COAST Suppressing the Vote, Again

Chris Finney, head of the anti-government right-wing extremist group COAST, is all bitter about a group of 18 year old adults exercising their right to vote. Yeah, the "students" talked about are 18 years old, or will be by election day. They are of legal age. They are no more mislead by anyone else who gets a free ride to vote, which happens all the time by both sides.

I wonder how he even knew this group went to vote, unless someone at the BOE tipped him off. That alone is worth a few questions by the defense attorneys.

I would like to know if Finney is doing anything about what is going on in Suburban schools. How many football coaches in this area are pushing Republican candidates?

I also would like to know why Finney isn't more concerned about Church Vans allegedly being used in this case. Because that's not be mentioned, I would then wonder how many church vans are used to give Republican voters rides, where only lists of Republican candidates are passed out. I guess that would look bad if he brought it up. It raisers questions, however. How many clergy are out pushing Republicans during bible study? Why don't Democrats sue to find out? I would surmise they don't want to appear to be suppressing votes, unlike some Republicans. Democratic supporters suppressing votes is news. Republicans suppressing the vote, is left to the Bloggers of the world to point out.

Finney is trying to prevent Democratic voters from going to the polls any way he can, but does nothing to identify or prevent the same type of thing from happening in Republican majority school districts.

Until Finney devotes equal time to expose the Suburban schools and the Private schools who allow the same type of thing to occur, then his partisan efforts to suppress Democratic votes will be apparent to anyone paying attention.

All Good Things . . .

I'll leave it for you to determine whether my blogging here has been a "good thing." But good, bad, or unnoticed, my blogging here has come to an end.

Beginning November 1, I'll be starting in a new job. For the first time since I started blogging here, I'll have a boss. And while the new boss hasn't told me I have to stop blogging, I've decided that I won't be comfortable blogging about potentially controversial topics any longer.

I've thoroughly enjoyed my time here at the Cincinnati blog since my first post. While someone else may have appropriated the moniker for himself, the real dean of the Cincinnati blogosphere is Brian Griffin. It's been an honor to blog alongside of him since my first post nearly three years ago. I've also enjoyed the many dialogues with the readers of this blog, as well as my interactions--both online and in "real life"--with other Cincinnati bloggers.

This blog is at its best when its readers take the time to engage in thoughtful, respectful discussions with each other about important topics impacting our city. It's at its worst when it devolves into name-calling and flame wars. I hope my posts here have inspired more of the former than the latter.

The end of my blogging doesn't mean the end of me. You'll still be able to find me hanging out downtown. And from time to time, I'm sure my name will pop up in the comments here, setting Griff straight whenever he becomes too dewy-eyed about the Red Hawks.

I offer thanks: to this blog's readers for paying attention to my random thoughts. To the blog's community of commenters for challenging me and, sometimes, educating me. To my fellow bloggers, both here and across Cincinnati, for inspiring me to be a better blogger. And finally, to Brian Griffin, for providing this forum for discussion and reflection about our amazing city.

When Did Personal Spats Become News?

If you read CityBeat this week you also read the story that someone got pissed off about something and did something minor to someone else. It then would appear that 'someone else' happens to be someone Kevin Osborne (of CityBeat) knows, so what better way to get revenge then to have a personal spat aired in public.

I don't know how or why this is news but obvious problem is that this does nothing but make the local Gay Rights movement look divided between adults and whining children. The Adults know how to act and know when to take action. The Children complain when the Adults don't want to waste their time on pointless and costly symbolism. It appears the Children leaked an email to Kevin Osborne and he parsed it up into an attack on the Adults. Someone has a bee in his bonnet about the Adults not pushing the charge to force City Hall into fighting a culture war battle over an ant hill. No, this isn't news, this is petty personal bullshit that should be left alone.

What is the point of an article that shows trivial division in the Gay Rights movement? It comes across as a purposeful ploy to bring about change in the leadership of the movement, locally. One group wants to be Adults and actually achieve goals. The other group wants to break out the AK-47's and go to war over a minor issue, with no hope of actually achieving anything, outside of wrestling control of the movement from the Adults. Going to war over trivial pursuits does nothing but gain you more enemies. The Gay Rights movement is not about war, last I checked, but what do I know, I am just a possible future "breeder."

Job Opening(?)

I know another blogger has cornered the market on posting craigslist ads, but I couldn't resist this one, under the Jobs--Legal/Paralegal category:

Judicial opening on Common Pleas Court of Hamilton County, Ohio. Job applicants must be residents of Hamilton County Ohio, registered to vote, and licensed to practice in the state of Ohio for at least 10 years and in good standing. Send resume and copy of Supreme Court of Ohio bar card indicating good standing.

The ad promises compensation of $121,350 (which is the salary for a Common Pleas court judge).

I didn't know you could become a judge by responding to a craigslist ad.

It Must Be Fall . . .

. . . because I just ordered my Thanksgiving pumpkin pie from Fred & Gari's.

I don't even have plans for Thanksgiving yet, I just know I want that pie to be involved.

COAST: We Demand a Vote, Except If You Vote Democratic

In an attempt to help Republicans, the Hypocritical, anti-government, and anti-everything group COAST has joined the Conservative movement to disenfranchise Democratic voters. They are part of the Conservative movement, so this is really just the local shock-troops making a call to arms in the fight against Democracy.

Yes, COAST and other Conservatives are trying to prevent Democratic voters from voting in this election. What are they mad about? They are mad because the Hamilton County Board of Elections is going to be open for early voting on Sundays. I guess drinking beer and watching football is good on Sunday, but doing your civic duty is not, in the eyes of the extreme right-wing. Alas, local control of elections appears to be a bad thing. Nothing stops other counties from doing the same thing Hamilton County has done, but that type of self-determination is a COAST way of thinking.

Yes, Sunday voting would benefit every voter, Republican-Democratic-Independent-Other, but that doesn't matter. COAST and other conservatives believe that the more difficult we make it to vote, the more difficult it will be for working and middle class people to vote, who trend Democratic. Why stop voters from voting on Sundays? Well, many employers and corporate managers don't like giving people the required time off to vote, unless they are voting the way they want. In the case of Employers and corporations the voting preference would traditionally be more Republican than not. Republicans have been against all efforts to make it easier to vote, including early voting and voting by mail.

In reality most middle and larger size companies do a good job overall of staying out of the voting lives of voters. Individual managers and supervisors are hit and miss, along with smaller companies that rely on the attitude of the owner. Early and mail voting have been a huge success and I would bet most companies think it works far better than having to give workers any time to vote on Election Day.

COAST should be asking why other counties are not doing the same thing! If the issue is that other counties don't have the population to warrant the additional hours on Sundays, then complaints should be dismissed.

This shouldn't be a partisan issue. Republicans should be in favor of helping foster every opportunity for our citizens to vote. It clearly shows their intent when they fight to make it more difficult to vote for those more likely NOT to vote for their candidates. That is not Democracy. The problem is that today's conservative Republicans are not interested in Democracy.

Finally, in case you missed it: COAST is the group that spearheaded the effort behind "We Demand a Vote", the coalition demanding the public vote on various local issues, instead of elected officials. This was, on its face, an effort to make our local government more "democratic" in a non-representative and more mob-like manner. I wonder if the local Green Party or the Local NAACP, who also worked with COAST, will denounce COAST and local Republicans for efforts to disfranchise voters? Mr. Smitherman, this is your cue to issue a press release. I'd ask the Green Party, but I can't expect a political party that can't field a basketball team to have the time to issue press releases on voting rights.

Not So Good Eats: Fountain Square Chipotle

Has anyone else noticed a marked deterioration in the level of service at the Fountain Square Chipotle in the last few months?

I'm a frequent patron of that restaurant--far more frequent than I should be, perhaps. So it's possible that I'm hyper-sensitive to changes in the quality of the experience and food there. But I don't think so.

When the downtown Chipotle first opened, I thought it was great. The staff was friendly and the service was good. Lately, though, the opposite is true. The food prep areas always seem dirty. The line seem to constantly run out of food, making customers wait while more ingredients are prepared. The people behind the counter vary from indifferent to discourteous; the last thing on their minds seems to be waiting on customers. It's now common to feel like your order is a distraction from some conversation being carried on between employees. On a recent visit, the man working the cash register made me wait while he went somewhere behind the kitchen and retrieved his cell phone, with which he sent text messages while he assisted me and other customers.

You'd think Chipotle would view the Fountain Square restaurant as its flagship store in Cincinnati, since that is the one that will get a lot of tourist traffic, including people from areas of the country that don't presently have a Chipotle. Right now, though, I'd just as soon drive up to Clifton or Stetson Square than deal with the downtown store. Or better yet, skip Chipotle altogether, head five blocks away, and get a chorizo burrito from Taqueria Mercado.