The Traf in the News Again

There are a few special figures in the Youngstown community who simply won't go away, no matter how hard we may try to forget about them. Maurice Clarett and George McKelvey are certainly part of this "elite" group. Of course, the leader of this group would have to be everyone's favorite ex-congressman, Jim Traficant.

You may remember, a few months back, that ol' Traf got himself into the news when some of his paintings, mostly depicting serene farm scenes, went up for sale online. Now, according to WKYC (Channel 3) in Cleveland, these same paintings will be part of a special show in a gallery down in East Liverpool. They'll be sold of at the end of the show's run, and the proceeds will apparently go toward keeping the fledgling gallery open.

Art, of course, can be highly subjective, a fact that has given rise to the well-worn statement that "a 5-year old could paint that," etc. Some of the most highly-praised works in the world have received that very criticism. However, in Traficant's case, the expression couldn't be more true. The paintings are pretty terrible. Therefore, one can assume that the only reason these paintings are receiving any attention at all is because of who created them. I can't blame the gallery for putting on the show. I'm sure they have to do whatever it takes to survive, especially in the cultural hotbed that is East Liverpool. But it's a shame that the Traf continues to elicit this kind of attention.

I remember, a few years ago, being interviewed by one of the Cleveland stations (I think it was WKYC, but I'm not sure) about Traficant. I was home for the summer, working downtown, and they caught up with me as I was taking a walk through downtown Youngstown on my lunch break. The election was gearing up, the first one since Traficant had been put behind bars. The reporter asked me if I thought he might get any votes. I said I thought he'd have a good chance of winning.

No single political figure has captivated the Youngstown area as much as Jim Traficant has over the last few decades. And, it seems, he's not planning on stopping anytime soon.