Magic got bribed.

A 2200 page report detailing each and every ethical, moral, and legal lapse in judgement that led to the downfall of Lehman Bros didn't mention John Kasich once. Not once.

And yet, facts haven't stopped Ohio Democrats from ignoring the real issues facing Ohioans and focusing all their energies on implicating Kasich as responsible for the mess. And the press has bought right into it.

So it's lucky for those same Ohio Democrats that the only coverage of some very questionable behavior by Gov. Strickland only warranted a mention in the Dispatch's blog.

NBA legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson today headlined a fundraiser for Gov. Ted Strickland about five weeks after meeting with a member of the governor's cabinet about landing state pension business.

The retired star for the Los Angeles Lakers stopped by the office of Hugh Quill, director of the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, to inquire about doing business with the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, of which Quill is a board member. During the meeting, Quill said today, the prospect of Johnson headlining a fundraiser for Strickland was "never mentioned, never referenced."

Of course it wasn't. Those calls come from the campaign after the meeting and they probably went something like this:

Strickland fundraiser: I understand you want to do business with Ohio.
Magic: Yep.
Strickland fundraiser: Well in that case, let's bring you in for a fundraiser.
Magic: What?
Strickland fundraiser: You want to do business with the state, right?
Magic: Um. Yeah.
Strickland fundraiser: Good. We'll see you on April 21st.
Magic: Uhhhhh......ok.

This kind of transparent abuse of the office for political gain isn't surprising considering the way the Strickland Administration has conducted itself over the past four years.

But if we want voters to know about it, we just have to hope a lot of Ohioans read the Columbus Dispatch Daily Briefing blog.