Anti-Gay Tom Brinkman

The slippery slope is getting slicker. It shouldn't surprise anyone that the bigoted right wing is doing everything they can to oppress gays and lesbians and drive them away from Ohio. It is a little bit surprising that Tom Brinkman it leading the charge. Well, I guess maybe it's not surprising. Being anti-gay is still OK with the majority of Republicans. That is not a stereotype. That is a simple observation.

This is a theocratic fascist crusade against gays and lesbians. Say what you want about why this is being done, but there is no other way to honestly put it to words.

Those "moderates" who somehow thought the anti-gay amendment was anything other than a way to oppress gays were just not paying attention. This is only the beginning. The theocrats are going to do what ever they can to use the government to enact religious law. This proves I must live in the most idiotic area in the state. Brinkman and Schmidt are my representatives. They are extremists, and horrible public officials.

Cincinnati Advance Radio: Drive Time!

Joe Wessels is live on WAIF tomorrow morning at 8AM with CinAd Radio. Joe's guests this week are Fitness expert and writer of CinWeeklyÂ?s Ask Rocco, Rocco Castellano plus local authors and Enquirer staffers Rebecca Goodman and Barrett J. Brunsman discuss their book Â?This Day In Ohio HistoryÂ?. Tune in to 88.3 FM for a special Wednesday morning edition.

Something Doesn't Add Up

Someone is lying and I am betting on Jean Schmidt. If she didn't know that Murtha was a long time Marine, then why the hell was it a big story that he had changed his stance on the Iraq war? Why was she giving a speech in opposition to him? Who arranged or asked for her to speak? Was she at all coached about what to say? Could Bubp be lying? Maybe? I don't see why he would be. It is amazing how either ignorant she is or how stupid she things her voters are.

Official Council Results

Greg Korte has the offical results from the City Council race and the same 9 are getting, but the order of finish greatly changes. It Laketa Cole moved up to third, which puts her closer to where people thought she would finish. What this points out is that the election was much more even than noticed. Only a couple hundred votes separated 3-4-5, but the perception of who won changes a bit. Cole did well. She finished strong and gained votes when Bond Hill came in, the same way Mark Mallory did.

The Lies of Rep. Jean Schmidt

Here is her latest statement (and almost an apology, but not very good in my opnion). Let's start with her first lie in the statement:

Last week as I returned to the Capitol Building after attending a funeral at Arlington National Cemetery for a local fallen Marine, I found out that the Democrats had just announced their policy position to immediately withdraw troops from Iraq.

The Democrats did not put forth a proposal to "immediately" withdraw troops from Iraq. That is the lie being told consistently by the GOP and the media, but is false. See Murtha's resolution here. Additionally, you know it is a lie because of the simple fact that the GOP created a new resolution. They created a one sentence resolution which put in and created the "immediate" phrase. It was a stunt, but if Murtha had proposed an immediate withdrawal, why not VOTE ON HIS RESOLUTION? Instead the GOP created their own myth of what he was supposed to have proposed with their new resolution. That is a crafty way of playing politics, but it is a misleading and dishonest way.

Next:

Since that moment I have been attacked from across the country by the left.

This is not a lie, just a half truth. The Cincinnati Enquirer's editorial page, a conservative group who endorsed Schmidt, hits her fairly hard in today's paper. She is also being attacked by liberals right here in her own district. (Yea, I mean me)

Next:

I never meant to attack Congressman Murtha personally.

This is the second time she has claimed this and it will continue to hold no water no matter how many times she repeats it. There is no way she could have said what she said without full knowledge that what she was saying was a personal attack. Calling a man a coward is about as personal of an attack as one can get without bring up the footwear of his mother, or by using a few four letter words.

The final lie might be the most telling. It appears that Danny Bubp is cutting Schmidt adrift. He is denying ever saying anything about Murtra:

"There was no discussion of him personally being a coward or about any person being a coward," Bubp said. "My message to the folks in Washington, D.C., and to all the Congress people up there, is to stay the course. We cannot leave Iraq or cut and run - any terminology that you want to use."

Talk about cutting and running. If she has to make stuff up just to get in the Â?cut and runÂ? line into her speech, then she really needs to just stop talking. If you canÂ?t speak truth, then donÂ?t speak at all.

I think this removes any chance she has of betting a ham sandwich in the GOP primary. I think I could run as a Republican a defeat her, and boy that is a scary thought.

Havana Martini Club Moving

No, its not moving out of downtown. Instead they are moving to Tower Place Mall. Yea, this does seem kind of weird to me. I liked the club. It had pricey Martinis, and I am a beer drinker, but it provided an interesting offset to the Backstage area around the Aronoff and CAC. The location they are going to is right on 5th Street across from Macy's. This fits well with the Fountain Square Plan. It does not work for business around 6th street, which has now lost the Masionette, La Normandie, and Skyline recently. Shifting business around downtown is an expensive game of musical chairs, but in the long run is what will have to happen for the Fountain Square Plan to work.

I would like the lower Main Street area to bloom, which comes close to the 6th Street area. That could be a great residential/retail area, with small business thriving on what could be a huge downtown populace.

"I'll Get You My Pretty"

Great cartoon on Schmidt and the GOP from Jeff Danziger. It's several days old, but still good.