Meet The Bloggers: Bill O’Neill

Bastille Day, Friday, July 14^th, saw the bloggers again trekking back to Talkies in Ohio City to have our midmorning coffee with Judge Bill (William M.) O’Neill, whose bio is here. Take a moment to review it before listening to the podcast as it will provide better understanding of the material. O’Neill is currently employed as a judge in Ohio’s 11^th appellate district.

Bill is MTB’s first judicial candidate interviewee, and he’s running for the Supreme Court of Ohio. This may well be the most unique political campaign anybody anywhere has ever seen: He’s doing it with, as the campaign website states, “No Money from No Body.� He’s also one of the first we know of to distribute his campaign pieces in printable format over the internet. [Is it too soon to begin bidding the union bug our fondest farewell?] A week after we interviewed him, he announced that Paul Hackett and Susan Gwinn were co-chairing his election committee.

Again, the time passed quickly. Names in the discussion include Ben Espy, Tony Celebrezze, Saint John’s Cathedral, Dick Celeste, Attorney Tom Brown, Janet Jackson (law director of the City of Columbus), RVN, Lee Fisher, Betty Montgomery, Alice Robie Resnick, Terence O’Donnell, Tom Moyer, Tim Merriman, Harvard University, Tom Noe, Catawba Island, Justice Scalia, Justice O’Connor, Michael Murray, Huron Road Hospital, Kathleen Knittel, Barbara Segedi, Hillcrest Pediatric Emergency, Dr. Rodke, Natalie Powers, South Russell, and Jill Miller Zimon vis a vis Antonin Scalia. This was a fun session.

There’s some affirmative, inspiring, forceful language here, as well as lots of unique and brave ideas. We cover scrounging, or provisioning, during wartime, the Loadmaster designation, O’Neill’s unique accomplishment of hearing 100 jury trials, “a public muggingâ€? in which the justices were “condemned by their silence,â€? the Ohio Supreme Court as “a money pitâ€? on Tom Moyer’s watch, money laundering and escrow funds, “fictitious committeesâ€? and “legal fictions,â€? selling Supreme Court seats as you would seats on the NYSE, “chilledâ€? first-amendment rights, “look for the word ‘crazy’â€? a teaser of a cool issue of law in a not-yet-released blogger case, “a spiritual awakening,â€? power naps, time blocking, focus, leather chairs and dogs, free-forming, restoring balance to the Ohio Supreme Court, kids going into their schools and giving up their rights, equal protection under the law, judicial ratings on the internet, the origins of the moniker “Wild Bill,â€? and garage-based print shops.

Towards the end of our talk, O’Neill mentioned with regard to his approach to his campaign that “It’s the American way.� This seems to inform his very existence, and he’s a breath of fresh air among candidates of both parties who want to prance around issues instead of confronting them head on. O’Neill also gives us a wakeup call for putting any credence in attitudinal litmus testing—as a judge, he said, his most difficult acknowledgement has been that “Your personal opinions don’t matter.� He’s a fit public servant and a fine human being, but you need to judge that for yourself. There’s a lot of entertainment value here. Listen up!

Our conversation with Ohio Supreme Court candidate Bill O’Neill.

Part 1. Time: 17.06
Part 2. Time: 15.47
Part 3. Time: 14.39
Part 4. Time: 17.52

The transcript for this podcast is forthcoming. The average cost of a transcription is $100. If you’d like to see this podcast transcribed, please consider helping to pay for its production. If you use PayPal, under Payment For: enter Bill O’Neill Transcript. If you prefer to pay by check, note the transcription in the memo field. Contact info is here.