Republicans redefine job description

There are some times that the news story almost doesn't require commentary. Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell is paid $102,128 in salary, but his legal bills for outside counsel this past year cost taxpayers more than three times that total. So he's using money that belongs to us, the public, to defend himself. That's bad enough, right? Still, the senior deputy attorney general says they're "pursuant to his role as secretary of state" Like "election issues" (read - irregularities). Or... and I love this one.... "investigations related to alleged misuse of campaign funds." That would be the allegation mentioned here: "The campaign arose from widespread irregularities largely blamed on Blackwell, who both administered the election and served as co-chair of Ohio's Bush-Cheney campaign. In the past week, Ohio media widely reported that Blackwell has sent out a fundraising letter soliciting contributions from corporate donors, which is illegal under Ohio law. Petro's office has yet to indict Blackwell. Blackwell says the letter was "a mistake" and pledged to send back any such contributions. He also claimed credit in the letter for delivering Ohio's electoral votes to Bush, a boast that has infuriated many Ohioans who believe the election was administered in a partisan manner. " It's nice to know that the Republicans are admitting that election irregularities and misusing funds are part of thier idea of the role of Secretary of State. It's time for us to show them wrong.