If you read it (especially on the internet) then it must be true, no? I grew up being taught to question everything I read or heard. It really hit home though a few years ago when I was reading the NY Times. That day the paper wrote two things that I knew were false. One of the two inaccurate articles was about the condition and treatment of some prisoners. I had just meet these prisoners and been to the prison they were in. Their living standards were nothing as the article had described. The other article that was incorrect was about the president of a small Latin American country. I knew the grandson of this president and I knew the description on the economics of his family by the New York Times was also inaccurate. I was reminded again today while reading the Washington Post to never trust what you read.
The Washington Post wrote about my great state of Ohio and the non-partisan group, Reform Ohio Now!
From Reform Ohio Now(RON)! website:
Currently, politicians draw legislative districts to guarantee election results by packing as many voters from one Party into a given district. This process assures the incumbent of reelection without having to be responsive to the voters. This system empowers those that contribute to campaigns, not the voters in the district. RON’s Amendment: Would prevent politicians from creating their own legislative districts and prevent decisions from being made behind closed doors without input from citizens
The article in the Washington Post made it appear as if it was the democrats pushing for re-districting reform, when that isn’t the case at all.
“A Democratic-leaning group called Reform Ohio Now has submitted more than 500,000 signatures to put a handful of proposals on the state’s November ballot, including one that would take the power to draw those districts from state lawmakers and give it to an independent panel…
…Republicans, who control the state government and two-thirds of the state’s 18 House districts, are not supportive. “If Democrats want to make Ohio’s elections more competitive, they should start fielding better candidates,” said John McClelland, Ohio Republican Party spokesman.”
So many inaccuracies in so few words. First off I am not sure how the Washington Post decided this was a “democratic leaning group” since one of the three leaders for this campaign is Andy Douglas – former Republican State Supreme Court Justice. The other two leaders are Dennis Eckart- Former CEO of Greater Cleveland Growth Association (I have no idea his political leanings but the Greater Cleveland Growth Association does not appear to be some liberal, tree hugging, granola munching organization) and then of course their third leader is my hero Dr. Herb Asher – Professor Emeritus of Political Science at The Ohio State University, who as far as I know, has never held political office, and whom seems to be spearheading Reform Ohio because he wants our State to be the best State in the nation (okay, okay I have a little a lot of Ohio pride).
What I am getting at is that this is not some kind of left wing we-hate-republicans-so-redistrict-us. In fact the rumor I have heard from some Ohio (statewide and district holding) Dems is that a lot of Dems are not in favor of RON. As far as I know the Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) has not come out in support of RON. Supposedly, out of hopes of one day having the power themselves. However, the Democrats and the Republicans should come out in support of RON. Who wouldn’t want fair representation of all Ohio constituents?
And oh Mr. McClelland, the state democrats should field better Dem candidates? That is true to some extent but also a low blow. What about the Hackett/Schmidtt election where Hackett only lost by 4% of the vote in a district that went 2 to 1 for Bush in 2004? And aren’t your candidates having a little bit of a rough time right now?
I sometimes forget that not everyone knows about what is going on in Ohio. While visiting some friends in Kentucky. My one friend asked me if it was true that the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation invested 50 million dollars in rare coins to a rare coin dealer that was a top Republican campaign contributor, and that then Ohio lost millions in their investment because the coin investor lost track over a fifth of the coin investment? Yeah, it is true and we call it coingate, here in these parts.
Another friend who mine actively involved with the Kentucky Young Dems made a crack about how Ohio has a sitting governor that was convicted of four ethics law violations and for failing/forgetting to report about golf outings and other gifts. Yeah, but hey, he’s the grandson of a president. And he even came out and made a statement before appearing in court saying
“I take full responsibility for any errors and omissions and will continue to cooperate with the (Ethics) Commission in this matter.”
And he did take full responsibility by pleading “No Contest” instead of “Guilty”…
For more on Ohio Politics check out this list of Political Ohio Blogs.