Gov. John Kasich calls police officer 'idiot' for giving him traffic ticket

In a speech last month Ohio Gov. John Kasich emphatically referred to a police officer who ticketed him for a driving violation as "an idiot."

Kasich, now the Republican governor, was ticketed on Jan. 11, 2008, for "approaching a public safety vehicle with lights displayed" on Route 315 in Columbus and later paid an $85 fine. But he was not happy about it.

During a Jan. 21 speech to Ohio EPA workers, the governor recalled the day three years ago when he was given the ticket. In telling the story, Kasich, who took office on Jan. 10, three times referred to the Columbus police officer who ticketed him as an idiot .

"I said, officer I, are you kidding, I didn't, I didn't see any, I didn't even see any, where the heck was it?" a stammering Kasich recalls. "The last thing I would ever do would be to pass an emergency, are you kidding me?"

View full sizeAP fileOhio Gov. John Kasich, shown in a 2010 photograph.

"He says, 'Well I understand that. Give me your license,'" Kasich continues. "He goes back to the car, comes back, gives me a ticket and says you must report to court, if you don't report to court we're putting a warrant out for your arrest."

Then Kasich stills himself and bellows, "He's an idiot! We just can't act that way. What people resent are people who are in the government who don't treat the client with respect."

A leading police group responded to the governor's comments on Wednesday, hours after the video surfaced.

"Police officers in Ohio already do difficult and dangerous work, so it doesn't help when the governor calls an officer doing his job and protecting the public an 'idiot,' " said Ohio Fraternal Order of Police president Jay McDonald.

Kasich's comments are on a YouTube video that the Ohio Democratic Party referred to in a press release. Democrats and the FOP on Wednesday noted that Kasich is backing Senate Bill 5, a proposal that would end collective bargaining in Ohio, which would directly impact police officers and other government organized labor workers.

"I never thought I'd see the day when a governor of this great state would call a police officer an 'idiot' for simply doing his job," said Ohio Democratic Party chairman Chris Redfern. "Even worse, he wants to eliminate the right of law enforcement workers to collectively bargain to provide a better life for their families."

Redfern said Kasich's behavior is unbecoming of a governor and that "he should immediately apologize to all law enforcement officers for disparaging the work they do on behalf of the people of Ohio."

But Kasich isn't apologizing.

"The governor, of course, respects the important work of law enforcement officers and regrets his poor choice of words in describing his frustration in receiving a ticket," Kasich's spokesman Rob Nichols said. "The point of the governor's remarks to Ohio EPA employees was to stress that all public employees must provide better, more responsive service to taxpayers."

source:http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/02/ohio_gov_john_kasich_calls_pol.html