported to police. If you beat your child so much that they need to go to the hospital, yes folks, something is really wrong, and something criminal happened. The hospital staff will report you if you do these kinds of injuries to your children.

The most outlandish statement and one that should destroy his chances for a GOP endorsement for Mayor go to former councilman Charlie Winburn:
"When kids are unruly, parents have to be responsible," said Charlie Winburn, a longtime friend of Malone's family and a former councilman. "Sam is a great, responsible father. He ought to be commended for disciplining his child."
Now, I might give Charlie the benefit of the doubt only if he did not know of the details in the article, like the kid having to go to the hospital after being beaten by his father. If he knew about that and other details reported in the media, then Winburn is a monster to think that a person should be "commended" for beating a teenager. We don't live in the 18th Century Mr. Winburn.

Alicia Reece's comments should have just been to offer "no comment," but they were generally neutral, with a hint of what Winburn said.

The big hat tip goes to Republican Pete Witte. According to the article Pete called for Malone to resign. That is an extremely courageous thing to do, it is the right thing to do, and after the initial run of facts, I think it spells doom for Sam Malone's career. More facts could come out to change things, but with the information presented by medical personnel, the police, and no denial from Malone of doing the beating, the evidence is stacked against Malone. Therefore Witte's stance will become I believe the stance of the majority of Republicans. If not, then the Dems have an issue. It would be a gutter issue to use, and might in the end backfire if used incorrectly, but a subtle slam against any candidate, like Winburn, who supported Malone would be effective. A full attack on Sam Malone would be not only be fair, it would be the right thing to do.

GOP County leader Mike Barrett's response was not courageous like Pete Witte's, but he gave the totally neutral line that he had to give to the press at this point. It is only a matter of time however before Barrett will have to change his tone and then the Party will have start to pressure Malone to resign. If they don't, Leslie Ghiz may be the only endorsed Republican on council next year.

I wonder when we will get a comment from the CCV, Malone was their man on council after all.

More from WCPO here and here. It appears the rest of the local mainstream news media took the weekend off.

UPDATE: WLWT has more. It hasn't made the AP Wire yet to my knowledge.

UPDATE#2: Nick Spencer comments and joins Pete Witte in calling for Malone to resign now.

6 comments:

  1. The first assumption in your argument is that the kid "needed" to go to the hospital. So your criteria that need was required is not necessarily present.

    Pulp relies on newspaper articles to develope his passionate position and , especially in Cincinnati, that is really dumb.

    The word "beat" has a lot of degrees. I was "beat" by my parents, teachers, priests, nuns and some acquaintances. Only the acquaintances' acts did I find unjustified and deserving of retaliation or resentment. This idea that a kid should never be beat is naive. Given our society, I don't think it is consistent or even natural.

    We refuse to convict cop for brutality. We have the death penalty. We bomb civilians. Our soldiers shoot citizens if they can feel the meagerest of a threat. We enjoy cop shows where the cop are constantly abusing the constitutional of citizens. We adore violence in hockey games and other sports. We don't care that millions die every year in African countries. We don't prosecute assaults between children, adults, bullies, drunks, wives, etc. We don't really care as much if it is black against black as we do for black against white or even white against white for that matter. And now your indignant over a kid getting "beat"?

    Perhaps Malone was over the edge but I still recall when my mother dicovered the effectivness of the rubber hose from the enema bag. Up until that point, spanking was literally more painful for my mother than me.

    I also remember coming home and finding my son playing in the woods across the street from my house after being told never to enter the street or cross it. I beat his ass hard. It had been less than a month since I had to handle a case where a child in College Hill was turned into a vegetable after being hit by a car. My son never ever went into the street after that until he was much older.

    I don't know the circumstances or thoughts that played a part in the Malone incident, but then I may not be as smart as Pulp and the rest of you.

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  2. When I was a child my family would travel to Breathitt county Kentucky where my mother was born. Grandpa and Grandma lived across a hollow from the road. To get there you had to cross on a swinging bridge. My father, fearful I’d fall off, (as I recall he had difficultly walking across), had told me to never ride a bike across. One summer when I was 8 or 9 years-old, ignoring my father’s command, I courageously crossed the swinging bridge on a borrowed bicycle.

    My father was sitting on the porch with my mothers father watching as I rode across. He came after me pulling off his belt, he beat me with the belt yelling “I told you to never do that!” I’ve never forgotten what grandpa told my dad when he dragged me back to the house, he said “Harry, the only person’s gotta hit a kid is one that can’t out smart em”.

    Beating a kid with a belt don’t do no good, so help me I know.

    Sam Malone is no different than my father, for that matter no different than many school-aged friends father’s I’ve known. Oh how this country has changed, if I had a dime for every swat I received in high school I’d be a rich man. In my day no self respecting kid would run off to the hospital, no, back in my day it was more like, “you done already? I was wonderin’ when you was gonna start!”

    What has changed is how the government intrudes in every aspect of our lives. Now grandpa would’ve rushed me to the hospital where the doctors, by state law, would summon the police. Or my mother’s sister, (she never has liked my dad), could just dial up 241-kids.

    Government intrusion has turned people against each other. These days you disapprove how someone disciplines their child, or where they park their car, or long their grass is, or how many and what type of pets they keep, so on and so forth, help is as near as your phone. The state will gladly step in sending out an agent who‘s “only doing their job” to arrest, or at the least cite to court.

    The people who rule us, who call themselves our government, understand the basic fact that keeping people distrusting and fearful of one another allows them control. They exploit and cultivate this basic fact.

    Things were different back when I was a child, neighbors knew each other, had block parties, everyone watched over his neighbors children. When disagreements arouse these people worked it out among themselves.

    Groups of people with common bonds, people who know each other are difficult to control. Our government understands this cultivating distrust and jealousy between it’s citizens for control. No better way to instill distrust and jealousy between neighbors than calling the armed agents of the state to settle disagreements.

    Sam Malone is a state wrestling champion, a Golden Gloves boxing champ and a power-lifter. He won awards as a Navy boxing champion! A few lashes with a belt can hardly be thought of as being “out of control” If an out of control power-lifting Navy boxer went after a 14 year-old child I’m positive that child would be in intensive care.

    I think this cities heart is in the ice house. Sam Malone lost his wife two years-ago in a tragic auto accident, his sons mother is gone. Now his spiteful envious sister-in-law is using the state to try and discredit him. And all this community wants to do is gaze out the window, throw it’s hands up and say “he’s an out of control bully”

    Well to Mr. Malone and his son I say my heart goes out to you, if you were my neighbor I’d be there for you. There’s still some kind Humans out here.

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  3. Sam Malone did not loose his wife in a car accident, they were never married and broke up soon after he learned she was pregnant. And they only had one son together. Mr. Malone was only seeing his son every other weekend by the wishes of their sons mother and by court order, and that's only if he actually showed up to pick him up. Please get the facts straight.

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  4. NO! NO! NO! we're talking about the Sam Malone on City council, not that guy on cheers! Anyways, all movie stars lead that life style so who cares?

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  5. His Golden Glove "championship" is a lie. Yes, it is stated on his little city council bio. Doesn't mean it's true.

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Don't be an idiot or your comment will be deleted.