[UPDATED] Our Governor Is, By His Own Definition, An Idiot

I really can’t comprehend what (if anything) is going on within the mind of our new fearless leader, but I can certainly tell you that all the pistons aren’t firing. And what better proof of that statement than this YouTube video that’s recently surfaced.

If you’ve watched it, you just saw John Kasich repeatedly refer to a police officer that dared to pull him  over as an “idiot”. You know, a police officer not that different from the ones that are in charge of securing his private residence. And security is a top priority for Kasich, remember it was his reason for trying to hold his swearing in ceremony without any press in attendance.

But I digress.

It is absolutely reprehensible for the Governor of Ohio to speak about a police officer in such a way, especially when it sounds like he was only doing his job. One YouTube commenter aptly described it as follows:

So you were pulled over for failing to move over for an emergency vehicle on the side of the roadway...you were cited for this offense (a law that was put in place to protect emergency workers and others from being struck by vehicles) and the officer explained to you that this offense required a court appearance and failure to appear would result in a warrant being issued for your arrest. What part of this made the OFFICER the idiot?

And this is hardly the first instance of John Kasich treating people atrociously. Here are a few of his greatest hits:

• Demanding Teacher’s Unions take out full page newspaper ads apologizing for not supporting his campaign if they ever want to meet with him as governor.
• Kasich screamed at a 16 year old cashier, who asked him to provide ID in order to pay with a check.
• John Kasich jumping on stage at a Grateful Dead concert, and screaming his name as he was pulled off stage.
• John Kasich knocking hot coffee on an aid while throwing a tantrum.
• John Kasich screaming at someone in a hospital for saying hello to him.
• And we have John Kasich telling a potential ally that his associations name was stupid.

I could go on. I still have several tabs open, but I assume you get the point by now:

John Kasich is the absolute last person that should be commenting on how to properly interact with others.

Update: 7:49 PM 2/16/11

The wife of a police officer who was killed has posted a very strong letter condemning Gov. Kasich’s remarks. An excerpt is below, but I recommend reading the whole thing here.

If you had issue with how this officer treated you, you and I both know there are much better and effective ways to incorporate a change to this problem. Using a public speech to take a cheap shot at the officer, certainly is not the appropriate place to vent your frustrations.  From what I watched of your speech and my experience with law enforcement it seems to me that the officer was simply stating a fact to you.  Is it not a fact that if you don’t pay your ticket or appear in court that a warrant will be issued for your arrest, and is it not this officer’s duty to inform you of that fact?  Thus I must conclude that you are calling this officer an idiot for nothing other than doing his job of enforcing the law.  In this situation, a law I might point out was created to ensure the safety of the very officer you are calling an idiot.  A law that dear friends of mine testified to have passed after their son was killed directing traffic at an accident scene because a car failed to yield to emergency vehicles and struck and killed their son and a firefighter.  I have much more sympathy for their loss than I do for your inconveince [sic] of ticket and perceived attitude from a law enforcement officer.

I’ve spent the last hour or so searching for information about the officer who ticketed Kasich, Robert Barrett. I’ve yet to find a single complaint.

What I have found, are mentions of Barrett laying down a spike strip to stop a police chase and an account of Barrett keeping a smile on his face while being taunted by rowdy college students.

In fact, the only ‘idiotic’ thing I can find about Robert Barrett is his willingness to do a highly stressful job that seems to get very little respect.