Gutless wonder strikes again

Sometimes, it's the little things that reveal the most about a person's character. Readers of this blog know that I occasionally fire at Ohio House Speaker Armond Budish for being a gutless wonder; especially where state-federal relations are concerned.

But this article from the Plain Dealer (cleveland.com) suggests that the problem may have deeper roots. It is a common practice in the Ohio General Assembly to recognize on the floor people, particularly high school youth, who have attained statewide distinction in one way or another. Thus, Rep. John Adams thought it was appropriate to recognize Elisabeth Trisler for winning an oratory contest sponsored by the National Right to Life organization.

Now, if you can, set aside your views on the abortion issue. Just look at it as a decision. Speaker Budish decided Feb. 3 not to allow the presentation because the award came from a "politically sensitive" group. Okay, fine -- he was within his right as Speaker to do so. When making such a decision, one in his position should have known that whichever way he decided was likely to produce a backlash of some kind.

He did get a backlash from the predictable sources -- the House Republicans and the Right to Life Organization. Here's where my criticism comes in. When he got the backlash that he should have anticipated, he changed his mind:

Budish spokesman Keary McCarthy said Budish was concerned about "inaccurate" criticism that he was silencing the teen because she disagreed with his stance supporting abortion rights.

"We will go ahead with this presentation," McCarthy said. "We'd like to shoot for sometime next week depending on how the schedules looks."

McCarthy said Budish plans "a closer look at the guidelines" concerning who can be honored on the House floor in the future. Budish had originally said that Trisler would not be honored because her award was from a "politically sensitive" group.

The voters of the 10th House district might want to consider backbone, or the absence of it, when they cast their votes for State Representative this year. At least it seems to me that a person in a leadership position should be able to consistently enforce a policy as minor as this one.