Trent Lott's Ohio
How soon do we forget? Senator DeWine`s Annual Ice Cream Social is detailed as follows:

Date: June 22, 2003
Time: 1PM-5PM
Special Guests: Senator and Mrs. Trent Lott
Location: DeWine Farm, Cedarville
Contact: Barbara Schenck (937) 376-3080

The Boycott B (CJC) has issued a press release stating they will be protesting the event. Nate has invited the likes of Rev. Al. Sharpton, Kweisi Mfume, Jerry Springer and Ohio Senate candidate Eric Fingerhut, to join the protest. Odds are that Sharpton, Mfume, and Springer will be no shows, but if Eric Fingerhut wants the black vote in the primary, he might do well to go. This will be a long haul for Nate and company. Cedarville is northeast of Xenia, but is located relative close to Central State and Antioch, both schools might actually provide a significant number of protestors, assuming a large enough population of kids are still on campus. If the protests only amounts to the usual suspects from the Boycott B, then it will be a laugher, and attract no attention. The most ironic thing is that racists are protesting a man accused of being a racist. Lott's statements are tame compared to those of the "Black Fist" and other CJC allied groups, who are admitted black nationalists/separatists and racists. The boycott B's tactics do take a new low from their press release:

”CJC leader Nathaniel Livingston, Jr. also questions Senator DeWine’s commitment to family values. Livingston has filed suit to gain access to the divorce records of Senator DeWine’s son, Pat DeWine, a member of Cincinnati City Council. In the Complaint, Livingston accuses Senator DeWine of threatening a local television reporter, John Damschroder, for attempting to report on Pat DeWine’s extramaritial [sic] affair with an African American woman.”

Nate has reached a whole new level of scumbag with that kind of action.

Back to DeWine and Lott. It is very unseemly for Mike DeWine to be hanging around with Trent Lott. DeWine just perpetuates the GOP's reputation as being soft on bigotry. There are 50 other Senators DeWine could have asked to visit, in place of Lott. If Mike thinks he has to get out the KKK vote to help Voinovich beat Jerry Springer, then I think he might be a bit paranoid. At this point Springer is a weak candidate and Voinovich is moderate/libertarian enough to hold on to the middle of the road voter. The Democrats should be all over this, but will they drop the ball. The question that should be on everyone's lips: will State Senator Doug White join his compatriot in shame Trent Lott? White's comments about Jews placed in the same league with Lott, but it did not cost him his leadership position. Will the two of them cost the GOP any votes? I wonder....

UPDATE: Link to the CJC's press release.
UPDATE#2: The Ice Cream Social made the Dayton Daily News, but no mention of Trent Lott, not even a mention. A cancellation or an omission?

DeWine Has a Point?
It is an election year for Cincinnati City Council. That of course means that City Council members will be doing and saying things to try and get elected. Pat DeWine is clamoring about the method in which Council plans on paying for the cost of settling the "racial profiling" lawsuits. DeWine's beef is that instead of fitting the cost into the budget now, most on Council want to issue bonds for it now, and after the election offset the cost of the bonds against unknown budget items. For once I agree with DeWine. If council is going to settle the lawsuits, they should announce to the city what is going to be cut to pay for it. If certain programs, summer jobs programs for example, have to be cut, then let us know now. I am sure the money being to spent to keep Kroger downtown will no doubt drive the boycotter's bonkers, as well as the transnational progressives over at CityBeat. They should be thankful that Kroger is not going to walk away. The nearly 1,200 jobs at the Kroger HQ would be impossible to replace, and so would the tax revenue it creates.

Living in a Van, Down by the River
Pearl Jam's concert slated for tonight was cancelled. I will now wait for the Boycott B groups to issue a press release claiming to have caused the flood of Riverbend Music Center. I guess they either have a lot of buckets, or they drank a lot of beer. Chalk up another “victory” for Nate and the gang. I am sure fans will instead look inward and see the error of their ways. What kind of a person goes to a rock concert, when there are racist groups boycotting the city? What kind of person indeed.

Doug Trapp's Last Tango
In a biting CityBeat Editorial Doug takes on the ills of Cincinnati. Doug is off to Africa as part of the Peace Corps.

CityBeat: Trafficking in Peace
CityBeat News Editor Gregory Flannery is a free man. It appears the Prosecution had limited evidence to convict Greg, and might have wanted to avoid a high profile case with a member of the media. Extra attention is not something a DA wants, unless it can get him reelected.

OK Corral
Since Governor Bob Taft is backing the concealed-carry bill, I wonder if he is going to back the Boot Hill funeral fund?

A Pepper Burn
Greg Korte of the Enquirer reports that City Councilman David Pepper was recently slammed by the GOP for an old photo-op in front of a theater with Developer LaShawn Pettus-Brown, who is wanted by the FBI on fraud charges for misappropriation of funds in the renovation of that theater. Pepper's response was:

"Are they talking about the theater that Ken Blackwell stood in front of and said, 'LaShawn Pettus-Brown doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walk?' "

Ken Blackwell is currently the Ohio Secretary of State, and a Republican. Ken also was formerly mayor of Cincinnati. I wonder when they are going to start in on each other's mother?