Portman Moves Up

Former Cincinnati Congressman Rob Portman is moving closer to the President as White House Budget Director. This I think is an insiders pick to try and stem off some of the conservative ire over Bush's spending habits.

You Can't Handle the Truth

When I first read about John Donaldson getting kicked off the Citizens on Patrol Board, he was just reinstated by the Police Chief, all I could think of was Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men:

"I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it."

That is what Assistant Cincinnati Police Chief Richard Janke came off as when he kicked Donaldson off the COP Board for speaking some truth in an Enquirer article about the news of the Sheriff starting to patrol OTR. This shows some insight to the mentality of the Cincinnati Police leadership. If they are going to act like political hacks, then they should be treated as such, and not treated like deities by the likes of the Peter Bronsons in town.

Thinking Big

Nick is thinking big about new ideas for Cincinnati. The arts district I believe is one that is well on its way, but hinges most on reducing crime on Vine Street and Washington Park. Leaving off the Banks on the list is very interesting. I would have added development around Fountain Square too, but that doesn't need much backing, it is beyond the development stage.

More Bigotry

Pure bigotry was laid on the city by the anti-gay group CCV and their bigot in chief, Phil Burress.

Before any of the usual suspects gets out there and whines about the "bigot" use, why don't you ask yourself in the this case Phil Burress and his gang is fighting the amendment to the Discrimination Ordinance? Why don't they fight the whole law? Why just the part that tries to help gays and lesbians? Hmmmm, I wonder why they want to allow discrimination against gays, but not against say blacks or Christians? Why motivates that? I wonder????

Overreaction

It is not surprising to me, but the Enquirer has called for the firing of NKU professor Sally Jacobsen, who was involved with the dismantling of the anti-abortion religious display on the NKU grounds.

This will likely be the first voice from the right wing for this, it will not be the last. NKU appears weak, and will cave if Kentucky lawmakers jump on the bandwagon. NKU is in the middle of an expansion and will not stand up for a teacher giving them horrible press.

Kabaka Oba Dead

The Enqurier is reporting that Kabaka Oba died earlier today.

Mayor Mallory has issued the following statement:

"I want to express my deepest sympathy and condolences to the family of Kabaka Oba. I have known Kababa for many years. Even though he was seen as controversial, some of the ideals that he talked about like economic inclusion, equality, and justice cannot be disputed and should be embraced by us all."

I personally found Oba's views to be abhorrent, adding nothing but hate to our local political discourse, but no human being deserves to be murdered.

Tainting the Jury Pool?

Is this an attempt to taint the jury pool in the Howard Beatty case? Is this a backdoor attempt by the defense to try and sell their fruitless self-defense strategy?