Ohio governor to sing like a bird.

Looks like embattled Ohio Governor Bob Taft is about to face the music for four ethics charges. And they don't even involve Coingate. Taft has been the least popular governor in the nation for some time now. I doubt this will help, and it might just seal the fate of the GOP in that state for some time to come as the Coingate mess leads to mounds of Republican indictments.

Gov. Bob Taft is expected to admit in court today that he failed to disclose thousands of dollars in free golf, meals and other favors.

Ohio’s 67 th governor is scheduled for an 11 a.m. appearance in Franklin County Municipal Court, where sources said he will plead "no contest" to four misdemeanor ethics violations. Taft failed to list 52 golf outings and other gifts dating to 1998 on his annual financial-disclosure statements.

A no-contest plea would mean that Taft would be admitting to the facts of the charges, leaving the verdict and sentencing to Judge Mark S. Froehlich, a Democrat and former four-term mayor of Obetz.

Each misdemeanor charge is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and six months in jail. As a first-time offender, however, Taft is not expected to get jail time.