New Local Blog

Please welcome Brendan Cronin over at Spacetropic to the Cincy Blogosphere. He leans moderate and so far is focusing on national issues. He has a bio. Give him a read.

IHOP

Can anything bad happen when you go to an IHOP, outside of health problems from long term reliance oo pancakes as a source of food?

An A or and A- ?

Maggie Downs' column today states that with the passage of Issue 3 Cincinnati has passed a test. I agree, but Ohio failed with Issue 1, so the city's grade is at best tainted with the fact that over 46% of the people voted to keep Cincinnati anti-homosexual and to prevent civil unions. That number indicates that people want to keep homosexuals as second class citizens.

Maybe the metaphor I am searching for is that yes we got an A on this test, but we are still failing Humanity 101.

City Services For the Poor to Suffer

The Mayor is proposing budget cuts to programs that will hurt many people. The poor will feel it most. Fire protection Brown-Outs got headlines, but when we cut money to help food banks and women's shelters the news will be muted and the reaction from the public will be nonexistent.

Elections? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Elections

David Broder's column in the Cincinnati Post laments Florida where if you are unopposed and you don't have anyone register as a write-in against you, then you do not appear on the ballot and are automatically made the congressman. I don't know if this applies to all elections in Florida or just Federal Offices. Sounds like someone needs to reform the law. Write-in candidates should not be required to register beforehand, and the public should know who is up for election at least on election day. We have another reason to pity Florida. We in Ohio dodged a bullet this year and would have had total chaos if the vote had been a little bit closer. We still have a very small chance to have that chaos if the provisional ballots go all Kerry's way. Many still hold out hope. I don't and those that do are grasping at straws.

In Case You Missed it

What has been considered one of the most disgusting articles after the election can be read here. It has made the rounds in the blogosphere and if you haven't read it, please do and then understand why I am pissed off.

Now, I am sure that this guy's views are not in the majority among conservatives, but it surely has a significant portion and a growing segment that does feel emboldened by Bush's bare majority win. This write is the type of person I don't trust and for those who silently let him blather on don't make me feel very positive that the country will "heal."

Will the Millworks Kill Downtown?

Will the new mall coming to Oakley in 2006 kill downtown and other retail and entertainment districts around town? This will be more "upscale" so it does appeal to the Mason-Kenwood-Hyde Park crowd, so will that crowd now stay away from Downtown? Are they even going there now?

This seems to make any development for Fountain Square, the Banks, and Main Street back burner efforts.

The only question outstanding: how much will this cost tax payers? In cash, loans, or tax breaks.

UPDATE: Nick Spencer comments in support of the new delvelopment.

Someone is Lying

Warren County Officials are sticking to their guns that the threat on election day was a "10." I think someone might want to mention to someone out in Mason that the Kings Island Eiffel Tower is not real and is a fraction of the actual size.

This is ridiculous. Either the FBI is lying when it says they did not issue a threat against Warren County or that someone in Warren County was looking to make a name for them self and even keep out people from watching the vote counts at the same time.

I says this as I sit in BK, yes BK, blogging during lunch, on the edge of Warren County. This makes me want to laugh, but at the same time cry that people in public office would actually think that a rural county would be a target for terrorism. I know the Bush folks have managed to make a whole lot of people think they, even in their rural home, are targets for international terrorism. Is it possible? Yes. Is it probable, NOOOOO!!!!! People are stupid enough, and these officials show they are, to believe that terrorism is going to hit them, when there is no tangible evidence that anyone is a target out side of major cities or facilities that could cause large amounts of damage. Even then, we are still safe here. Simon Leis and Warren County folks need to take a step back and stop helping Bush mislead the country into living a perpetual state of fear and panic. We all know that is the state of society which makes it easiest to govern. If people are afraid, then they are easier to influence, which in part worked like a charm last week.

Choose and Lose

Korte reports the following from Councilman Sam Malone on who should take Pat DeWine Seat: 'The issues that were instrumental in (President Bush) maintaining his seat are critically important,' Malone said. Translation: Only rock-ribbed social conservatives need apply.Gee, I wonder what Malone will do? Malone has illustrated that he is firmly anti-homosexual, which, campers, makes him a bigot.

I for one would play the gender card on Malone if I were Ghiz. If you want the women's vote, you will do well by putting a woman on council. That might open the door for Barb Trauth, who is in Malone's right wing zone of comfort.

Nick's Picks

Nick Spencer has posted his ideal city council:

1. Me (well, come on, what did you expect?)
2. Fanon Rucker (probably not interested, but he would be great)
3. Laketa Cole (exceptional constituent service, great on Neighborhoods)
4. Jim Tarbell (Commitment to the Center City and the Arts)
5. Dave Crowley (Impeccable Character, Strong Record of Service)
6. Leslie Ghiz (smart, likeable, easy to work with)
7. Damon Lynch III (some really good ideas, represents the unheard voices of our city)
8. Pete Witte (not as bad as you might think, though he has his moments. A working class guy who cares about development and safety)
9. John Connelly (a sincere person with interesting ideas, though I certainly don't agree with many of them).

Now who does Nick leave off off the current list: Sam Malone, David Pepper, Alicia Reece, John Cranley, Chris Smitherman, and Pat Dewine.

Now DeWine got elected to the county commission, so I don't know if Nick would have left him off or not. Pepper and Reece are both likely running for Mayor. Cranley has been toying with something similar but, likely will not. The real losers are Smitherman and Malone. Smitherman gets the special knock because he and Nick both ran on the Charter ticket. Nick is a moderate Replublican and Smitherman is a Democrat, which makes the Charter label rather limited in material impact, but Smitherman has lost some significant support amongst moderates for his defense of extremist boycotters (B and some A's). Malone is a Burress Bigot, so no shock there.

I don't think I could fill out a full slate yet, but I know who on Nick's list I would not vote for: Lynch, Witte, and Connelly.

Lemmie Out?

WLWT is reporting that Cincinnati City Manager Valerie Lemmie may resign.

No official reason or other rationale was given in the report, other than "timing," which makes no sense. The article states that a new administration will be coming in soon. We have over a year before a new administration will be coming in. How is that soon?

Lemmie has been a luke warm city manager. Nothing great, but nothing bad has come down. Her tenure may be short lived, and no one seems to care if she stays or goes. She has few detractors, most outspoken are the boycotters (A and B), but they will denounce everyone even if they don’t say a thing.

I don’t think she will leave, now especially with this report out there. At best this is a trial balloon to gauge the Mayor’s or council’s reaction to see if they throw any support her way.

Enquirer Praises Elizabeth Edwards, but...

They praise her for setting an example, but they don't set an example and condemn Bill Cunningham's spiteful words.

Jailbird Bronson

Peter Bronson is carrying the water of local Sheriffs who want new jails. It takes something that Peter and others want to eliminate: Tax revenue. Jails cost money. We do need a bigger and better jail, but it takes money and it takes organization. I vote we put the jail in downtown Sharonville. That land could be much better used, and Leis could use his helicopter to shuttle the prisoners to the courthouse at will.

Stabbing Cancels Bogart's Concert

Stabbing cancels Bogart's concert but remarkably Marilyn Manson appeared at the Taft last night to little notice.

This Is the Day the 'Lord' Hath Made

The same BIGOT (big enough?) who brought you Issue 1 is now making threats against companies for supporting civil rights in the form of Issue 3. Phil and his fascist theocrats can do what they want. Boycotts rarely work. They might be looking at how Sinclair Broadcasting was brought to its knees by some liberal bloggers. Phil is cocksure, blindly bigoted, hateful, and not filled with much foresight if he think he can tangle horns with P&G on morals and win. This wanna-be Joe McCarthy is hated by many, even some porn loving conservatives, and with this stupid tact he may be the first victim of blow back in the culture wars. Over reach is what some conservatives are warning against and this is their first chance to show if they have balls.

I therefore am waiting to see how many Bush supporters out there who are disgusted by Burress will do more than just mumble under their breath at him and finally take action against a man who used hate and bigotry to get your candidate elected.

The Post Is Deaming

Wake up! Wake up sleepy head.

All of the issues the Post thinks its endorsement earned them (us in their foolish mind) will not get any attention from Bush. If we are lucky our congressman who never have done much for this area at all will actually vote for some of this stuff, but I doubt it. If we get the Brent Spence Bridge it is because it a trade route, not because it will help Downtown. If they bridge were up in West Chester, you can be sure it would be bought and paid for ten times over come 2005. Everything else on their list will not help the conservative suburbs, so no Republican will give a damn, which is true of local issues as well.

Yep, That's About Right

Moffett: Ohio voted for pulpit, not pocket:

Conservative Republicans in Cincinnati and Columbus, who may have had different ideas about the economy or war, found common ground in the fear that lesbians might commit to relationships with each other.

The only disagreement is that the fear of gay men is higher than the fear of lesbians, but that point is still valid.

Bill Cunningham is a Scumbag

Ratings whore Bill Cunningham is a jerk, but even I did not think he was this bad:

From the November 3 edition of The Sean Hannity Show:

HANNITY: They're gonna think they weren't vitriolic enough. They're gonna think they weren't mean enough and they're gonna go out there and do the same thing: Attack, attack, attack, undermine troops and the president during a time of war and that is not gonna get them elected anywhere.

CUNNINGHAM: Well, it's over because Elizabeth Edwards has now sung.

HANNITY: Oh, you know, you're cruel.

CUNNINGHAM: [Laughter]

HANNITY: No, be nice, will ya? Where -- we gotta be gracious in victory.

Cunningham should be fired. I hope Darryl Parks was listening. I am sure this will just him a raise, because no stunt is to low for WLW. This even made Hannity uncomfortable. This on the same day she is diagnosed with Breast Cancer.

[Via MediaMatters]

Nick Spencer Is Running For Council

Nick Spencer has announced he is running for Cincinnati City Council.

CiN Weekly Blog

Well, Well, Well, how should I react to this? At this point it is lighter than their normal magazine and to my surprise a real blog, not like the other filtered blogs the Enquirer has tried at the Olympics. This one actually accepts comments, which I am surprised they are doing and once I have linked to it I wonder how many of my trolls they will get making things over there a mess. Sorry if that happens.

They also have a filtered kind of blogger for a day section with readers posting mini-editorials.

The whole thing is packaged at their new hub of reader feed back.

The format of the blog is ok. One point I did not like was date was a bit small for my taste, which from my point of view tells me if their blog is up to date. The other really, really big thing missing is a BLOGROLL. The concept of interaction with other blogs or websites has not yet caught on totally. That is a mainstay of most all other blogs, but it also is something that does happens at a "professional blog" like this one, which I am sure is laden with some level of rules on content, posting, linking, excerpting, and political views.

Content wise I expect maybe a little more depth than the print version of the paper, which keeps things way to short, but I expect little actual political commentary to surface. Whether they are forbidden from doing so or just don't want to, I don't know, but I expect more personal anecdotes than personal stances on issues facing the city, state or country.

Shifting Sands

Greg Korte has written a fairly good analysis of why Article XII was voted down, but he leaves out one important fact I thought he might have determined. Overall how did the vote in the city for Issue One compare to Issue Three? He gave some examples of precincts that inexplicably voted for both Issues, but not an overall number. The numbers are not yet finalized for proper comparison, but I think an initial number should be available. CW would be that votes in the City for Issue 1 would match those against Issue 3, but that was clearly not the case in example precincts Korte listed. I plan on doing an analysis once the detail precinct vote totals are made available.

UPDATE: A commenter points out that the article does include the number of voters who voted against Issue 1 in the city and the results of the Issue 3. 52.9 against Issue 1 and 53.8 for Issue 3. These are supposed to be both of only City of Cincinnati Voters and neither number includes provisional ballots. The phrasing in the article is not as clear as I would have liked, but when it is pointed out to me I can see it there, hidden behind a reference to Hamilton County.

Bronson: Bite Me

Sorry Peter, I for one will not now or will I ever worship at the alter of Bush where you perform your best journalistic fellatio.

If you expect us to love your president, then you are smoking pot again. It has been almost 4 years since Clinton left office Peter and you still blame him for everything. By the way you have lost your privilege of blaming any Democrat for anything bad that happens on a national scale. Everything will now be Bush's and the Rest of the Republican’s fault, so don't even try blaming Clinton for it. Bush has had all the chance he needed to change the "bad" things in government and foreign policy, so don't even try it. If you do, I will be sure to make sure everyone know you are doing what you blame us for doing, in other words: Get over Clinton.

Also Peter, your team is the hate crowd. I know you think you are loving gays when you oppress them with Issue 1 and your groups that try to "Convert" them, but no matter how much you delude yourself, you are still pushing hate and are.....

wait for it.......

a bigot.

The hate used to stir up fear is what many are calling the real "winning" issue. That is the, you know, kill Muslims attitude that is becoming common place. That is the fear and hate that was created and focused by BushCo in his quest to exploit the 9/11 events to his full advantage. What is more hateful: using a desire for revenge as a catalyst for war or using 3,000 dead people to get elected? I guess 100,000 dead people is not enough to quell the blood lust. This week we are likely to ad to that death toll, as well as the American Toll grows.

Peter, we are never going to agree on a damn thing and Bush does not want agreement, what he wants is assent. He ran on division and will do what he wants without consideration of any Democrat. This President has no intention of acting in my best interest or to fight for the ideas I believe in. He therefore will never get my assent. I shall never stand silently and let the man destroy the county I live in, that destruction which began back in 2001. I don’t know why anyone thinks anyone like myself would ever go quietly into the night. Culture War was declared and in my little way here on my blog I will be waging it right back in BushCo’s and his minion’s face.

Nate's Tea Leaves

Nate is reading the GOP tea leaves and his emotional state is constantly in question, but he put out a game of musical chairs that is worth note:

• Lt. Gov. Jeanette Bradley will take control of the Treasurer's Office.
• Congressman Rob Portman will leave Congress and become the Lt. Governor.
• President Bush will quickly appoint Gov. Taft to some position in Washington and Portman becomes the Governor. (President Bush will tell Ken Blackwell, Betty Montgomery, and Jim Petro to be good boys and girls and do what's best for the party by supporting Gov. Portman and either staying in their current - elected I might add - job thus ending the almost-assuredly nasty, Republican - dividing fight for Governor.)
• State Rep. Tom Brinkman (who was at last night's citywide public safety summit and IS NOT a source for this blog entry) becomes the 2nd District's Congressman.
• Blue Chip Review's Steve Fritsch is asked to kill his plans to run for City Council and takes Brinkman's place in the General Assembly.
• There is no word on who becomes the Lt. Governor.
  

The first point Nate makes I think will come true. Portman, instead of Taft, I think will be plucked into BushCo. Brinkman will want the seat, but he will have to get elected to it. Phil Heimlich may want to challenge him. Hopefully some other more sane Republican will go for it or better yet a good Democrat takes on Brinkman. Who that would be I don't know. Brinkman is an extremist who does not have that many friends in the GOP. He would have to get money from outside the area. Hopefully the attention a special election would get would give the Democrat enough cash to show Brinkman's extreme positions. I just hope that Charles Sanders is not the only person the Dems can run.

Listing Steve Fritch is rather laughable. I wonder if Nate is trying to suck up to Steve for some unknown reason. Yes, strange bedfellows indeed.

Rucker for Mayor? No....

Rumors from Tim Burke notwithstanding, I see no scenario in which Fanon Rucker would challenge Mark Mallory for Mayor. What I think Rucker will do is run for City Council and win easily. He hopefully can knock of Sam Malone. The GOP will not have as good a luck inside the City next year, so they will be lucky to keep the seats they have, unless they get Damon Lynch to become a Republican, again.

Moron Editors

What kind of totally moronic Enquirer editors would allow this article to appear and not mention celebrity politicians like Reagan and Arnold? Oh, right, a Republican editor would do such a thing.

He Loves Bigots!

Tim at "Blurredbrain" seems to be a bit upset that I and other liberals are pissed off at his loved ones for voting for a bigot and either voting for the oppression of human beings (gay marriage ban) or accepting the support of those people in their quest to kill more Muslims before Saddam's grandchildren can build WMD and put them in a missile and launch it at the lower 48.

Scared by democrats
The fact is that small-d democrats have begun to worry me. I remember in the lead up to the 1992 election, I was in High School and a friend of mine, who was a staunch democrat, and I would go round and round about the various candidates. But though we would take cheap shots at each other the level of rivalry never approached hatred. Now when I look at various democratic outlets I see nothing but hatred for my friends, family, neighbors, and yes me. These democrats scare me. They call people I love and enjoy hanging around the most despicable of names. They legitimately believe 51% of the country are monsters. I don't want anyone these people support to be elected. And so I vote, and cheer Republican.

Sorry if the truth scares you Tim. If you voted for Issue 1 in Ohio, yes I think you are a bigot, and obviously you would be. If you don't think so, frankly I don't care, you can live in denial all you wish. Fact is fact, and bigotry is not hidden in Issue one. If you did not vote for said issue, then you surely voted for a man (Bush and maybe other Republicans) who supports that issue and more ideas like it. You put greed and your lust to kill Muslims over protecting human rights. What a great choice that was.

If it scares you that I point out your personal flaws, then I can only say GOOD! Maybe you will change your ways and stop pretending that it is ok to put human rights on the back burner and stop thinking killing Muslims will quell the PTSS you and many others on the surface illustrate with your irrational notion that going after Iraq has anything to do with fighting terrorism. Two things come to mind: Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. If you want to get rid of terrorism, you might want to invade those countries instead of Iraq. If you don't like that people are pissed at you for your voting choice, then I suggest you do not tell anyone who you voted for and refrain from talking about politics. Also, please tell me what really scares you about anything I said? I have said nothing that should scare anyone, maybe shamed people with a conscience, but that is about it.

This is Now A Mainsteam Republican

Here we have the poster child for Bush's GOP, a thumpin' and a thump' his way with his twenty seven eight-by-ten color glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one pointing out that Satan has stuck his hand into the world in the form of liberals. We must Kill, Kill, Kill for the Lord!

Damn, I feel like littering.

For the culturally ignorant, you can read this and understand what the hell I am referencing. Not that the reference makes any sense if you got what I was talking about, but at least you won't be so lost or won't at least think your are lost for not getting the references.

[Via Covington Jim]

Can We Now All Agree?

Can we please all now agree that any electronic voting machines must have a paper back-up or is this just a myth created to undermine the GOP on it way to establishing their theocracy?

Will Ghiz Get It?

Will Leslie Ghiz replace Pat DeWine on City Council?

Hiding Something?

What was Warren County hiding from when they bared all reporters from watching the ballot count? What kind of nutcase thinks Warren County is going to be a place for terror attack? Someone is either delusion or just lying. Will anyone investigate this? No, they will not. The GOP will prevent it and the media are too damn lazy to do anything more than this article. It took two days for it to appear, what is up with that? Why was it not in yesterday's paper and made the front of the Metro Section?

A Uniter, My Fat Ass

Republicans wonder why I hate this asshole?

A day after he pledged to reach out to Kerry voters, Bush turns around says, "fuck you!!!!"

Ah, I guess we can trust him, trust him to act like he won some huge majority and the 55 Million of us Kerry supporters just don't exist. A uniter my fat ass. Bush is going to run on like schmuck he is, as the guy who cares nothing, I repeat nothing, about those who did not vote for him.

Gloating and Closed Minds

Why was this article run? Why would this women care? Why do we need a propaganda article that I guess could not fit into Tuesday's paper, run today?

What this does illustrate is how impossible it will be for anyone to come together. This is tame, but wait until someone if fired for the way they voted.

GOP Pat on Back; Bigotry Works!

Bronson can praise praise the work of his fellow bigots, but we can't get any liberal voices in the Enquirer to refute him? That would displease "Dear Leader," so I guess it will have to wait. When will the "W" arm bands be available for purchase?

By the way, those phone calls were mostly recorded ones. I got about 20 of those 100,000 and they were not live people. They were Robocalls from people like Mike Reagan scaring you over Gay Marriage.

What a "Great" Jobs Market

Cincinnati Bell plans to cut up to 400 jobs.

Under/Over Votes in Hamilton County

Based on my exhaustive analysis of the final results of the election, excluding provisional ballots, we had the following:

Total Number of Ballots Cast = 418,001
Less Votes For Bush  = 215,639
Less Votes For Kerry  = 190,956
Less Votes For Badnarik  = 1,006
Less Votes For Peroutka  = 637
Under/Over Votes  = 9,763

Lt. Gov. Jennette Bradley to Take Treasurer's Post?

An AP report speculates that Jennete Bradley will take over Joe Deter's post as Treasurer in January. This is not new speculation and is likely a done deal. What is not a done deal is who will then become Lt. Governor.

Comedian's Dream

Sledge points out another silver lining resulting from the election, the comedy will be better. The Daily Show will have a field day over the next four years. If SNL had any courage they would do the same thing, but SNL tries to be evenhanded nowadays, and all to often just not funny.

MIAMI 23, Toledo 16

Love and honor to Miami,
Our college old and grand,
Proudly we shall ever hail thee,
Over all the land.

Alma mater now we praise thee,
Sing joyfully this lay,
Love and honor to Miami,
Forever and a day.

Details here and here.

Got to back to the important things!

Cincinnati's Silver Lining

One of the few good bits of news that came from last night was passage of Issue Three, removing the anti-homosexual Article XII of the City Charter.

UPDATE: Nick Spencer has more.

Fear and the Stockholm Syndrome

Well, it ends, and it ends badly. Fear won over hope. Hate will be viewed as a strength. A bully is what people think they want, because a bully has captured them and holds their egos hostage. People’s egos were damaged and vulnerable and ripe for attack. BushCo made that attack and won. They have grown to worship their dear leader, their captor with a kind of blind faith that one can only described as delusional.

We are headed into what history I believe will call the American Dark Age. The world will hate us more, which believe it or not is actually possible. The poor will be forgotten. The wealthy will be rewarded for just being wealthy. Science will be devalued and in some cases be outlawed. Freedom to conform will replace the freedom to be an individual. We are now under the thumb of theocratic George who will succeed in taking away the rights of Americans (especially women, non-Christians, and the poor).

What people should be prepared for is WAR.

WAR, WAR, and WAR.

We will have war for the next four years. We will have thousands of Americans killed and tens of thousands of innocents killed. Iran, Syria, North Korea, and even the West Bank.

The right-wing fascists are out for revenge and they will be taking it. I don’t just mean the few commenters on here who will, and have, gleefully gloated about their dictator winning. If I were to be snippy I would call this 1934 Germany, but I am not that extreme, it's just the venom speaking.

Cincinnati Results

For "real time" results this pdf file has the most current information. Refresh it for more current results.

I am heading downtown soon, so I don't plan on posting until much later on or even until tomorrow.

These results are so far very slow to come in, which concerns me. I hope it is just because of the flurry of write-ins.

Enquirer Quasi-Blogging the Elections

Korte, Siegel, and Kemme are giving frontline reports from around town on the election. Korte includes Ethan Hahn's voting adventure (your welcome on that Greg) and other good anecdotes from the precincts. Is Ethan a Democratic blogger? What is odd however is that some wrote in the intro to the page that they are in "Columbus." That does not make much sense with notes on where they are reporting from. Now, they might not actual be where they report on, like me. I am sitting in a Hyde Park coffee shop right now, so go figure.

College Students Denied the Vote

Some Parents in the 34th district are very upset because their kids who attend OSU and OU did not receiving their absentee ballots. A judge has ruled that anyone who did not receive their absentee ballot, but should have, is entitled to vote with a provisional ballot. The problem is that the kids away at college can't do that unless they drive home. Few if any can do so, therefore they have been denied the vote. Is this another result of the lack of staff at the BOE to handle the level of voter participation this year? More lawsuits may be filed on this issue.

Deters Supporters Get Careless

Some Colerain Township Deters fans "left" there pencils in the voting booths. These pencils had "Write In Deters" printed on them. This is a violation of the law, but arguably an inadvertent. Well, it can be claimed inadvertent, but when two booth in one polling location have them, which equals all of the booths in that precinct, then that claim starts to crumble.

Reports also were reported in Mariemont and other places around the county. Details on that were not listed in the WLWT article.

To be fair, Fanon Rucker himself allegedly came into vote while wearing a hat covered in Rucker stickers.

Exit Polling Allowed

Blackwell was over ruled and exit polling will be allowed today as it has for over 20 years.

The question is when did this ruling come down? Were pollsters there this morning? If not, then they are going to get a distorted result.

Local Blogger's Registration Messed Up

Ethan Hahn of Queen City Soapbox reports he was not listed as being registered. What makes no sense is that he has lived in the same place for two years and voted in each election during that time. His wife who voted with him at the time was listed and was able to vote, but he was not. How could this have screwed up? This kind of thing should not happen. If he had moved and it had mess up that is one thing, but this sound like a serious error at the BOE. Ethan will have more later.

He was allowed to cast a provisional ballot, which is odd. I guess showing he lived in the precinct was what he had to do be allowed to cast the provisional ballot. His case should be reviewed and I hope the BOE can give him some answers.

UPDATE: Ethan has gotten some answers and it appears a new registrant's name was similar to his and they treated that new registration as a change to his, which was incorrect. His vote should count and they have fixed the problem. What this points out however is that the volume of new registration really caused some problems at the BOE. This is not the only case of this type of thing. I think some of the money the Federal government gave to Ohio for voting machines might best be spent on human beings auditing the registration roles for oddities like Ethan's case before today.

UPDATE #2: Ethan has a full recap of the resolution.

Vote Cast - Power Out

I had no problems casting my vote and as expected there were no challengers at my precinct. I ran into problems at home when my power was out. It hit a large portion of Mt. Washington. I am therefore back enjoying a Mocha at Panera.

The oddest thing at the polls, and this may just be normal practice because it happened for someone else at another poll, is that they have a second checklist they workers where checking off. When I asked what that was for, one of the ladies said they have to post it at 11:00 AM. I have no idea why and it seems like a secondary log of the polls which seems good, but it just struck me as odd. Also, the registers are printed in a new format, easier to use.

I'm Off to Vote

I have my camera in hand.

If you have own voting stories or reports, please share them here.

Targeted Challenges

According the article on the appeals court ruling: the GOP states they will have "3,500 challengers" in Ohio. Well, that says at least that every precinct will not be gummed up. What it also says that the GOP is only sending challengers to certain polling locations. Hamilton County alone has 1,025 precincts. The GOP is going after the Democratic vote, and will ignore anything at precincts where they dominate. Prior reports indicate they will be targeting minority polling locations. We are going to have problems and this may get out of hand.

I hope the media keeps a tally of how many voters they challenge and how many are successful. Oh, wait, they will not be allowed in the polls to watch the GOP. The Dems will have to do it. Damn it, I am getting a bit pissed about this. Up until now I still held out hope that the GOP was just flexing its muscle, trying to act tough in light of a bad situation. I know think they are truly out to keep people from voting at the polls. We are headed for something bad.

More from Kos and Make Ohio Blue, including the first report of challengers.

Please are going to be confused when reading their Newspapers like this.

It is going to be a long day.

Back to a Mess

Well the 6th Circuit lived up to its reputation and has reversed both the Dlott and Adams decisions and will allow challengers into the polls. We now will have a mess at the polls. It might have been nice of the judges to ah, do this yesterday maybe? I mean now will have poll workers who at this point don't even know that the challengers are allowed in, and the polls are now open.

It is now going to be nasty at the polls. Tension has mounted and people will not have heard about this ruling before some idiot tries to challenge someone.

Please remember that when you go vote you do not have to talk to anyone but the poll worker. Bring some ID and check out these two sets of questions you might be asked: DDN and Enquirer.

I wonder what Blackwell is saying about this.

I wonder if exit poll workers will get in too.

Ohio Voter Suppression has more.

Go Vote!

If you are reading this and you have not yet voted, then what are you waiting for?

Happy Election Day!

Polls Open at 6:30 AM in Ohio and Close as 7:30 PM.

Vote early and often.

Happy Ken Blackwell

After the rulings today from two Federal Judges (Dlott and Adams), Ken Blackwell must be pleased. I even think Jim Petro, Ohio AG, is pleased. He is so pleased that he is putting off appealing the state law allowing poll challengers until after the election.

I think this issue will not be much of a post election talking point for the GOP, at least not if Tacitus is right when "Von" reported that Judge Adams was appointed by Bush. Dlott is the much reviled Democrat appointee that every local Republican seems to hate.

I think Blackwell saw the challengers as losing issue, but the Bush campaign and the state wide GOP wants to claw at any issue they can. Blackwell wants to be governor and he can't have presided over the messiest Ohio election in history and win in a harsh GOP primary.

I think the County BOEs are going to be the real mess now.

The issue that is going to be at issue in Ohio is the exit polling. Will it be worth anything? I mean I know it never is and this year all polling is whacked, but with Blackwell's order to keep the media out of the precincts, will they be able to get as accurate results?

Voter Information

In case anyone is search for last minute information on the election for Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH: Smart Voter is the place to go for all needed info.

In case you wonder how I am voting, well here are the highlights:

President/Vice President of the United States
John F. Kerry/John Edwards, Democratic

US House; District 2: Charles W. Sanders, Democratic

US Senate: Eric D. Fingerhut, Democratic

State Representative; District 34: Glen Miller, Democratic

Judge; Supreme Court; starting 1/1/05: Nancy A. Fuerst

Judge; Supreme Court; Unexpired Term: William O'Neill

Commissioner; starting 1/2/05: Todd Portune, Democratic

Commissioner; starting 1/3/05: Eve Bolton, Democratic

Clerk of Courts; County of Hamilton: Martha Good, Democratic

Prosecuting Attorney; County of Hamilton: Fanon Rucker (write-in)

Sheriff; County of Hamilton: None of the Above or Mickey Mouse as a write in

Recorder; County of Hamilton: Steve Brinker, Democratic

Treasurer; County of Hamilton: Bob M. Drake, Democratic

Coroner; County of Hamilton: O'dell M. Owens, Democratic

Issue 1 Proposed Constitutional Amendment Banning Gay Marriage: Fuck No!

Issue 3 Proposed Charter Amendment Repeal of Article XII: Hell YES!

Issue 4 Proposed Charter Amendment Property Tax Repeal: No!!!

Issue 32 Tax Levy-- Cincinnati City School District: Yes

Issue 43 Tax Levy --Drake: Yes

Issue 44 Proposed Tax Levy Hamilton County: Yes

Others I am rooting for:
US House; District 1: Greg Harris, Democratic
State Representative; District 33: Tyrone K. Yates, Democratic
State Senate; District 8: Jeannette Harrison, Democratic
US House; District 4 KY: Nick Clooney Democratic
US Senate - KY: Daniel Mongiardo

Video Vote Vigil

Covington Jim points out a site collecting video and images of disturbances or other irregularities at or around the polls.

No Exit Polls in Ohio?

What is Ken Blackwell doing when he unexpectedly banned all media exit polls from within 100 feet of any polling station? I guess he fears they would challenge voters too or is this just another liberal bias charge against the media? FOX is part of the lawsuit trying to allow exit polling, so the right-wing media is at least in the fray with the rest of the mainstream press.

GOP Challengers From Outside County

Mean Jean Galvin of Make Ohio Blue has seen and reviewed the list of GOP challengers for Hamilton County. His review indicates that white suburbanites are being sent into most black neighborhoods. Also he indicates that the GOP is not sending any challengers to all-white suburbs.

Challengers Being Sworn in at BOE

A source indicates that 5 men were sworn in by Director of Elections John Williams today as Challengers. This took place at the Hamilton County BOE and the men were reported to have a list of individual voters to challenge. The number of voters on the list or the identity of the voters are unknown.

My guess would be that even with the court rulings, Challengers would be permitted at the BOE to challenge voter's eligibility to vote.

Panera WiFi

I think someone in comments said that Panera did not have very good WiFi. I am using it here on Beechmont right not to post this, and it actually works quite well. It might get worse if there were more users, which is likely true for all WiFi connections.

This post has unfortunately not been brought to you by the fine folks at Panera Bread. I eat there all the time and all I ever got out of it, beside good food/drink, was a free coffee mug at the grand opening of a location up in Mason.

Weeks?

Carl Weiser is reporting that provisional votes cannot be counted until November 13th by law. BOE's will be able to review each provisional voter's eligibility status, but can't see how they voted. I would assume absentee ballots are counted as soon after the polls close and after it is determined that they could make the difference in a race. This is going to be ugly.

All Challengers Banned From Ohio Polls

A Federal Judge has ruled voter challengers can not be deployed by any party or group in this year's election. This ruling coming at this late hour just adds more confusion to a confusing situation. I think overall this is the best way to run an election, but the timing is not good to really make it come true for the whole state.

What this does is put an increased burden on the county BOE's who will then get piles of challenges of every voter possible under law, but they were going to get that anyway, so in the big picture, I think this will make the polls go smother. That was after all the purpose. Ken Blackwell should be supporting this ruling. Will the AG try to appeal it today? The Ohio GOP stated in the article that they will appeal.

The mess is beginning to take form. Ground is being set for court challenges come Wednesday.

This story now is the Top Story on Yahoo. It is going to be a new turner.

UPDATE: A second Judge has ruled to ban the challengers.

UPDATE #2: Here is a copy Dlott's ruling (PDF).

Hate in Ohio

Atrios posts on a Salon article that illustrates pure hate from Bush Rally attendees up in Columbus. Did we get any of the same kind of thing from Cincinnati Bush supporters? Anyone saying "We don't want faggots in the White House?"

A Sample of Right-wing Voter Suppression

This is how you try to suppress the vote of non-Republicans.

Now, to be fair, we don't know for sure if this came from a Republican. We will likely never know who actual mailed them. This has the earmarks of Young Republicans everywhere. Kos has more examples.

Axinar's Universe Lays Down the Law

Axinar puts a thumping bigot/racist blogger from Springfield in his place by, well, pointing out that he is a racist and bigot and frankly a teenager who knows next to nothing. As adults we know next to that which is next to nothing, so we are ahead of the game only slightly, but in "Obi Ken's" case that slightness is measured in light years, something far beyond the scale of the Kessel Run. Let us hope this kid can go away to a good state college and grow out of his upbringing.

Edwards In Town On Monday

There are no details but WCPO reports at Dem VP nominee Senator John Edwards will make a stop in Cincinnati tomorrow.

Someone is likely staying at the Cincinnatian tonight; whether it is Edwards or Bush I have no idea. I say this because of the additional security in alley behind the downtown hotel. While at the rally today I observed blocked alleyways next to the building I parked in.

In case you have not figured it out, I did not go to the Bush Rally. I did not want to have to sit with a bunch of right-wing zealots for two plus hours waiting to hear Bush say blah blah blah and then have to fight traffic. Odds are that I would have gotten into the event and would not have had anyone notice me and my lack of cheering or clapping. If I find out Edwards is having a public event I will be there definitely, but at this point I would say it is more of a focused event, not for a mass crowd.

Questions by Vote Challengers

The Enquirer is reporting that these are the questions a voter could face if their vote is challenged at the polls

• Are you a citizen of the United States?
• Are you a native or naturalized citizen?
• Where were you born?
• Have you resided in this state for 30 days immediately preceding this election?
  Where have you resided?
• Please give names of two persons who know your place of residence.
• Have you been absent from this state within the 30 days immediately preceding this election?
• Have you continuously resided outside this state for a period of four years or more?
• Did you, while absent, look upon and regard this state as your home?
• Did you, while absent, vote in any other state?
• Do you now reside in this county?
• Do you now reside in this precinct?
• When you came into this precinct, did you come for a temporary purpose merely or for the purpose of making it your home?
• Are you 18 years of age or more to the best of your knowledge and belief?

These questions differ slightly from the ones the Dayton Daily News reported last week.

Kerry Rally at Fountain Square

Overall Thought: for Cincinnati this was a pretty good rally. I would put the number of people from 500 to 1000, which is really good considering this event received no attention in the local media or PR before hand otherwise. For my first foray into live blogging I will call it success, but I must say that the Wifi on the square leaves a lot to be desired. The speed really was worse than dial-up at many times. The city and CincyBell need to get on the ball and open-up more hotspots around town.

2:55 PM: Roxanne Qualls

Write in Rucker! Write in Rucker! Write in Rucker!

2:50 PM: David Crowley tells us he would never have thought that we would have to worry about voter intimidation in Ohio.

2:45: William O’Neil Running for Supreme Court of Ohio

2:40 PM: David Pepper asks those working the polls to ask their Republican counter part, “Do you know this is a Jim Crow law you are endorsing?”

Glen Miller

Steve Brinker

2:30 PM: “I am not a Myth” so says the crowd responding to Stephanie Jones, daughter of Nathanial Jones

2:20 PM: Tim Burke

2:00 PM: Music is starting up. The rumored speakers are to include Mark Mallory, Charlie Luken, and Roxanne Qualls.


1:45 PM: My first on location live blogging event: Kerry Rally on Fountain Square.

First element: it is taking way to long to log into Cincinnati Bell Wifi, but I was at least able to easily able to connect to the network.

The crowd so far is limited, but very enthusiastic. The funniest thing is seeing the Bush people coming in for the rally at GAP tonight. They all so far have looked like they came right out of West Chester or Anderson and as I sit outside Rock Bottom Brewery they are heading in to eat before they sit and wait 6 hours for Bush to speak.

Democratic Rally Today 2 PM Fountain Square

I plan on doing some live blogging at the Fountain Square event.

Enquirer Picks Miller Over Brinkman

What a difference two years make for the Enquirer with their endorsement of Glen Miller for the 34th District of Ohio House, my district. It is an obvious choice for any sane human being. Brinkman is an extremist ideologue who seems to be more concerned with controlling women's bodies, destroying all levels of government, and providing guns to any nut with a pulse, than with preserving the rights under the Fourteenth Amendment, the rights of the first amendment, or of keeping a basic level of government to protect the poor from having to beg from the powerful corporation just to live.

The change from the Enquirer lies in the fact that they did not list an endorsement for this race back in 2002. I guess it is either more competitive this time around, or when Brinkman pushed a law where people could carry concealed guns in Churches and day care center just may have been the straw to break the blinders off the Enquirer's face.

I join the Enquirer in stating that we must vote for Glen Miller in the 34th.

Maggie Downs Missing From Friday's Enquirer

Yesterday I read Friday's Cincinnati Enquirer online, as I do everyday.

Friday is normally the day everyone can read Maggie Downs' weekly column, but I looked all over the front page. I looked in her archived column section. I looked and looked and looked and looked.

I did not find a column for Friday. I "wonder" why I did not find a column on Friday. I guess the bumper sicker column pissed off some West Chester GOP hacks who swear they tore off every Kerry bumper sticker they saw. From their perspective her count of Kerry stickers must be the result of some kind of, oh I don't know how they put it, "liberal bias?" We all know bias has no place in an opinion column.

Why is the Enquirer trying to silence Maggie? What fear do they have of opinion, and a liberal one at that, in their Metro OPINION columns? There is certainly no shortage of conservatives. I would love to know how often they kill a Bronson column for being too right-wing.

Hot Spots?

A request for anyone out there: Where are the hotspots for WiFi downtown? I know of Hamburger Mary's, but where else can I go at night? I am will to pay, up to a point for it, so I don't need just the free-places. There are several around UC also and Panera Bread and a few fast food places have it too. Anyone else been to any and know of good places to go, with good food or beverages if applicable? I have a new laptop, in case you did not hear me say it 100,000 times over the last week, and I want to try out some remote location blogging.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

An official ticket to the Bush rally at GAP.

I am torn on what I should do. Should I go to the event or not? I want to test out the local GOP staffers who may or may not be on the ball enough to keep me out of the event.

I will try to have a Kerry sticker on as I go in, assuming I go, but not a big one or open to see.

My real plan is to try and talk with some of the protestors and see if that gets me banned from going in.

I got the ticket from a friend who did so fairly easily. He went down to the Cincy Bush HQ and they gave him four tickets. He had to say he was a Bush supporter, but I am sure he at least supports Bush on something remote so as to not make that a lie. He had to gave his name, but did not have to sign anything.

The Enquirer gave its typical puff piece on the event showing people torn between trick-or-treating or going to the Bush event. For the record, any Parents forcing their kid to see Bush instead of trick-or-treating is either a fundamentalist (and extremist) or is just plain cruel. That goes the same for the Dems who bring their kids to protest. I hope every kid there at least was able to have beggar's night tonight instead.

19th Century Enquirer Thinking

I guess the Enquirer Editorial Staff have a concept of time forieng to most living in this century as illustrated by their Groppe endorsements:

She has used technology to counter a rush of refinancing when interest rates fell, and has kept a close eye on her budget.

I guess the 2 months it takes to process a title is good by 1878 standards.

Blackwell Asks AG To Bar Challengers From Polls

In yet another surprise move Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell has asked Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro to ban all challengers from the polls on Tuesday. Blackwell lacks the authority to do so and short of a change in the law, I don't see what can prevent them, short of the Governor using some type of emergency power.

The lawsuit that caused problems with challengers took on a nasty reality when Democrats reported that 250 of the 251 precincts the local GOP registered challengers with were in predominatly Black areas.

Republicans also submitted a list of 251 other precincts where they may put challengers. Of those, county Democratic Party Chairman Tim Burke said 250 are majority-black precincts.

I guess I will not see anyone in Cincinnati 1K. I am going to try and look up the possible precincts they could be targeting. It could just most of the City or it could pick out specific places to try and keep minority votes down.

Halt of GOP Pre-Emptive Challenges Upheld

To my surprise the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's ruling that the pre-emptive voter challenges can't go on before the election.

The real question about these challenges rests on how these people were identified as registrations to challenge. In the Akron area it appears that the reasons were at best sloppy and at worst partisan targeting.

CiN Weekly One Year Later

CiN Weekly is one year old and wants you know it. Well, what do people think of it after they have lived through 52 weeks of it?

I myself can say it a nice light publication and objectively speaking it serves its purpose. CityBeat is still better as publication, but CiN adds a CNN morning show style cultural feel, which is at least hipper than the Today Show. I hate to say it but there is a market for CiN. Think of CiN as Starbucks to CityBeat's Kaldi's.

HypoSpeak Challenges Ohio Reporters

Hypothetically Speaking is asking if you, a professional journalist, have the guts to seek out the alleged fraud the GOP is claiming. $100.00 American Dollars await the first reporter "who can document that 'massive and systematic voter fraud' has been conducted by pro-Kerry forces in this campaign." There are rules so have a look and take your best shot.

Ohio AG Carrying GOP Water?

The Ohio Attorney General is reportedly appealing the federal court order halting BOE hearings on voter registration challenges. Will this do any good? Well if the Conservatives on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals here in Cincinnati get their way, they will be having hearings the second they can overrule the lower court order.

Shine a Light on the Vote Challengers

Covington Jim has put forth an idea of capturing a photograph of vote challengers at each precinct, forever documenting who is going to be trying to suppress the votes. Now, there are going to be both Dems and GOP challengers, but only the GOP have stated they will challenge votes. Dems here in Ohio have stated they will not challenge votes at the poll.

I am willing to snap a photo at my poll station, but I doubt they will have anyone there, since I live in a GOP area. What I think is more interesting is to see the face of those challenging votes in mostly black precincts. I don't know if you have to be registered in the precinct to be a challenger in that precinct or not, but if not I expect some very white faces to be in OTR, the West End, Walnut Hills and Avondale challenging voters.

I will accept some photos and post them, but I would want some verification of who you are, your polling location, and verification that this was taken on Nov. 2nd. I will not be able to post all of them.

If some enterprising young person (or old person) out there wants to set up a website to accept and display this collection, I would be happy to promote it.

REM at the Taft

Did anyone see REM at the Taft last night? I did not go, so I would not mind a review, and maybe some without the politics. I wished the Post could have kept it to the music, but this was a political concert, so I guess I can't get my music separated. It would have been better to have a political story on the event and then a music story.

I Contain Multitudes

I commented today in comments that Cleveland was not as Pro-Kerry as Cincinnati was Pro-Bush HypoSpeaks as poll numbers that prove me wrong. What it also says is that Cincinnati has more Kerry Support than I could have ever imagined. My only assumption is that these are metro numbers, not city proper numbers.

I have been reading HypoSpeaks for a while and have been meaning to add them to the blog roll. Sorry for the delay in do so!

Bias or Bad Journalism? (yet again)

We have an article on Michael Moore's visit to UC yesterday. We hear quotes from Moore, which is good. We get a report of who else appeared with Moore, which included REM. What we then got where quotes from Republicans: Susanna Oakley had tepid yet anti-Moore comments:

Susanna Oakley, an art history senior from Montgomery, said she was not impressed.

"He didn't say anything of substance. He's ridiculous," she said.

That was fine on the surface. That is her opinion and it would have been fine giving the opinion of someone who does not like Moore.

Then the writer ends with an indirect comment that was supposed to fact check Moore, but instead was just propaganda

Moore is twisting the facts, said Lindsay Quinn, a UC senior and organizer of the College Republicans. Those poll watchers will be impartial observers, she said, adding that Democrats will be observing too.

Now, first these are not poll watchers or "observers," they are challengers. They are there to challenge voters, not just watch the polls. They can't do anything but use their cell phone if they think something is wrong at the polls. What sets me off more is that this came from an "organizer of the College Republicans." Why not wake up and fact check what this person says before you publish it as a retort?

Where were the comments of someone who likes Moore and what he said? There were surely plenty of Young Democrats at the event, and the reporter could have gotten a quote, and if she did get a quote and the editor did not print it, well there is your clear cut bias from the Enquirer.

The Columbus Dispatch On Web?

I don't subscribe to the The Columbus Dispatch, but I was able to read this story about the Dems suing the GOP over their pre-emptive hearings trying to kick over 2,000 people off the voter rolls.

In the past the Dispatch limited access to subscribers on all stories. They have been added to Google News, so I guess they don’t know or no longer mind.

Desperation?

Bush won Ohio in 2000. Bush won the Cincinnati area very easily in 2000. Why would he waste time holding a rally here 2 days before the election when he could be in a location where he might sway some voters?

Does Bush's base around here need any more motivation? I guess he needs a big crowd for good video shots, but I would have thought that a visit to Iowa might do him better. I think Bush's chances are fading in Ohio, but in Iowa he is doing much better. But Hell, I hope Bush spends all day Sunday right here in Cincinnati. It does not look good if you spend time in the last days of the campaign in places where you already are supposed to have won without question and without much effort.

Since it is on Sunday, maybe I will try and get tickets. I wonder if you will need to sign an oath or pass a FBI background check to go to it. I have been getting almost daily auto-dialer recorded propaganda from Bush, so someone foolishly has me on a list of undecided voters or something.

QCF Interview Fanon Rucker

Michael Atlman interviews the Democratic endorsed write-in candidate for Prosecutor.

Cyber-Jingoism From Bush

Funnel Cake reports that the Bush Campaign web site is rejecting Non-US visitors. He also provided a link to some confirmation from international users. Why would this be happening? Why would he keep people out? Are people being blocked only in certain countries? I could see this would be a way to stop a denial of service attack, but I would like to know if IP's from Israel are being block, because they UK's are being blocked. How are international Bush voters, Americans abroad, supposed to read his website? Now, I am not saying they should, but I am all for people having the chance to read what all candidates are saying.

Mullane's Back?

We have hope Mullane's Parkside Café will reopen.

Let the Lies of Bigots Begin!

Well, this is not the start but the Zenith of lies from the anti-homosexual crowd pushing another level of theocracy on the state. Their goal is to make homosexuals subhuman, denying them every possible person right or protection any lawmaker could give them. Phil Burress is out to rid the state of gays. Burress is nothing but a theocratic fascist. He and his minions, which include the likes of Carl Linder and Anthony Munoz, hate gays and want to crush their lives so badly that they leave the city and the state.

Hyperbole you ask? Am I overstating things? No, I am not. If I has said genocide was going on, that would have been hyperbole in this case. Here we have a group of people who do not like gays, do not support freedom for gays to be full citizens of the United States or of Ohio.

They also are out to limit the rights of unmarried heterosexuals, but hey, they are living in sin!!!! Let's smite them! Down into the pits of HELL all ye Heathens must go! We can't stand two adults living together who don't get permission from Jesus!!!! We must stamp out all sex!

Ok, that was hyperbole. Or was it?

Meltdown

Yes, we are in the middle of a heavy campaign. Everyone's emotions are a bit high, but one shows signs of serious problems with comments like these:

I've never had a problem with Wes. But I think it's funny that he'll sit in his room and write this on his blog, but cannot even confront me with it when I see him at events. Wes, you can be tough behind your computer screen, but can you be tough in person??

Steve Fritsch just might want to reconsider running for office. When you try and steal Zell Miller's act you not only look foolish, you come across like a schoolyard thug. You know the episode...bully is made to look bad...comes looking for the smart kid...lunch money tends to change hands. I guess Steve wants to rumble behind the monkey bars.

What to Do If You Are Challenged at the Polls

The Dayton Daily News, the best newspaper in Southwest Ohio, does something practical and a public service to the community. They give advice about what to do if you are challenged at the polls, presumable by a Republican operative.

1. The challenger will have to state why your right to vote is being challenged. The four reasons they can challenge are that they believe you are either not 18 or older, not a U.S. citizen, not a Ohio resident for the past 30 days or not a resident of the county and precinct in which you are trying to vote.

2. One of the poll workers and you will move no less than 10 feet from the challenger.

3. You will be asked to take this oath: "Do you swear or affirm that you will fully and truly answer all of the following questions put to you, touching your place of residence and your qualifications as an elector at this election?"

3. You will be asked a series of questions about one of the four areas in which you are being challenged.

4. If you refuse to answer fully all questions or are unable to answer them fully, or your answers indicate you are too young, not a resident or a citizen, you will not be able to vote.

5. If you answer the questions to the satisfaction of the poll worker, you will be given a ballot and will be allowed to vote.

What if you want to appeal? The decisions of the poll workers are final.

What if the challenger appears to be attempting to cause delays or intimidate voters? The chief poll worker, the presiding judge, can expel them from the polling place.

Source: Oct. 20 memorandum, "Challenger and Witness Guidelines," Ohio Secretary of State's Office and the Ohio Association of Elections Officials.

I looked for a copy of this memo online at Secretary of State's website, but could not find it. I would have thought this would have been part of their PR, but I guess they might hope people are fearful and don't vote? I can find no other links or even mention of this memo but in the DDN.

Mixing Politics

For some reason I feel this article had me in mind. Now, I know they didn't. I am read by a handful at the Enquirer, but not most, but I guess I don't mind speculating about some conspiratorial jab telling me that I guess I had better stick to my own kind.

I would honestly find it impossible to marry a conservative. I have dated a conservative before and my opinions were not a boon to the relationship, neither were hers. What is missing from these examples are how they feel on social issues. I think that is mostly where people can find common ground. I could handle differences on economic policy and foreign issues, but on big social issues like Church-State, abortion, free speech, freedom of the press, I really could not put with a hard right-winger. I guess I want a woman who has a brain, and is not afraid to use it on the same level I am. I see the hard right-winger females as one who thinks her role in life is to be a modern June Cleaver.

I am sure I have just disappointed a great many conservative women out there, but oh well.

Rucker TV and Radio Ads

Hamilton County Prosecutor write in candidate Fanon Rucker has produced a television and a radio ad.

Oh, and he got the Enquirer Endorsement.

Vote Challengers; Poll Watchers

It is an outrage that people would stoop to such a thing here in Cincinnati. Dayton was to be free of it, at least organized by the GOP, but now they will. There is nothing stopping some idiot from doing trying this on their own, even though people are supposed to be registered before hand. I would not be surprised if we don't see this kind of thing from some crackpot around the city. The Observer reports on the trouble Ohio is going to be having. That trouble will not be from people trying to double vote, but instead from those trying to suppress the vote in the name of prevent double voters.

What I want to know, are the GOP putting poll watchers in every location? Will be asking in my precinct who the watchers are. I may wander by some other locations and see if there are watchers stationed out in Anderson Township.

The GOP has dropped some challenges to registrations, but the headline is misleading, of course.

Jesse Taylor of Pandagon chimes in with a lament on the disenfranchisement the GOP is angling towards.

Culture of Fear Rules Editorial Pages Too

The Toxic Twins of the Cincinnati media landscape have put out their endorsements for President and wouldn't you know it, but they backed Bush. Yes, shocking I know. (cough, cough)

What is not so laughable is that both newspapers base their endorsements on fear. They don't come out and say it directly, but their motivation is quite clear. They have fallen into Bush's plan. Bush has perpetuated the fear of terrorism on the entire country. He has shown us no way to ever defeat it and his actions have helped solidify a future with an increased number of groups and countries out to do the USA harm. For a reason I can't fathom both editorial boards (or just publishers) think that the guy who knows how to make more terrorists want to kill Americans can somehow defeat them. If this attitude exists on a wide enough scale, which it does in most Bush supporters, then we as a nation are doomed to a new Cold War. Islamism (the war blogger term for Muslim terrorists or all stripes) will be or is the new Communism. A new enemy has been created to fear, and Bush has succeeded in making the Enquirer and Post fear it like a child fears the bogeyman. No wonder they fear OTR. Here is a critique of both.

The Cincinnati Post
I really am perplexed by the poorly written (on a contextual basis) editorial in the Post. It felt like a bad casserole, with chunks of really rotten meat stinking up rather bland pasta. They praise Bush, but somehow find him blameless for Iraq:

In his first major execution of that policy, the war in Iraq, we believe Bush was led astray. It is deeply troubling that, having won the battle we were unprepared to win the peace.

...

He is an honorable man who, without precedent to guide him, made a difficult decision to invade Iraq as one early step in a struggle with terrorists that, sadly, may last for decades.

So, let me get this straight, they believe in Bush's leadership, but think he led us astray in the war on Iraq. Now, they do for some unknown reason say Bush was led astray. I thought the President was the leader. If he is not the leader, then who is and why are they not President? I thought the President was the person who they praised for his leadership, but now they say he FAILED by letting someone else lead us? Their logic here is confusing doubletalk at best, and well, just plain crap at worst. Their last line should read "With George W. Bush we choose stability, continuity and decisive leadership (well except on that Iraq thingy)."

What was most disappointing is that they filled it with propaganda. They used anti-Kerry talking points right from the GOP as crib notes for their writing session. Are they really are fooled by the Bush/Cheney line about Kerry's position on Iraq? It is one thing for a politician to say them or one of their flunkies or even for a Bush worshiper, but for professional journalists? They even trout out the bullshit comparing Bush's "legislative" record to Kerry's. It was as if they just reworded Bush's debate prep. Why not just put a picture of Flipper in there in be done with trying to appeal to a literate crowd. Did Portman write this?

The Cincinnati Enquirer
In their editorial today I just don't grasp what the hell they are saying:

The next four years will require a president who has the fortitude not to waver in the face of terror. George W. Bush and John Kerry are both strong and patriotic men, but we believe the times call for America to be consistent. For that reason we support Bush.

Consistency? That's the reason for wanting Bush? They don't want to change? So more of the same, as Kerry puts it, is just what they want? I hate to whip out my favorite quote from RWE but:

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

They then put forth lies

We wish the president were willing to acknowledge the mistakes that were made, and to hold accountable those in his administration who made them. But other nations and past administrations all believed Saddam had the weapons and was willing to use them.

It is true that most countries agreed that Iraq had failed to account for all of his WMD after the first Gulf War, but not that he still had them in any volume to harm us or that he had any significant programs to build more. Bush said all of that was true, but like the Post, they put the blame on someone else in the Administration, not on the man at the top. Why? Why allow Bush to dodge responsibility? Again like the Post the Enquirer can't seem to be consistent itself in praising real leadership, instead of Bush's brand of walking in front of driverless bus.

On homeland security they don't say why Bush is good, they say that Kerry can't pay for anything he wants to do. WHAT ABOUT YOUR CANDIDATE? What the hell? It is as if Bush just did everything wrong but we can't fix it, and neither can Kerry, so lets stick with the bad President we have just because he gave us a false sense of security 3 years ago and that can sell us more newspapers.

On economics they just lie:

He's wrong. The over-$200,000 category isn't just "the rich." It's also the bulk of the small and independent business owners in America - a segment of the economy that creates many of the new jobs we need.

A small business man who has revenue over $200,000 does not have taxable income over $200,000. They will not be effected by this. If you have taxable income over $200,000 then you are fucking rich. 99% of Enquirer staffers, if not a higher percentage, do not have taxable income over $200,000, so don't play games here. If the publisher can't make the payment on her third home, well don't spend more than you earn. I don't shed tears for the rich paying a little more than I do.

On Social Security the Enquirer is just ignorant. I have a 401K plan. I don't need another one, as Bush wants me to have. I need an insurance program to help provide me a guaranteed base income when I retire. I need it to be there when I retire. I don't need to put money into stock brokers and Wall Street Banker's pockets.

Neither paper was willing to touch on the social issues. They value money and killing more Muslims over freedom from theocracy, reproductive freedom, and equal citizenship for homosexuals. I guess they don't value those freedoms because they don't fear things that don't personally affect them. Now, to be fair the Enquirer does support the repeal of Article XII and they oppose Issue 1, but both issues conflict with Bush's positions. Not to mention they don't address Bush's future Supreme Court picks which will put this country back in a pre-bellum mindset.

I was not shocked by either editorial. Both papers have conservative editorial boards, all be it not extreme right-wing ones, but more importantly they fear pissing off the West Chester person who sees Bush as a deity, with no flaws. That means they have to back Bush to avoid local flack and a drop in circulation. I wish these newspapers could learn something from the glowing coverage they give the President, be "bold" and don't fear the burbs. Instead, fear your own conscience when you don't tell yourself and your readers the truth.

Wes Flinn and Nick Spencer also comment.

Provisional Ballots

In comments someone brought up the Enquirer's editoral on the "provisional ballot mess." The ruling of a Federal Court has been overturned by 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The relevant text of the Help America Vote Act is Title III Section 302(a) as follows:

(a) Provisional Voting Requirements.--If an individual declares that such individual is a registered voter in the jurisdiction in which the individual desires to vote and that the individual is eligible to vote in an election for Federal office, but the name of the individual does not appear on the official list of eligible voters for the polling place or an election official asserts that the individual is not eligible to vote, such individual shall be permitted to cast a provisional ballot as follows:

(1) An election official at the polling place shall notify the individual that the individual may cast a provisional ballot in that election.
(2) The individual shall be permitted to cast a provisional ballot at that polling place upon the execution of a written affirmation by the individual before an election official at the polling place stating that the individual is

(A) a registered voter in the jurisdiction in which the individual desires to vote; and
(B) eligible to vote in that election.

(3) An election official at the polling place shall transmit the ballot cast by the individual or the voter information contained in the written affirmation executed by the individual under paragraph (2) to an appropriate State or local election official for prompt verification under paragraph (4).
(4) If the appropriate State or local election official to whom the ballot or voter information is transmitted under paragraph(3) determines that the individual is eligible under State law to vote, the individual's provisional ballot shall be counted as a vote in that election in accordance with State law.
(5)(A) At the time that an individual casts a provisional ballot, the appropriate State or local election official shall give the individual written information that states that any individual who casts a provisional ballot will be able to ascertain under the system established under subparagraph (B)whether the vote was counted, and, if the vote was not counted, the reason that the vote was not counted.
(B) The appropriate State or local election official shall establish a free access system (such as a toll-free telephone number or an Internet website) that any individual who casts a provisional ballot may access to discover whether the vote of
that individual was counted, and, if the vote was not counted, the reason that the vote was not counted.

The crux of the issue with the law depends on how you define Jurisdiction. From my viewpoint I see the county as the definition of Jurisdiction for the State of Ohio. The county is where voter registration is controlled. It can't be voting precinct, which I don't think can quality as any type of jurisdiction. There is no foundation to claim any control or jurisdiction over a precinct, other than by the county. It could be the local jurisdiction (city, village, township), but that would actually be much more complicated than county. I could live in the city of Cincinnati, but fall among multiple state office boundaries. I would still have to have some variable type of ballot including all offices and issues for everyone in the city. The county would then have to have provisional ballots for precincts with the same races and issues.

The remedy is rather simple. All you need, which is what I think the Judge advised, is that each county create a standard county wide ballot. It would include all offices and issues, which are listed in every precinct in the county. That becomes the provisional ballot used for the person who thinks they should be registered in the county. As long as they are registered in the county, that ballot then counts. They do miss out on voting for many local races and issues, but they still can vote.

An additional solution that should happen before provisional ballots are brought up would a system (which partially exists, but needs to be improved) to help people find and then get to the correct precinct. We have a system now to help people fine the right voting location, but no way to get them there if they can't get there on their own. If they can't make it to the other location they will just not vote, making the provisional ballot a good second choice for that person, allowing their vote to count at least on some level. This is not rocket science. This would not cause confusion. This would not increase fraud. A person could commit as much fraud with Blackwell's restrictive provisional ballot as with this fair version. So claims of such are false and just cover for the real desire, suppressing the vote of poor and minority voters.

As of this morning I can't find a copy of the 6th circuit ruling online, I would guess it might hit tomorrow. I do not know their rationale for reversing the ruling. At this late date we are facing a mess because we have people following different guidelines and Blackwell lost his credibility and thus any real authority by his push to suppress the vote. We will have a mess.

Anti-Rock-the-Vote Republicans

Was this part of the reason why a local Republican threw a hissy fit and caused a local Rock-the-Vote to me moved from the Public Library? Did a local College Republican group forward propaganda like this article to her? That is the last issue that we don't know, why at the last minute did Deliaan A. Gettler worry about this event? Who put her up to it?

Bad Journalism and Lies from the GOP

Ok, a thief broken into local Bush Campaign HQ. That is horrid, terrible, and just sad. Ok, fine, got that out of the way.

What is disgusting about this Enquirer article and all other coverage on it is that no one mentioned if there was any of the typical political damage done to the place, like signs destroyed, graffiti on walls, etc. A window was broken and money was stolen. That sounds like your run of the mill robbery, yet a local Bush spokesperson is allowed to say:

"We don't know if it's politically motivated or not."

That is technically true. It is technically true that I don't know if I am actually the natural born son of my parents. Now, pictures of my dad when he was younger look exactly like me. You know, all of the pattern's fit, but I don't "know."

In this incident the pattern of a typical robbery fits perfectly. If this was politically motivated, the perpetrators would have left the money and destroyed all of the political paraphernalia, which based on the picture with the article, they did not do. The article lacks information telling us whether anything else was done inside the office. Anyone walking inside could have clear seen if something like "Bush is a Nazi" was spay painted on the wall. It does not surprise me that the Republicans would want to milk this for all it was worth, and they did so very smoothly in this article. They provide just enough room for fools to think it was caused by the Democrats, but without saying so. Jane Prendergast and her editors failed to either ask the question about other damage that would indicate if it was a political based action.

WCPO's article was almost as bad, they at least did not include the quote or anything like it in the article. The on-air story was far worse than the Enquirer, and showed bias. I could not believe the lead spoken by the anchor:

"Someone is apparently out to get the Hamilton County Bush/Cheney re-election campaign."

That is beyond bias and is frankly just a plain old lie. The worst lie comes from GOP spokesman Alex Triantafilou:

"Never-the-less it does fit a bit of a pattern across the country that we've seen with vandalism and ah disruptions at some of our offices and our operations."

Ah, Alex my man, if there is some kind of a pattern, where your stock of signs or stickers destroyed or stolen? Were anti-Bush slogans painted on anything? Did they do anything else to damage the progress of your campaign other than steal money like common criminals? There was nothing fitting a pattern other than a window being broken, which by the way was not the main window, but instead the one near the door so the criminals could get in and steal money. This had nothing to do with politics and when you say you don't know, you are in my opinion lying.

WKRC had little on the incident.

WLWT did the best by reporting by including other incidents that don't fit this case and mentioning Kerry's campaign having problems up in Toledo. They did have the most ignorant quote from Jenny French:

Jenny French stopped by the building for a few yard signs and said the fact that there was no indication of partisan motivation didn't interfere with her first thoughts when she saw the bits of broken glass, WLWT News 5's John London reported.

"I don't think there would be any other point but political," French said.

I am guess that even though all reports show that there were no WMD and no link between Iraq and 9/11, Jenny still thinks we will find WMD and that Saddam was behind 9/11. That kind of ignorance is not as rare as it should be.

Blackwell Grandstanding

Ken Blackwell is now grandstanding against a Federal Judge. Defying a judge is surely a great way to win support for a legal case.

Blackwell and GOP's attempts to suppress the vote is not a new occurrence, but in today's age of inclusion it shows a disdain for the poor and a disdain for the less educated that perplexes me. Why do people feel there should be an intelligence test for voting? Why make it more difficult to vote? If we are going to exclude people because of being ignorant on the issues or being askew of reality, then most of those supporting Bush would be disqualified.

Steve Fritsch's Cheap Tricks

Just so you know that when Steve Fritsch wrote a column attacking Todd Portune he was "not" trying to make a back hand claim that Todd Portune is faking his injury to gain political votes. Steve is "not" using double talk:

Again, I'm not claiming that Portune still doesn't need his wheelchair. I don't know if he really needs it or not. But coming from a man who is as deceitful as Portune is, a man who personifies "politician" in its negative connation, it wouldn't surprise me if he was using it for political gain.

Steve surely is "not" bring up the issue of Portune faking his need for a wheelchair by saying it is possible but he doesn't know.

It is possible, I don't know mind you, that since Tom Brinkman voted against ratifying the 14th Amendment he is a theocratic racist. It is possible with his prior stances on religious issues. Hey, I don't know either way. I really don't have any insight into man at all. I just have to point out that it is possible and would in no way surprise me.

Stick with Kerry

That is exactly what I have been waiting for from Maggie Downs. I would like this type of politically based, yet fun to read column that can balance out Bronson's right wing tripe.

Her sticker counts are similar to what I see, which even though she stuck to more "liberal" parts of town (stayed out of StepfordWest Chester) shows me that either Kerry folks locally are more energized or the Bush campaign is taking this area for granted. I will be interested to see how Bush's numbers inside Hamilton County compare with 2000. I would bet Kerry far exceeds the votes Gore received.