Is it, of course, unwise for a U.S. Secretary of State to be perceived as “joking” about the brutal mob death of a deposed head of state. Hillary Clinton’s reaction to the spectacle of events in Libya was offensive.  According to a CBS new story:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shared a laugh with a television news reporter moments after hearing deposed Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi had been killed. “We came, we saw, he died,” she joked when told of news reports of Qaddafi’s death by an aide in between formal interviews.

To my ears Hillary’s words sound like a cheap shot, one maybe expected of a second rate stand up comedian, but hardly one worthy of an official representing, next to the Presidency, the highest office of the executive branch of the U.S.government. Hillary, who has gained a lot of respect for her work as Secretary of State, and who is known as a defender of human dignity, in this matter, I imagine, honestly regrets her uncharacteristic lack of personal discipline in controlling her response to this event.

Muammar Gaddafi. Libyan dictator. Born near Sirte, June 7, 1942. Died Sirte, October 20, aged 69.

From the Daily Beast:

There are conflicting accounts of just how he died. There are videos showing him wounded, but alive, stumbling among a crowd of NTC soldiers and begging for mercy. Another video shows his body being paraded through the city of Misrata. Other photographs show Gaddafi with bullet holes in his head that The New York Times says appear to have been fired at close range, raising the possibility that Gaddafi was executed. Libya’s leaders say he died in a crossfire.

Though there are conflicting reports, details of Gaddafi’s final moments have emerged. The Associated Press reports that after he was dragged out of a drain pipe, Gaddafi raised his hands and said, “Don’t kill me, my sons.” Upon being captured, Libyan forces tried to load him into a vehicle when loyalists forces engaged in a gun fight. At this point, Gaddafi was wounded in his right arm. As more shots rang out, the former dictator was struck in the head (possibly by his own bodyguards) and then died moments before reaching a hospital, said Libya’s transitional prime minister.

Al Jazeera aired footage of Gaddafi—dripping blood but seemingly alive—being dragged around Sirte. Another video showed Gaddafi with his eyes open and what looks like a gunshot wound to his head, as Libyan fighters fired gunshots into the air. In a third shocking video on YouTube, fighters posed for pictures with Gaddafi’s corpse, positioning the lifeless body by pulling his hair. Meanwhile, after Secretary of State Clinton heard of the former dictator’s demise, she joked with a reporter. “We came, we saw, he died,” she said, referring to her trip to Tripoli earlier this week.

A printed copy of the Voters' Guide is available in the October 18 issue of The Dayton City Paper, or by contacting the Dayton LWV.

The Dayton League of Women Voters has published its annual voters’ guide. The guide is 24 pages in length and includes information on issues and races in Montgomery and Greene Counties. The League has made available a PDF electronic version that can be downloaded here.

As I reported, after 40 years of doing so, this guide is not being published in The Dayton Daily News because, for the first time, the DDN demanded the right to print paid political advertisements in the guide.  See: Dayton League Of Women Voters Dumps DDN — Refuses To Compromise Non-Partisan Principles

The guide includes the ballot language for each of the three state issues along with an analysis of pros and cons for supporting or rejecting each issue and gives links to pro and con web-sites. In this “off year” election, in addition to deciding the three state issues, citizens will elect:

• Mayors
• Members of City and Village councils
• Members of Village Board of Trustees of Public Affairs
• Other City and Village officers
• Judges and Clerks of Municipal Courts
• Members of Boards of Education
• Township Trustees and Fiscal Officers

The results of a poll at Cleveland.com. I think the last choice -- an at-large election -- sounds interesting.

We can tear up the Ohio congressional redistricting map designed by Ohio Republicans and recently signed into law.

The Ohio Supreme Court has approved a referendum to be placed on the 2012 ballot to allow voters to abolish this map. Waiting for a 2012 referendum would cause such chaos, it seems likely that this Court decision will force Republican and Democratic leaders to allow a new map to be constructed via compromise. The process to determine how a new map will be drawn is being worked out this week in a high stakes drama now unfolding in Columbus.

To respond to the Supreme Court action, it appears that the first choice of Republicans is to pass “emergency legislation” that, according to the Ohio Constitution, would not be subject to referendum. Such legislation requires a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate. In the House, 59 of the 99 members are Republicans, so, only seven Democratic votes are  needed for a new map to be approved by the necessary two-thirds majority. Republicans already have a two-thirds majority in the Senate.

It appears the first Republican strategy is to get votes from black Democrats in the House — by making a deal to arrange the map so that at least one more district could elect a black. Rep. Sandra Williams, a Cleveland Democrat who heads the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus says she has been contacted. “If the members of the caucus were interested, I would definitely entertain it,” she said. Williams said a black caucus meeting is scheduled for Wednesday where the topic is likely to come up for discussion.

It would seem unlikely that the black caucus would antagonize the Ohio Democratic Party by making a separate agreement with the Republicans. But, if a new map could gain the support of the black caucus, then this might push the Democratic leadership towards making a broader based deal.

The most likely outcome, it appears, is that the House Democrats will stick together and demand the formation of a bipartisan commission to work out a new map. A bipartisan commission is the first choice of those polled at cleveland.com. (See chart at left.)

It looks like the primary, now scheduled for March, will need to be moved to May or June. If a redistricting deal can’t be reached and the process for a referendum begins, the deadline for gathering signatures will be after the current December 7 deadline, so, if the process for a referendum is set in place, it appears certain that the primary will scheduled for a later date. And if a compromise process is agreed to, it appears the primary, also, will be set later, in order give candidates additional time in the new districts.

The map recently signed into law by Gov. Kasich makes 12 of Ohio's 16 congressional districts to be safely Republican -- although Ohio usually is about evenly divided in Republican and Democratic votes