CCV Letter in Enquirer?
This letter (last) from today's Enquirer laments Maggie Downs' Dustin Flynt Column:

What's so charming about young Flynt?

Whatever college that reporter Maggie Downs received her journalism degree from needs to beef up the curriculum with a few classes in logic.

Her Metro section front-page story ["He's a different Flynt off the old stone," Aug. 22] extolling pornographer Dustin Flynt's charm, diligence, and commitment to his work as virtues that should somehow elevate him to the level of being "just like all other young, thriving entrepreneurs" is a new low in journalistic taste - not to mention an insult to all young, thriving entrepreneurs with a conscience.

It's a shame that, as a younger man, Dustin once had to bear a stigma for the actions of his family; however, his choice as an adult has been to dive head first into the family cesspool instead of walking away from it.

This charming, committed, diligent, polished "entrepreneur" makes his living in an industry that exploits women and appeals to our basest instincts.

What exactly is it that Maggie finds redeeming and charming about that, and what makes her think we want to choke down such drivel with our morning coffee?

Interesting to note that the article lauding young Flynt was juxtaposed with one lambasting the Archdiocese of Cincinnati for not acting severely enough in the case of a priest who was allowed to remain in ministry after undergoing treatment for alcoholism and sexual issues.

Someone who has presumably been treated, faced and resolved his issues, and gone on to a life of helping others might be worth reading about, but then again, a story like that might take looking below the surface and considering the truth.

Bob Furia, School counselor, West Chester

Two questions arise, How long has Bob been a supporter of the CCV? (yes, a leading question your honor) Was printing this letter either an appeasement to the factions at the paper that did not want this column published or was printing a letter like this part of the deal made with Maggie to allow the column to run? What I found odd was how person the letter got with Maggie. Bob Furia was down right belittling Maggie. This coming from a school counselor, or what I used to call a school guidance counselor, often considered the low man on the educationally qualified totem pole. Well, if Bob can get personal, why can't I?

Bronson's Almost Correct
What, no 10 commandments? I guess his editors wanted him to stick to local issues. Today he gnaws on Damon Lynch III. I have to say that I agree with many of Peter's points. I really hate that, but Lynch's candidacy begs many questions, which Peter raises, but Lynch poorly answers.

1. How can a man who owns 2 homes, had to move into the city to run for office, and drives a nice car really feel he can speak for the poor better than the Democrats? (Peter's ad hominem attack on the "tax and spend" Dems was his token propaganda for the day)

2. How can a person leading a boycott against a city then become one of its political offices in charge of bettering the city? Will Lynch renounce the boycott if he wins? If he does not make that pledge before hand, how can anyone trust him? How can a council candidate advocate harming the city? Does that violate his oath?

3. How does a person who demands Cincinnati Public Schools teach an "Afro-centric" curriculum not be considered at least a bigot? Do immigrants from Australia require and "Oceanian-centric" curriculum?

I am surprised Peter did not push the Pete Witte position on the validity of Lynch's city residentcy. It will be interesting to measure the level of positive vs. negative media attention Lynch will get this fall. The Buzz will be giving him basically free advertising that should be investigated if it is not considered an in-kind contribution. WLW will bash him at every chance. The local TV will ask the question "what election?" The papers will give the most mixed coverage. I can see both the Post & Enquirer bashing Lynch while giving him tons of space to voice his opinions. XRay Magazine will of course be fair and balanced. This blog will likely be negative on Lynch. I don't see what good his candidacy can brings, except entertainment value to us political junkies.

Missing Question for Alabama Judge
In the mess that is the Supreme Court of Alabama, I have wondered about one of the claims of Chief Justice Roy Moore. Many times in interviews Moore made a George Wallace style state's rights claim where he swore an oath to uphold the Constitution of the State of Alabama. During those interviews why has he not been asked whether or not he swore an oath to also uphold the Constitution of the United States of America? According to this from the Alabama Constitution, this shall be the oath of office for “All members of the legislature, and all officers, executive and judicial, before they enter upon the execution of the duties of their respective offices, shall take the following oath or affirmation:“

"I, …, solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Alabama, so long as I continue a citizen thereof; and that I will faithfully and honestly discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter, to the best of my ability. So help me God."

I seem to see the US Constitution there listed before that of Alabama. Now of course you see the "so help me god" part and you may wish to throw that back into my face, well I will point your eyes to the inserted reference to "affirm" instead of swear, which to me allows one to affirm support and skip the "god" at the end, as is allowed in all courts under law.

It seems that journalists on TV have been lazy in reporting this and Judge Moore has been dishonest for not stating this. I wonder if this will be included in any possible charges for failure to carry out his duty as Chief Justice.

Trouble for Lynch?
The residency controversy involving Council Candidate Damon Lynch III is heating up. Republican candidate Pete Witte is pushing the issue of Lynch's residency. Witte is questioning the validity of Lynch's change in residency to East Price Hill. The laws here are odd. The city only requires 30 days, but a state law indicates that a married couple must share the same residence, unless they are separated. The Post reports that Lynch's kids go to Princeton school, not Cincinnati Public. Now, doesn't at least one parent have to live in Princeton district for his kids to be allowed to go to that school with out some kind of special tuition or does property ownership over rule that? Are the kids able to claim self-residency because of where they reside?

Witte is pushing the issue because Lynch is high on the list to make it on council. Witte is one of two GOP candidates thought by many to have a good shot to get on council, along with Leslie Ghiz. Witte seeks two things here, to either force Lynch out of the race (or tarnished enough to not be a factor) or to paint him as an outsider to gain more west side support.


More from the Enquirer (2nd item).

Yet Another Bronson Hack Job: Redskins Today, Redskins Tomorrow, Redskins Forever
A few notes to Peter Bronson on his column.

1. I have to wonder where your self rule for school districts went? The school Board in Anderson Township acted. Guess what? If the residents of that school district don't like what happened they can be voted out. I would like to remind him of something else. I bet the entire school board in Anderson are REPUBLICANS, so he should call his masters at the county GOP and complain.

2. Does Peter really think "liberal" is an insult? Well no, it is not an insult, unless you call a conservative one, so keep us out of your inter party crusades.

3. I also have to point out one PC thing that Peter seems to miss: THE FUCKING CCV AND PHIL BURRESS!!!!!!!! Where are attacks on Phil and his army of fascists out to rid this city of all things "objectionable?" Oh wait you are part of that army. You are a firm believer of "do what I say, not what I do." Political Correctness is bad when liberals do it, but when a pious theocrat goes on a tirade you stand up and cheer. Hypocrisy to the extreme.

4. Your direct line to the Miami College Republicans goes back years. I wonder if you have ever even met anyone else not a Republican from Miami. Well your buddy Brad Beckett brought up an interesting point:

"There are professional folks who go around the country whipping up political correctness," Beckett said. "It was swift and silent."

Now who else goes around the country whipping up PC cries? Well just go visit the crowd standing outside the Alabama Supreme Court and you will see religious zealots from all over the country sticking their noses in to Alabama’s pot. Now, where's the outrage for Theocrat Judge Moore Peter? I will not be surprised to read Peter's Sunday Column to find him defending Judge Moore, but I think instead he will use this a reason for confirming AG Pryor of Alabama to the Federal Court. I would bet Peter might even say this proves Pryor is fit to serve. Pryor will be investigating Moore for defying a Federal Court. This is politically convenient for Moore, who has been criticized for his views on religion in government, which are basically the same as Moore.

Bottom line: Don't piss into the wind. In this case, I am the wind and I am pissing back.

Business Courier "Survey" on Luken
The Cincinnati Business Courier did a survey and only 29% of respondents approved of the way Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken's was performing his job. Now before you start sawing wood for Charlie's political coffin, you might want to know that this survey was of Business Courier readers. Now if you generalize about Business Courier readers, which is not difficult to do, you can understand that they are going to be mostly business and corporate types. A overwhelming majority people like that in this town are two things, Republican and not city of Cincinnati residents.

Boycott B Shut Out of Council Race?
According to the Enquirer the 26 council candidates to officially file include:

Democrats: Howard Bond, Samuel Britton, Y. Laketa Cole, John Cranley, David Crowley, David Pepper, Alicia Reece

Republicans: John Connelly, Terry Deters, Pat DeWine, Leslie Ghiz, Tom Jones, Sam Malone, Chris Monzel, Barbara Trauth,
Pete Witte

Charterites: John Schlagetter, Cristopher Smitherman, Nick Spencer, Jim Tarbell

Independents: Larry J. Frazier, Brian Garry, Glenn Givens Sr., Marilyn Hyland, Damon Lynch III, Eric Wilson

Who is missing? Hal Mckinney and William Kirkland. Mr. Kirkland is a member of Boycott B and his own personal extremist group. He is a regular member of the clown posse who infests city council meetings. I know he was getting signatures, Glenn Givens even said he signed Kirkland's petition. Kirkland made the ballot in 2001, so I am actually surprised he did not make it this year.

Next Wednesday the Board of Elections will make the ballot official. At that point we will confirm if all 26 people got 500 valid signatures.

The Enquirer also reports here on other races and issues in Hamilton County.

UPDATE: The Post gives an additional summary along with word that the GOP may challenge Lynch's residency. Also a Post Story on Larry Frazier's signature problems and a new allegation of misuse of public equipment for political purposes.

UPDATE#2: Wes Flinn has some comments on one of the issue from the Post article, the disolving of the village of North Bend, birth place of Miami University's own Benjamin Harrison, as well the grave site for Ben's Grandfather William Henry Harrison.

Flint the Younger
This column had, according to "sources", a long and difficult journey to the publication. I am glad Maggie was able to write this column and it was given the light of day. I am sure the hate mail will fly in from Burress and his army of brown shirts, but this story shows that for every hot button issue that permeates up into the media maelstrom there are human beings living inside and with those issues.

26 Filed for City Council
WCPO reports that 26 candidates filed paperwork for Cincinnati City Council. 28 candidates had announced they were running. If I speculate I would say Hal McKinney and Eric Wilson were the candidates not getting the signatures. Larry Frazier has possible issues with some of his signatures, but likely still had enough to get on the ballot.

Nothing to Worry about for CityBeat?
According to quotes from this Boston Globe story, the mainstream free newspapers started by the Tribune and Sun-Times in Chicago did not hurt the Alternative weeklies, at least according to the publisher of the Chicago Reader:

Jane Levine, publisher of the 32-year-old Chicago Reader, says the new Chicago tabloids have not eroded her readership. ''They're supposed to be youth-oriented publications, [but] they don't want to be alternative at all,'' says Levine. She adds that a healthy dose of ''attitude'' distinguishes the truly alternative press.

If the Enquirer weekly mimics every other similar "youth" targeted mainline paper, then CityBeat will survive with only a few revenue scrapes.

They're Looting the Food King!
I guess we don't need to buy the 500 pack of "D" batteries or the jumbo size adult diapers when we read headlines like "Officials: City prepared for power outage." I feel safer just thinking about our wonderful city council on the watch for power outages. I have to panic a bit when my power, along with all of Mt. Washington, was out for at least a half an hour this past Monday. It did not even make the news. Damn, I figured the local TV news would have interrupted regular programming to tell me that I had no power.

Making a Claim of Responsibility
Did I have anything to do with indirectly prompting John Fox, CityBeat Editor, to write this editorial on why he moved Savage Love to a Web-only column? It seems as if a day or so after I posted this, a special PR link was add to the CityBeat website. It is perfectly reasonable to think that many staffers at CityBeat were simultaneously drawing the same conclusion I did from last weeks CityBeat letters to the editor. CincyNation.com ran with what I observed, so it was news to at least one other person.

If anyone at CityBeat did read my blog and checked out my conclusion from the source, than I make a full claim of responsibility for the reaction, otherwise I am just a blogger with an over blown ego.

New Local Blog
I have added Wes Flinn's blog, Walk in Brain, to my blog roll. Wes does a good job with it. It is still new, but he keeps it updated regularly. He covers mostly national issues, but he throws in local references when ever possible. Please welcome him to the Cincinnati Blogging Community.

In case his name sounds familiar you might remember him from his 2001 Cincinnati City Council campaign. I hope to hear his thoughts on this year's race. If Lynch gets the signatures by Thursday, it will be raucous.

Ohio Redistricting
It appears we have some power hungry Republicans here in Ohio. A gaggle of GOP State legislators is trying to change the North Eastern congressional districts to try and help solidify the GOP's hold on the US House. Calpundit had thoughts on this, as does Kenneth Cavness, and Wes Flinn. I think this is all talk. GOP power in this state is shallow. They have all of the statewide offices because voter turn out stinks like Lake Eire in July. The Libertarian leaning Republicans would not support this and it could actually backfire. I think DeWine and Voinovich can keep it from happing.

[Via Atrios]

Remind Me Never to Hang Up on Greg Korte
Larry Frazier, council candidate, seems to have a few problems. Greg Korte of the Enquirer smells blood in the water and is going in for the kill. His column yesterday basically sunk Frazier's campaign, which was dinky to begin with, but this story could bring criminal charges against Frazier, adding to his prior problems with the law. Will Frazier be the first independent candidate to fall?

UPDATE: Further Media coverage - WCPO, WLWT, and ONN.

Turning Water to Wine
It appears the NAACP has awoken from its slumber and wants Charlie Luken to pull a miracle out of his ass. While Charlie is at it I demand that he provide a clean and economical energy source to replace the combustible engine and produce world peace. What I really do not get: how can one demand that you meet the demands that someone else wants you to meet and which you do not have the power to meet? It is so bizarre that the boycotters think there is a man behind the curtain pulling the strings running the city, keeping them down. There are no secret meetings where the "man" plots to keep the "black man" down. Tin foil hats anyone?

Damon Lynch III to Run for City Council
Lincoln Ware reported on his radio program that Damon Lynch III is running for Cincinnati City Council. A press conference is scheduled at this hour (10:00 AM) with an official announcement.

This shakes up the race and messes up my debut of Vigilancia Politica (tongue in cheek). At this point he will only be an Independent candidate and only has until Thursday to get the signatures needed to get on the ballot. Lynch reportedly will be on air with Lincoln on the Buzz after his press conference.

UPDATE: Lynch on the Buzz stated that he will be working until 4 PM on Thursday to gain signatures. This sounds like a truly last minute push. He appears to have Ken Lawson in his corner. Will that be source of funding?

UPDATE#2: Media Round up - Enquirer, Post, WCPO, and WLWT. The big news that needs more attention is from the Post's story:

It remains unclear how Lynch, who works in Cincinnati but lives in Forest Park, will qualify for city residency to seek office.

Would he consider sharing an apartment with Nate Livingston?

Vigilancia Politica 2003-08-19
I have started a new politcal column over at GoXRay.com. I am looking for any feedback and tips on what candidates are doing on the campaign trial, so let me know.

Black Family Reunion
Organizers made every effort to avoid a repeat of last year's melee. Last night they could not stop a group of what WCPO reported were 500 teenagers converging on downtown. There were some minor scuffles, but no injuries or property damage was reported. A few fights were reported and a few arrests were made. Pictures show a large group of kids on Government Square presumably waiting for bus rides home. It appears the same problem existed as last year. Parents either left their kids down at the family reunion, or did not go with them at all, forcing the kids to travel home in mass by bus. This year trouble was avoided because police and other security were better prepared and kept order. Last year they were not prepared. What will the response be after the event? What will happen tonight after the event? If organizers keep up their efforts and police keep up their efforts, then nothing worse than a few kids will get out of hand. I hope the police will be thanked for keeping things from getting out of control, and not vilified for doing what parents should be doing.

Friends of Simon Leis?
Are the Troy, Ohio Police friends of the Hamilton County Sheriff? If they are not friends, they seem to have the same target: porn. This time though it is a strip club, not video stores. I have to ask, is this an election year in Troy? I also must ask, have they solved all crimes with actual victims in Troy? If not, why are they grandstanding with a PR induced prosecution? Yes, Virginia, yet another rhetorical question.