Editorial
As a Muslim, a retired veteran of the US Air Force and a proud Ohioan, I am sick and tired of Josh Mandel’s racist and Islamophobic behavior. He doesn’t deserve to serve the people of Ohio because he is no good for Ohio. But because he will do anything and everything to appease Ohio’s MAGA cult, one of the most robust in the nation, his chances of winning the US Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Rob Portman in 2022 are strong.
Mandel is among a half dozen Republican and Democratic contenders vying for Portman’s Senate seat. Over the next 18 months he will try to be more Trumpian than any of the Republicans to appease MAGA Ohio.
Indeed, Mandel posted a poll on Twitter in March asking, “Of the various types of illegals flooding across the border, will more crimes be committed by,” with the options of “Muslim Terrorists” or “Mexican Gangbangers.”
If you’re a patient new to using marijuana to replace another medication as recommended by your doctor, the process can be rather murky. To help you navigate the sea of information that comes along with being a cannabis noob, we’ve compiled this handy list of what not to do:
Don’t Take Your First Trip to the Dispensary Without A Plan.
It can be an exhilarating experience to receive your medical marijuana card, but don’t leave the doctor’s office and rush right out to buy the latest high-thc trendy strain. Your doctor will give you a recommendation of the types of products that might work for you, but it’s ultimately your decision what to buy when you get to the dispensary.
When you walk into the dispensary for the first time, you’ll encounter countless new strains and forms of administration. Finding a product that not only treats your condition, but that you’ll be able to take in accordance with any dietary restrictions you might have can be tricky.
Joe Motil, former Columbus City Council candidate and outspoken critic of Columbus City Council’s decades-long charade of its musical chair schemes to maintain control and power of City Council, has announced the selection of running mates who will join Team Hardin on the ballot this November.
Motil states that, “Although the Hardin, Tyson, Mitch Brown nominating committee that is listed on their Declaration of Candidacy Petition technically made the selection of Nick Bankston and Lourdes de Padilla to replace Tyson and Brown, this whole scheme was developed months ago by those who control city hall and Franklin County Democratic Party leaders. This was a lame attempt to hoodwink the citizens of Columbus into believing the two replacement candidates were not appointed and are not part of the club. Columbus voters know better.”
The April Free Press Second Saturday Cyber-Salon was about “Earth Politics” facilitated by long-time Free Press Board member and activist Mark Stansbery.
Mark reminded the group that Earth Day is in April and went over the history of the celebration and how indigenous people have been the target of environmental racism and how they’ve fought back, particularly recently over the DAPL pipeline. He quoted Chief Seattle: “The Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth.” Lynn Stan shared a link for the city’s urban forest plan and Cathy Cowan Becker recommended the site Murdered & Missing Indigenous Women and the Stop the Money Pipeline website.
This evening City Council passed an ordinance allocating its annual payment from the Hotel/Motel Excise Tax to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The fund receives 8.43 percent of this Excise Tax which amounted to $976,000. The following is my testimony regarding this matter for your review:
We are all well aware that the decrease in revenue from the Hotel/Motel Excise Tax which goes towards the Affordable Housing Trust Fund would be considerably less this year due the impact that the COVID pandemic has had on our city’s tourism and convention business. And I think it’s fair to say that nearly everyone is optimistic that our city’s tourism and convention business will rebound in the next year or two as more and more people get vaccinated, and rates of infection are reduced.
And sure the $976,000 that is going towards the Trust Fund is better than nothing, but in my opinion even the 2019 expenditure of $1.9 million in lodging excise taxes could be even more. And the solution to that lies on who is receiving a share of these taxes and how much of a share.
The Republicans in the Ohio legislature voted to take over the operation of the State Health Department so that Gov. Mike DeWine could no longer order Ohioans to wear masks, stay 6-feet apart and stop congregating.
The governor was too concerned about avoiding the mass die-in of unprotected Buckeyes and offended the backwoods Neanderthal GOPers who possess veto-busting margins in both the Ohio House and Senate.
The legislature remains in the grip of Jim- and Jane-bos who inhabit the small cities and rural bastions of Ohio and decorate their outdoors with now tattered Trump signs and dilapidated Stop the Steal banners.
The Republicans can't manage their lawmaking chambers, let alone administer the state government, the governor's job. They still haven't removed the indicted State Rep. Larry Householder.
Imagine if the incompetent GOP legislators took over other branches of Ohio government.
The public schools would be closed except for the boys' sports teams.
The COVID would be ravaging the unvaccinated masses.
Half of the highways in the state would be closed due to giant potholes.
COVID-19 has diminished the average U.S. lifespan by an entire year, but Black Americans and those of Latin American origin have lost 2.7 and 1.9 years respectively, according to the CDC. Overrepresented in essential occupations, these workers are still not being prioritized for vaccines even though one in 10 are being exposed to the virus at least once per week, while many white Americans who work at home have already been vaccinated.
In February, Essential Ohio sent a letter to Gov. DeWine and Ohio Health Department Director Stephanie McCloud urging them to prioritize essential workers for COVID-19 vaccines. Essential Ohio is still awaiting an answer from DeWine and McCloud.
There are over 15,000 undocumented workers in the food supply chain in Ohio, for example, and that’s only a portion of our undocumented essential workforce in this state. Ohio’s agricultural industry, which relies on a historically marginalized and vulnerable migrant workforce, has continued to employ and bring in thousands of workers to ensure that Ohioans and the rest of the country have food on their plates during this dangerous and challenging time.
Letters, I write letters ...
Dear Liz Walters, Ohio Democratic Party Chair:
You've been in office for more than a month now and nothing is happening.
Oh, you're meeting with loyal Democrats, reaching out to the 88 counties, trying to be inclusive and all that, but nothing is happening. If you had a blueprint of how you are going to revitalize the moribund party in your back pocket, it is time take it out, read it aloud and start leading.
I know you have been dealt a bad hand, but time is wasting.
You got a break with Republican Senator Rob Portman said he would not run for re-election in 2022. It is easier to beat a non-incumbent even in red Ohio.
Okay, I understand the finances of the party are shaky, but that is what the phone is made for: to call donors and get them to ante up. The big unions who paved the way for your ascension to the throne should be writing big checks. Your sponsor U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown should be pitching in to fill the coffers.
As was foreseen, last week the Senate voted to acquit former President Donald Trump for the crime of inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Now, there are millions of Americans who have a choice to make. Republicans, conservativesand even some libertarianshave stretched their usual political norms to make excuses for Trump’s erratic behavior for years, but while the Congress and Vice-President counted the 2020 Electoral College votes on January 6, we finally saw in plain sight how far Trump and his rabid supporters would go. The riots at the Capitol were a direct attempt to usurp the democratic processes of our constitutional republic and any attempts by anyone to defend those actions are fundamentally flawed.
It seems so long ago. Another era. Another time. The economy was in crisis. The U.S. was immersed in two foreign wars. Activism was at a crossroads. The public was crying out for change. The year was 2009. In answer to those struggles, I wrote the essay, “Right Moral and Good,” which was emailed to the new president, Barack Obama in time for his inauguration. The Free Press published this essay again in 2016 as a harbinger of Donald Trump’s pending presidency.
Here we are in 2021 and another new president. A global pandemic has the economy in crisis. The U.S. is immersed in a violent domestic culture war. Activism still finds itself at a legal crossroads. Calls for change radiate from disparate realms. “Right Moral and Good” seems as relevant now as it was a dozen years ago.
The “Right, Moral and Good” graphic augments the essay and gives it visual context. Hopefully, both will make their way to the highest offices in the land and those who work there on our behalf.