By Mansfield Frazier
This week I’m going to gaze into my crystal ball and do a bit of political prognosticating. With Democrats from around the state gleefully lining up like teenyboppers (do they even use that term anymore?) at a Justin Bieber concert to run against John Kasich, there’s going to be a ripple effect, allowing for a change in the local political landscape.
There’s little doubt that Ed FitzGerald is going to throw his hat into the gubernatorial ring (along with probably Tim Ryan from Youngstown and Richard Cordray… and maybe even Ted Strickland) and why shouldn’t he? If he wants to stay on track with his presidential ambitions (what, you didn’t know that every morning when he tightens his tie he says to the mirror “Good morning, Mr. President”?), his timetable calls for him to win the 2014 governor’s race, which would position him nicely to be among the top picks for vice-president by Hillary Clinton in 2016. Then, on to the presidency in 2024. Sounds like a plan to me, and I’d be damn proud to have a president from Northeast Ohio.
And yes, Hillary, despite her protestations to the contrary, is going to run for president in 2016… but of course she’s going to keep saying she’s not. But, when the time comes she’ll stick out her arm and wait for the Democratic Party to twist it… which it will.
But all of this would leave a big hole right here in Cuyahoga County in 2014: Who would take FitzGerald’s place as county executive? Here’s a name for you: Frank Jackson. The mayor, in spite of some recent major bumps in the political road, will cruise to victory next year, and probably could do so again in 2017 if he so desired.
But, for the same reason he ran for mayor he just might run for county executive when FitzGerald vacates the seat: He might be concerned in regards to who fills the spot. If you recall, he was happy as City Council president, but got miffed when Jane Campbell broke her word to him (I can’t even recall over what) so he ran to deprive her of the seat because he sincerely felt she was not the best person to hold the job.
It’s easy to envision the same scenario as the candidates line up to fill the county executive post: If Jackson doesn’t like what he sees look for him to run. He’ll vacate the mayor’s seat and back someone to fill out the term who will continue his agenda and policies. That way he’ll basically run both the county and the city… and many people would not have a problem with that.
Besides, being the mayor of Cleveland is a tough, tough job… far tougher than the job of county executive, or even being a member of Congress. The mayor’s calmness and mental toughness (the two characteristics that have served him well in the position he now occupies) have not waned… he still can handle all that goes with the territory at City Hall. However, he certainly deserves to ride out his political career in a job that carries a lot of clout, but not nearly as much everyday drama and stress, if he so desires. Now that I’ve planted the seed, I’ll occasionally water it and see if it grows in Frank’s mind.
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Sanity Prevailing
To shift gears entirely, there was a great story recently in the Washington Post about two lacrosse players on the Easton High School (in Maryland) team who had been suspended, and how their parents persevered and won vindication for the two young athletes.
When school officials got word that one of the players on the team supposedly was going to carry alcohol in his backpack on the school’s bus as they embarked on a road trip, a raid was conducted. While no alcohol was found, two of the players had other contraband: One had a pocket knife, and the other a cigarette lighter… both used to work on their lacrosse sticks.
If you’ve ever seen a lacrosse stick close up you’d know that the cup is made up of all of these strings with loose ends that have to be tightened, cut and sealed. The knife was for the cutting and the lighter was for the sealing… and oh, both items had been used by the players to work on their sticks in front of their coaches many times.
Nonetheless, the kid with the knife was arrested, booked and fingerprinted, and both were suspended. It took a year for the parents to fight the decision and win, but last week the Maryland State Board of Education reversed the local school board and expunged the young men’s disciplinary records. Sanity finally prevailed.
But I couldn’t stop the question from creeping into my mind: What if the students had been black, what would have been the outcome then? Questions like these are what make it such a bitch sometimes to be poor and/or black in America and without the means to fight the legal system.
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://www.neighborhoodsolutionsinc.com.
17 Responses to “MANSFIELD: Political Prognosticating”
bob w
JACKSON?! COUNTY wide…HE is smart enough,wily enough,etc. BAD combo of race,age,etc. HATE saying THAT but…in a bizarre sense HE IS something of a marblecake deal w/stuff as it comes along pragmatist,etc. HE is a politico…ONE thing his Eastside wards,etc. COMPARED to Mayor Jane and others….VOINIVICH could say balanced the books,streamlined some stuff and kept biz community,etc.etc. semi happy…. Kuckinch…IN a sense right on stuff BUT…HE sooo whutever on lot of stuff…I MAY sympathize w/some of his schtick..I can understand the WHY but the execution,etc.etc.of stuff is like…BUT….
GOooooooooooooooooooood luck on a COUNTY WIDE RACE….if trying to make a point of race,class,etc.war You will win that battle…on the broader front?! HEyyyy…. FITZ! to be HONEST…I am a white burbite semi blue collar yada yada yada deal…BUT…A FITZ! IS COMPETENT,little or no bad baggage,F*I thing,right age,etc. Gov or Prez thing?? …PREZ THING is a STRETCH….NOT impossible…THINK CLINTON,etc.etc. Heck B A R A C K won….You tell me wha mindset TODAYS youngetc. etc. gonna have by THEN aka 2024…
bob w
Whutever else say bout Kasich HE is no fool,IS coherent,smart,etc. I HATE saying that to some extent cuz I sympathize more w/Dems…well HALF the crew…LOCAL ones have done a LOT OF *$*@…n HALF OF THAT was SELF INFLICTED….and quite frankly I think the Kasichs just have to sit back n let the LOCAL DEMS *$*@ themselves….THOU NOTICED AWFUL QUIET DOWN there on St.Clair….sad part…IN a sense we were VICTIMS of TrickleDownVodoooReaganomics…WE just were NOT ready for that..A LOT of corpporates of all categories,industries,etc. got hurt in one shape or another…LOT of the ol Names went by wayside…n quite frankly WHY ALL THE *$*@ by certain name organizations now? Ok U can read whutever into THAT……LOCAL biz GOT A LOT of goodies across the board over DECADES….including MedicalMart,etc. WERE GO FROM THERE? SERIOUSLY….wellll COUNTY,etc.did its thing…NOW lets see if MMPI can deliver…. FITZ!?…..Goooooooooooood luck with THAT 28 stories of DEAD CONCRETE DOWN on EAST 9th st….I sense some bizarre fire sale deal…to be HONEST…WHA else gonna do w/THAT thing….maybe no one really to blame….LOOK AT WTC…Ok so insurance fights,architectural fights,construction costs,GreatRecession,n HALF the investement firms GONE up in 2008 meltdown… GOT A LOT of office space that requires a LOT of small inno technogeekdweebies to fill that deal…..
I THINK folks were HAPPY END OF PROJECTS, bizarrre proposals,TAX HIKES,etc. DEPENDS on were live,how badly hit by whutever and all that….FLITTING THRU A PD at times felt like some bizarre whutever….MAYBE this bizarre if we imitate a Chicago, or HongKong or whutever WE toooo can have this wundrous whutever ‘deal’….QUITE frankly LOT of stuff SHOULD have been done 20 yrs ago but like everything else takes a trainwreck…or Charlie sitting back waiting for trainwreck AND then……ENOUGH folks have this bizarre LaLand hairyFairyScary ‘mindset’…I cant even describe it….It just feeds badly on itself and here we are…..
NOT out to dog Jackson&Co….HE inherited a lot of *$*@…Im SURE ARMIES of lobbyists,etc. allll lined up to whutever…..or get their way DOWN in COLUMBUS….
bob w
U tell me if Cleveland ultimately may go into some default or STRAIGHTJACKET routine….
bob w
FOLKS expect some Applesque Googlesque Savior Moment HERE n well HEY….which raises questions bout ALL INSTITUTIONS of all stripes across the board but hey wha do I know….
bob w
FYI…let u decide…are WE REALLY HERE UP to dealing w/likes of a STANFORD UNIV. Dr.Boherean (BLACK fellow..PhD..fairly young..bright!)and HIS biological computer…DISCOVER mag..circa 2009…or Hyperbots..or…Orrrr…flit thru a NASA techBriefs…SOME of the stuff IN there….IN a sense THAT is the kind of futuresque world talking about….Gooood luck w/THAT down at a cityclub much less PS1 RedskoolHausRocks 3rd graders….
bob w
Lacrosse thing…Kids were right…EXACTLY wha do w/nylon…OTHERWISE the nylon will KEEP UNRAVELING…Unless tie a knot in said…Goood luck w/a net deal like THAT….switchblade a little much…thou boxcutters w/NEW blade are like surgeon instruments…NEXT time let the COACH,STAFF carry said around…THIS ‘case’ or “bag’…..TRAVYN M horror…SAD sorry miscue,dark shadows,false assumptions,someone TIRED of being ‘stalked’, gent playing cop…..NO pictorial showing roughtly were folks were? WHa afraid prejudice jurrors? ….IF there was a rash of whutever goin on MAYBE somewhat understandable….SUPPOSEDLY a gated community…MAYBE I ASSUMED THIS was wha this article sorta hinted at….IS THE present horror….
bob w
FRANK J…I THINK HE MAY be a VICTIM OF ALLL THE COUNTY *$*@*&^$##@!~ n DEMOCRATIC HuHa…yeah some Repubs can/do/HAVE done *482..8($*@*……BUT….is THAT fair to tar n feather Frank J for OTHERS whutever…NO…BUT TRY TRY DISASSOCIATING folks minds from that….Right or wrong they see,read,hear,’feel’ X n THEY think just gonna get stuck w/X….THINK DETROIT,etc. THAT is EVEN MORE EXTREME…
OR victim of schoolmess,etc. LONG time since I..ME..have been in a school….LOT of it is NICE to know,etc.BUT…HOW much of it really gets used..judgementcalls,BS,etc.etc. School of HardKnocks,etc.etc.
I think HALF the city let alone County gonna let Cleveland twirl for awhile in the wind n then….
bob w
IDEA stream… CELLSCOPE.com
HATE goin into THIS subjet matter…RAPES,etc.etc. IF a guy etc.guilty THEN hey…NEW techie out there…called CELLSCOPE…NO idea IF useable for THAT or not…DESIGNED to do quickie “FIELDtests’ n then DOWNLOAD on net to a REAL lab for quick feedback….ORIG.designed for bloodtests,etc.etc. AKA Malaria…WAS designed for remote areas,poo transport areas,3rd world countries,etc.etc.I may again be reading tooo much into but SUSPECT APPLICABLE to OTHER things…. I see this ‘case’ sitting w/OTHER JUNK IN TRUNK in black n white CPDs,etc.of the future…..NOT this gosh awful WE lost the samples! Got contamiated,etc.etc. IS JUSTICE of sorts…NOT some poo slob sitting on death row for 11 or 22 yrs n THEN found NOT guilty…LOT of THAT was PRE DNA testing,etc.etc.
bob w
I just assume techie LOT faster,better,smaller,mobile,standard,available,etc. OR will be….world coming to ….Cant control for panics,stupidity,fear,etc.
bob w
MAY calm SOME of the GALS down so not making accusations,etc.etc. SAME w/the guyz….NO idea HOW a SOWELL would have fared under that thinking,scenario,etc.
bob w
PUT yourself in shoes of avg County voter,etc. MAY NOT be tooo wild bout whitesugarshoe bankers,etc.etc. becoming candidates,etc. BUT…. MAYBE FRANK J could..if could run a Cleveland…maybe says something for Crisis Management …if like crisis mgmt….HATE getting into tthe TIRED I can have a beer w/mantra,etc.etc. (ONE way to get beer…this truck following behind……..)….
bob w
THEN AGAIN MAYOR JANE won…..
bob w
POCKET knife thing…USED to be rule of thumb..if blade sticks out ABOVE/BELOW width of hand then busted for….any knife could be used as a weapon…IS SAD AS H THIS poo kids got run thru system like THAT for “THHiiiiiiiiiiiiis(?)!”…WERE was the coach..or any adult….ACTUALLY LOT of kids carried pocket knifes…farm kids to…Yeahh USED FOR defending self…or FEAR/THOUGHTS kid(s) had…
bob w
ON CELLSCOPE thing…FYI thing..if ANY value…if can spare ANY soul any grief,jailtime,etc.
bob w
ONE less way for certain would be Prosecutors running for Office You dont like to jerk someones chain….thou doubt thing MAY in own way linger n be just as bad….if a pattern of X happens…ENOUGH of THAT has happened…how many Mega Million dollar awards given out by States,etc.
bob w
PUT this ANOTHER way…if Mc IS into justice,etc.etc. n a CELLSCOPE OR ANY other techie,paradigm can determine validity and justice…A THOUGHT..let u decide…
bob w
WOULD THAT ORTICZ girl who got HALF her face BLOWN off back in what 2006 or thereabouts..WOULD that have NOT happened if not for some valid test…I THINK she refused said test or backed out of going or something..I cant remember exact details..I am SURE she does NOT want to relive THAT experience..she got justice…BUT if able to…I DONT want to make posterkhildren out of anyone but this stuff happens….I dont know if this gives folks sense of whutever or not….