Author
Tecumseh and the war for the Northwest Territory
Yesterday was the 209th anniversary of the killing in battle of Ohio Shawnee chief Tecumseh, born near Chillicothe in 1768. His efforts to build a permanent territory for a confederacy of Indigenous American tribes, bordered by the Great Lakes in the north, the Ohio River in the east and south, and the Mississippi River in […]
Ohio projected to see $344 million in political ad spending in 2022 cycle
In Ohio and around the country, the 2022 midterm election is on track to see some of the highest advertising spending in American political history, approaching $10 billion nationally, according to projections in a report from the nonpartisan research company AdImpact. Ohio’s election alone is set to see $344 million in political ad spending, AdImpact […]
Economic inequality keeps getting worse, along with America’s toxic, corrupt politics
The most reliable economic fact for nearly 50 years is that American wealth and income inequality continues to explode. Alongside that we’ve seen rampant corruption and the toxic debasement of our politics. Meanwhile, hard-working Ohio and American families continue to suffer enormous hardship from poverty wages; childhood and family hunger; limited access to basic personal […]
Lying politicians destroy the lives of their own supporters
When politicians lie, it destroys lives — often the lives of their biggest supporters. Take Christine Priola of Willoughby, who joined the front lines of the Jan. 6 riot, climbed the steps, and entered the Capitol Building soon after the first rioters overcame law enforcement officers guarding the entrance, and then invaded the U.S. Senate […]
The disgusting cruelty of Ohio’s extremist abortion ban is intolerable
They were warned. Ohio Republican lawmakers and Gov. Mike DeWine were warned time and again that their abortion ban was cruel and would lead to heartbreaking situations of unimaginable pain and anguish for many people. They were warned that their abortion ban set a stage of legal nightmares for doctors and personal nightmares for patients. […]
Healthy public debate is the essence of democracy
Most folks think of the Acropolis and the Parthenon when they think of the democracy of ancient Athens, but those were places of worship, which some do conflate with politics these days. It was on another hill, the Pnyx, where Athenian democracy grinded forward with all its inherent messiness. The Pynx was where, as early […]
Nothing new? Records show startling new info on DeWine, Husted roles in Ohio bailout scandal
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted like to claim “there is nothing new” whenever startling new information is revealed about their administration’s role in Ohio’s corrupt political bribery and nuclear bailout scandal. I suppose it’s true they have personally known the extent of their own involvement all along, but the public hasn’t. […]
Fear not education, but those trying to rob Ohio students of it
“Aristotle” has a great line that Aristotle never said or wrote: “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” This misattribution to Aristotle predates the Interwebs. The earliest it appears in print is in Lowell Bennion’s 1959 book, “Religion and the Pursuit of Truth.” The […]
Abortion referendum shows how out-of-touch Ohio’s gerrymandered, extremist legislature is
Voters in Kansas Tuesday shot down a ballot referendum to remove abortion rights protections from their state constitution, by a margin of 59-41. Passing it would have paved the way for state lawmakers there to pass far-reaching abortion restrictions, or even an outright ban. Voters took a megaphone to the national stage and said, “No.” […]
Ohio AG’s refusal to guide doctors facing felony criminal charges is a massive failure of duty
When Ohio Republicans created law putting health care professionals under the threat of felony criminal charges for providing abortion care, they made no exceptions for rape or incest, including in cases of children who’ve been sexually assaulted. Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost rushed to court on June 24, just after Roe v Wade was […]
Ohio Republicans’ attempted erasure of a 10-year-old rape victim is incredibly sick and disturbed
The first and most important thing to recognize right now is that a heinous, violent crime was committed on a 10-year-old Ohio child, and thankfully justice has now found the alleged perpetrator. A Columbus man was indicted Wednesday in a case that made national and international headlines about a 10-year-old girl who had to travel […]
10-year-old rape victim apparently not among Ohio Gov. DeWine’s ‘most vulnerable’ needing protection
Gov. Mike DeWine spends a lot of time jawing about his concern for protecting the “most vulnerable” Ohioans whenever he signs a draconian law attacking the bodily autonomy of others. But as we learned according to reporting from the Indianapolis Star this week, a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim was forced to travel to Indiana for […]