Roldo On Governor Kasich
When you see a bus heading toward a group of children you gotta do something. You can’t keep quiet or just stand there and do nothing.
That’s why I find it necessary to speak out against Gov. John Kasich, especially after his dumb down State of the State speech. It was more a Fox News cheer lead than a message Ohioans need to hear. Phony passion in place of thought. Thoughtfulness isn’t in Kasich’s vocabulary. It’s too hard. He doesn’t do hard.
As I learned from Plain Dealer political writer Mark Naymik on the WCPN’s 9 o’clock Wednesday show Kasich had no prepared speech. His staff didn’t even know what he was going to say, they told Naymik. It’s not surprising. He was going to wing it.
The man is lazy.
So he did it the easy way. Preparation means work. Why prepare a speech when you can rattle off Fox News talk instead. His talk is Fox; his policy is Lehman.
That’s not a governor. That’s not even a politician. That’s a pretentious partisan and manipulative ideologue. It takes thought and work to prepare. Any grade school student knows that. But why bother when what you have to say is more bullshit than content. It’s no more than I’d expect from someone who enjoys off the cuff guff. This is what will pass as thoughtful for four years of the Kasich Administration.
It tells me that he will not devote the time and energy that is necessary to do the hard work that we need. He’ll take the easy way. He’s into pundit talk. That’s not governing; that’s just talking.
But then he doesn’t like government. He’s full-fledged 2011 Republican. Out to destroy, not create.
His is the kind of talk that can pose as “straight talk” but is really only superficial blather. The guy is just another Republican anti-union hack as the SB 5 reveals for anyone to see.
On the same morning radio show, host Mike McIntyre had the Governor’s California economic development boss as a guest. California? I shouldn’t have been, but I was taken aback as the California guy touted Texas as a model for Ohio. Please! Texas, where the Governor talks succession from the U. S. and the schools stink. Just the model for us in Kasich’s Ohio.
He’s already indicated what kind of Governor he will be. He’s the Give-Away Governor. Business will love him since he’ll thoughtlessly cater to its needs. People may not do so well.
Especially needy people. People with problems related to poverty or other social ills. People who really need government.
Jay Miller in Crain’s Cleveland Business this week noted that Gov. Kasich has been paying close attention to the Cleveland area. “He’s spending more time in Northeast Ohio than any governor in recent memory…,” wrote Miller.
Spending time here doesn’t mean anything if it is for the wrong reasons.
It is for the wrong reasons. He’s schmoozing Mayor Frank Jackson. But as he pats him on the head with plaudits he kicks him in the ass on what he needs for Cleveland. I don’t mean only the cutoff of funds for a mental hospital either. All the way down the line Gov. Kasich has nothing to offer needy people. Those are especially Frank Jackson’s people. Cleveland’s people. So many in need.
Gov. Kasich has nothing for them but knee-jerk talk about low taxes and doing for yourself.
We owe Kasich in part at least to the Plain Dealer. What’s disturbing about the PD’s editorial support for Kasich in the election last November is that it goes against the needs of most people in the paper’s area. It is especially damaging to Labor and working people. The PD has been giving it to Democrats — some of it deservingly — but paper doesn’t pay attention to the economic issues that scream for action that will never come from Gov. Kasich or the Republicans.
So far there hasn’t been any blowback for the PD. Maybe there should be because the paper still treats him too kindly.
Roldo Bartimole celebrates 50 years of news reporting this year. He published and wrote Point of View, a newsletter about Cleveland, for 32 years. He worked for the Plain Dealer and Wall Street Journal in the 1960s.
He was a 2004 Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame recipient and won the national Joe Callaway Award for Civic Courage in 1991.
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7 Responses to “Roldo On Governor Kasich”
Richard
What we have is a society that does not educate it’s children, care for it’s elderly, or provide work for the able.
Government by and FOR the people?? On Local, State or National level, forget about it. Mob rule is in effect. The Sheriff has gone fishing.
We are rudderless, without leadership or direction. We are sinking. Forget women and children first, it’s every man for himself.
A sad and frighting state of affairs.
Westside Sue
Roldo, you are my new best friend. Your views on Kasich hit the mark.
What the heck does anyone from California know about economics?
They have even less money to run their state then Ohio has. Kasich spending time in Cleveland………where? Not in my neighborhood. Not on Fleet Avenue. Not on W.78th & Lorain. Haven’t seen him anywhere along E. 55th Street. Hey, Gov, I’m inviting you to have coffee with me sometime, but I won’t hold my breath.
MentorResident
LOL!!! so you are mad that he doesn’t use a teleprompter??? That he can answer questions using his brain and heart? We finally have someone in charge that is willing to make the tough decisions because Taft did not do it, and Strickland certainly was afraid to and you are going to knock him. I keep hearing all of you Progessive Socialists knocking Kasich, but I never hear any answers or solutions. Oh, I forgot, your solutions are more taxes and more spending. Give me a break!
craig a. pearsall
Roldo:
I think you mean “secession” here:
“Texas, where the Governor talks succession from the U. S. and the schools stink. Just the model for us in Kasich’s Ohio”
other than that critical error i agree wholeheartedly about kasich. a fox news teleprompter sycophant right wing blowhard!
C J Paparosa
time will tell!
Roldo Bartimole
Thanks for the correction although the dictionary says it’s “sucession so we both need the dictionary. Spelling has never been my best asset.
Thanks for other comments. The teleprompter stuff is old hat and silly. It’s what is said and done. Kasich won’t need a teleprompter because he doesn’t prepare. Thoughtless and clueless. Piles it on the ordinary person and lifts it off the wealthy.
Time, I think, is telling but the whole story will take more.
Anastasia
MentorResident, his speech didn’t even make SENSE. A TelePrompter is a practical device used by virtually every politician; it’s amusing how it’s become an issue to attack only ONE out of the thousands who use one for a really solid reason: it allows them to focus their thoughts without worrying they will lose their place. Kasich lost his place over and over, and fell back to nattering about lower taxes, although from his budget — which by the way INCREASES spending by million over Strickland’s budgets, as even the conservative Buckeye Institute admitted — it’s clear the lower taxes will only be for a handful of the wealthy. Most of us will be paying much, much more.
Roldo, I think you did mean “secession,” if you meant “withdraw” from something. If you meant “next in line,” then you meant “succession.” Also, the PD seems to be slowly backing away from Kasich. I was stunned to see its headline Thursday: “Local governments, schools big losers in Kasich budget.”
On the front page. Above the fold. Uh-oh.