It's 9/30/07 and Rex Humbard is Still Dead

Someone needs to send the message to the ABJ who have not relented in their Rex related coverage. Okay, after five or six front page stories we get it. Rev. Rex was a pioneer at using television to flimflam followers into handing over their hard earned money. The good news is that all of that cash was poured (literally) into that landmark turned eyesore in Cuyahoga Falls that still unofficially bears his namesake (rhymes with detection).

While we never did get that groovy revolving restaurant at the top, the current owner was able festoon the thing with dozens of cell phone arrays. Ouch! my fillings are heating up.

Quid Pro Quo Doctor

Recently retired Cuyahoga County Coroner Dr. Elizabeth Balraj is taking a position as a forensic pathologist within the same County outfit she ran a mere two months ago. The newly created position comes with a modest salary of $157,000 plus posh fringe benefits. Yes, I said newly created position. It seems someone at the Board of Commissioners felt it was appropriate to give the good doctor the nod for all of her years as a dependable electable democrat. Of course Dr. Balraj can take the position for a short tenure to get her pension income level up a tad before she retires again. Yet one more nod from the County leadership.

What is really interesting is that the funding request was championed by Balraj while she still held the title of Coroner and had every intention of taking one of the newly created jobs. It gets better. The analyst at the County budget office that was responsible for working with the Coroner's on getting approval by the Commission was conveniently offered a better paying position that was also part of said funding request. All of this under the nose of the Budget Director and County Administrator. Is it ethical? According to the section of the Ohio Ethics Law dealing with seeking employment it doesn't even appear to be legal. Not bad for a County that's losing revenue, it's residents and looking to cut budgets across the board in 2008.

Mayor Don

The election for Akron Mayor is over and it's no surprise that mayor Don is in again. It was somewhat of a surprise to me that challenger Joe Finley managed to get 47% of the vote. That seems to be a testament to growing Plusquellic fatigue because I can't believe Finley energized a large portion of the electorate.

Everyone here is cool with another four years of Don. He is of course rude and abrasive all the time. He is also a tenacious and steadfast advocate for Akron and the NEO region. A little continuity of leadership is a good thing. Just ask the folks in the Falls about their Don.

Bush Completes Iraq Victory Tour

As I am writing this post the Prez is speaking to a throng of enthusiastic marines and soldiers at a U.S. military base in Al Anbar province of Iraq. A general introduced W to great applause, plenty of believers in that room. It almost looked like he was accepting a Grammy. He promptly thanked everyone in the room, his wife and the creator. Apparently going to Baghdad and making a speech wasn't in the cards not much good news to report there.

What we have witnessed today is the final stage of prepping the battlefield for the looming face off in congress in a week's time. The most important tenant of the this strategy is of course the PR offensive. The top secret insertion of the presidential contingent into the Sunni stronghold and subsequent seizure of the news cycle is a means to this end. So here you have it the latest mission accomplished moment. We already know what Gen." I have a PhD and you don't" Petraeus will report to Congress: the surge must be working we've pacified a Al Anbar. That's great but I doubt handing out piles of cash weapons to tribal sheiks required a surge. There's a Power Point presentation out there that backs me up on this. The creator Captain Travis Patriquin was killed by an IED in December of 2006 but, the seed of his idea started taking hold before the surge and has been a success in the otherwise dim situation across the country.

What I would like to see in the Congressional testimony from the good General and Ambassador Crocker is an honest assessment of the total strategy, not one tactical success. By the looks of today's orchestrated event and clear concentration on Anbar we are not going to get much of that. My guess is that we'll hear a lot about how Al Queda is on the run and that troop casualties are on the decrease. There are observers who would say the later point is not quite true. The last time I checked the center of governance in Iraq was Baghdad and the overall strategy that the surge was supposed to make room for was to create security for all Iraqis and progress on the political and reconciliation fronts. According to the just released report by the GOA we aren't seeing much of that these days. So tell us wise General and noble Statesman how much more blood and treasure do you need to continue this misadventure in the desert just to see if it may work? How many more "success is around the corner" speeches must we endure before the president and Bill Kristol admit that a surge of any size can't turn back the clock and erase the bad decisions and incompetence that have damned us to a seemingly unending occupation? We have to wait a week but my guess is we won't hear anything new.