Defeated Ohio Gov. Strickland's 'Shadow Government' Comment Ignored by Ohio Papers
In a Tuesday item, the Politico's David Catanese reported on the results of an interview he had (HT to Third Base Politics) with outgoing Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, who was defeated by Republican John Kasich earlier this month.
It was billed as "his first one-on-one interview since his loss," the first for a sitting Ohio governor in 36 years, so you would think anything particularly controversial Strickland might have to say would be news elseswhere.
Well, here's an obviously newsworthy comment (in bold), especially considering what came just before and after it:
“We have to keep our team together to see how to keep the Ohio Democratic Party the best-organized, best-funded party in the country,” he said, adding that part of his role would be to monitor the new administration “really, really closely.”
“I wouldn’t call what we’re contemplating a shadow government, but you might,” he said with a laugh.
“I’ve still got a lot of fight left in me. I think we all do. We’re going to make sure the incoming administration adheres to high ethical standards. We’re going to continue to fight.”
3BP reacted in a follow-up post:
I can't think of any time where a sitting Governor has gone so far as to state his willingness to set-up a shadow government after he left office.
Neither can I, and I've been around a few years -- make that quite a few years -- longer than the recently married 3BP.
Given what he said just before and after the "shadow government" statement and how he conducted himself in the final months of his campaign, it seems highly likely that Strickland wasn't merely blowing off bitter electoral steam.
Recall that on Labor Day, in a story the Ohio and national media almost totally ignored, Strickland said the following in a speech to a union picnic audience (blanks are present because audio at the link is difficult to hear):
The Republican Party has been overtaken by the zealots, by the extremists, by the radicals, by the _____, and they don’t seem to like Ohio very much, and quite frankly, they act as if they don’t like America very much.
They want to change our Constitution, they want to change Medicare, they want to change ___, they want to change this country …. and we say to them, “Hell no, we won’t …”
And so I ask you: Are you read to fight …. against the extremists? Are you ready to fight the Tea Party radicals? … Are you ready to fight John Kasich?
So someone's going to have to explain to me why Strickland's statement isn't news at the following Ohio newspapers, at least based on the non-results of searches on "Strickland shadow government" (not in quotes) at each paper's web site:
- The Akron Beacon Journal
- The Cincinnati Enquirer
- The Cleveland Plain Dealer
- The Columbus Dispatch
- The Dayton Daily News
- The Toledo Blade
No search at any of the six papers returned anything relevant to Strickland's comment at the Politico.
Oddly enough, the Politico item does not show up in a search on "Strickland shadow government" (again, not in quotes) at Google News or Yahoo! News (though it does appear in regular Yahoo! and regular Google web searches).
Somehow, I think that if a losing Republican governor promised to set up a "shadow government" after leaving office, it would be making just a little bit more news right about now.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
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Comments
I don't really see this
Submitted by Sockpuppet Politic on Thu, 11/18/2010 - 11:13pm.
I don't really see this comment as a big deal, especially considering what he says immediately before. It made me immediately think of the British use of "Shadow Government," which is members of the opposition party doing exactly what he is talking about, monitoring their currently-in-power counterparts very closely in order to better oppose them and in preparation to take over their position should their own party come to power.
I would need to agree. I
Submitted by Apache on Thu, 11/18/2010 - 11:27pm.
I would need to agree. I would not want to give the Media Matters treatment to this.
I seem to remember after some
Submitted by Chris Norman on Thu, 11/18/2010 - 11:35pm.
I seem to remember after some presidential loss, the Republicans talked about setting up a "shadow government" along the British lines. I think they may have gone as far as naming certain congressional Republicans as shadow cabinet secretaries designated to speak out on the corresponding subjects. At the time I naively thought that it was a good idea, but as usually with Republicans, not much else was heard from it. I would look this up to confirm my memory and what year this happened, but I'm too lazy.
This is not a big deal -- I agree.
Submitted by Tenebrous on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 1:36am.
As others have stated, the Republicans did something similar, but nothing came of it. It's not meant in any menacing way, as far as I can tell. In the case of this man, is it sad, pathetic, and shows a lack of grip on reality? Yes. Let him set up his pretend counter-government. As the liberal welfare state fails all around us, the Dems and their pastiche of special interest groups bought with taxpayer money is going down -- struggling, cursing, and defecating -- but going down. This guy is wasting his time.
Visions and Principles blog
My Thought
Submitted by Wildcatter1980 on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 8:28am.
So much for the will of the people.
I am inclined to not think much about this either, yet, another part of me wonders if there isn't just bit too much arrogance in Strickland to suit me. Maybe it is this arrogance that led Strickland to not act quickly when state government employees illegally looked into Joe the Plumber's files. Does Strickland see himself as one of the chosen few who is "good enough" to lead the rest of us; the epitome of the progressive elitist?
In my book, anyone who looks down their nose at the rest of us is simply not true leadership material.
--
If you want to know what liberal secular progressives are really doing, just listen to what they are accusing others of.
Recommended reading: Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg
Democrats are notoriously sore losers.
Submitted by dmills on Thu, 11/18/2010 - 11:46pm.
But this is typical defeatist rhetoric. A bit overwrought perhaps, but it's not outside of the norm of what we're used to hearing from politicians. Specifically from the donkeys.
dmills..
Submitted by Jer on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 12:11am.
You apparently weren't hanging out at NB much when quite a few Republicans were threatening an armed revolution if they didn't win the midterm elections. That would give a whole new meaning to the term "sore loser".
Come to think of it, maybe that's the reason all of the archived comments were erased.
Jer
That is strictly Jer's liberal interpretation---
Submitted by matthewdean on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 1:15am.
as there were no threats; just statements about the possible necessity of resorting to armed intervention if the Lib-Dims cheated as blatantly with vote counts in the mid-terms as they have been wont to do in past elections.
Most of the words posted that he is trying to paint as threatening were no more than declarative statements referencing defending individual freedoms, if necessary, from any encroachment of or by the most socialist pos ever in the Oval Office.
Who, incidentally, outside of winter conditions, has the purplest lips of any temporary White House resident in the history of the U.S.A.
MD
You wish, Jer.
Submitted by Tenebrous on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 1:32am.
See, Jer, you lie. You lie so much that you don't even know that you lie. You are a diseased individual. Let's take an example from recent memory. You declared that Obama renounced Wright, as though he had totally changed his perspective on what the man had said, when in fact, he said the words, but didn't change his actions. Just the fact that he said some words means that you gave him a pass on whatever he does. That's basic logic you've failed, and you fail here.
The comments were erased? Point to the article. Until then, I'm assuming that you're lying, yet again. And then again, if the comments WERE erased, that still doesn't mean that what you said about them was true. I'd be very, very surprised to read people stating that if they didn't win (as opposed to resisting via force a false, cheating government as a last resort) they would take up arms. In fact, I would find that an incredible event, because it's never happened here before.
In other words, stop lying, Jer. I know you can't tell the truth if you try, so just go away.
Visions and Principles blog
Congratulations, Tenebrous...
Submitted by Jer on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 2:07am.
Your exhortations to BANISH ALL LIBS FROM NB have officially achieved "buffoonery" status. So thanks for the chuckle.
And, fyi, even if I were inclined to leave this website, the notion that my continued presence seems to annoy you is reason enough to stick around.
Jer
You miss the point...
Submitted by Tenebrous on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 1:16pm.
Did I say to banish all libs? No. That's just something of your fevered imagination. I said what I said, specifically to you. You are incapable of telling the truth. I produced an example, which you don't deny. I challenged you to back up your point, which you couldn't. What do you do? Libfail #1019: attack and change the subject.
Visions and Principles blog
Are you being wilfully
Submitted by Jer on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 2:58pm.
Are you being wilfully ignorant or has creeping dementia so enfeebled your mental capacity that you can't recall your own posts, Tenebrous. In either event, your lack of knowledge of what transpires at this website is literally breathtaking.
First, you have unequivocally asserted in the past that all libs at NB should "just leave". Second, Obama pointedly and explicitly renounced the incendiary rhetoric of Revered Wright. There were even multiple references here and elsewhere concerning his throwing Wright under the bus. Now, your opinion may differ, and you may doubt Obama's motives and dispute his sincerity, but my observation was not a "lie" by any definition of the term. Thus, your pathetic "gotcha" example has landed with a humiliating, resounding thud.
Third, there have been numerous comments referencing options to deal with the alleged socialist tyranny and threat to liberty represented by the Marxist/muslim/terrorist-loving president--ranging from secession to revolution. NL207 even instructed everyone on the potential scenario and tactical details of a military coup to oust Obama from office, and, in another post, the type of weapons with which all citizen/patriots should be armed. One can still scroll through the forum topics to get a flavor of the extremist sentiments which permeated a number of threads.
Now pull that tiny pinhead of yours out of your rectum and take a look around and educate yourself. And you can start by learning how to correctly spell the name--Brent Bozell--the founder and publisher of NewsBusters. It's not "Bozzel". For further assistance, you can find his name--and the rest of the masthead-- in the big orange box in the far right column of virtually every page of this website.
Jer
Jer
Submitted by well99 on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 1:52am.
Just curious what high goverment position had they held?How much control did they have over a political party? People posting on forums do not have they same degree of power as that govenor.Maybe they took this to heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnnwJ1rgCnM
You know like punish your enemies...that kinda stuff
well99...
Submitted by Jer on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 2:12am.
I'm well aware that there is a lot of posturing in the comment sections of political websites. [Take Tenebrous, for example].
Yeah, stupid remark by Obama. Although the comments I'm referring to were posted long before that incident.
Jer
Jer
Submitted by well99 on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 2:49am.
The point is the Strickland has real power.I dont think too many on forums can equal it.
well99...
Submitted by Jer on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 3:18am.
Defeated governors aren't particularly powerful, but I'll readily concede the power an ex-governor may still wield generally exceeds that of the average commenter at a political website. However, Strickland's quip really wasn't all that provocative, at least not nearly so much as some of the more extreme and defiant statements posted here in the past couple of years.
Jer
Jer
Submitted by well99 on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 7:33pm.
Strictland has the clout.Someone spouting off on some forum is no comparison.
*
Submitted by Jer on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 2:02am.
delete
I had never heard of a Brit
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 2:58am.
I had never heard of a Brit style shadow government, but then again I had never heard of what Maca meant before the press plucked it from obscurity. To the common man, me, shadow government means what Obama has in place right now. It always amazes me how a D behind ones name or the willingness to denegrate any conservative or R gives one a pass.
These Democrats
Submitted by 10ksnooker on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 3:15am.
Have this sort of entitlement mentality about them, don't they?
Letting go of their seat in the politburo is hard work.
Hey Folks, the point of the post isn't ...
Submitted by Tom Blumer on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 6:45am.
... how seriously or un-seriously to take Strickland's "shadow government" comment.
It's the fact that he made it, that myself and another blogger can't recall a sitting governor of any state who lost a reelection bid ever making such a statement (in my case, that means in about 35-40 years), and that the statement somehow isn't news in any Ohio paper or virtually anywhere else.
My take is that it's being ignored precisely because it's so provocative, either in the sense that he's the sorest of sore losers or that he's intending to proactively undermine the Kasich administration, or a bit of both.
3BP points out that Strickland has 125 appointees (no, make that 198, 125 of which have a declared party affiliation) he wants confirmed before he leaves office. If you were the Ohio GOP Senate, in light of this comment would you just rubber-stamp everyone? I don't think so.
Why wouldn't these Ohio publications get it out there and let readers decide what to think of it?
Good point.
Submitted by Tenebrous on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 1:17pm.
I had overlooked that. You're right There's no valid reason for the papers not to inform their readership about it.
Visions and Principles blog
There's also a bit of Ohio history here
Submitted by Tom Blumer on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 7:04am.
in 1991, outgoing governor Dick Celeste, who was term-limited and about to be succeeded by the GOP's George Voinovich, issued a slew of pardons of criminals and reduced the death sentences of many others, including Debra Brown, the killing spree accomplice of Alton Coleman.
I don't recall what Celeste did in regards to Executive Orders, because the pardons caused such an outrage that they contributed to keeping Ohio Dems in the political wilderness for 16 years.
20 years later, we have another hardened Ohio lib sitting in the Governor's Mansion with unaccountable power until early January 2011.
The "shadow government" comment would seem to indicate that Strickland plans on maximizing mischief between now and then. As 3BP says, "January 10th seems much too far away right now."
Ohio's veteran members of the press remember all of this too.
Dishonesty
Submitted by xraynova on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 9:42am.
Strickland : "The Republican Party has been overtaken by the zealots, by the extremists, by the radicals..."
Translation: RINO's are being replaced with strict Constitutionalists
Definitions:
(1) "extreme" - any idea grounded in departure from the Nanny State
(2) "radical" - any idea grounded in departure from the Nanny State
(3) "zealot" - any person who has actually read the Federalist Papers along with the Constitution
Strickland: "They want to change our constitution..."
A democrat talking to a union... the concept of a strawman' sails completely over their heads. Of course, one could assume he's talking about the union's bylaws.
Such rhetoric plays well among the electorate that democrats have successfully sought to under-educate over the past 50 years or more- including blacks, hispanics, union thugs, and illegal aliens.
Of one thing we can be sure; if/when aliens do land here from another star system, the first person greeting them will not be the President... it will be the head of the DNC.
It could have been directed
Submitted by dirtydan64 on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 10:58am.
either at Kaisch or even possibly towards the Obama Administration, either of which I'm sure he and other like minded Polticans would love to have replaced. But that's just my observation and how I read it……. ?
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