CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Nate Livingston's Cincinnati Black Blog has been inactive for more than two months. Today it returned with a salacious story that involves private lives and at least one public figure -- State Rep. Tyrone Yates. The things that appear on Livingston's blog about Cincinnati's former vice mayor will not be reprinted here. But they are available by clicking the link above, and have already been spread far and wide by the technology that powers the Internet. We are now witnessing the unfettered and unchecked flow of information -- perhaps scurrilous information -- that is the downside ripple of the digital age. A portion of Livingston's post has the seamy flavor of an anonymous comment that appeared on Jeff Coryell's Ohio Daily Blog last year, a comment that outed a Republican public official in Wood County who subsequently admitted he was gay and dropped out of the OH-05 GOP congressional sweepstakes. [Yates photo from the Ohio House Website.]
Friday, May 09, 2008
Cincinnati Black Blog: A Harsh Attack On Ohio State Rep. Tyrone Yates
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Nate Livingston's Cincinnati Black Blog has been inactive for more than two months. Today it returned with a salacious story that involves private lives and at least one public figure -- State Rep. Tyrone Yates. The things that appear on Livingston's blog about Cincinnati's former vice mayor will not be reprinted here. But they are available by clicking the link above, and have already been spread far and wide by the technology that powers the Internet. We are now witnessing the unfettered and unchecked flow of information -- perhaps scurrilous information -- that is the downside ripple of the digital age. A portion of Livingston's post has the seamy flavor of an anonymous comment that appeared on Jeff Coryell's Ohio Daily Blog last year, a comment that outed a Republican public official in Wood County who subsequently admitted he was gay and dropped out of the OH-05 GOP congressional sweepstakes. [Yates photo from the Ohio House Website.]
Marc Dann's New Spinmeister From Texas: GOP Says He Lands In Ohio With Wrinkled Ethics
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The Republican State Leadership Committee, a national group that works to install GOP officeholders in state posts like attorney general, is already ripping Jason Stanford. He's the opposition researcher from Texas who has been hired by Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann -- Stanford is being paid by Dann's campaign fund. The Republicans claim Stanford "seems willing to say or do anything to win," and cites an unfolding Austin, TX., City Council flap over campaign contributions:
Stanford is named in a story about a complaint that alleges he was involved in potentially illegal campaign activity. You can see the most recent article from the Austin American Statesman right here. It’s an interesting article, and really hits upon the critical issue of transparency in public life. A second article, also from the Austin American Statesman quotes Mr. Stanford extolling the virtues of transparency when it comes to campaign communications….hmmm, do we think this is the same Jason Stanford….kind of like Marc Dann who pledged to bring back government Ohioans could be proud of again…you can see how they might work well together."
The Republicans also say that Stanford's Web site offers references for his political consulting/oppo research firm, and that some of the references include phone numbers to the Capitol Hill offices of House employees. Of course, House rules say those phones should only be used for official business. Click here for a link to Stanford's references. You can even find the official House e-mail address to a top aide of the Democratic Majority Leader. Two months ago, U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-OH-01, had to apologize after an aide used the House e-mail network to recruit campaign workers.
Stanford is named in a story about a complaint that alleges he was involved in potentially illegal campaign activity. You can see the most recent article from the Austin American Statesman right here. It’s an interesting article, and really hits upon the critical issue of transparency in public life. A second article, also from the Austin American Statesman quotes Mr. Stanford extolling the virtues of transparency when it comes to campaign communications….hmmm, do we think this is the same Jason Stanford….kind of like Marc Dann who pledged to bring back government Ohioans could be proud of again…you can see how they might work well together."
The Republicans also say that Stanford's Web site offers references for his political consulting/oppo research firm, and that some of the references include phone numbers to the Capitol Hill offices of House employees. Of course, House rules say those phones should only be used for official business. Click here for a link to Stanford's references. You can even find the official House e-mail address to a top aide of the Democratic Majority Leader. Two months ago, U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-OH-01, had to apologize after an aide used the House e-mail network to recruit campaign workers.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Kansas' Dem AG Resigned 6 Months Ago In Sex Scandal: Ohio Native Gov. Kathleen Sebelius Helped Push Him Out
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The Democratic attorney general of Kansas, Paul Morrison, resigned last December after a female aide with whom he had an extramarital romantic relationship filed federal sexual harassment charges. The Ohio angle: Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Cincinnati native and potential Obama vice presidential running mate, wanted the AG out. Sebelius is the daughter of former Ohio Gov. John Gilligan. A Kansas source who was "very close to the story" wrote The Daily Bellwether and said the attorney general resigned when Sebelius "essentially kicked him to the curb . . ." The source added there were "some fascinating parallels" between the Kansas and Ohio scandals.
And while the events that unfolded in the Sunflower State a half year ago aren't quite the same as the uproar now enveloping Ohio Atty. Gen. Marc Dann, there are similarities. Especially Morrison's insistence at first that he would not resign, which sounds like Dann's vow to stay despite increasing pressure to step aside.
Sebelius took a dim view of Morrison's consensual sexual affair with one of his subordinates, and called for his resignation if the allegations were true. Morrison was married with three kids. The attorney general admitted the relationship, which took place while he was a county district attorney -- an office he held before switching from the Republican Party to run statewide as a Democrat. "Certainly, if any of the allegations turn out to be true, I think yes," Sebelius said about a resignation at the time. "One deals with his conduct as an attorney in the DA's office. The other is as an employer. I think either one should trigger a resignation."
There is more background about the Kansas AG scandal in this MSNBC.com report.
And while the events that unfolded in the Sunflower State a half year ago aren't quite the same as the uproar now enveloping Ohio Atty. Gen. Marc Dann, there are similarities. Especially Morrison's insistence at first that he would not resign, which sounds like Dann's vow to stay despite increasing pressure to step aside.
Sebelius took a dim view of Morrison's consensual sexual affair with one of his subordinates, and called for his resignation if the allegations were true. Morrison was married with three kids. The attorney general admitted the relationship, which took place while he was a county district attorney -- an office he held before switching from the Republican Party to run statewide as a Democrat. "Certainly, if any of the allegations turn out to be true, I think yes," Sebelius said about a resignation at the time. "One deals with his conduct as an attorney in the DA's office. The other is as an employer. I think either one should trigger a resignation."
There is more background about the Kansas AG scandal in this MSNBC.com report.
Ohio Attorney General's Office Scandal: What Should We Call Marc Dann's Mess?
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The Daily Bellwether is partial to naming the scandal "Boinkgate." The word is somewhat alliterative of "Coingate." That corrupt investment in rare coins by imprisoned Republican operative Tom Noe brought Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann to prominence in the first place. Some have suggested "Pajamagate." But "Boinkgate" is more suggestive, and seems to have more impact in conjuring up Democrat Dann's libidinous activities with a significantly younger female who was on the AG's payroll. In this case, Ohio's top legal official has admitted boinking rather than banking, or investing, and the pajama angle has been replaced by "sweats." That creates the possibility of "pant, pant" -- implying overactive hormones, etc. But it just doesn't fit. So far, Dann's shenanigans and shabby management of his state office has not produced a signature moniker -- a shorthand description -- for the scandal that is causing such an uproar at the heart of state government. Monkey Business doesn't get it -- we have no pictures of Dann on a yacht of that name with an attractive blue jeans model curled up on his lap. So Monkey Business will always belong to former U.S. Sen. Gary Hart's libidinous escapades. Watergate is Richard Nixon's signature ethical lapse, and "gate" has become the modern suffix to hang on words to impart a scandalous character. Teapot Dome has Ohio roots, but the corruption of Warren G. Harding's 1920s presidential administration seems lost in the mists of this 21st Century. And "Dann-dome" just doesn't have the right ring, the right smell of nefariousness and naughty conduct that a sordid event in high political office demands. "Client-9" is so associated with Elliott Spitzer's shame that it probably has been copyrighted. There doesn't seem to be any way to affix a "client" tag to Dann.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Marc Dann's Jan. 7, 2007 Inaugural Address: I Will 'Adhere To' Highest Ethical Standards
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- His words -- which have a Mission Accomplished! flavor of insolent unreality -- certainly ring hollow today. The complete text of Marc Dann's swearing in day speech is here, and he preached and swathed himself in ethics: "The effort to eliminate corruption will continue in my own office where my staff and I will adopt and adhere to the highest possible ethical standards. I will then work with other officeholders, both Democrat and Republican, to extend those standards to every arm of the state and every community in Ohio. And, importantly, I will never hesitate to take immediate action if I learn those standards have been violated or the public trust has been abused by any public official of any party."
Of course, it now is quite clear he spoke only of possibility. And everyone sees that Dann neither adopted nor adhered to the highest ethical standards. Dann's use of the word "possible" in his inaugural address was a weasel word. Perhaps what we've witnessed -- Dann's sexual affair with a young female employee, the atmosphere that led to firings and resignations of top aides -- was impossible to avoid. He is, after all, an officeholder who preached standards to Ohio that he would not, or could not, apply to himself. The hollow and empty message of Dann's January 8, 2007 speech is also apparent in his pledge to bring ethics and high standards for public service to all Democrats and all Republicans, and to "every arm of the state and every community in Ohio."
But who today would listen, or want him around? Who would accept a lecture from Marc Dann about ethics and standards in government? Who today seriously values Ohio's Democratic attorney general as standard bearer against those who abuse the public trust?
Of course, it now is quite clear he spoke only of possibility. And everyone sees that Dann neither adopted nor adhered to the highest ethical standards. Dann's use of the word "possible" in his inaugural address was a weasel word. Perhaps what we've witnessed -- Dann's sexual affair with a young female employee, the atmosphere that led to firings and resignations of top aides -- was impossible to avoid. He is, after all, an officeholder who preached standards to Ohio that he would not, or could not, apply to himself. The hollow and empty message of Dann's January 8, 2007 speech is also apparent in his pledge to bring ethics and high standards for public service to all Democrats and all Republicans, and to "every arm of the state and every community in Ohio."
But who today would listen, or want him around? Who would accept a lecture from Marc Dann about ethics and standards in government? Who today seriously values Ohio's Democratic attorney general as standard bearer against those who abuse the public trust?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)