Stand Up Notes From Flyover Country: Poster Boy for What’s Wrong in Washington!

When President Obama was just Candidate Obama and tossing promises to us like Mardi Gras beads to shirtless women, he made a few that we all liked. The two things even we of the far-right wing nut-job persuasion hoped might be true were that he was going to change the way things were done in Washington and there was going to be a new transparency in government. Even though I am at times jaded and a bit cynical, I have never given up hoping. I wasn’t holding my breath, but if the President held up his word I was willing to give him credit.

Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, candidate Barack Obama and Gov. Ted Strickland

The poster boy for these two broken promises is Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown. If you’ve never heard of Senator Brown he is probably most famous for being mistaken for an African-American by Rush Limbaugh because of his name. He is actually a child of privilege who was raised in Northeastern Ohio. Senator Brown has never had a “real” job.  After graduating from Yale, Senator Brown entered politics taking a short break to go back to college for an advanced degree. Despite the fact Senator Brown has never worked in the private sector much less gotten his hands dirty with physical labor, he likes to see himself as a common man. What rich, well connected politician doesn’t? The Senator has been in Washington so long he has come to think he is employed by the Democrat Party and not the people of Ohio. (more…)