BuckeyeBlog

Portage is a village near Bowling Green where I grew up, physically, anyway. The Blade reports the current mayor is fed up and walking out. General petty allegations all around and back and forth. A lawyer friend once identified this as the “Three-year-old Defense”, e.g., “I didn’t violate the permit; you violated the permit.” Same thing here: “I’m not the one with the petty, secret agenda; you’re the one with the petty secret agenda.”

You might think that this changes with sophistication but if you did you’d be wrong. There’s a nice little blurb in the Dispatch today about John Kasich taking the obligatory shot at Gov. Strickland. (Sorry, couldn’t find a link.) It’s about four column inches. This kind of thing barely makes it over the bar as news. Partisan eruptions, okay, you have to cover them, especially at a convention, because that’s all there is and people need to be able to pay attention to it if they choose to.

But two of the four column inches are boilerplate Strickland response. Good Lord, that’s a pure waste of time. That was just as weak when it was first published as news as Kasich’s attack, and it certainly isn’t news rehashed.

In reality, it’s probably not necessary to publish the opponents’ response to what is initially nonsense anyway. But if you feel obligated to follow the form, even if it results in predictable crap, then at least limit yourself to a sentence.

“Fewer local districts were in trouble because they had failed to make sure no child was being left behind, but some qualified as making adequate yearly progress even though they have yet to show it for all types of students.”

“Because they had failed to make sure no child was being left behind”? Isn’t that a bit of unfortunate phrasing? Intended or not, it’s either snarky or, worse, credulous. I realize the temptation to beat politicians over the head with their own words is a powerful one, but a better way to go about it would be to not use their silly propaganda titles to begin with. The press could avoid this by not using “No Child Left Behind” and instead refer to it as “Public Law 107-110.”

Census numbers are out (and there’s a bewildering event if ever there was one), and the only thing growing in Ohio is the heart of government.

Sigh.

Overall, from 2000 to 2007, B-Census estimates that Ohio grew a little bit . One percent. That’s from 11,353,140 to 11,466,917. So, 1 percent is about 100,000. (And don’t be fooled by them hyper-precise numbers. The Census doesn’t really know that it’s 917 rather than 916, but by golly they’re sure to report it.)

Another note, what’s up with this sentence? "It’s a common phenomenon as people have moved farther away from the city’s core seeking larger lots and, at least in perception, better schools."

Really, guys, it isn’t necessary to explain this stuff. And if you do find it necessary, why not grab a quote to support it? I wouldn’t assume how common something is, or that larger lots is the issue. There are plenty of dinky lot condos from Dublin to Pickerington.

I’m sorry, but this is just lazy:

In remarks prepared for the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mukasey says the nation’s security professionals need every tool possible to keep the country safe.

You might think it’s hard to find someone to blame for this, but it isn’t, really. It’s the editor’s fault, or the publisher’s. No doubt the story, if you can call 100 words of tripe a story, is fully accurate. So, Mukasey’s to blame for mouthing nonsense.

But a good cure for that is not to print it. Heck, this even justifies ridicule. Just because they say it, doesn’t mean we need to print it.

The Blade is unhappy that there are “those who just don’t care about the long-held concept of fiduciary responsibility in the business sector .”

Yikes. It’s a bit hard to tell what the Blade is after there, but it’s a good guess that what they’re really referring to is, you know, decency, which is a bit different than fiduciary duty.

Somebody made a ton of money, had friends, etc. Was it outrageous? No doubt. But the issue is, if there really was a breach of fiduciary duty, then the failure is as much or more in the courts as anywhere else, so take the complaint to the courts if that’s the problem.

If there wasn’t a breach of fiduciary duty, then the complaint should land with the relevant shareholders, as in, what the dickens is the matter with you people, paying this bozo that much?

But neither of those paths will be followed. Instead, someday there will simply be more regulation. Until it stops moving, then there will be subsidy.