The evening started out nice enough for Representative Jean Schmidt.  She and several Ohio Republican lawmakers, along with a Columbus lobbyist, ate a nice dinner at Nicola's Ristorante in Cincinnati.  The food and drink was paid for by a representative from Chrion, a company whose dirty flu vaccine was banned by the British government.  By all acounts, Nicola's is a tremendous restaurant with wonderful food and atmosphere:

You won't find anything Major Paul Hackett ate that evening on the menu of Nicola's, nor was the atmosphere quite as friendly.  But as any Marine will tell you, the age-old "Meal Ready to Eat" (MRE) does a great job of filling you up--and stopping you up.  And while you will never find a review of MREs in Cincinnati's fine dining guides, here is what one veteran has to say about the MRE pictured to the right.    

Back to Cincinnati...

Dinner was just the start of the evening for Jean Schmidt.  After a fine meal, her and her colleagues traveled to Paul Brown stadium to watch the Cincinnati Bengals take on the Denver Broncos--entertained in the prestigious luxury box seats, again, paid for by Chiron.  

Unfortunately for Schmidt, Ohio law calls for legislators to disclose gifts accepted from lobbyists in excess of $75.  Schmidt, did not; her campaign aides claimed that she didn't know the seats (her daughter was also a beneficiary of Chrion's largesse) were valued at more than the allowed amount. Ebay lists the private suites at $549 dollars for a pair.

Meanwhile, back in Iraq, Paul Hackett sat in a helicopter, thousands of miles away from his family, not knowing for sure whether or not he would ever get to see them again--fighting a war that Hackett volunteered to serve in, despite his belief that the invasion was "a misuse of our military that damaged our credibility throughout the world and squandered our political capital."  If elected, Paul Hackett would become the first Iraq War veteran to serve in the United States House of Representatives.  If elected, Jean Schmidt would join the growing list of sitting legislators part of the Republican "Culture of Corruption" in Ohio.  There are quite a few differences between the two candidates running for Congress in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District; October 25, 2004 is simply encapsulates them.

The lobbying group for the global biotech corporation that paid for Schmidt's evening on the town "stressed the importance" of Senate Bill 250.

Jean Schmidt ultimately co-sponsored the bill.

(Photo Credits: Nicola's Risorante, The Cincinnati Bengals, Hackett for Congress, and www99.big.or.jp)