I will probably regret this.
But what the hell.
Troll rate me out the wazoo if you must.
Or yawn and move on to something else.
Its all good.
This is a boring public service announcement, and nothing more.
You could also call it shameless double diary whoring.
Go ahead. Do it.
It will make you feel good. And God Knows you will need to feel good to read these well, rather sobering diaries. No, never mind. DON'T read these diaries. Its Friday. No one should read anything like these on a Friday night. Never mind. Don't do it!
Well, for those who are not drinking...
I posted a two part series over the past two days about one of the most talked about and vilified political figures on the Daily Kos over the past six or seven months -- Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. Neither got very much attention as is the mystery of The Daily Kos. But in this case I want to call attention to them again for those that might have missed them and are interested in these things.
I did quite a lot of research and spent a lot of time writing them. I broke some new ground, especially in part II. And while they may not be earth shaking BREAKING! WTF! exposes, I believe that if you are interested in electoral politics and the history of the development of the Christian Right as it relates to current events and future trends, or if you live in Ohio, you will want to check them out.
Ohio, Blackwell & the Christian Right Part I
The theocratic Christian Right in Ohio promises to gather a lot of attention in the run up to the 2006 elections. The controversial Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell is the movement's apparent choice for governor.
Plans by a group called the Ohio Restoration Project to mobilize conservative Christians on Blackwell's behalf has been widely reported, including by the New York Times.
But Blackwell is trolling for support in other precincts of the Christian Right as well. He is a featured speaker at a Christian Right conference on Friday, June 17th at Cedarville University, a Baptist school in southwestern Ohio.
The conference is transparently seeking to persuade conservative Christian businessmen to become political activists and political donors. "This conference is for folks who earnestly desire to make a difference in their generation through economic means," according to the description on the conference web site. "They want to learn how to win in the marketplace and win big so they can leverage their resources and influence on behalf of a Kingdom agenda." MORE.
Ohio, Blackwell & the Christian Right Part II
Recently, the Ohio Restoration Project announced plans to mobilize conservative Christian voters towards the 2006 elections. The principal beneficiary appears to be Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell who is running for the Republican nomination for governor. (I referred to this in passing in Part I, which described Blackwell's involvement in a dominionist seminar at Cedarville University on June 17th.) The story has been widely reported, including by the New York Times, and much blogged, for example by Bruce Prescott at Talk to Action.
But there was one part of the Ohio Restoration Project action plan that was strikingly familiar to me. It incorporates a feature of two pivotal events in the development of the contemporary Christian Right -- the Washington for Jesus rallies held on the mall in Washington, DC in the 1980s. Interestingly too, they may very well also follow the model of abuse of non-profit tax-exempt organizations that accompanied these events. MORE