Lima News: Brunner awarded for creating phony controversy

The Lima News has a few things to say about Jennifer Brunner's new Courage award:

We hope Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner will accept our congratulations for her rise to the ranks of former Vice President Al Gore. Create a controversy where none exists and you too might win an award.

Brunner on Tuesday was named as a recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for her part in trying to maintain the integrity of the vote. California Secretary of State Debra Bowen also will receive the award from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

About the only thing Brunner managed to maintain was distrust in Ohio elections. But she’s got a politically motivated award to say she was right. Your vote might not be counted on time, but she won an award.

Brunner sought to curb a series of voting irregularities by ordering that a paper ballot be provided to any voter who requested one during this year’s presidential primary, The Associated Press reports. She also ordered the replacement of all of the state’s electronic voting systems — used in 53 of Ohio’s 88 counties — with paper ballots and optical scan technology before the November 2008 presidential election.

And, sure enough, her last-minute push to have the system replaced by the March primary backfired. Not many people opted for a paper ballot where one was available. At least one of the counties she ordered to change its system was late in reporting results, in part because of the paper ballots. But it sure sounded like a good idea — to Brunner, anyway.

Now, our secretary of state joins Gore in winning an award — the Nobel Peace Prize for him, no less — for creating a controversy about humans where none existed. Gore took his prize for advancing scary half-truths, flat-out errors and politically inspired schemes about global warming, as this page noted in October.

So, good job, Secretary of State Brunner. Nothing’s better, but you have an award for your effort.