Sunday, May 31, 2009

THE RECALL: Plain Dealer slaps Mendenhall

MYTH-SLINGER Warner Mendenhall's decision to take his caravan to Cleveland in search of a more hospitable editorial voice (than the Beacon Journal's )  simply gave his many opponents something  more to cheer about.  Dissecting his hollow case against Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic that has prompted a recall election on June 23, the Plain Dealer on Sunday editorially accused Mendenhall's effort as "sour grapes" and urged voters to reject the whole notion. It noted:
"In Plusquellic's long record, there is not the least whiff of crime or scandal.  A recall is, therefore, out of place." 
Obviously, Mendenhall's attempt to argue his wacky position in a visit to the paper's editorial offices failed to impress anybody. The paper accused him of leading a "reckless and costly" campaign.  It twitted him for arguing that his attacks on Plusquellic were not "personal"  (one of Mendenhall's more bizarre "defenses" of his actions, I'd say)  and concluded:
"Mendenhall, a lawyer who has filed many lawsuits against Akron, swears it has nothing to do with  any desires of own to be the mayor. (And the revelation of $169,000 in IRS tax liens probably has slammed the door on the notion, anyway.) 

"He cannot credibly deny, though, that this battle has become personal - or that it is a huge distraction to a city caught, like many, in the throes of a worldwide recession."
I doubt that the PD's  editorial reprimand will lodge in Mendenhall's obsessed idea of democracy in action, but at this point he is no more than a willful hell-raiser riding a limping horse to the finish line.  More importantly now to the health of the city's future is how many of his  opponents' words will find their way into the voters' collective conscience. 


1 comment:

fargo said...

How will Mendenhall spin this one? Are his followers now going to claim that the PD is on the take from Plusquellic as well?

The major media has smacked Mendenhall down, the business leaders in town have smacked him down, and the voters have repeatedly reelected the mayor. Yet a hand full of cranks are still convinced they know more than the rest of us.

The PD deserves a lot of credit for not mixing words in their op/ed.

Also deserving credit is the Beacon Journal...particularly Steve Hoffman for calling Mendenhall out.