The Ohio Republican Party is at it again. This time they've cooked up an anti-American, fear-mongering direct mail campaign against Connie Pillich's service as a court-appointed defense lawyer.
This image and the text that accompanies it is supposed to make us afraid. Let's talk about fear.
Fear resides in the most primitive part of the human brain. It is the easiest emotion to exploit. This is why we have always looked up to leaders who remind us that fear, itself, should be feared.
Because fear robs you of your ability to think clearly.
It's not surprising that the leaders of the culture of corruption here in Ohio are appealing to fear. That's the shell game they play with our basest instincts. They want us to look away from their hands as they rob us of our retirement, our workmen's compensation, our living wage and our children's hopes for a decent future.
They want us to stop thinking.
Our Republic is rooted in a seven-hundred-year-old tradition, dating back to Magna Carta, of the presumption of innocence, the right to hear the charges against you, and the right to be represented. The founders of the Republic thought these things important enough--after having been denied them by the madness of King George--to be written explicitly into our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
When we grant lawyers the privilege of practicing law in our society, we ask them to occasionally represent those who don't have means to pay for representation. These lawyers are paid a nominal fee and appointed by the judge. It's part of being a lawyer.
For the party of Connie Pillich's opponent to trot out cases that Ms. Pillich was appointed to represent is to appeal to our fear of the crimes those persons were alleged to have committed.
They want to provoke us into anger, the kissing cousin of fear. "How can she have represented people like that?"
Well, she represented those people because everyone has a right to be represented. It's our tradition. It's our law. It's our Constitution. The same Constitution Ms. Pillich swore to uphold and defend when she joined the military. When she was in the courtroom she was doing nothing less than what she did when she was in uniform: upholding and defending the Constitution of the United States.
The question we should be asking ourselves is where has Connie's opponent been while his Party has been leading Ohio into the desert of low expectations? Ah, yes, Mr. Raussen has been in a luxury box at a Bengals game, accepting $300 tickets as a gift from those who have an interest in his legislation.
It's a good thing he had representation when he was confronted on the issue. After all, it's the right of everyone. Even those who are part of the culture of corruption.
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