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You might expect calling for the assassination of a president to attract the FBI, unless you're a right wing nut and it's a leftist leader that you're hoping to see killed.
The Rev. Pat Robertson last week urged the United States to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, but the good pastor has not yet been arrested on terrorism charges. If someone even hinted at the benefits that would accrue from debating the possible assassination of Bush, the feds would be all over him.
The Hamilton County Republican Party is condemning Councilman David Pepper for an ethically sloppy campaign ad. The Ohio Elections Commission last week ruled Pepper's ad violated election law by implying he is the incumbent mayor. It comes down to three little letters: Pepper didn't have the word "for" between his name and the word "mayor." But until Republicans convince their top officeholder in the state, Gov. Bob Taft, to resign -- having been convicted of violating ethics laws -- they're in no position to criticize Pepper. Even the Elections Commission found Pepper's violation unworthy of a penalty.
Public Service Worthy of the Name
On Aug. 31, after working 35 years for the United States Postal Service, Bob Dombrowski closed down for the last time the Burnet Woods Post Office he'd single-handedly manned for more than a decade.
"Monday through Friday, it's just me," he said Aug. 30. "And there's no truth to the rumor the building was built around me. The building was here first."
A jovial, sarcastic, Wilford Brimley type, Dombrowski says the best part of his job's been knowing everyone who walks in his door. The worst part? Christmas, tax day and when it got so busy he couldn't see the end of the line.
Stamps cost just 10 cents and everything was sorted by hand when he started working for USPS. But he doesn't hold a grudge against the e-mail that's decimated the art of writing and posting letters.
"It's actually good, because that leads to e-Bay and that leads to more people bringing stuff in," he says.
A regular tries to buy tape to fix a loose package. But Dombrowski won't have it.
"I'll take care of that, you don't need to buy that," he says, reaching into his desk.
He seems more giddy than nostalgic about his last day, when his wife planned to join him to hand out lemonade, "to thank everyone for putting up with me all these years."
Dombrowski's been married only two years less than he's been working ... just ... this ... one ... job. He agrees he's a dying breed.
"People don't do that anymore," he says. "You see 'em coming and going."
What's he planning to do with his freedom? He throws a thumb over his shoulder at a photo of his two grandkids.
"I'm gonna watch those guys," he says. "I'm gonna start grandpa's taxi."
City Councilman Christopher Smitherman should be in New Orleans by the time you read this. He and a crew of volunteers left Cincinnati the morning of Sept. 6, taking three buses full of food, medical supplies and clothing to the hundreds of thousands of refugees left waiting by the Bush regime. CityBeat contributing writer April Martin, who is accompanying the relief effort, phoned from the road.
"They're telling us 70,000 people are stranded at Louis Armstrong Airport," she said. "Ten people a day are dying."
New Prospect Baptist Church in Over-the-Rhine, headed by the Rev. Damon Lynch III, a Democratic candidate for city council, helped collect the relief supplies Smitherman is delivering. In times of need, it is often the poor who can best be counted on to help.
Porkopolis TIP LINES: 513-665-4700 (ext. 138) or pork(at)citybeat.com
