Sunday, January 17, 1999
The Taft Era: 'All things are possible'
BY PETER BRONSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COLUMBUS — Glenn Miller. Tommy Dorsey. Duke Ellington. Benny Goodman. Woody Herman.
For readers under age 30, those are not the latest senators “outed” by Larry Flynt. No, it's worse than that. These guys are older than Strom Thurmond and louder than Teddy Kennedy on a Bombay martini toot.
Those names are from the play list at the Buckeye Ball inaugural party for Ohio's new governor, Bob Taft.
Not that I'm comparing governors here, but I couldn't help noticing that Minnesota Gov. Jesse “The Body” Ventura rearranged his inaugural so he could hire Johnny Lang, who sings like a young Joe Cocker and plays like the King of the blues (B.B. or Albert).
Bob Taft throws the bash of his life and treats his guests to ... elevator music. From very old elevators. Music made before guitars were electric — heck, even before lights were electric. Music that was popular when “rap” still meant “a sharp blow,” “gay” was “carefree” and “gangstas” were Capone and Dillinger.
This music was old when Bob Taft was young. But maybe Bob was too.
I'd like to believe Mr. Taft knows that Frank Sinatra is sort of cool again, and swing is semi-hip. But somehow I doubt it.
I'd like to believe that he chose bands that play “The Hi-De-Ho-Man” and “The Charleston” just to annoy the press and prank the cranks who say he has mayonnaise where normal humans have blood. But I don't think so.
Instead, I worry that he makes it too easy for snobs to say Taft is just another way to spell “Blah.” He makes it look like we're in for four years of Muzak government. Maybe Bob Taft has a reputation for being big-band bland because he works so hard to prove it.
Mr. Taft is trustworthy, honest, kind, reverent, loyal and so on. Those are certainly better qualifications for governor than knowing a Hootie from a Blowfish or body slamming Hulk Hogan. The new governor will probably surprise lots of wiseacres like me by being bolder than expected.
But to hear Columbus talk, his Cincinnati Mafia could bring a “Reign of Error,” and turn the rest of Ohio into a muddy mess like the overpriced confusion and hand-wringing indecision on our riverfront.
The Columbus crowd will be watching new state Treasurer Joe Deters (For President in 2008 or Sooner). And new Secretary of State Ken Blackwell is so radical he actually invited God into the Capitol.
While other politicians debate whether to follow conscience or constituents, Mr. Blackwell said he works “for an audience of One.” He serves God first, and the rest falls in place. In his inaugural address he dared to speak of a “sacred covenant” by which “power is granted from God to His children, then loaned to government.”
That kind of talk makes ACLU types cringe like Dracula in a crucifix museum. It's revolutionary — like saying that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Oops, that sounds like the Declaration of Independence — at least until the ACLU and the courts remove everything but “pursuit of happiness” with a small “h.”
It also sounds like Mr. Blackwell, who almost ran for governor. He stood in the capitol where Abraham Lincoln addressed Ohio, and talked about his ancestor Peter Blackwell, who was a slave in North Carolina.
“I wanted people to walk away discussing freedom,” he said later. “Too many of us find it easy to become slaves to the status quo or slaves to big government.”
Mr. Blackwell said the ACLU threatened to sue him when he led a prayer at his first inaugural as state Treasurer. But he still insists: “There are two basic pillars to our democracy. The centrality of God, and the primacy of the individual vs. the primacy of the state.”
Curiously, his strong religious message was almost unanimously ignored by the press. “One newspaper, the (Columbus) Dispatch, said I went far beyond the responsibilities of my job in my speech,” he laughed.
Funny how our business has a blind spot for things religious. We do the evil stuff like murders and rapes and child abuse so well — you'd think we could notice some of the good stuff like Mr. Blackwell's speech.
Maybe we take it for granted. Maybe we shouldn't. Such things tell us a lot about where our leaders stand in the culture wars.
Mr. Taft began his own inaugural speech by mentioning how Ohio had to battle the ACLU just to put our state motto on the capitol grounds. It says, “With God, all things are possible.”
Amid the tuxes, evening gowns, swing music and clouds of cologne, another face of state government could be glimpsed at the inaugurals. Ideals. Pride. Dedication. And faith.
Then on Tuesday the new Taft administration issued an unintentionally funny me dia release: “Today's Tribute to Public Service has been moved from the Atrium to the crypt in the statehouse.”
Too bad. Government was just starting to jitterbug.
Peter Bronson is editorial page editor of The Enquirer. If you have questions or comments, call 768-8301, or write to 312 Elm Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.
Peter Bronson is editorial page editor of The Enquirer. If you have questions or comments, call 768-8301, or write to 312 Elm Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.
BRONSON ARCHIVE
