Mike Huckabee's Evangelist Pal: Circulates Pledge To Ban Music With 'Rock Beat'

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Apparently, evangelist Bill Gothard would be ecstatic if the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland shut its doors. The Mike Huckabee supporter has been circulating a pledge that calls for religious music to replace all rock for all time. Besides asking people to take the pledge, Gothard reportedly has written that rock is "unclean" and "satanic." Does that make Cleveland the new Gomorrah on the Great Lake? Should Graceland -- the home of Elvis --switch its name to Gomorrahland?

Cincinnati rock musician Justin Jeffre is a bandmate of Nick Lachey, and credit Jeffre with discovering the anti-rock pledge: "Almighty Father, based on the authority of your Word and the testimony of others, I now propose to remove from my life any music that contains a 'ROCK BEAT'; and replace it with melodious music that glorifies You and edifies others."

Jeffre is building himself a reputation outside the music world as a political activist. He's run for office in Cincinnati as an independent and on the Green Party ticket. So far, no success. He may be on the verge of scoring a political splash by pointing out that Huckabee -- an ordained Baptist minister who plays bass in a rock band -- seems to consort with those who feel the music itself is perditious. Jeffre sent evangelist Gothard a "confession" last week about his activities with Lachey in their rock band called 98-degrees.

"I thought our group was just having a great time making our fans happy with fun music. If only we'd known how dangerous the 'ROCK BEAT' is . . ."

He also wanted to bring Gothard up to date on his pal, Huckabee.

"Anyway, steady yourself Dr. G, because I'm about to reveal some even shocking information about Gov. Huckabee. He recently told a New York Times reporter he wants The Rolling Stones to play his inaugural. Get thee behind me, Mick!"

Jason Haap at the Cincinnati Beacon has posted the complete text of Jeffre's letter to the man he considers the rock music-hating evangelist. It is full of links about the whole devil's music issue.

Cincy Enquirer Blasted For Poor Coverage Of Black Event: NAACP's Smitherman Demands Action

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Christopher Smitherman, a Green Party Cincinnati Council candidate and the local NAACP branch president, has accused the city's morning metro daily of "institutional racism at its core." He says the civil rights organization is prepared for some kind of showdown with the newspaper, a unit of the Gannett Co. Inc., publishing chain.

Smitherman expressed amazement that the Cincinnati Enquirer did not adequately cover, in his view, the Black Family Reunion. The annual summertime event on the banks of the Ohio River drew some 100,000 people downtown. Smitherman said if someone had been shot or harmed there would have been blazing coverage across news pages. But the mostly peaceful event got short shrift despite its importance to African Americans.

"I believe this is intentional and the result is the continuation of institutional racism at is core. If the Enquirer does not change they will force the Cincinnati branch of the NAACP to take measures to curb their behavior."

Does that last sentence imply a subscription boycott, or some kind of targeting of advertisers?

Smitherman's statement is just the latest signal that the newspaper is foundering under its top brass, who are increasingly viewed as out of touch, out of tune and have nearly exhausted the town's patience. The complete text of Smitherman's letter originally appeared in the Cincinnati Beacon, which is a small online and print news operation that is also among the daily's biggest critics.

[UPDATE -- There was coverage of the event, as this article from the past weekend shows. The complaint seems to be over whether the newspaper devoted enough attention and space to the Black Family Reunion.]

[Note to readers: The previous post was supposed to follow this one. The Bellwether will inactive for the rest of the day.]

OH-02: Nobody Knows Noses Like Neocon Phil Heimlich

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The Cincinnati area, which is down in the Ohio River Valley, is known for allergies, mold and clogged sinus passages. Republican Phil Heimlich, who is running against Ohio 2nd District Congresswoman Mean Jean Schmidt in the 2008 GOP primary, is caught demonstrating on TV what it is like to live in this nasally sensitive community.

At the time he was honking on public access like an out of tune oboe, Heimlich was a Hamilton County Commissioner. The guy talking is Democrat Todd Portune, who appears perturbed. If "Honker" Heimlich gets to Congress, perhaps he'll sponsor legislation declaring Cincinnati the handkerchief capital of America. (Major Hat Tip to the Cincinnati Beacon, which posted the clip in May 2006.)