2006: Toledo's Top Moments

Well, with the end of the year approaching, it’s time to take a brief look back at those top moments that seem to define Toledo, in all it’s glory. So, in no particular order:

• Tom Noe convicted on 29 counts of embezzlement: He did the crime, now he’ll do the time. But what defines Toledo even more was the Blade’s crusade against the man, noting at every opportunity that he is a Republican. Bernadette, look out.
• Councilman Robert McCloskey indicted on federal bribery counts – bribes he took while being investigated for taking bribes. This time, however, the local daily failed to picture every prominent Democrat on the front page under the headline “INDICTED.” A guilty plea would follow.
• The Blade locks out workers in an effort to gain concessions. Despite a recent court decision that the lock-out is illegal, the newspaper continues to keep its workers in the cold. Local politicians, always outspoken on union rights, remain silent on an issue that may deny them the endorsements they so cravenly seek.
• Mayor Carlton Finkbeiner offers what amounts to a bribe to keep Toledo Public School Superintendent Eugene Sanders in Toledo. Sanders (to his questionable credit) refuses the bribe, but takes a hefty compensation package, exiting his contract two years early to become a paid consultant for the Toledo schools. The next day, he accepts a job with the Cleveland Public Schools. Never saw that one coming.
• Mayor Carlton Finkbeiner vetoes an exception to Toledo’s living wage ordnance, over 7 cents. Perhaps that COSTCO was the employer, and non-union, played a small role.
• Mayor Carlton Finkbeiner gets into a battle of wills with WSPD program director Brian Wilson, after calling morning host Fred LeFebvre a liar. WSPD is subsequently cut off from all communication from the city, including emergency services. I suppose Hizzhonor’s honor is more important than the city’s safety.
• The city goes months without a contract with their safety workers. Again, local Democrats are silent on the issue.
• The Mayor personally works to create jobs in Toledo, in the plumbing (via a shower) and electrical (tree and bridge lights) trades. That he does so with minimal or no oversight from City Council is a mere technicality. I guess if we have to see our Mayor, he should be clean. The Mayor and City Council rubber stamp David Ball and Jimmy Jackson’s plans for the former Toledo Edison Steam Plant, despite a competing plan. Five months later, the progress is evident every time one drives by.
• Toledo elects a full slate of Democrats, and helps put Ohio in the enviable position of having a Socialist governor, a minimum wage law that allows anyone to see your financial data, and allows the sale of tobacco, but not the use of it anywhere someone from the “public” might visit (this includes your babysitter, folks.) And yet, after re-electing the same old people, the citizens of this city complain that nothing gets done.

Well, enough of looking back. Soon, I’ll publish my 2007 predictions for the city, state, and nation. And no, I’m not giving a date for TomKat’s divorce.

Margaritas ante Porcos,
Right Wing Toledo

The Passing of a President

The news of President Ford’s passing last night caused me to think about him, and the office that he held, and the others who have held it. The 38th President holds the distinction of being the only President not elected to either the Presidency or Vice-Presidency, and is probably best remembered for his pardon of Richard Nixon following the Watergate affair. For the next week or so, expect the press to be lavishing over this fact, and the moments of his life through his loss to Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election.

What may not be mentioned is that President Ford was one the last of a dying breed – the politician who actually rides into the sunset. After his term of office, the President had to be cajoled by Ronald Regan to attend the funeral of Anwar Sadat. While he wrote his memoirs, he did not work to ensure a “legacy.” He campaigned for Ronald Regan because “You win some and you lose some, and you have to accept the responsibility to do what you think in the bigger perspective. I sure didn't want Jimmy Carter to be president again in 1980 because I was very sour on his performance as president.” (Washington Post, 2004) Note that this was said 24 years after the Carter presidency. On the other hand, the target of that comment spoke thus of the sitting president: “I don’t think George W. Bush has any particular commitment to preservation of the principles of human rights.” In addition, ex-President Carter has felt the need to openly criticize the sitting President on everything from elections to the War on Terror. And don’t get me started about Clinton.

What I will miss about Ford is the “un-Presidential President” aspect of his life. He made his own breakfast in the White House, and didn’t just make a show of it (for example, carrying empty suit-carriers onto Air Force One.) Ford attempted to hold the Congress to it’s commitments – losing continued funding for South Vietnam (allowing the North Vietnamese to take over within months). He attempted to control spending, vetoing over 60 bills, mostly for extra government spending, to come out of the Democrat controlled Congress in the 2 ½ years he spent in the White House. He was a man of his word, something that politicians could use a lesson in today. But most of all, I’ll miss not having to hear about him every day after he left the Presidency, unlike some other ex-Presidents.

Margaritas ante Porcos,
Right Wing Toledo

Ambassador Dan!

In today’s Blade, Dan Simpson presumes to instruct the President, and his readers, on the size and mission of the US Armed Forces. He is not alone in this regard. His disgust that the President is not following the Iraq Study Group’s recommendations mirrors that of other liberals seeking the troops’ immediate removal as well. What makes this particularly rank is that the normal mode of addressing this individual is “Ambassador Simpson.”

As former Ambassador to Somalia, Mr. Simpson did not advocate for the removal of US troops from that country, even though the US had no legitimate interest there. Even after the “Black Hawk Down” incident, the left wing of this country continued to push for our continued presence. I don’t recall seeing a nightly death count for US forces serving in Africa.

Furthermore, Mr. Simpson praises those Congressmen [Congresspersons for you libs] that had the audacity to contact a foreign government in “talks.” Now, for those of you who never took a US Government class (or were more interested in the boy/girl in the next seat), Ambassadors are the direct link to a foreign government. Ambassadors, boys and girls, are employed by the State Department. And what branch of the government is the State Department in? Anyone? That’s right, the Executive Branch. Now, for extra credit, who runs the Executive Branch? No, not the press, not Congress … the President! I’m sure Mr. Simpson was well aware of these facts, at least when he was working for Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

Now, I suppose everyone can still tell me who the President is, and I don’t mean Hillary. So, President Bush is ultimately responsible for the contact of, and discussions with, foreign governments. Because the appearance of impropriety is reason enough to investigate … oh, wrong argument. Because the appearance of government backing is enough to lend credence to their discussions – and foreign governments could act on those discussions with the “belief” that they are endorsed by the Executive branch. And don’t give me that “they are only there on their own” excrement, did you need a reason to party in college? But you found one, didn’t you.

Oh, and someone remind the former Ambassador that the Iraq Study Group didn’t write a law, they gave a recommendation. Just like he gave recommendations as an Ambassador – he didn’t direct the Administrations he served under, but rather gave his opinions. If they were followed or not, it was his duty to act on the directives given to him. But, I guess that duty, honor, and country might not have meant the same to Mr. Simpson as to others.

Prayer, Politics, and the power of a Governor

On the national scene, Rep. Stephanie Herseth (D-SD) is calling on people to pray for the health of Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD). This raises two questions in my mind:

- Is the request by a member of Congress to pray a violation of the separation of church and state? If so, should the ACLU sue on behalf of offended citizens?

- Is the call for prayer the result of concern for Senator Johnson’s health, or concern for Democrat control of the Senate?

Don’t get me wrong, I hope for a recovery by Sen. Johnson, but the political uproar is amusing to watch. The immediate concern by the mainstream media was how this would affect the “balance of power.”

So, let me join the fray of “what ifs.” If, by some instance, Senator Johnson is unable to perform his duties, whom should Governor Mike Rounds appoint in his place? Liberals are already beginning to campaign the governor to replace him with a Democrat. I believe that he should appoint whomever he sees fit to do so, and if he or she is a Republican, so be it. The race for Governor matters, after all.

To those of you now screaming at your monitors, was Jim Jeffords recalled and replaced by a Republican when he jumped from the Republican Party and changed the balance in the Senate? What should happen if Senator Craig Thomas (R-WY), who has leukemia, should become too ill to continue? Does anyone think that the Democrat governor of Wyoming would replace him with a Republican?

Margaritas ante Porcos,
Right Wing Toledo

New Traffic Enforcement in Toledo

It seems that some cops in West Palm Beach, Florida are dressing in drag to catch traffic violators. I wonder how long before Toledo gets wind of this and starts dressing up the photo cameras to resemble vacant buildings. And if that doesn’t work, how about dressing up officers as protesting Blade workers?

What gets under my skin about this, and the “red light camera” issue in general, is the portrayal as a safety issue. People who run red lights are going to run one at intersections with cameras or without. But, when the city is installing them at every high-traffic intersection, regardless of its accident record, it becomes quite apparent that money is the only motivating factor. The fines collected at no cost to the city are seen as cheap income – despite the fact that an out-of-town business (that employs no one in the city) is making far more than Toledo.

And, if that wasn’t enough, doesn’t this violate a whole bunch of privacy issues? By mailing the ticket, anyone at my home might open the envelope – and my child needs not know about my receiving a ticket. Oh that’s right, you have a right to privacy on phone calls to Al qaeda, but not in your car. And, what if the person registered to the car isn’t the one driving it? Try proving that in court – and you need to pay a fee to clear your name. I won’t even comment about your constitutional right to confront your accuser – the camera can’t answer and the “photo analyst” was not at the scene.

Margaritas ante Porcos,
Right Wing Toledo

Racial Quotas the Answer to Mall Misbehavior

Mayor Carty Finkbeiner has declared that the method of preventing violence in shopping malls is to hire off-duty police officers of color. As reported today in the Toledo Blade:

"We feel Westfield did not really heed the advice and counsel that they were being given," he said. "We urged more security be put in place by Franklin Park. We urged consideration be given to hiring additional Toledo police officers off-duty. We did encourage that some of those officers be of color."

So, if I understand this, the city is now in the business of human resources. Apparently if young disaffected youth see a African-American or Mexican-American face, they will immediately throw away their plans for theft, disruption, and riot. How foolish of Westfield not to realize this when hizzoner’s commission issued that dictate.

Violence in shopping malls is not isolated to Toledo. The Mall of America in Minnesota was known as “Fight City” when thousands of teenagers at a time would show up ready for violence. Violence need not occur on a regular basis for the business to suffer – look at the result of Northtowne and Southwyck malls, both of whom could have been described as “gang friendly” as they slid into decline. Many such malls have had youth violence problems, even with security officers “of color.”

The one thing that seems to work is youth curfews in malls. These are instituted by the management of the mall in question, not enforced by the city. What this would require, however, is management willing to enforce the issue, and a city willing to deal with charges of trespass (it IS private property) and disturbing the peace. Perhaps some hefty fines for violators – and let the miscreants pay for their own prosecution.

I can hear the ACLU and others grinding their gears at this suggestion, but I propose this: does someone have a “right” to commit violence? The right for assembly guaranteed in the First Amendment is the right of “people to peacefully assemble.” By any standard, theft and violence do not qualify as peaceful. But this right is only in effect in public. And, the Westfield Town Center is not owned by the government, hence it is private property – where the public is welcome, within limits. Simply post the new rules, and that “Mall Management reserves the right to refuse admittance.” Then, Carty can station a couple of squad cars outside and wait for the trespassing fines to roll in. We might even reduce the city deficit!

Margaritas ante Porcos,
Right Wing Toledo

Cure for the Common Smoking Ban

The great uninformed has done it again. This past November, the people of the State of Ohio instituted a public smoking ban. Now, however, some people are taking a closer look at it. For example, if you employ a nanny to look after your children, you can not smoke in your own home. Private clubs that employ a bartender are now, surprisingly, smoke free. Any place where the "public is welcome", be it a private business or home, is now comparable to public property such as government buildings and parks.

Now, why did Ohioans vote in this insane law that violates private property rights? According to the major proponent of the law (SmokeFreeOhio): "The Children." I suppose I'm the only parent capable of arriving at the decision that it isn't in my child's interest to take her into smoke-filled room.

Given this, I am going to propose the complete banning of salads and non-cooked vegetables from all restaurants and places where the public is welcome. Given the recent incidents involving spinach and onions it seems to me that the children need protecting. Given that correlation is not causation, one can prove that more people have died of E. coli than have died of second-hand smoke. (Anti-smoking zealots, please check the underlined definations of correlation and causation - they are not the same.) Given that the only sure-fire method of killing the bacteria is by heating (cooking) it, salads are inherantly dangerous. In particular, the smallest of us who lack an adult immune system capable of fighting off the disease need to be protected at all costs. Only by a diet of beef, pork, poultry, and other animal products can we end this health hazard that is silent, invisible, and undetectable by smell.

Therefore, I challenge SmokeFreeOhio to change their mission at once, and help eradicate all uncooked vegetables in public places. In the meantime, I suggest those restaurants who promote the eating of meat at the expense of dangerous salads proclaim on the outside of their establishment, "MEAT FRIENDLY." The health of our state, and our nation, is at steak!

Margaritas ante Porcos,
Right Wing Toledo

Welcome to Right Wing Toledo

Greetings to one and all. Right Wing Toledo is a my venture into skewering the left on all political levels, local, statewide, and national. I may not post as often as I want, and it may be too much for some.

I will entertain intelligent comments, and even debate of my points within reason. In other words, irrational emotion-driven posts (such as "you suck", "baby killer", "you're a _____") are not welcome. However, if you can make your point, and back it up with facts (MoveOn.org is not a source of facts), I may take notice.

Until next time,
Margaritas ante Porcos