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…but congratulations anyway on your election to the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas bench.  Your class and style were enjoyed and witnessed by everyone who attended your swearing in this afternoon.  Judge Joan will do a great job (as always) on the Common Pleas bench, but this post is really about loyalty and Dennis Kucinich and by not titling it with his name I undermine the value of the post, but anyway…

Disclaimer out of the box - I don’t like Dennis Kucinich’s politics.  I also think he is a political opportunist whose blind populist approach spelled the demise of the city of Cleveland (a stigma that will forever dull our future).  His desire to run for president damages his credibility and makes him a liability for the people that foolishly re-elect him to Congress every two years.  But again this is about loyalty so…

Two years ago when the aforementioned Judge Joan was working hard to be retained to her seat on the Cleveland Municipal bench to which she was appointed, we (I’m happy to say that I worked for her on that campaign - getting a Republican with a name like Synenberg elected in Cleveland is kind of like eating a gallon of Rocky Road ice cream without gaining a single ounce  - virtually impossible) - and I say we with some chagrin as it was her husband Roger who really led this effort - tried to get as many endorsements for her as we could.  One of the most unique was that of Dennis Kucinich.  He had agreed early on in the campaign cycle to support Joan and as Election Day approached Roger had prepared a variety of targeted mail pieces (one of which with Kucinich and Joan’s picture was meant to be sent to local Democrats).  Normally such a mailing would not happen and to ensure that the piece would not be disavowed Roger went to the extent of contacting Dennis and getting the piece approved - which Dennis did.  The story does not end there though.

Once the piece was mailed, a minor furor erupted in Democrat circles that Dennis could not have approved of the piece.  Dennis without hesitation or prompting issued a statement saying that he did indeed stand behind the piece and he supported Joan.

I tell you this not because I like Dennis.  I tell you this because there were some Republicans during this race who were not willing to go out on a limb for Judge Joan because they didn’t want to expose themselves politically.

Today Dennis showed up for Joan’s swearing in and she recognized him in the audience - because he was loyal and she’s got class.  Thus ends the things I like about Dennis.