Impeach Ohio Governor Mke DeWine!

Looks like the pellets have hit the turbine blades once again, and the GOP is involved while the Democrats are strangely silent.

The short of it is that Mike DeWine has stepped on a few toes, and as a result members of the GOP have decided to give him a fair trial and a fine hanging.  Three things bother me about this, which I'll mention at the end of my usual curmudgeonly diatribe.

Standard warnings apply on this one.

I found this the other day while enjoying my morning bourbon, and I started to wonder...

Governor Hit With 12 Articles of Impeachment Over His ‘Callous’ COVID Restrictions

From the article:

Republican state legislators are seeking to impeach Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine over his COVID-19 shutdown orders.

Twelve articles of impeachment were filed Monday by state Rep. John Becker, who has been saying since August that DeWine, a fellow Republican, should be impeached for his lockdown policies. State Reps. Nino Vitale, Candice Keller and Paul Zeltwanger joined Becker in supporting the articles.

“Governor DeWine’s mismanagement, malfeasance, misfeasance, abuse of power, and other crimes include, but are not limited to, meddling in the conduct of a presidential primary election, arbitrarily closing and placing curfews on certain businesses, while allowing other businesses to remain open,” Becker said in a statement.

I had to look a few of these up, and I'm betting Becker did too.

mismanagement: Bad or improper management or administration.
malfeasance: Law. Evil-doing; spec. official misconduct on the part of one in public employment.
misfeasance: A transgression, trespass; specifically the wrongful exercise of lawful authority or improper performance of a lawful act.
abuse of power: Tyranny, or despotism. Go figure, right?
meddling: Of persons: The action of mingling together in a fight or brawl; also, an instance of this. Obscure; also, Sexual intercourse.

Why not charge DeWine with brigandage while we're at it?  Might as well...

From the article, quoting Becker:

“He weaponized the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation to bully and harass businesses and the people; to enforce a statewide mask mandate and other controversial measures of dubious ‘value,’ making Ohio a hostile work environment,” the lawmaker said.

weaponized: 1. Adapted for use as a weapon.; 2. Equipped with weapons. Also in extended use: characterized by the deployment or use of weapons; militarized.
Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (OBWC or BWC): The OBWC provides medical and compensation benefits for work-related injuries, diseases and deaths.  In plain old English, it's mandatory State run insurance.  It also dictates certain safety regulations, such as not removing safety equipment from a dangerous machine so as to increase production.

Note that the OBWC was involved in a little misunderstanding colloquially referred to as
Coingate.  As a result, the Democratic party closely scrutinizes every move the BWC makes. Think KGB in the old USSR, and remember that it's a part of the job to find violations.

Just how the hell anyone would weaponize the BWC is beyond me.  The people running the BWC are barely competent, and that's on the best days.  Usually it's no more than a labyrinthine bureaucracy populated by obstructive State employees.  Weaponizing a place like this would cause a spate of accidental discharges and fill every podiatrist office in Columbus with new patients - social distancing being stoically ignored.

Articles of Impeachment Officially Filed Against Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Claiming Abuse of Power During Pandemic

From the article:

A total of 12 Articles of Impeachment have officially been filed against Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. Those articles were filed by State Rep. John Becker (R-Union Township) and were joined by Representatives Keller, Vitale and Zeltwanger.

DeWine is a RINO (Republican In Name Only), and governs Ohio with a heavy fist.  In particular, he'd cheerfully support disarming any and all law abiding citizens of Ohio by use of house to house search and confiscation team of State Police officers.  I didn't vote for him.

The Famous Four Republicans who are Filing are:

Ohio House - John Becker

John Becker, GOP

Ohio House - Candice Keller

Ohio House - A. Nino Vitale

A. Nino Vitale - Web Site

Ohio House - Paul Zeltwanger

There's a lot to like about John Becker.  He believes in freedom and fewer regulations in general.  Candice Keller is not unknown, but she doesn't spend a lot of time in the limelight.  A. Nino Vitale is a man whose accomplishments are significant, but who I would never want to work for.  For one thing, he won't tell anyone what the A stands for.  Last is Paul Zeltwanger, who spent 30 years in the private sector slaving away for Ernst and Young, and believe me when I say that E-Y can be a real sweat shop.  He's also a developer, specializing in downtown revitalization developments.  Affordable housing, done the right way.

The three things that bother me about this are:

1. If this was a great idea and a sure thing, the Moonbats would be all over it like a shark pack in a feeding frenzy.  They aren't.  That means the Moonbats either like DeWine or are smart enough to prefer him to the alternative.  I don't give the average Moonbat credit for that much intelligence, so whoever the head Bat is this week, He/She/It/Them has instructed all the other Moonbats to fall back to the wait and see position.

2. So far, everything that DeWine has done is legal.  I'm no lawyer, but proving that some nebulous law has been broken is going to be tough.  The GOP isn't jumping all over this one and trying to claim that they'd planned it this way all the time.  They are also adopting a wait and see position.

3. The Ohio economy is ruined.  Between the peaceful BLM/Antifa protests and the COVID rules dictated by the fascist in the Governor's office, it's no wonder the economy tanked.  Individual lives and families went from being prosperous to almost destitute, and anyone living from one paycheck to the next is well and truly fucked.  DeWine broke it; the State legislators haven't done a thing to fix it.  I'm not sure it can be fixed, but it might be reworked into something just as good.  As for the individual families, all I can offer is prayer.  Once the COVID restrictions are lifted, bankruptcy filings will go through the roof.

I don't like Mike DeWine.  I never did.  Sadly, I don't believe that DeWine will be successfully impeached.  Not because he doesn't deserve to be removed from office - he does, and removed by way of tar, feathers, and a rail - but the man has been involved in politics his entire life.  He has experience with political enemies, and these three don't look all that formidable.  So, while DeWine sits on the throne, Ohio circles the drain, and everyone who actually could do something to prevent the inevitable descent doesn't have a clue as to what to do.