Edwards and Forbes Debate

Anyone hit the John Edwards - Steve Forbes debate at NKU last night?

More Bigotry

WestEnder points out a Fairfield Republican who has nothing better to do with his time than put forth bills that waste Tax Payers’ money and promotes Hate more than the Mason bigot who uses signs to keep out the unwanted.

Are these things connected? I am sure that Courtney Combs didn't mind the efforts of the Mason bar owner, but this issue has been the Xenophobes’ pet project for a while. Conformity ain’t just a line in the sand; it apparently is a border too.

One Week To Go

One more week of yard signs. One more week of TV/Radio commercials. One more week of mass mailings. One more week of phone calls. Worst of all, it will be a week worse than all the weeks before, combined. For political junkies, this is a National Holiday.

The Mayor's race is still getting most ofthe press, but Borgman I think in the end sums up how most are starting to feel.

Over the weekend I will be issuing my picks for who I believe would be good for council. I will be listing more than nine. I will likely be personally voting from among the number I list, but not all, obviously. There are many good council candidates out there and not enough seats.

I will also be listing who should not get on council. Obviously Sam Malone will be at the top of that list. It will not be that long of a list, but there will be more than sorry Sam on it.

I will try and bring up the other races out there as well. We have judges, and trustees galore running. Most of which are not in competitive races, but we can at least examine who is who. There are also several City Issues on the ballot, many of which really suck ass, but we'll look at that too. I will be blogging all day on election day, well, most of the day. I expect a close election for Mayor, and a barn burner for the 9th slot on council. It will be a nutty week.

Don't forget the debate tonight as well.

Chabot is Sick

Here is a mile high reason why anti-abortion fanatics like Steve Chabot are viewed, and rightfully so, as anti-women:

A bill pending in the House called the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act would require doctors to inform women who have an abortion after 20 weeks that the fetus she is aborting will feel pain and offer her the option to use anesthesia on the fetus.

First this horrible bill is a farce. It is nothing but a stunt, not something Chabot expects to be effective. If taken seriously it is designed to torment women. Create a false sense of guilt and make the doctor act as a tool of the insane right wing.

Abortion is about to become an issue again, and this is Chabot trying to get his nutty Westside base into a frenzy. As with the majority of most anti-abortionists, Chabot refuses to consider the best way to reduce the number of abortions: reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies by increasing the use of contraception. This is about religion to folks like Chabot, so he will not make the pill and condoms easily available to everyone. He also will not put money into finding new contraceptive tools that are better than the pill and condoms. Why would he not do this? Religion is the basis for his belief. It is not about "life," it is about sex and marriage, and the control of women. (I can hear the nutty conservatives typing their trite reactions from across town.)

With the expected nomination of a Conservative to the SCOTUS, the nut cases are about to come out of the woodwork again.

We Have a Write in Candidate For Mayor

Mr. E. Lanier Walker pointed out to me that he is the only write in candidate for Mayor of Cincinnati. He supports city wide WiFi.

Peter Bronson Has 'Issues'

The fact that Peter Bronson has issues will not shock anyone who regularly read this blog. I will respect the man a bit, however, and not get into the those issues today. Be forewarned that we could spend thousands of words on those issues, but today we won't. I am sure there is now much rejoicing amongst the "people."

What should also not be a shock to everyone, is that when Bronson bitches about the issues on the ballot next month, he does so with his typical myopic world view: its all about "the Bronson." Since Bronson can do it, you must be able to do it. Let's all sing along folks: "if its good enough fer Bronson, its good enough fer me." That view about the “the Bronson,” not be confused with “the Johnson,” is just a veiled viewpoint exposing that his party has a strangle hold on power in the state, and got it “legally”, so suck it, monkeys! The fact that the laws don’t make it fair, just don’t matter.

The ballot issues are not the way Bronson tries to sell them. Let's get things straight:

Issue One: Ok, this one is economic. The sides on it are fairly simple. Use the government to develop business and industry or not. Do it via state government bonds or not. That is a fairly straightforward philosophical choice. I will not begrudge Bronson's views on this, this has fair debate, except for the bible thumping thugs who fear finding the cure for cancer because every sperm is sacred, and dumping fertilized embryos in the trash can is ok, using them to help save lives is just evil! Savings Lives is Evil! (Sarcasm machine now off, for the moment) The fact that Bronson bashes Taft is just humorous. He does it with the Coin-gate scandal that Bronson should know, touches the President too.

Issue Two: Here is where Bronson wants to limit who votes. He wants to make it more difficult to vote, and he, again without surprise, misrepresents the issue:

It gives absentee voters a "do-over" provisional ballot, so they can vote twice.

False!!! The language of the issue clearly states that you can't vote twice:

An elector to whom a ballot has been mailed, but which has not been received by the issuing county board of elections prior to the election, may cast a provisional ballot on election day. If the elector's first ballot is received by the tenth day following the election, the provisional ballot shall not be counted. A ballot which is received by the issuing board by mail no later than the tenth day following the election shall be treated as timely cast if it contains a postmark not later than the day of the election.

The game Bronson is playing here is that he wants you to think the Democrats are making it so "their" voters get their vote counted twice. What does it matter if you cast a ballot twice? You don't get to vote twice and only one vote per person counts. This issue make things easier for the voter instead of easier for the powerful.

Issue Three: This issue is about equality, leveling the playing field. Elections are not about money, they are about voters, all the voters, not just the rich ones. Here Bronson wants to keep the powerful in charge. Corporations and fat cats are not who should be running the elections, and this makes it fair for everyone's fat cats and corporations, not just his side.

Issue Four: Oh, just fucking come on! How the hell can any honestly oppose this? Are people blind? Do they not see the gerrymandered district created to keep Steve Chabot in power? Why is the city of Cincinnati broken down the way it is between congressional districts? Why should be obvious: to elect more Republicans. That happens no matter who is in power, and California shows that. I support the efforts to pass a similar law in California championed by the GOP out there. It does cut both ways, but it cuts fairly. Why are Bronson and other GOPher's suddenly turned into a one party state crypto-communists? They should be getting hard-ons for this, it creates Competition. Competition is every capitalist's wet dream. Well, maybe not. Maybe monopolies are. I guess Russian style one party monopolies are the new vogue for movement Conservatives, and fundamentalist Christians alike. Who would have guessed?

Issue Five: Again, another Duh! How can you have a fair election if a partisan group controls the election? I guess if you gerrymander the districts so it is never close, then it doesn't matter when someone intimidates a voter with a cop car outside a polling station.

Bottom line, the election system in this state is grossly unfair. It is far too difficult to vote and have a chance to be elected. Why would anyone who believes in a democratic form of government oppose these issues?

Shocking News! - Enquirer Picks Pepper

There's gambling going on at the Enquirer! Are they gambling on our future? Well, no, just the obvious has occurred: the Enquirer had endorsed David Pepper for Mayor. Something that you couldn't have missed every time the Black Fist was given ink-space in the paper.

The funny part about this is that unlike Jean Schmidt’s surprising GOP primary win which was helped by an Enquirer endorsement, this endorsement will not likely matter much. This is a close election, so one could argue that a few vital votes could change hands, but in the big picture, the average city voter doesn't care what the newspaper says, and they in fact might be slight more inclined to vote against who the Enquirer picks for Mayor. Out in Jean’s district, outside the city, the Newspaper still has credibility with many.

The editorial is very well articulated. I myself prefer Mallory for Mayor, but Pepper is not a bad choice, just not the best. I feel Pepper is more of a wonk, and detailed orientated. The city does not need more detail. The city needs a better image. I myself hate that idea. I much prefer to wallow in the details of what to do, instead of crafting PR image that springs a positive perception. That is however what the city needs. The city needs a voice, a leader out front to pull together the city and make people think things have changed are going to get better. Pepper will have a difficult time doing that. He doesn't inspire many. Mallory inspires. Mallory's voice would be heard beyond the city, beyond the suburbs, and beyond Ohio. Pepper is more of the same from council, and will be viewed by the rest of the region as more of the same. Perceptions of the city will not change under Pepper. He will not do a bad job. He will on paper likely do a very good job. Few will care. People will still see city as two things: intolerant and crime ridden. Those two perceptions are what is hurting the city. With Pepper in office, I don't see how they will change.