Author

Marilou Johanek
Marilou Johanek is a veteran Ohio print and broadcast journalist who has covered state and national politics as a longtime newspaper editorial writer and columnist.
Play taps for America: The Republic is under attack
By: Marilou Johanek - May 31, 2021
Play taps for America. For a breach of faith with those we memorialize. We pay tribute to generations of Americans who paid with their lives so democracy — messy, impassioned democracy — would endure. Yet today we stand at the precipice of its demise. That’s not hyperbole. That’s a five-alarm fire burning down the house […]
Ohio’s future is on the line(s) with redistricting in 2021
By: Marilou Johanek - May 17, 2021
The most important issue to face Ohioans in 2021 isn’t even on most of our radar screens. Seriously, when was the last time you dove into the ramifications of redistricting with friends? I get it. Not a sexy subject. The map drawing process to reconfigure district boundaries in the state is complicated. But there’s a […]
Voting is already safe and secure. Ohio’s new bill makes voting more difficult.
By: Marilou Johanek - April 27, 2021
State elections officials and poll workers across the country never got their due in 2020. They ran one of their best elections, a feat that was overtaken by the circus trumpeting the Big Lie about a stolen election rife with fraud. The ringmaster of that ruse used the biggest bully pulpit in the land to […]
Ohio leaders must be vigilant against virus and help prevent more unnecessary deaths
By: Marilou Johanek - April 13, 2021
It was springtime, 2020. Andy, as usual, was puttering around his yard on some new project. I couldn’t resist teasing him about spring cleaning and inquired if he did windows. My affable neighbor, a retire middle-school teacher, made a crack about only doing selective window-washing and we laughed. He had a dry sense of humor. […]
Watch our Ohio state government closely, and hold these politicians accountable
By: Marilou Johanek - March 22, 2021
Those who can’t govern, grandstand. You see it in Congress where the minority party routinely resorts to performing for right-wing media with manufactured controversies and tired catch phrases that bemoan “cancel culture” or “woke” libs. But it’s a lot easier to grab attention on Fox News by reading Green Eggs and Ham than it is […]
Health orgs donating to lawmakers who oppose public health measures can’t have it both ways
By: Marilou Johanek - March 8, 2021
You can’t have it both ways. You can’t be a science-driven, public health advocate and support clear threats to best safety practices during a monumental public health crisis. You can’t be for saving lives during a viral pandemic with prudent safeguards and for politicians out to weaken or scrap them altogether. You can’t vigorously oppose […]
It’s the extremist regressive politics, not a lack of PR, that makes people not want to move to Ohio
By: Marilou Johanek - February 10, 2021
Ohio could be a helluva bargain for out-of-staters looking to relocate. Plenty of sweet move-in offers they can’t refuse. Cost of living, for one. Quaint Midwestern farm towns, for another. Urban centers that boast world class cultural attractions, if not winning sports teams. Good places to raise a family. Premier medical institutions and universities. Treasured […]
Portman’s Trump apologetics tarnished his legacy. Will he do the right thing now on impeachment?
By: Marilou Johanek - January 29, 2021
Any respect that scores of Ohioans had for U.S. Sen. Rob Portman is long gone. It disappeared the day the Cincinnati Republican hopped aboard the Trump train and never looked back. He may have held his nose, but he was all in. We thought Portman would be different. We thought a Midwest sense of honor […]
Republican politicians betrayed our country for Donald Trump
By: Marilou Johanek - January 14, 2021
Before all hell broke out at the U.S. Capitol, I wondered if we the people could still summon outrage about anything. Surely, we had exhausted what was left of our fury quota last year. The human psyche can only sustain so much abuse, right? Safe to say we’re there. After being mercilessly pummeled with an […]