Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Freedom of press not one of Kasich strengths

Open note to John Michael  Spinelli, a contributor to Plunderbund who has been critical of Gov. Kasich:

John:  I  saw the  short piece in  Plunderbund that you have been barred from covering Sunny Kasich's State of the State speech in Wilmington. As a political writer in our state and now a blogger, you apparently have succeeded in ruffling the governor from his comfort zone as he prepares to run for president as a caring Republican do-gooder  (Matthew25), surging breed apart from the right-wing crazies, and a thunderous reelection winner in a swing state against a guy who dropped out of the race weeks before the election.

I know how disappointed you must be because several years ago the Summit County Republican chairman, Alex Arshinkoff,  banned me from covering the party's annual fund-raiser,  breaking a long tradition that was courteously nurtured by Ray Bliss, an earlier chairman.  And as one of  Jim Rhodes' biggest critics, I was always accorded the finest hospitality by the four-term governor, who even wrote a light-hearted newspaper column about me from a national GOP convention.

So you will have to listen to Kasich's speech on radio, if you dare. And you may end up quoting mobster  Marlon Brando  from "The Freshman"  who,  upon  scanning a young  student's college room, was clearly unimpressed,  muttering:

 "I didn't miss nuttin'." 

Abe


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