From wizbang

So, how did the trial get scheduled at such a convenient time for the Democrats? If you guessed politics were involved, you guessed right. The presiding judge, a Democrat of course, chose to hear the case a mere four weeks to the day before Election Day. In addition to Judge Osowik being a Democrat, he's also running for office himself this year. He's in a race for Ohio's Sixth District Court of Appeals against Republican Judge Dennis Parish. So, not only will Noe's case give the Ohio Dems running for the US Senate and House a political advantage by having this case and Tom Noe's Republican affiliation splashed all over the Ohio news daily, but Judge Osowik has guaranteed that his name will be in all the newspapers and television news reports in Ohio's sixth district from today to election day.

From cleveland.com

He was a member of Al Gore's legal team in the Florida presidential election re count of 2000 - and a five-time, undefeated champion on the Jeopardy television program.

Al Gore and Jeopardy.

From Spectator.org

WASHINGTON -- If you talk to conservatives around D.C., and they ignore conventional wisdom and give you a pure "wish list" of the candidates they most want to win this fall regardless of how polls look now, three names stand out: U.S. Sens. Rick Santorum and Jim Talent of Pennsylvania and Missouri, respectively, and Ohio gubernatorial candidate (currently Secretary of State) Kenneth Blackwell.

Here's saying that none of the three is a lost cause.

Read their full explanation here.

This was in today's Wheeling Intelligencer

Noe Trial Won’t Harm All in GOP

By The Intelligencer

Political analysts and press pundits are claiming that the Tom Noe trial could not come at a worse time for Republican candidates in Ohio.

We disagree — simply because the trial gives the overwhelming majority of Republicans who had nothing to do with Noe an opportunity to point out to voters that they did not. It also gives the few who may have had contact with Noe but did not accept favors from him an opportunity to remind voters of that.

Most of those who did accept favors from Noe already have been exposed. Gov. Bob Taft’s political career was ruined by revelations — that originated, incidentally, from the governor himself — that he neglected to mention a few gifts from Noe on ethics forms. The gifts, worth just a few hundred dollars, still were enough to force Taft to plead no contest to ethics-related charges. Four of his aides pleaded guilty to similar charges.

It is true that Noe, who for a time “managed” about $50 million in state investments in rare coins, used his contacts to gain business from the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation. He is accused of stealing millions of dollars from the investment fund he handled. That missing money is part of about $300 million in investment losses admitted by bureau officials.

Noe is to go on trial this week on charges including theft, money laundering, forgery and corrupt activities. The trial is expected to last about six weeks, continuing past the Nov. 7 elections.

Those who fear news from the Noe trial will harm GOP candidates seem to believe that Noe’s activities will tar any Republican who already is in office or is seeking to win a position on Nov. 7. Those who did have unacceptable links to Noe certainly deserve to be exposed. But we believe the vast majority of Ohio voters are intelligent enough not to blame Republicans who had no contact with Noe — or who, in some cases, may have stuck to their ethical guns when dealing with him.

This is in World Net Daily

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

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ELECTION 2006
'Foley problem' surfaces for Ohio Democrats
Scandal puts spotlight on gubernatorial candidate's vote on pedophilia

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Posted: October 11, 2006

Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Ohio

In the wake of the Mark Foley scandal, questions are circulating below the radar screen in Ohio about the past record of Democratic Rep. Ted Strickland on pedophilia.

Strickland is the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Ohio running against Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.

The issue surfaced Dec. 15, 2005, when the left-leaning Athens News reported on an anonymous letter-writing campaign to Democratic voters citing Strickland's vote as "present" and not in support of the 1999 House Concurrent Resolution 107 that condemned an American Psychological Association study supporting "nonnegative sexual interactions between adults and adolescents."

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The APA study claimed scientific evidence established that sex between adults and underage minors might be positive for children.

HCR 107 passed with a strong bipartisan coalition of 355 congressmen voting "yea" and only 13 congressmen, including Strickland, voting "present."

Strickland's refusal to vote "yea" has been interpreted as implicit support for pedophilia, as he was given a chance to join an overwhelming congressional bipartisan majority voting to condemn the APA study.

In the Democratic primary, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brian Flannery openly challenged Strickland on his HCR 107 vote. Flannery still has posted on his gubernatorial website Strickland's July 27, 1999, speech on the House floor explaining his refusal to condemn the APA pedophilia study.

Mr. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, it troubles me that sometimes in this Chamber we stand and say things that we ought not to say. We criticize people that we have no right to criticize.

We recently voted to condemn a scientific study and an organization, an organization that has done as much as any organization in this country to fight child abuse.

WND Managing Editor David Kupelian in his best-selling book "The Marketing of Evil" has noted a tendency since sex researcher Alfred C. Kinsey published his sexual behavior books in the late 1940s and early 1950s to use flawed social science research to endorse sexual practices traditionally considered deviant.

Bloggers in Ohio argue that the behavior of the Democratic Party in Washington expressing outrage over Foley's e-mails demands "a full vetting" of the seven-year old controversy over Strickland's refusal to take a strong stand against the APA study arguing that pedophilia can be beneficial to children.

The argument is that Democrats are pursuing a double standard, condemning Republicans on sexual misconduct issues while giving Democratic candidates a pass.

The HRC 107 controversy resurfacing in the last month of the Ohio gubernatorial campaign also has brought back another controversy over sexual misconduct that first was launched by Flannery, Strickland's Democratic challenger.

On March 17, during the primary campaign, Lynn Hulsey reported in the Dayton Daily News that Flannery had accused Strickland of hiring from 1997 to 1999 a male congressional and campaign staffer who had been convicted of exposing himself to children. As Hulsey wrote:

According to Athens police, the man's case stems from 1994, when he was arrested for public indecency after several children reported he'd exposed himself. Police records show he was found guilty, although the exact charge is unclear.

Flannery also accused Strickland of taking the man with him to Italy after his 1998 congressional campaign. Again, Hulsey wrote:

Strickland said campaign workers planned to treat themselves to the trip if Strickland won, but as it turned out only Strickland and the man were able to go.

Hulsey reported Strickland had learned of the sexual misconduct charge against his employee late in the 1998 campaign through an anonymous letter, but he discounted the letter since it was sent anonymously. Hulsey quoted Strickland as saying "perhaps" he should have pursued the matter more aggressively, but at the time he took no action. The man left Strickland's office of his own accord in 1999, after the reported trip to Italy with Strickland.

After the Foley scandal, these resurfacing charges against Strickland are creating a firestorm among Ohio's political blogs.

Among Strickland's endorsers is the choice of Ohio's openly pro-homosexuality PAC, the Equality Ohio Campaign Fund, or EOCF. In endorsing Strickland, EOCF emphasized his service as a minister, a psychologist and a professor, commenting:

Representative Strickland has long been an ally of and advocate for LGBT (Lesbian-Gay-Bi-sexual-Transvestite) people. He maintained a 100% rating with the Human Rights Campaign's Congressional Scorecard while in Congress. He voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA).

The EOCF noted Ted Strickland is married to Frances Strickland who lives in Simpsonville, Ky. The EOCF closed its endorsement by commenting that Frances "is an educational psychologist and author of a widely-used screening test for kindergarten-age children."

Newhouse News links the 1998 study by Rind to attempts to legitimize adult-child sex and quotes James Dobson:

Social conservatives aware of efforts to legitimize adult-child sex have publicly expressed horror. On his radio show broadcast to hundreds of Christian stations, psychologist and author James Dobson said the intent is to "make boys accessible" to men.

Here's what Strickland said about the same study:

Mr. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, it troubles me that sometimes in this Chamber we stand and say things that we ought not to say. We criticize people that we have no right to criticize.

We recently voted to condemn a scientific study and an organization, an organization that has done as much as any organization in this country to fight child abuse.

I wonder how many of us read the study before we were willing to vote to say that the methodology was flawed. I wonder how many of us were technically competent to make that decision.

Soooo, some obvious questions here for Mr. Strickland. Does Dobson have the right to criticize this study? Is he technically competent to evaluate it?

Or are you just way smarter than Dr. Dobson?

Today, Senator Mike DeWine, joined by Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, spoke to supporters at campaign headquarters. Below is the text of Senator DeWine's remarks:

DeWine Fights Back

For several weeks now you have listened to Sherrod Brown make charge after charge about who I am.

He has attacked my credibility, my character, and my integrity.

And I am not going to take it anymore.

It is time the people of Ohio know the truth.

Because the people of Ohio deserve to know the truth when deciding who has the character, integrity, and record to be a United States Senator.

So, over the next few weeks I am going to make sure the people know the truth about us both.

Today we start.

And today I am going to start by comparing our record of accomplishments.

Sherrod Brown has been a congressman for 14 years.

In 14 years he has passed 4 bills.

FOUR IN FOURTEEN.

Most years in Congress he hasn't passed anything.

He talks about fighting for Ohio.

Well, other than TALK... what has he done?

Those 4 bills?

What did they do for Ohio?

The first bill renamed a federal building. A name change.

Number 2? Congressman Brown passed a bill to help the country of Taiwan attend a meeting in Switzerland.

Number 3? Congressman Brown passed a bill to help the country of Taiwan attend a meeting in Switzerland.

Number 4? Congressman Brown passed a bill to help the country of Taiwan attend a meeting in Switzerland.

Let me be clear: He passed 3 different bills to help the country of Taiwan attend meetings in Switzerland.

What does that have to do with Ohio?

Further, Congressman Brown says he's for middle class tax cuts.

Well, he voted against tax cuts for families with children, Congressman Brown voted against taking 5 million of the poorest taxpayers off the tax rolls. When it came time to DO something for taxpayers, Congressman Brown voted no.

Congressman Brown says he's for national security and going after terrorists. But he voted against the Patriot Act and tried to cut intelligence spending every chance he got.

Congressman Brown says he's for our soldiers, but he voted NO just like John Kerry.

Now, each and every time he tries to explain why he just had to vote no. He always has an excuse.

But, the truth is...

While he talks BIG, he acts SMALL.

For all his talk, his record is clear.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer went to the Library of Congress to check on Brown's record and here is what they found:

For all Brown's talk...

"The Library of Congress doesn't list Brown as the chief sponsor of any major bill that has become law since he entered Congress. His only formal credits are a bill that names a federal building in Medina... and several measures that urge Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization."

This is too important a time for Ohio to depend on a person with a record like this.

We can't afford any more lying.

We can't afford any more distortions.

We can't afford six years of Sherrod Brown in the Senate.

From the Blade:

A federal judge this afternoon denied a request for bond from terrorist suspect Marwan Othman El-Hindi, who took the stand in U.S. District Court in Toledo to make a plea for his own release.

Judge James Carr denied the request after hearing from Mr. El-Hindi and other witnesses during a court proceeding that spanned nearly four hours. Mr. El-Hindi pointed to his community involvement as a reason he should be released on bond while he awaits trial.

His attorneys were seeking his release on $20,000 bond. Mr. El-Hindi is currently incarcerated at the federal prison in Milan, Mich.

Mr. El-Hindi is charged along with Toledoan Mohammad Zaki Amawi and Sylvania resident Wassim I. Mazloum with conspiring to kill or injure U.S. troops and others in the Middle East and with providing the "support and resources" to do so. Mr. Amawi was also charged with twice threatening President Bush and with distributing bomb-making information. If convicted, they face a maximum of life in prison.

Attorneys Steve Hartman and Chuck Boss put El-Hindi’s wife, Marwa Aboud, on the stand as she would have been the custodian for her husband if he was released. Wearing a burqa that covered everything but her eyes, she testified that six of Mr. El-Hindi’s children by other marriages are now in New York, but the couple has a 14-month old daughter in Toledo.

A friend of Mr. El-Hindi, Muwahhid Adil of Toledo, testified that he has known the defendant about 14 years. The two met at an Islamic conference in Chicago.

Why are these people in our country if they don’t want to be apart of our society. Is it the great weather in Toledo?

Cross post at the MVCA Commentary and Journal

Bob Burney spent much of his radio show today beating up on Ted Strickland for his 1999 vote.

Most of the audio can be downloaded here.