Malone Arrest Fall-Out Begins

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

The most outlandish statement and one that should destroy his chances for a GOP endorsement for Mayor go to former councilman Charlie Winburn:

"When kids are unruly, parents have to be responsible," said Charlie Winburn, a longtime friend of Malone's family and a former councilman. "Sam is a great, responsible father. He ought to be commended for disciplining his child."

Now, I might give Charlie the benefit of the doubt only if he did not know of the details in the article, like the kid having to go to the hospital after being beaten by his father. If he knew about that and other details reported in the media, then Winburn is a monster to think that a person should be "commended" for beating a teenager. We don't live in the 18th Century Mr. Winburn.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Councilman Sam Malone Arrested

First thing that comes to mind is holy shit, but that just does not put into words the change this puts into City Politics. Councilman Sam Malone was arrested for beating his 14 year old with a belt. This is not just a little beating:

A police report said Malone hit his son with a belt, causing injuries that included swelling to the chest, arms, back and buttocks.

A spokeswoman for children's services in Hamilton County said doctors at a Cincinnati hospital contacted the agency Friday night after they found welts and belt marks on the boy's body.

"Parents are allowed to physically discipline their children," said Laurie Petrie, spokeswoman for the county's Department of Job and Family Services, which includes children's services.

"But this," she said, "would be beyond what we would consider normal discipline."

What kind of a human being can beat their own child in such a way as to cause swelling to his chest, arms and back? If it was just on his buttocks, Malone might have survived this, but he should go to jail if this is true.

I hope everyone can agree on this. Some out there might be in favor of corporal punishment, but this is assault. I can understand spanking a young child who can't be reasoned with, but beating your teenager with a belt does nothing but gets your grandchildren beat up in about 20 years.

If anyone tries to defend Malone on this one, you really are reaching. I hope his son is able to get through this.

Malone should immediately resign his council seat and quit politics. If the GOP endorses him, they really will have sunk to a new low.

I hope no one calls this good family values.

Chilifest Cancelled

There will not be a 23rd annual Cincinnati Chilifest this year, but it seems the organizers will try and bring it back this year. Last years event left the organizers 90K in debt. The event occurs in September which is a hard month to contend in. College Football fans are pulled away, baseball, and Oktoberfest eats up people's attention.

More Conversations

Well, I thought I would have one last conversation post after my week of what some called weed induced rantings or reasons #112 that I need to get laid. Well, since I don't smoke anything, let alone weed, and since well the other issue is just nunabiz, I will take it that my conversation went over like a lead balloon.

You stay the same and people complain, you try something new and people complain. You call bigots, bigots, and people complain. I have learned one thing from my experience, people complain, and like to complain. I think I also learned that people don't like my rantings all that much.

Well, you have not read the last of them! I am going to try and broaden my mind a bit more than I have been. I will try and interject a little more culture into the blog than I have been doing. I don't know how or what, but when I am not posting on current events and you see photos, then you will know.

Keeping things fresh has to be something even I try and do. That is saying a lot, for me.

Congrats Wes!!!

A big congratulations go out to Wes Flinn on his new job starting this fall. We all shall miss you.

Pettus-Brown vows to rebuild theater

LaShawn Pettus-Brown almost pulls an OJ.

The Social Leagues

Something I do all the time is constantly consider if women are in or "out of my league." It is almost an instinctive response to meeting someone new. Admitting I am at least partially shallow is not going to be a popular opinion, especially to women. I think my understanding that I myself am nothing to drool over gives me a little cover coupled with my honestly. Since I have come out and spilled the beans on the leagues, I have to ask, are these leagues all in my head, or do they have something of a non-formal and certainly flexible definition that none-the-less holds true?

Now, when I say "out of my league" most people are likely going to focus on appearance. I consider that a significant portion of what I mean, but most certainly not all the factors. Is that fair? Well, from my point of view it is not so much fair, it is something of a reality. Usually it is not what I think of others, it is what I assume they would think of me. That is the interesting part, does our opinion of others really only depend on how we judge ourselves?

No matter how much people want to avoid it, appearance matters. That sucks. It is horrible, but it is reality. It is a human reaction that is not going to change. In my own biased opinion of myself, I rank kinda-sorta average, maybe a little below on some factors and little above a couple of others. What is funny, I think, is that if polled, 2/3rds of people would view themself as average, whether they are or not. If polled secretly they may have a completely different view. Appearance is very subjective and often based on comparison and sample size. Just because it varies though, does not mean it is not valued.

Beyond appearance there are other factors to consider which are really what in the end matters: intelligence, wealth or class, maturity, age, personality, interests, cultural background, and temperament. There are other categories and other variations, but these are what come to my mind most often. Does anyone ever think that people are out of their league when it comes to personality or interests? Sometimes people might say that a smart person is out of their league, but not necessarily in the sense that they are better, just different. Difference is not always valued, unless it creates an identity people can relate to.

Beyond the normal comparison of supermodels and movie stars, are there really people out of your league? Do you walk down the street and say people who might share your same interests, intelligence, temperament are beneath you in social status?

What makes up social status? How much of it is based on appearance and how much is based on other factors? Is appearance ever not a factor?

What I think plays into this is the mystery surrounding what causes two people to be attracted to one another. There are common factors and conventional wisdom that seem to hold true, but then you see a couple together and can’t fathom how they are in anyway compatible. That seems not to matter much when you notice how happy they are together. As a single guy, I can't seem to fathom that kind of happiness.

What I will laugh at now is anyone who claims to be happy, but can't put into words that which makes him/her happy.