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I’m working on a really long post, but I feel obligated to note this item here; it’s important and, in a way, will even tie in to the upcoming phonebook-length essay.

Browsing Cleveland.com today, I decided to see just what exactly Brent Larkin had written under the headline “Drawing the line on Democrat griping.” Had this been a work of, say, reactionary automaton Kevin O’Brien, I wouldn’t have even bothered, but I’ve found Larkin occasionally makes a fair point or two.

He does so, here. Said point is made in his usual crusty, crabby, how-distasteful-this-all-is way, but aside from the fact that I’m hardly one to talk, he does make a significant point all the same: Ohio’s Democratic Party seems to have invited the partisan redistricting heist of which they, and I, have been complaining so volubly.

Old man Larkin notes something I apparently missed in my normal indifference to Ohio politics, that “Last year, Democrats had a chance to take politics out of drawing new congressional boundaries and replace it with a plan that reeked of fairness.”

The plan would have amended the Ohio Constitution to create a seven-member panel to redraw those boundaries every 10 years. Republican and Democratic members of the Ohio House and Senate would have shared equally in the appointment of four members. Those four would have appointed the other three members. The support of five members would have been required for approval.

[The] proposal would have taken effect for this year’s drawing of new boundaries. It required voter approval, which would have been a near-certainty.

The Ohio Senate voted to put the plan on last November’s ballot, but it died in the Democrat-controlled House.

The hectoring editor emeritus goes on to list various reasons why the Democrats did such a silly thing. I would like to think they might offer up at least a token defense of their rejecting this reform, but having few illusions about the nature of politics even in parties I view relatively favorably, I expect that defense would be pretty thin. For what it’s worth, I’m not aware of anyone else even raising this point; presumably Democrats don’t want to talk about it because it makes them look bad, and presumably Republicans aren’t mentioning it because they don’t want to acknowledge the possibility that the current system which they’re exploiting is not the acme of fairness.

So, thank you, grumpy old newspaperman, for informing me of what everyone else finds inconvenient to recall. What can I say; this was an awful choice even if it hadn’t quickly rebounded to Democrats’ and democracy’s disadvantage. (more…)

Per my increasingly-ludicrous vanity, I shall reply to Peter King’s MMQB column of this morning here, rather than joining the e-mail queue with the hoi-polloi.

In point 8 of his “things I think I think,” today, King muses “I think I wonder this about Cleveland: Will the city’s sports fans be happier if Colt McCoy wins a playoff game this year than it was when LeBron James lost a championship series last night?” I think, myself excepted, it would not even come close.

Frankly, it might still be tight if the Browns won the fucking Super Bowl in 2012. Even in Cleveland, football and the Browns are still of interest to only a subset of the population. The herd mentality of LeBron James as mortal enemy seems to have swept up the entire city, however. (Again, myself excepted.)

The roads still suck, the economy is in a 50-year coma, the city is a perpetual national laughingstock; population, youth and far more talent than is represented by one man, no matter how good he is with a ball, continues to drain away. But 99% of Cleveland is bursting with pride this morning because a Dallas team defeated a Miami team in a professional basketball tournament. “America, fuck yeah.”

I also have a few comments on the subsequent two points. (more…)

What would we do without Ohio Republicans like John Boehner.

Honestly, the elected officeholders among Ohio Democrats don’t exactly set an impossible standard. Aside from shameless Cuyahoga County corruption, I don’t really feel “rah, rah, blue party” when Sherrod is tirelessly defending coal industry profits, or Dennis is making a fool of himself.

Fortunately the “leading lights” of the Ohio GOP, like Johns Kasich and Boehner, work hard to maintain the legacy of Bob Taft and thereby make their Buckeye State opponents look responsible, mature and brilliant by comparison.

Today, apparently, House Speaker Boehn-head “accused Obama and his political organization, Organizing For America, of trying to undermine efforts of Republican governors to cut their budgets by ‘inciting’ protests around the nation.”

It’s worth going over to NPR to read all the quotes from JB, just to marvel at the number of hypocrisies and other assorted laughers; if you made a drinking game out of it you’d be passed out on the floor before this evening begins. A good summary of his main ‘point’ is, however, provided by:

“[President Obama's] political organization is colluding with special-interest allies across the country to demagogue reform-minded governors who are making the tough choices that the President is avoiding.”

Damn, did he miss any buzzwords or talking points at all in there? Anyway, aside from the various humorous elements in this, I find myself challenged to know how to interpret Boehner’s real intent. (more…)