Some things are just too delicious not to share. This one's coming from the state in the union that has perhaps the highest per capta quota of the Crazy: Oklahoma. (A blog — I forget which one — took a poll a few years ago to learn which Senate delegation its readers thought was the worst. It had to disqualify Oklahoma because Inhofe and Coburn were swamping other deserving states).

You may have heard the name "Sally Kern" float by a few months ago when, back in March, she said this:

"Studies show no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than a few decades. It is not a lifestyle that is good for this nation … They are going after our young children, as young as two years of age, to try to teach them that the homosexual lifestyle is an acceptable lifestyle. This stuff is deadly and it's spreading and it will destroy our young people, it will destroy this nation."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFxk7glmMbo

OK, maybe you were trying to forget that.

But, as congresspersons like Minnesota's Michele Bachmann and Ohio's own Jean "Scrunchie" Schmidt have shown, it's hard to keep the Crazy quiet.

It seems Kern has now located the true source of the economic woes the country is facing: “debauchery.” “We believe our economic woes are consequences of our greater national moral crisis,” states the resolution she has introduced in the Oklahoma state legislature.

And since Kern sports an “R” after her name, you won’t be surprised to learn that she’s not talking about Nevada Sen. John Ensign’s home-wrecking adultery or South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford’s spectacular Argentine flameout. She’s talking about President Obama’s recognition of Gay Pride Month and his failure to hold a public National Day of Prayer service in the White House.

"But you don't have to take my word for it..."

One of the news angles I promised Anthony I'd cover as a way to grab some of this prime blog real estate is the United States Supreme Court. I'd been worried all day that the GOP wouldn't provide me with an adequate foil before the day was out...

...and then came this. The Senate GOP, led by Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, is upset this afternoon because the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF) chose to drop around 350 pages of documents today cataloging the roughly 12 years Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor spent on that organization's Board, 10 days before the scheduled start of her confirmation hearings.

If I'm reading The Drudge Report's typically indignant link correctly, the GOPers are upset in part because they feel 10 days isn't sufficient time to read 350 pages. They're so miffed, they're threatening to delay Sotomayor's confirmation hearings until they've had a chance to wade through the documents.

I know Republicans tend to not be huge fans of funding PBS, but it's possible a little Reading Rainbow could do them some good. Maybe reports from PRLDEF meetings aren't pages turners on the level of the Harry Potter series, but c'mon...this isn't THAT much to read, is it?

Ohio blogger Tim Russo, who passed on the traditional filing deadline at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections last week, is apparently not finished sniffing around the Cleveand Ward 14 race. According to Russo, he is giving serious consideration to a write-in challenge to those candidates who made it onto the ballot including current Cleveland Councilmen Joe Santiago and Brian Cummins, former Councilman Nelson Cintron, and Cintron's former staffer, Rick Nagin. To qualify as a write-in, Russo would likely need a smaller number of signatures, but obviously still wouldn't appear on the ballot. However, it should qualify him for the numerous debates and candidate forums. That alone makes it worth the price of admission.

While it's unlikely Russo could finish first in the primary, his entry as a write-in makes life harder for his opponents and potentially sets him up as the alternative choice in the race. Furthermore, the simplicity of his name makes it easy for anyone wanting to cast a "none of the above" vote to do so. All they've got to remember are two words with fewer than five letters each.

Meanwhile, with the Fourth of July approaching, Councilman joe Santiago is up to it again. This time trying to flip flop after anointing himself as the champion of summertime fun and "saving" the city fireworks show with funds intended to help keep seniors safe, children healthy, and families sheltered. The PD's Henry Gomez has more on this. (Please note...Yes, I'm linking to Henry within 24 hours of PD publication because a.) I think he does good work and deserves to have it read... and b.) he's linked to us in the past and given us credit for things we've reported.)

U.S. Senate Candidate Jennifer Brunner today called on Congressional leaders to stand behind supporters calling for a health care plan that includes a public option. Republican and select Democratic representatives have expressed concerns that a government managed, public option would hurt large insurance companies and weaken the economy. Brunner challenged that myth and restated the impact on the economy that reform would bring:

“Consumers’ choices are dwindling as health insurance premiums soar. Small businesses, labor unions, and companies with large numbers of retirees struggle to keep the costs of benefits level by increasing employee shares of premiums, deductibles, co-pays and decreasing covered services, especially when there are preexisting medical conditions.  Millions of Americans in need of health care go without proper medical attention, even when they have health insurance.  Our current system of tying health care to a job leaves millions without health care as unemployment rises.  As these uninsured families with children apply to states for their children’s health care needs costs to taxpayers escalate.  For those who simply go without, leaving themselves completely vulnerable to catastrophic illnesses or accidents, ultimately, all others pay the price as health care costs rise,” she said.

“They say what they are against,’’ Brunner said, “but they don’t say what they support.’’ She noted that Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rob Portman, who served former President George W. Bush as Director of the Office of Management and Budget, said his party had no position on health care, reaching this conclusion after conversations with Congressional Republicans.  Despite Portman’s admission and failure to fill that void with any ideas of his own, Vice President Dick Cheney used a recent radio interview to characterize Portman as a viable GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate.

This time of year, most of you leave the computer off on the weekend. However, for others, the weekends are the only time you've got to catch-up on the political happenings in Ohio. We here at OhioDaily understand the dilemma and are proud to roll out a solution that works for everyone.

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Ohio First Lady Frances Strickland will be in the Queen City on Tuesday the 7th as the featured guest for a fundraising event for Cincinnati Council candidates Laketa Cole, Laure Quinlivan and Bernadette Watson. All three have an excellent chance to hold or take three of the city's "At Large" seats this fall, and are endorsed by the party.

The event runs from 5-7pm at 600 Walnut (at the corner of 6th and Walnut) with a very reasonable $25 at the door. More information at the Hamilton County Dems website.

On a related note, Council candidate Jeff Berding has a fundraiser tonight at Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse, at 700 Walnut St. with a host committee that includes Mayor Mark Mallory, Former Mayor Charlie Luken, Commissioner (and Ohio Auditor Candidate) David Pepper, Senator Eric Kearney, and more. More on this event at http://www.jeffberding.com/

Christopher Celeste, who at one time explored a run for the U.S. Senate seat in Ohio, yesterday threw his support behind Jennifer Brunner in her race against Lee Fisher. In his letter, emailed at least twice to my inbox by the Brunner campaign, Celeste talks about the need for bold leaders and cites Brunner as someone poised to rise to the challenge.

Again and again, we face changing realities in our communities whose scale and complexity require political leadership at the federal level capable of sustained, creative--at times even courageous--reinvention. In my opinion, this isn't just about electing one party versus the other. It's about electing one type of leader versus another. Like our recently elected president, what we need is a leader with the courage to lead, especially when the path ahead may be challenging or unpopular. Not just another politician (Democrat or Republican) with a "wait-and-see" attitude.



As it turns out, much like in the last Presidential primary, two well-regarded and experienced officeholders are now making their case to Democratic primary voters about why they should be the party's nominee in the Fall. They are both formidable politicians who have won statewide, and worked long and hard on behalf of Ohioans. And while I respect both Lee and Jennifer for their commitment to public service, after much thought, I have decided to support, invest in and personally work on behalf of Jennifer Brunner in the Democratic Primary for the United States Senate.

I met with Celeste earlier this year to talk with him about his interest in the race and how he'd approach the campaign, and came away impressed. Of all the potential candidates who have now put their dreams to rest, Celeste certainly had the most unique perspective of the role of the next Senator and what it would take to get there.

They say that politics makes strange bedfellows. In Ohio, it's increasingly looking like economics makes dysfunctional marriages.

Gov. Ted Strickland (yep, that one...the Methodist minister) is standing behind a plan to place slot machines at all Ohio horse racing venues as a way to generate revenue for our increasingly crippled economy. According to the Administration, that proposal would likely generate at least $900M, and help pay for things like, say, library funding in our great state.

So, we all get to have a little fun playing the ponies and dropping quarters in the slots, and folks have access to books and jobs and roads. Everyone wins...right?

The problem here is that this is an incredibly risky political choice for a man who holds his ministerial credentials in high regard, and who has openly campaigned against the latest proposal to bring full-scale casino gambling to the Buckeye State. Already, Senate Republicans are taking advantage of the opening, creating a "task force" to examine the "viability" of Strickland's proposal. Sen. President Bill Harris (he of the wicked buzz cut) is already playing the move for political points, saying he won't approve of any gambling plan that doesn't come before Ohio's voters first.

The disconnect here isn't tough to grasp. One the one hand, we have a $3.2B hole in the state budget to plug. On the other, we have the repeated votes of Ohioans to kibosh prior gambling plans, concerns about the regressive nature of gambling as a tax revenue generator, and the Governor's own history of opposing gambling proposals.

It's a pickle.

Renegade Republican Auto Dealer Tom Ganley yesterday launched his GOP Senate Primary campaign with a teleprompter, an amplifier, and some stories about his automotive beginnings as the owner of a Rambler dealership back in the day.

For Democrats, this should be a dream come true. Ganley has some deep pockets, despite not receiving bailout dollars, a point he thunders home somewhere in the second half of this crudely produced kickoff video.

The YouTube video might not be that great, but his website (tomganley.com) is actually off to a pretty good start. If he can stick in this race for four or five months and make life miserable for Rob Portman, we should all be thrilled. Memo to the Ganley camp...send us the press releases. If conservative blogs won't cover you, we will! Vroom, vroom!

Actor and writer Alec Baldwin, in the latest issue of Playboy (Editor's Note : Before you start, let me note that I neither read it for the articles or the photos. I was simply doing...ahem...research...based on a Cleveland Leader piece I somehow stumbled across today) ...anyway, as I was saying... Baldwin is asked about his interest in running for office once his contract with NBC and 30Rock is done in 2012.

According to Baldwin, an Ohio law firm contacted him with a detailed pitch to run for Governor - including an outline of their credentials and experience in Ohio politics. I'm presuming they were asking about 2010, which raises some interesting questions about which Democratic consultants might be looking to stir the primary pot next year. (Would love that tip if anyone has it.)

Baldwin never answers the question about moving to Ohio, but instead kicks around some New York scenarios which may or may not be open to him down the road. Here's the entire interview, and the segment about his interest in Ohio and politics...

PLAYBOY: Will you run for office?

BALDWIN: I’ll put it this way. The desire is there; that’s one component. The other component is opportunity. A law firm in a liberal Democratic bastion in Ohio state politics sent me a binder with a cover letter that read, “Mr. Baldwin, here’s who we represent, the kinds of cases we handle, our credentials in Ohio state politics. We want you to move to Ohio and run for governor. We will launch your career.”

PLAYBOY: Could you live in Ohio?

OhioDaily is proud to announce a new addition to our staff. At some point today, after his cable internet is installed, Brad Cromes will be on board and contributing to OhioDaily. Brad joins us from his own blog, Buckeye Punditeers, which he founded a little over a year ago as a way to offer a point-counter-point look at Ohio and national politics with a conservative offering an opposing view.

Brad will be writing on Columbus city politics, some Franklin County stuff, the Ohio and U.S. Supreme Courts, the confirmation hearings of Sonia Sotomayor, and general points of interest.

Here's a quick look at Brad, in his own words. Please feel free to welcome him aboard in the comments below.

Editor's note: We don't normally post press releases word-for-word, but thought we'd pass this along to our readers from Congressman Kucinich's office...

Washington D.C. (July 1, 2009) -- The distinguished veteran, Frank Kucinich, beloved brother of Congressman Dennis Kucinich, died suddenly yesterday, June 30, at the Ohio Veterans Home, where had been a resident for many years. He was 60 years old.

Frank Kucinich, Jr. was a United States Marine Corps combat veteran of The Vietnam War, completing his service as a lance corporal. After his military service, he began a lifelong commitment to fellow veterans, assisting many local veterans’ organizations in their activities.

Through his military service, he made many friends and inspired those with whom he served. He was recently nominated to the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.

This past week he accompanied his brother, Dennis, to a reception at the White House where he met President Obama and Vice President Biden.

"Thank you for serving," the President said to Frank, "I'm proud of you."

"Frank told me that was one of the proudest moments of his life," Dennis Kucinich said. "He had a great love of country, which informed every moment of his life. His patriotism was an inspiration to everyone in our family and to everyone he met."

That was the second time that Frank saw President Obama up close. Frank also attended the President’s Inauguration in January as a guest of his brother Dennis.

Frank was the beloved brother of Dennis, Gary, Theresa, Larry, the late Perry and the late Beth Ann who passed away in December of 2007 and November of 2008, respectively.

John Temple was editor and then publisher of the Rocky Mountain News, one of two Denver dailies. It shut down in February after publishing for 150 years. It was the paper from which I learned of Marilyn Monroe's death (my family spent every August in Colorado).

Clearly, he has personal reasons to be deeply concerned and alarmed about the fate of daily newspapers. But in his blog, he makes it clear he too finds Plain Dealer lawyer David Marburger's how-to-save-our-business proposal unworkable and ineffective. (The proposal suggests an "embargo" of information in newspaper stories for 24 hours unless the user signs a "contract' to pay for it, and aggregators sites sharing their ad revenue with sources they link — e.g. provide free promotion — to).

http://www.johntemple.net/2009/06/before-journalists-go-too-far-in.html

Working from the description of the proposal in Connie Schultz's column in the PD Sunday, Temple says,

"I think they'd find that even if they could recapture every penny others are making by siphoning their resources, it would do little to alter newspapers' financial straits but it would do a lot to reinforce their negative image."

Despite having been a victim of the change geography of the news world, Temple has a clear-eyed take worth reading. And he isn't proposing ODB pay for driving traffic to his site.

We've been busy while the batteries have been charging.

You've probably noticed we've been writing a little less over the past couple of weeks. Some of it is due to the season, but some of it has been directly related to some next steps for OhioDaily. Tomorrow, we're rolling out two announcements that will (hopefully) make your OhioDaily experience even better.

While the print dailies are scaling back, we're thundering ahead. We're committed to making OhioDaily your first source for progressive news in the state of Ohio and our announcements tomorrow will be two more steps in that direction.

I appreciate the support you've shown us over the past five months and look forward to continuing our relationship for the months and years to come.

- Anthony Fossaceca, Publisher and Editor, OhioDaily

Daily newspapers see their longtime business model crumbling, and they are desperate. But their hunger to find a revenue source somewhere — anywhere — has led to some ideas that border on thievery and self-destruction.

And it’s sad to see a normally level-headed columnist like the Plain Dealer’s Connie Schultz buy into and become a mouthpiece for the deceptive spin being put out by traditional print media, as she did in her column yesterday. I won’t link to it for reasons I’ll shortly make clear.

First, Schultz talks up reporter Mark Puente’s recent work investigative work that lead to Sheriff Gerald McFaul’s resignation as an example of how valuable newspapers are. Well, OK, every once in a while, the PD still does something worthwhile. But then she makes a leap into the abyss of absurdity.

She touts a “plan” hatched by Plain Dealer lawyer David Marburger and his economics-professor brother Daniel to amend federal copyright law — already heavily tilted in favor of preserving corporate power and profits and against the public interest — to shore up newspapers’ business models.

She quotes David Marburger claiming that “free riders” like local TV stations and online aggregators like Daily Beast and Newser are “diverting” people from the original source of the news. He’d like an embargo on using information from newspaper stories for 24 hours and payment for ad revenue at these aggregator sites. (One of many things that doesn’t add up is Marburger’s citation of PD editor Susan Goldberg’s claim that online revenue is “pathetically low,” yet he somehow believes these aggregator sites can provide enough royalty payments to help keep newspapers afloat).

There are several problems here. For one, local TV stations have been pulling their news from the daily papers for decades — often in partnership with the paper. NOW they’re complaining about this?

On Friday evening, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill intended to be a first step in tackling global warming and energy independence. The bill, called the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (or, more familiarly, ACES), is intended to "create clean energy jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean energy economy,” according to the summary of the 1,000-plus page bill.

Obviously, there is much to be said about the bill, pro and con — and too much of it came from Ohio congressman John Boehnhead who managed to confiscate an hour of floor time on Friday to launch a mini-filibuster and make such compelling arguments as “People deserve to know what’s in this pile of shit.”

Short version:

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/john-boehner-throws-hour-lon...

Gluttons for punishment, go here:
http://earth2obama.org/?p=840

Once Boehnhead finished his tantrum, the bill squeaked to victory, with all of Ohio’s Republicans and two of its Democrats voting against it. You probably think the latter are Charlie Wilson (Oh-06) and Zack Space (Oh-18), who represent swaths of conservative rural and southern Ohio. You’d be half right. Wilson did indeed vote against it, not surprising given the composition of his district. But the other wasn’t Space, but Dennis Kucinich (Oh-10) who, once again, decided apparently that doing nothing is preferable to doing something after years of neglecting policy on energy and global warming — if that something isn’t the ideal solution.

Actually, it’s not fair to say “apparently,” because, unlike Boehnhead, Kucinich has made a coherent statement about what was behind his vote, which won’t make a lot of environmentalists happy (although some agree with him). It’s posted on his website.

http://kucinich.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=134813

Among other things, he says,

If you aren't in Columbus tonight, but still want to catch live coverage of the ODP State Dinner, the Party will be Tweeting the event live here.

The US Department of Health and Human Services has a website called healthreform.gov, which has a wealth of information about how stressed people in this country are to pay for health care. It's got a little map of the U.S., and if you click on your state, you can get statsistics on how many unisured there are, how many have coverage from their employer, what competiton among insurance providers is like etc. Ohio is ranked "average" in health care, which is hardly reassuring given the state of health care in the U.S.

http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/statehealthreform/ohio.html

Among the facts:
* Roughly 7.4 million people in Ohio get health insurance on the job, where family premiums average $12,689 about the annual earning of a full-time minimum wage job.2
* Since 2000 alone, average family premiums have increased by 92 percent in Ohio.3
* Household budgets are strained by high costs: 20 percent of middle-income Ohio families spend more than 10 percent of their income on health care.4
* High costs block access to care: 12 percent of people in Ohio report not visiting a doctor due to high costs.5
* Ohio businesses and families shoulder a hidden health tax of roughly $1,000 per year on premiums as a direct result of subsidizing the costs of the uninsured.

What's interesting to me is that a department within the Obama administration has put up a site that's clearly an advocacy site for health-care reform, which leads me to think those who say nothing's going to change may be a tad pessimistic. But keep calling Sherrod Brown, George Voinovich and your representative!

Many of us have uttered those words while listening to the latest statement coming from the overtanned talking head of John Boehnhead (Oh-Unlucky 08). So maybe he should be careful about uttering them himself — don't remind us, Boehnhead!

http://republicanleader.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=13...

This man, with the temerity to host a site called Republican "leader," is condemning what he calls "Nancy Pelosi's energy tax" (gotta get in all those Republican talking points! Blame everything on Pelosi! Refer to taxes without enumerating the benefits!) as "too confusing" for us poor little citizens to handle.

He's even provided a lovely chart, which you can see alongside his statement — filled with red boxes and yellow boxes and green boxes and pink boxes and lavender boxes, with random words like "families" and "gasoline prices" and "lost jobs" and of course "IRS" (aka "boogieman"). Your third grader would probably get a "C" for this poorly digested, random nonsense (he'd be upgraded a little for his copious use of color, unlike the famous GOP budget chart).

Memory refresher:

http://images2.dailykos.com/images/user/191280/gopplan.png

Yes, governing is complicated! So let's just simplify everything and yell "tax cut! tax cut! tax cut!" some more.

Shocking.

Stop me if you've heard this story before.

GOP Leader.
Lies.
Gets caught.
Apologizes for sinning.
Cries on camera.

The perfect role model for the GOP, because he IS the GOP.

Conceding defeat shortly after 9pm, Warner Mendenhall told the Beacon Journal that his delirious campaign had "sent an important message to city hall".

Ironically, Warner had no message for Akron's voters, the very people he needed to persuade that Don Plusquellic should be recalled. Akron's voters, bright lot they are, responded by rejecting the recall by a 3-to-1 margin. The message was that Don could kick Warner's ass at the ballot box even though voters have recently defeated Don's initiatives.

But Warner and his fans haven't learned their lesson. At his thrashing party tonight, Warner announced, to a crowd that was cheering "we're winners", that his wife will run this fall for city council at-large. If she plans on running in the Democratic primary, she'll have to take on Mendenhall's silent partner, Mike Williams, and at least three other Democrats. If she runs as a Republican, well, she'll get a pass to the general election where she'll be trounced.

During his victory speech tonight, the mayor spent ten minutes thanking everyone from Akron's voters to the guy who helped design the website. He then vociferously defended Councilwoman Kelli Crawford, who's been attacked by Mendenhall supporters for her ardent support of the mayor.

It's one thing to disagree with an opponent. It's another to flat-out lie like nothing more than breathing. The Mendenbots have said Kelli doesn't live in her ward (false, and demonstrably so with three minutes of Google research) and that her house was purchased by the local Democratic Party (false again, and just a bizarre claim period). But this is what you get with Mendenhall and his troop: they believe what they want, regardless of irrefutable proof otherwise.

There is much speculation about the ongoing investigation into the Cuyahoga County leadership. While it may be months or longer before the issues are resolved, Democrats in the state's most important blue county should look at this nightmare as an opportunity to bring about much needed reform to the county party. In writing this, I do not wish to speculate on the investigation or the players, however, it is becoming increasingly obvious that a permanent change in leadership of the county party may be occurring soon. That being said, here's my wish list for saving, stabilizing and growing the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party.

Party Chair
For better or worse, the current dual role played by Commissioner Dimora (as County Commissioner and Party Chair) is a confusing one for the general voting public. People assume that because the commissioner is chairing the party that there is automatically political influence being used on taxpayer time. I don't know if that's true, and it's not even relevant for my point. What's important here is the perception. To eliminate this perception, the next chair of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party must be someone who does not currently hold office. By selecting someone not tied to the voters, the party can have a leader focused on rebuilding and growing the county operation without being the center of daily media coverage - good or bad. This takes pressure off the chair, the party, and elected officials.

Another week, another blistering attack from Republican State Senator Kevin Coughlin on his fellow Republican, John Kasich. Today, Coughlin attacks Ted Strickland's willingness to allow slot machines at Ohio's racetracks, but in the same attack, he calls out former Wall Street Executive John Kasich for not taking a position on gambling AND for paling around with gambling lobbyists.

Say it ain't so, John! That's not the way we do things in the "heartland," John!

From Coughlination :

"Equally troubling is the deafening silence from John Kasich.  Ohio voters who oppose casino-type gambling have a right to know where John Kasich stands on this important issue.  

"The fact is that John Kasich's top two campaign advisors are registered lobbyists for the gambling industry.  Douglas Preisse and his partner Robert Klaffky are not only coordinators of the Kasich campaign, they are paid lobbyists for the Ohio Legacy Fund,  a racetrack/gaming coalition that has spent millions to promote slot machines in our state.

Maybe Ted should add Coughlin to the Lt. Governor short list. He's quite the pitbull these days.

Cleveland's WKYC is reporting at this hour that party leaders in Cuyahoga County were being mailed a letter announcing the Leave of Absence of County Party Chair Jimmy Dimora effective July 1.

Here is Dimora's letter...

Here is Dimora's letter: "Effective July 1, 2009, I will be temporarily stepping aside as Chairman of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party. I am doing this at this time for the good of the Party."

"I want to focus on my duties as Cuyahoga County Commissioner and to also clear my good name. In my temporary absence, the day to day oversight of operations of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party will be the responsibility of the very competent, very capable, and extremely experienced Vice Chair, Patricia Britt."

"This is in accordance with Section 9 of the Constitution and By Laws of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party. As has been the past practice with all Party officers, myself included as Chairman, our positions are volunteer and none of the officers have or will receive compensation for services rendered to the Party."

Ohio Democratic Party Chair Chris Redfern followed that up by calling on Dimora to resign. In a sharp and short letter to Dimora this morning, Redfern said:

Dear Mr. Dimora:
 
It has become apparent to me that your effectiveness to lead the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party has been irreparably harmed. Therefore, I am formally calling on you to resign as Chairman of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party effective immediately.
 
Sincerely,
 
Chris Redfern

Chairman

Meanwhile, word on the street is that additional indictments in the county corruption probe could be coming as soon as next week. More on this as it develops.