Zippity

Today should be wonderful. Dann finally did what he should have done two weeks ago, and as importantly, the Senate passed the House's payday lending bill. The weather is nicer than predicted, and my family got to celebrate last night.

Of course, Johnson and Nash have the most offensive possible lede for their Dispatch piece on the resignation:

In the end, the "culture of corruption" in state government that Marc Dann battled so fiercely to become attorney general consumed him, too.

See, the problem with the GOP circa 2006 was that they were passing laws that favored their fundraisers, and their fundraisers were engaging in illegal activity, and each time one got caught, all of the others would downplay or even mock the charges. Not even indictments gave them pause, only convictions. Bob Taft, convicted. Bob Ney, convicted. Tom Noe, Convicted. Jack Abramoff, convicted. Congressional ethics committee, eviscerated. This wasn't a problem with one guy, it was a cultural problem in GOP politics.

Dann was one guy, with some Mahoning Valley buddies. In the end, it was the culture of zero-tolerance for corruption that consumed him.

The ODP culture, if it is at all culpable, is to blame for putting this guy on the ballot against Montgomery, endorsing him in a contested primary. That smacks of the sort of back-room politicking that leads to cynicism toward politicians generally. In the end, though, if Dann himself thought he couldn't win the seat, is it credible to believe that the ODP had any faith in his ability to win? The seemingly bizarre theory that Dann was run in 2006 to get him out of the party's hair and knock him out of contention in '10 doesn't seem as bizarre under those circumstances (I've had comments regarding linking to Tim Russo. I don't know Tim. I started reading Ohio blogs in earnest almost exactly as he was leaving the 'sphere in '06. Tim's an asshole. Tim has some pretty serious personal issues. Tim wants people to simultaneously believe that he lied to himself for years and that he has figured out how to stop. That's a tough sell. Tim's a traffic whore. But Tim certainly knows more about Ohio politics than most of us blogging, and Tim is obviously an intelligent guy. So I read his blog. And when he expresses doubt even though the major print media are reporting an imminent resignation, a doubt that I couldn't help but feeling some of myself, I link to it. He was right. Dann didn't resign. My linking to a unique opinion I thought should be available to my readers was right. And now, when I attempt to understand how the same people who did everything right these last two weeks got it so wrong two years ago, I find myself hypothesizing something similar to another unique statement I happened to read elsewhere. BTW, I agreed with the majority of Dann's legal arguments made as AG. I still do, even if I wouldn't want my wife or daughter working for him.)

Bleh. Even all of the above hadn't brought me down. So I was going to title this post "Zippity Doo Dah" i.e. "My oh my what a wonderful day." As I typed it, red flags started going off in my head - was this one of those racist cultural elements that had survived unexamined, buried in my memory beneath the sediment of consciousness? It turns out that this is not an uncommon bit of introspection.

So now, zip, zippity, zip. I'll leave the Doo-Dah to parades and racetracks.

Repeat to myself: Payday lending bill passes Senate, including yes vote from David Goodman. The print media, which got just about every element of this story wrong at some point, cannot be expected to get the aftermath right without help. To their credit, without their salacious appetite for tawdry but insignificant details, the major stories would never have come to light. They do serve a role of some sort. The good and the evil that a person does are not independent of each other, but the good does not excuse the evil, nor does the evil negate the good. And finally, it is a warm spring day, on which the sun shines down on the moist earth, and everything has the opportunity for growth.

Back to your regularly scheduled Thursday.

Surreal Dann Resignation Story

My wife was getting an award this afternoon in a ceremony held in a basement gym at the RPAC (student rec bldg.) at OSU. Gordon Gee cracked a joke about all of the researchers in the gym surrounded by hulking workout people visible through glass walls. So anyway, I found out that Marc and Ted were going to have their presser via googlereader for cellphones. When the ceremony ended there was a traffic jam of people trying to go up the single staircase leading to the main floor, so after milling for a bit, my wife went to find a ladies room and I gravitated to a TV mounted above a bench and watched the breathless breaking news that Marc Dann had resigned. There were two guys sitting on the bench, one supremely bored, and one transfixed. When Sarah got back I told her that Dann had finally stepped down. The transfixed guy turns around and says:

"So, do you know what he did wrong?"

It was a sincerely asked question, and I was a bit taken aback. I said something like "there was sexual harrassment going on in his office, the harrassment was being done by his buddy, who happened to also be his roommate, and some of the bad stuff was going on at his house..."

"Oh. Wow. I used to babysit his kids, so I was just wondering. It's kind of weird, huh?"

I had no idea what to say. I shrugged and headed for the stairs.

Stories don't move that fast in Ohio...

Many of you reading this will already know more about this than I will summarize here. For the rest of you...

Yesterday, media reported Dann would resign in afternoon.
Then, maybe not.
Then, working on a deal to trade resignation for reprieve from investigation.
Then, no deal, no resignation, no further announcements...

Today,
media report Dann spokesman says Dann will have big announcement at 12pm, no leaks, attendance mandatory.
Then, Dann in meetings with Lee Fisher and Ben Espy.
Then, Noon comes, and no press conference.
Then, state troopers working for inspector general engage in raid of Dann's office, lock down 17th floor, search employees bags, sieze computers and video equipment, all in front of confused media assembled for apparently fictitious press conference.
Dann is said to be out having lunch.
Dann spokesman denies ever saying that there would be a press conference.
Bloggers, who have been a step behind this story for the last few days, start collecting and relaying hints that Dann has been arrested.
If you don't already have a reader full of blogs, you might want to keep checking here and here.

Bexley CC to Vote on Jeffrey Mansion Master Plan

Locally -
From Ben Kessler's Blog:

Tonight City Council will vote on a resolution to support the Jeffrey Mansion Master Plan as proposed by the Jeffrey Mansion Committee. I wanted to post some of my thoughts here, and to explain my rationale for my vote.

Tonight I will vote in favor of the resolution, with strong reservations...

Read the rest at 'Ben Kessler's Council Minutes'

FWIW, Ben presents a very reasonable case for his point of view. The meeting should be an interesting one.

Impeached

Upperdate - Those of us who had the same cynical thought as Russo (BI, 1st update) have some vindication - Dann apparently wants the GA and the party to play ball first, but for now he has decided to take his ball and go home. No more updates to this post. New posting as events warrant.


Update- the PD is reporting that Dann will resign this afternoon. Plunderbund apparently noticed first (Joseph was kind enough to stop by here as well, see comment below), BSB is teasing gossip, and Blogger Interrupted says what y'all may be thinking.

I can get some nifty info when it's a weekend and I have some alone time with the ODP. During a busy workweek, not so much. News has broken that Dems in the Ohio House have filed articles of impeachment against Marc Dann. Pick any major Ohio Lefty Blog (BSB, ODB, WLST, etc. etc.) and they will have more links and details. My initial lunchtime thoughts:

1) The tone of the meeting on Saturday turned out to be more predictive of the course the Dems were planning than the statements from officeholders in last weeks' papers.

2) Individual Republicans who called for Dann's resignation are going to have an awfully hard time lining up with the GOP position that impeachment at this time wouldn't be fair to Dann, as there isn't "enough information."

3) Once this gets to the Senate, there is almost no good outcome for the GOP, who seem determined to play this politically. They have an overwhelming majority, so it is pretty much a GOP decision to convict quickly (validating the ODP), convict slowly (allowing Strickland to appoint a successor), acquit quickly (losing any moral high ground) or acquit slowly (that could get ugly all around).

4) Which is why the GOP wants to delay the House vote as long as possible. That, and a possible strategy of planning to "find" some more dirt and imply that Dems haste had more to do with avoiding further dirt than seeing justice served and washing their hands.

In case it's unclear, I applaud the House Dems. The timing was swift, the articles well drafted, the course of action correct. Thank you.