Becoming Clearer

I'm still not up to speed on the school funding issue, but it is looking more and more as if it is going to be moving to front pages around the state soon enough. In the meantime, other things are becoming clearer since yesterday:

1) I get it now with the Farm Bureau editorial. I still applaud the tone, but what is most notable is something that wasn't mentioned: A new megadairy is being installed on some of the most environmentally sensitive land in Ohio. Note to OFBF: I'll see your GRACE and raise you Vreba-Hoff if we're talking about outsiders coming into Ohio.

2) Apparently I was wrong, even the swinging middle opposes the escalation.

3) Apparently I was right, I don't belong at these protest thingies. If you show up in a suit instead of something radical, you're apparently sending the wrong message about progressives. For what it's worth, Eric Vessels has been one of the most supportive people since I've entered the 'sphere, and I'm glad that he's got a high-profile gig with ProgressOhio.

4) Speaking of blogosphere support, thank you to Jill and Lisa Renee. If an individual reads this blog, I assume that they probably know who these women are and why it is so encouraging to me that they took the time to leave comments. If you don't know who they are, you need to go read their blogs now.

Identity Crisis

This is my first real post in a week. To a certain extent it's just been a very busy week out in the non-blog world for me, and I'm not up-to-date on even the issues in today's post. Mainly, though, I've just been conflicted about what, if anything, to say about stuff.

It started with this Brian Eastman thing. At the end my attempts to be simultaneously fair and accurate left me with a big headache, and I punted.

Of course, Mr. Eastman's story is just one of thousands in the Great Transition. At a much higher level, Gov. Strickland ended up buying some extra time to name a cabinet, filling only about a third of the positions with permanent directors. In my real-world job, I get to hear interesting rumors about some of these outgoing and incoming agency heads. But, of course, I outed myself as part of a New Year's Resolution, partially to squash the temptation to repeat that type of info.

That stuff, at least, I know something about. I got involved in a lively discussion about school-funding reform at Buckeye State Blog. For the most part I stuck to high level abstract principles: The time to address structural inequities in the funding of Ohio Schools as mandated by the Supreme Court is far overdue. Because of a long-standing failure to address the issue, a flawed proposal on the table is better than waiting for a perfect proposal. If the issue is to be put on the ballot as a Constitutional Amendment, however, forcing a statewide up-down vote on a flawed proposal could be more of a setback than waiting. Keeping an amendment proposal secret until it is finalized increases the risk of a fatally flawed proposal getting on to the ballot.

In the context of this discussion, however, it became painfully obvious to me that I knew practically nothing about earlier attempts to bring about reform, I had no background knowledge of the major players involved, and that my knowledge of the actual ruling in the DeRolph case (the case that led the Ohio Supreme Court to declare the present funding system unconstitutional) was extremely shallow. In other words, I would have no right to sit at the adults' table when the discussion moved beyond sweepingly general terms. That sense of ignorance kept me from posting here on the topic. If you're interested in the topic, you can do what I plan to do as soon as I have time, and go to WLST, where Jill has been busy tracking the most current news and pulling together relevant background info from the web.

If you read the discussion on BSB, you'll find a comment I made where I praise the No Child Left Behind Act. That came after my post here saying that I thought trying to persuade Clear Channel to keep Progressive Talk on 1230 wasn't really an idea I could get behind. I didn't post on the topic of public officials with PhDs from non-accredited institutions, because I have completed all of the coursework for a PhD in psychology at one of the most highly ranked programs in the world. I would never, ever consider sending a dissertation off to a diploma mill to get a doctoral degree. I don't know all of the facts in the case that has recently come up. I don't want to know. Then I got the latest issue of Our Ohio. When Blue Bexley was in its very early days of existence, I posted a point-by-point rebuttal of an editorial on energy policy in the Farm Bureau's magazine by John C. (Jack) Fisher. That editorial really ticked me off. In this issue, he has an editorial that is intended to defend "factory farms." Although it is short on specifics, I'm pretty sure that I would disagree on many points with Mr. Fisher regarding this issue. As far as the editorial goes, however, it keeps a reasonable tone, stays in-bounds, encourages readers to inform themselves on the issue, and scores a few points by framing the issue as a local one. So I'm not nearly as inspired to shout about it. I actually find myself looking for the common ground. If you'd like to read the other side, the group he is most concerned about has a website here.

And finally, I got an email inviting me to protest W's plan to increase troops sent to Iraq. I usually avoid taking on national issues, but local protests make the issue a local one. So now I have to express my ambivalence. I think increasing the number of troops is the wrong strategy, or at best, too little too late. I don't think it will change the outcome, and I think it will delay, not speed up, whatever conclusion this conflict comes to. However, I don't agree that the mid-terms were a mandate for troop withdrawal. I think that W's people are right if they think that showing a willingness to admit mistakes and make meaningful strategic changes is enough to mollify the middle. It gives people (okay, me) a reason to hope that he will look for a politically defensible cover to remove troops once some symbolic objective is achieved in Baghdad. So as I said before about school funding, there comes a time when flawed action might be better than inaction.

That's only one of the reasons I won't be out holding a sign today. When it comes to protesting, I believe in something like the Powell Doctrine: Have an achievable objective and apply overwhelming force. Bumper Stickers, Yard Signs, Web Campaigns, these are things that can start small and grow to a critical mass. Much tougher to do with a time-delimited rally, even if it makes a wider initial impression.

So even though I can sum up my positions as 1) Yay for a Democratic Administration, 2) Make all Public Schools Great, 3) Protect the Environment 4) Protect Free Speech and 5) End the Damn War, something's wrong with my pom-poms this week. We will return to your regularly scheduled programming as soon as possible.

Bexley Rally Today

In my inbox today, an anti-escalation rally is being planned for this evening in Bexley. Click Here to join in.

Jobs and the Blog (updated)

Right now hundreds, if not thousands of state employees are awaiting word on whether they will have a job in the new administration. One of those employees is named Brian Eastman. Mr. Eastman responded to a posting by an anonymous commenter here (and at Ohio2006), who had encouraged activism in opposing any appointments for him in the new administration.

Mr. Eastman speculates that the comments are being placed by a disgruntled employee, denies the charges that he had been approached by Blackwell for a similar position in the event that the election had gone the other way, and states that he has been recommended for a high-level post in the Office of Collective Bargaining by "by at least two or possibly even three of the Labor Unions representing state employees."

Given that I really was not sure that this was an appropriate topic (both in terms of relevance and privacy concerns), I wanted to put it all to rest by confirming broad-based support from the unions representing state employees in Ohio, and decrying the use of the blog for anonymous attacks. I contacted a few of the relevant unions, and I received a response from the Ohio Civil Service Employment Association (representing by far the largest number of state government employees), who informed me that their organization had not recommended Mr. Eastman for a role in the new administration. I also heard back from one other union, where my contact told me that OCSEA's opinion was the one that was really relevant, and that they had nothing to add for the record.

There are apparently a total of 5 unions representing State Employees, so OCSEA's statement, and even the corroboration from one of the remaining unions, don't necessarily invalidate Eastman's claims, but I certainly didn't find the support I expected to find. So for now, in what must certainly be an eagerly awaited pronouncement, Blue Bexley declares that it has no idea whether or not Brian Eastman would be good for the Strickland administration.

UPDATE: I've received an e-mail from Brian Eastman. In that email he clarified his earlier remarks. I'm satisfied that nothing he said in his earlier remarks is actually inconsistent with what I heard today, nor is it inconsistent with what I wrote above.
....

How this blog ended up in the midst of of this dispute is something that still confuses/amuses me, but it just goes to show that I'm a sucker for readers who express an interest. For instance, one regular reader pointed me to this story, covered on other blogs as well, about an erosion of worker's protections by the Ohio Supreme Court. These are the cases that really frustrate me. I'm not a particular fan of defending the position of a sixteen year-old fast-food employee who insisted on ignoring repeated warnings that his labor saving shortcut was unacceptably dangerous, did it anyway, got injured, and is asking for his former employee to bear the costs of his lost wages.

But I will. Beyond the fact that Ohio has established a system that does not allow a finding of fault in determining eligibility for Workman's Comp, and that this ruling effectively guts the legislative intent, it seems to me that it actually goes further. The news report states that 1) The employee had been warned against this particular procedure several times. 2) When the employee disregarded those warnings and boiled the water, he effectively abandoned his job, and was no longer an employee of KFC.

So, why did KFC get to determine that the employee had not abandoned his job after the first or second or third incident, but had abandoned it at the precise moment before everything literally blew up in his face? I'm not a lawyer nor a judge, but it seems to me that this ruling sets the bar way too low in terms of allowing employers to assert abandonment. If the employee had not been fired for the behavior before, he would have had no reason to believe that it would result in the termination of his employment on the day in question.

As my reader pointed out, judicial elections are every bit as important as legislative and executive branch elections. Rulings don't get a whole lot more corporation-friendly than that one.

And finally, as to readers and jobs: I got a video today from someone who has a major grudge against Todd Bosley, the newly elected Stark County Commissioner, who defeated Republican Richard Regula (son of Ralph and former heir apparent to the OH-16 seat). The website and YouTube ID governorgirlieman (.com) contain a disparate set of accusations ranging from shipping jobs to China to conflicts-of-interest. Who gets so worked up about a County Commissioner that they are still producing video content after the election? Seriously, who? The domain registrations (toddthetrustee.com, governorgirlieman.com) are all held by proxy.

Like I said before, this dispute also has nothing to do with local/regional politics, and has come somewhat out of the blue. I'm kind of hoping that, like the tendency for 'house.gov' to show up on every liberal blog's traffic reports, these are near random events. I probably do way to much to encourage them by blogging them, but enquiring minds, as the commercials used to say, want to know...

Why I'm not Fighting to Save AM-1230

I like being able to listen to Air America programming, and even moreso to Stephanie Miller, but I don't feel like I've got any standing to demand that Clear Channel keep the format. CC is a pretty good example of everything that is bad about 'corporate', 'media' and the conjunct 'corporate media.' So you have to wonder why they wandered into the domain of Progressive Talk in the first place.

Simple. They thought they could make a buck.

Why did they think they could make a buck? My guess is because, as many people have pointed out, the ratings are better than most of the other available syndicated programming, the audience is underserved, and the demographics are attractive to advertisers.

So why are they getting out and replacing Progressive Talk with Right Wing Blather? They say that it's because they could never figure out how to sell Progressive Talk. I'm taking them at their word.

See, I have never in my life bought a diet pill, an ED treatment, gold, or hypnosis tapes. I have obtained, since the advent of Air America, a mortgage, computer software, educational training, flowers, and legal representation. I did not once seriously consider, however, obtaining these things from any of the advertisers I heard on Progressive Talk Radio. In most cases, one would have to be pretty stupid or credulous to buy the products and services being marketed on talk radio.

Listening to Al Franken do the recorded endorsements for the Sleep-Number Bed or Go-To-My-PC was simply painful.

So, anyway, I listen(ed) to AM-1230. I buy products and services. More than I really need to, by any stretch of the imagination. Somehow, none of the folks who get my discretionary income ever mangaged to find people like me through Progressive Talk radio, and none of the people who got my ear ever got my money. That means that Clear Channel (along with AA) has failed miserably at its core business.

There is a market. I believe it will get served. I don't think Clear Channel is the entity to provide that service. For my second act of random irresponsibility of 2007, let me throw out another name: CD101. The locally-owned Alternative Rock station has, like Progressive Talk, an older and wealthier listenership than one would immediately guess. I'd like to see them buy an AM station and try a Progressive Talk format. If you have advertising contacts in the community, if you know the local market and your target demographic, if you can put a mix of local and national content on the air, you're going to have a much better chance at succeeding. As in my last out-of-left-field nomination, I have no idea if CD101's ownership is remotely interested in expanding into talk radio, let alone lefty talk. Or even if they already have tried talk radio of any flavor. I'm just saying that a business like that has a better likelihood of making it work than a formulaic monolith like CC.

So, anyway, I know the effort was successful in Madison, and if the people fighting to save Progressive Talk in Columbus win, I'll keep listening. But I'm not about to ask for any favors from, nor give any favors to, Clear Channel. And I'm not about to attend a get-rich-quick-in-real-estate seminar just to get Stand-Up news when I'm running late for work.