Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s unlikely road to the GOP presidential nomination took yet another hit in New York on Tuesday. While Kasich topped Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, finishing second, his 25 percent only yielded four delegates. Frontrunner Donald Trump took just over 60 percent of the votes, for 89.
Back in Ohio, the Democratic Party is running ads bashing Kasich for wasting taxpayer money traveling across the country to be part of the GOP primary show. State Dems say Kasich has spent 177 days outside Ohio and that his campaign has cost $350,000 of public funding.
Politifact looked into the data and suggests that number could be more like $400,000.
State funds from the public safety department’s non-highway program, which includes the governor’s security detail, is likely paying for rental cars, hotel rooms, flights, fuel, per diems and overtime while Kasich criss-crosses the country chasing delegates.
But the Dispatch story describes how cagey state agencies are being with these specifics. Information that was public in the years before Kasich’s run is now shielded. On payroll records, the governor’s detail was previously listed as the “executive protection unit.” Officials told the Dispatch that that designation that has been dropped to shield the troopers’ identities.
• Behind this relatively callous headline is the story of a local community with so little money it can’t pay its bill for Hamilton County Sheriff’s deputies to patrol. Lincoln Heights might have to disband, though nearby communities aren’t going to be super excited to absorb the village because of its financial troubles.
• The era of “Big Weed” is fast approaching, as private entities salivate over the revenue numbers coming out of places that have some sort of legal pot. Some are concerned that profiteers might put their own interests ahead of the public’s — marijuana is typically being legalized for medicinal purposes before recreational — and some say there’s reason to think marijuana opponents are helping open the door for the bad people to take over the industry.
• Andrew Jackson doesn’t have a very good reputation among people who recognized United States’ imperialistic and genocidal history, particularly his large part in it. America’s seventh president yesterday was booted from the front of the $20 bill, replaced by abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Jackson will still appear on the back of the note, along with an image of the White House.
Here’s how some racists are reacting to the news.
• England is warning tourists about the discrimination LGBT people could face if they visit America’s grand state of North Carolina.
• Speaking of discrimination against gay people in the 21st century after the Supreme Court has legalized gay marriage, Kim Davis still wants her religious freedom to allow her to impose her beliefs on other people. A federal appeals court won’t take her lawsuit, however, dismissing her argument that she shouldn’t have to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
• The news is apparently full of bigots and homophobes taking L’s today. Former Major League Baseball star Curt Shilling can now add “former” to his title as an analyst for ESPN — he was fired yesterday for the latest in a series of ridiculous comments, social media posts and defenses of offensive memes. Here’s the latest one.
Here’s a little bit about what got Shilling to this point, via Deadspin:
This was far from the first time Schilling crossed a line at ESPN. Two months ago, he said Hillary Clinton “should be buried under a jail somewhere.” Three months ago, Schilling joked about being fired from ESPN for his donation to Ben Carson. Seven months ago, ESPN had nothing to say about Schilling posting insane memes on Facebook. Eight months ago, Schilling tweeted a meme comparing Muslims and Nazis, and was suspended for it. Shortly after that, he emailed a long, strange rant to a blogger to clarify his thoughts about Muslims and Nazis, and was suspended for the rest of the season.
When the easiest way to find information about someone is to google “______ is an asshole,” you know you’ve had quite a big platform to espouse terrible things. Schilling has worked for ESPN off and on since 2010.
• Speaking of sports, the Reds beat the Colorado Rocky Mountains again yesterday, but they don’t know which relief pitcher to trust in the ninth inning going forward because so many have metaphorically set leads on fire during the first couple weeks of the season.
This article appears in Apr 20-27, 2016.
