Hollywood John Kasich Taking Credit for More Stuff He Didn't Do

We've been here before, haven't we?

Governor John Kasich, while a candidate for the office he now holds, was fond of bragging about his very, very integral role in taking a little company called Google public. "I spent a ton of time in the Silicon Valley. I was involved in the team, part of the team that took Google public," said Kasich in an interview with the Dayton Daily News last spring. The reality was something entirely different. DDN found that of the 28 underwriting banks in the Google deal, Kasich's employer, Lehman Brothers, was fifth on the list and according to Kaisch's boss "didn't play a significant role" in the Google IPO.

Once discovered, Kasich tried to spin away the damage caused by over-inflating his role. In just a few short days, he went from almost suggesting he invented Google, to being someone acting more as a courier carrying paperwork to and from California. (other articles : "John Kasich Invented Google," "John Kasich: "I invented the Google;" Google: "WTF?," "Ohio Gov. Candidate John Kasich Says He Brought Google To Wall Street: Maybe He Was a 'Little Shriveled Walnut' On the IPO"

Well, guess who's at it again?

For those of you south of Akron, you may have missed the news this morning that the upcoming blockbuster movie "The Avengers," based on the Marvel comics series, will be shot in Cleveland this summer. And you might have missed the Governor taking credit for the whole thing. After all, he was the one who got to make the announcement yesterday, overshadowing Mayor Frank Jackson's State of the City address.

"It required quick and hard work between the community here and the state of Ohio, something that hasn't always happened. We won another one from Michigan. I'm thrilled we are going to have this here. I'm just bucking for a part as Governator 2."

But there's a problem here.

Watch this clip from WKYC in Cleveland last night. Tell me where John Kasich's name appears once.

If we're to understand the story correctly, this was a collaborative effort between the Greater Cleveland Film Commission and the city - not the Governor's office.

Here's Ivan Schwartz of the Film Commission, according to WKYC, "giving credit where it's due."

"And the city's response was…yes we will. We (the city and the commission) can make this happen."

Nothing about Governor Kasich flying to Hollywood. Nothing about his office at all. In fact, the tax credit used to help lure the film here was put in place under Governor Strickland and was managed by the Department of Development. But still, the Governor somehow feels that this is his show. It proves that he's not only an exaggerator again, but a bad actor as well.

(UPDATE) A reader points out that Governor Kasich pro-actively pushed the staff of the Ohio Film Office out the door in January as he was rushing in. Here's former Director Jeremy Henthorn in a piece from the Cincy Enquirer:

“I have been informed that due to the administration transition, myself and the staff of the Ohio Film Office will no longer be needed. Because of this, I and Ohio Film Office Production Coordinator Jason Kovak have tendered our resignations effective January 7th. I am not aware of what this means for the future of the Ohio Film Office, but I can say that the Motion Picture Tax Credit is still active with available funds and all approved and outstanding credits will remain active.

Plunderbund also called out the Governor for his anti-business (or at least anti-film) behavior early in his administration, faulting them for leaving big voids during the transition. Thank goodness the Greater Cleveland Film Commission and Mayor Frank Jackson were there to bail him out. A "thank you" to those parties would have been nice.