The Daily Dann, 5/11/08

The Cincinnati Blog: I really do not want to think of Garanimals when thinking about Marc Dann, okay?

WSYX: you know, stop pushing this garbage about how people are turning this into a moral thing; this isn’t about whether the infidelity was “right or wrong;” this is about how an elected official abused the power gained from the voters’ trust on a scale that any human human would recognize as impermissibly violative of that trust and requiring resignation.

Columbus Dispatch delves into the “why do they do it” thing which I’ve linked to before from other sources; here’s a tease (check out how the URL includes the smirk-worthy fragment “polisex”):

Sensational sex scandals involving politicians over the years have prompted experts in psychology and politics to study whether there are common traits among those who engage in risky behavior. Turns out, there are.

“Politicians tend to be higher in the need for power or dominance, are more prone to social desirability pressures, for example to present positive images of themselves, and are more self-confident,” said Kathleen McGray, an expert in political psychology at Ohio State University.

“The higher self-confidence may account for engaging in stupid behavior when they have so much to lose, because they are confident they will get away with it. Dann still seems confident he will survive all of this.”

I adore John Michael Spinelli, but I do disagree with his approach as outlined in this very good Opeditude on ePluribus Media.

The Dispatch’s Mike Hardin says that Dann will be delivering pizza within a month.

Lisa Renee has a worthwhile thread going here debating what can be done to craft the impeachment resolution.

Modern Esquire suggests that the onion layers around the AG’s office are continuing to peel and reveal.

Marion County weights in for resignation.

The Plain Dealer’s Tom Suddes shows over the top cynicism with little support beyond a 20 year old example.

Vindy.com on Crime Town, USA - has anyone spoken with Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams or city council or some of the other hard-working folks there who’ve tried like the devil to improve the image of Youngstown and how they feel about AG situation?

Sphere: Related Content

By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:39 pm May 11th, 2008 in Science, Gender, Marc Dann, Statehouse, Government, Media, Ohio, Women, Politics

Comments

5 Responses to “The Daily Dann, 5/11/08”

1 J. Rowsey on May 11th, 2008 11:27 pm

Jill-
I have been blogging a little about this too. I don’t know if you saw Columbus Dispatch Columnist Ann Fisher’s blog yet or not, but she has a good post as well.

http://blog.dispatch.com/ann/2008/05/stupid_or_arrogant.shtml
2 Marwood on May 12th, 2008 12:16 pm

Thanks for the “Daily Dann” posts. They are a nice “one stop shop” for stories on this mess.

One line of argument from Dann supporters is that the scandal is just about the affair with his scheduler. Obviously, it’s about so much more than that.

Another line of argument is that what he did was no worse than what the GOP did while in power. But that’s not the right focus. The Democrats were supposed to stand for something much, much better. At least that’s what I thought when I voted for Dann. If there were a way for me to make a claim of fraud against Dann, I’d do it.

There is apparently no way for me to undo my vote, because there is nothing in Ohio law, I’m told, that provides for a recall election of statewide officials. The only thing that I can do now is to pressure my state legislator (who’s a Republican) to impeach him. But the legislature is controlled by Republicans, and it’s to their advantage that Dann stay in office, so that they can use him as their poster boy for incompetence. Meanwhile, Dann stays in office. What a crazy world.
3 Marwood on May 12th, 2008 2:45 pm

I just read the Suddes piece. He suggests that a recall is possible (something that I thought, too, until another commenter on this site cited better authority for the proposition that, under current Ohio law, we can’t do a recall of a statewide elected official). This is at least twice that I’ve seen in print the notion that a recall of Dann is possible.

Can anyone clear this up definitively?
4 Marwood on May 12th, 2008 3:11 pm

Sorry for the multiple posts. I should have included this in my prior post. The following passage from the Ohio State Bar Association website was cited to me for the proposition that Ohio voters can recall Dann:

http://www.ohiobar.org/pub/lycu/index.asp?articleid=331

Suddes’s piece assumes that a recall is possible, but doesn’t cite authority for that proposition.
5 Marwood on May 12th, 2008 3:12 pm

I meant the OSBA site supports the proposition that a recall of Dann is NOT possible.

Too much coffee today.