Ohio: radical right wing wasteland

Ohio Gov. Bob Taft is fined for violating state Ethics laws, narrowly escaping jail time becoming the first Ohio governor in history to be charged with a crime. Great Granpa would be proud. The judge gave him a lame sentence - a $4000 fine plus an order to email (yes, that's right) every media outlet and Ohio laborer atoning for his sins. This guy is a hypocrite in a long line of GOP hypocrites - the New York Times noted: "During his two terms, Mr. Taft has repeatedly promised Ohioans that he would not tolerate violations of the state ethics laws by members of his administration and had vowed to punish those who did."

Yep... The kettle is black.

But how black? Sending emails as punishment? Is this guilt meaningful enough? Does this send a message to the Tom Noe's of the world? You know Thomas Noe, Taft's buddy, the Republican fund-raiser and apparent rare coin dealer being tied to the growing scandal of mishandling and stealing some $50 million from the Ohio Workers' Compensation Bureau. Will Ohioan's through down soon? Paul Hackett's good showing last month Ohio Dist 2 Congressional Election is certainly a good start.

And what is it with golf? All these scandals involve gifts of golf or golf trips - first Tom DeLay, now Taft and Noe. Talk about giving a sport a bad name...

A former Ohio Governor says there is more to come. Ohioans not only get to suffer in the short term, they get to suffer later (which is usually the GOP's modus operandi).