Tall Tale On The Blackwell Campaign Trail
I love to read about this kind of stuff. Good times.If you've heard Republican J. Kenneth Blackwell speak on the campaign trail, there's a good chance you've heard this story about his college football game for Xavier University against the Quantico Marines in 1969.
It's one of his favorites and always gets a good laugh. But it isn't entirely true.
As Blackwell tells it, he took a hit in the chin from a 240-pound Marine fullback, was knocked out momentarily, then was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital for head X-rays. Blackwell says he returned to the game for the fourth quarter.
"We won that game 7-6," Blackwell told a group of university officials earlier this year. "The next day, The Cincinnati Enquirer, the newspaper of record in my hometown, gave me the most substantial headline of my athletic career. In bold print for my dear mom to read, the headline read: 'Blackwell head X-rays show nothing.'"
First off, Xavier won the game 9-7 that year. Secondly, the Enquirer's only headline about the game was: "XU Zaps Quantico for 1st Win, 9-7.
In the story, Blackwell's mishap and hospital trip aren't even mentioned for his dear mom or anyone else to read.
When told there is no such headline, Blackwell spokesman Carlo LoParo said, "It's a light-hearted self-deprecating joke. ... I think the audiences understand it was a joke. That's why they laugh."
Not surprisingly, the campaign of Democrat Ted Strickland, Blackwell's opponent for governor, takes it a little more seriously.
Spokesman Keith Dailey said, "There's been a series of questionable statements and comments out of the Blackwell campaign that has led many Ohioans to question if they can trust what Ken Blackwell says."
By Kyle - 7/28/2006
19 Comments:
how is that a joke?
Its called a lie.
But who is Ken Blackwell? Is he that guy that ran for Governor?
If so, did you guys hear how Blackwell was lost already?
The picture from this post was taken directly off Ken Blackwell's official blog. The quality is pretty bad. Are they taking these pictures with a cell phone camera?
Regardless, my thanks to the administrator of the Blackwell blog for the material. Keep up the good work.
I hope his now-forgotten TEL plan and his stance on gay issues are also jokes. Also, not very funny.
Republicans are losing their way. Something unrelated, the GOP is forcing a vote on minimum wage tied into more tax breaks for the wealthy. scumbags
Good work anon - way to not read an entire paragraph into the AP article about the wage/tax break tie in, since this would also go to increase and make permanent bigger deductions for college tuition. Evidently you could have used that deduction to pay for more school and the opportunity and ability to read and comprehend an entire article.
I would much rather have lower estate taxes if it meant higher minimum wages and more tuition deductions - especially considering this would be one fo the biggest wage increases on a percentage basis in years, from $5.15 to $7.25, a nearly 41% increase. It would also really be a shame if this congress got something accomplished and got one thing to pass. Not that I really care or that it matters, but could you even venture to give a worthwhile explanation as to why estates should be taxed?
from a historical perspective the concept behind taxing estates is to prevent a permanent ruling class from developing and the strucural class system that follows. As far as why even have estate taxes I have found from talking to people most peoples opinion is decided by their situation. It is amazing how the number at which one feels the taxes should kick in is dependent on what they feel may inherit and when.
Terra,
I watched B. Boxer last night on C-Span "grilling" Bolton and she was upset that the administration did not move mountains to assign Martin Luther King's children to be special envoys to Dafur. Now that would have impressed the Muslims. My only question is coud we have afforded them? Please do not read this as an attack on MLK he was a great man. It is sad they spoil his memory by selling it
question for day:
When Zawahri says from Spain to Iraq it must be Muslim land is he going east to west or west to east?
I don't have the time to get into a whole debate on the estate tax.
fred, your points are right on about peoples views.
i will just make a blanket statement: I am clearly for the estate tax.
I am not against it either Chuck, but i think it is a worthwhile trade-off for more education deductions and a higher minimum wage. That being said, Fred's point about the formation of a ruling class is the only decent argument anyone has ever presented me in support of estate taxes.
darwal, there is no way that will end up being a fair trade off. period. outside of glancing at these comments, i don't know of the plan. i just know how greedy these proponents are about the estate tax - no way there is a fair/honest tradeoff coming out of this.
Can't they just pass something for the good of the working class? Like Tim Ryan said in Forbes, "It's outrageous the Republican Congress can't simply help poor people without doing something for their wealthy contributors."
Chuck,
from the viewpoint of the inheritors I have little interest in their rights. As i grow older my perspective changes. When is enough enough. For years and years I have paid a large % of
my income for taxes, then when I attempt to save that is taxed, when I purchase something that is taxed, on and on. Fine that is the price I pay to live in this country and I accept my need to pay my fair share. But who appointed the government god. I have worked hard and have been a contributing member of society. Cant I at least decide what is to happen to my estate. No matter how I pass it on the government will tax the actions of my heirs. I can find no reason other than white man's quilt to accept the fact that I am not entitled to designate the charities of my choice or leave the money to who ever the hell I want. I have lived my life by personal responsibility and I have become dismade watching our society transform from one that (yes often not effectively or enough) believed in helping those less fortunate to one that encourages lack of personal responsibility and victimization.
joke of the day:
the national association of trial lawyers has changed their name to(drum roll please) the society for the advancement of freedom.
(may not be exact but close enough)
Maybe it did happen. People say I didnt tackle Lloyd after the fact, like an urban myth. People say "he dragged me 30 yards" or he only came down because others helped. In reality, I was credited with the solo tackle, he only dragged me 10 yards, and he came down by my efforts. People have changed the story over time.
American tax system:
tax people that save money. give deductions to people that take on debt (mortgages). seems backwards to me.
Otherwise, fred i get your point. but i am pretty sure the govt cant tell you what to do for the first few million, or they shouldnt. after that, whatever. my take.
It is pretty backwards in that way Chuck, but it is the result of people trying to sue the tax system to fuel economic growth - the logic being that if you allow people tax benefits for leveraging debt that there will be an increased amount of investment and spending.
Fred is pretty much on target with his statements regarding governmental influence on how estates are handled - they pretty much do everything short of telling individuals with any reasonably sized estate exactly how they can/cannot pass on their estate.
Furthermore, the estate tax frequently bankrupts individuals who inherit large amounts of tangible assets versus strictly liquid assets - the frequently used example of this is what I will callt he "farmer's dilemna". Whereby in this case, if a farmer leaves his farm and equipment to his family because he has worked for years not to have to sell it, they are frequently forced to sell off all the assets in order to pay the estate tax on it. Not that this case justifies wealthy individuals not wanting to pay the estate tax, but it is a prime example of how this tax can be extremely unfair in some instances and why I am not diametrically opposed to getting rid of it.
Post a Comment
<< Home