Politics

What: The Farce. The Fix. The Force. The * …

You support legalizing marijuana, aka cannabis, in Ohio. In fact, you have followed this issue for years. A few citizens you knew were putting the subject on the ballot. You signed their petition, confident that you understood its contents. Sufficient signatures and plentiful petitions placed the issue on the statewide ballot in November 2023 as Issue 2. You made sure your voter registration was current so you could participate in the early vote. After election day, you woke up happily to find that over 2 million other Ohioans voted just like you. Ohio legalized adult use cannabis. The new law went into effect on December 7. And Ohioans lived happily ever after … or not. You recently learned that Ohio legislators are trying to gut the new law. Your reaction? WTF!

WHAT: THE FRAMEWORK

We start with “America’s Mayor,” HEIDI LAMPERT of Waldport, Oregon.

We then meet the dastardly Jeffrey Epstein as presented by the great DR. BOB FITRAKIS, who broke the first stories about Epstein's financial roots in Central Ohio.

Long-time activist JOHN STEINER raises the specter of gerrymandering and how we must fight it.

KPFA mainstay DON GOLDMACHER raises the issue of re-districting California to match the gerrymandering in Texas and other warped “rotten boroughs.".

“Policy is the answer” says HEIDI V as she conjures a movement to defeat fascism.

From Texas we hear ALICE EMBREE fill in many of the blanks the Lone Star fight over the manipulation of who will control the US House.

Long-time writer/activist THORNE DREYER founder of “The Rag” in Houston & Austin’s best left radio station shows us his great new “Notes from the Underground.”

Energy expert KEVIN KAMPS confirms that the South Texas Nuke Plant did freeze in the big Lodestar Storm, resulting in dozens of deaths.

The quarterly meeting of the Franklin County Treasurer, Cheryl Brooks Sullivan, and the Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) took place last Thursday, July 24, 2025. This meeting of the IAC was the last quarterly meeting before the Treasurer is faced with the decision of whether or not to reinvest $2,500,000 of tax payer funds into Israel bonds set to mature on October 1, 2025. The first half of the meeting consisted of a presentation on the standing of the county’s portfolio, while the second half was dedicated to public comment.

Between deep Medicaid cuts and a ballooning budget for an increasingly fascistic Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the recently passed federal budget contained grim news for just about everyone in the country. While MAGA-land rejoices at the bill’s passage, recent climate-related disasters show that everyone will suffer under this “Big Beautiful Bill”. The legislation guts Joe Biden’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), eliminating tax credits for renewable energy and electric vehicles — a move that will cost Ohio billions in investment and thousands of jobs. Even Trump’s most rabid white nationalist supporters will live in the hotter, more disaster-prone, and volatile climate system that this climate rollback will help to usher in — right along with the rest of us.

It’s bad enough that the Mayor and Columbus City Council hand out tax abatements as though every Monday is Halloween. Central Ohio leads the state in granting tax breaks to the tune of $5.82 billion. Tax abatements for wealthy developers and corporations are contributing to reduced revenue for our public schools, social services, and burdening homeowners with unattainable higher property taxes.

Ohio Revised Code 5709.82 requires the city of Columbus to “pay affected school districts 50 percent (50 percent) of the municipal income tax revenue attributable to tax abated projects where the annual ‘new employee’ payroll for a project is one million dollars for an Enterprise Zone (EZ) or for a Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) two million dollars or more, in a given tax year, during the abatement.”

Even the experts get it wrong once in a while.

Erected in 1929, on a ridge over a Maumee River floodplain south of Toledo, is an impressive statue commemorating the Battle of Fallen Timbers. It was the height of summer 1794, and a Native American confederacy made what would amount to one of several last stands against the invaders. The battle’s name was inspired by a tornado that had previously torn through the mix of prairie and forest. On the battlefield was future President William Henry Harrison, as was Tecumseh.

Near the statue is a notable rock moved here to honor the battle’s Native casualties. The legend goes a chief rallied his warriors from this rock – his last words before being gunned down. There’s decaying tobacco stuffed into chiseled holes, testimony First Nations continue to make offerings.  

Four presenters spoke about qualified immunity and the ballot initiative to overturn qualified immunity during the weekly “Current Events” discussion group that had been held July 15, 2025 at the recently-opened Bob Crane Community Center in Upper Arlington.

Qualified immunity is a legal concept that protects government officials, for example, police officers and others, from civil liability for violating a person’s civil rights in most situations when they are acting in their professional capacity.

One speaker, Cynthia Brown, is the 2023 Free Press Libby Award winner for Community Activism. Cynthia’s passion to change the system has grown since her nephew Kareem Ali Nadir Jones was shot and killed by Columbus police in 2017. He was harassed for no good reason and ordered to get on the ground. He was then tragically shot in the face, neck, and in the back while on the ground by two white officers. Both are still with the Division.

RED ALERT — Ohio Statehouse Republicans are trying to ruin your Summer.

The Ohio House just announced that they will pause their Summer break and return to Session for one day on Monday, July 21st. Senate Republicans are trying to schedule a Summer Session date as well.

Do they just hate spending time with their families, or what?

The House plans to override some of Governor DeWine’s budget vetoes. They specifically mentioned:

This article first appeared in the Buckeye Flame

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has signed the state’s two-year budget, vetoing three anti-LGBTQ+ measures and leaving three intact.

Shortly before the midnight deadline on June 30 to approve the budget, DeWine issued 67 line-item vetoes to the 5,500-page document. 

Three key vetoes

DeWine vetoed an amendment requiring all public libraries to place material related to sexual orientation or gender identity or expression out of the view of persons under the age 18.

In a document explaining his vetoes, DeWine said the language created “vague restrictions” and that current laws on obscenity and material harmful to juveniles can be used to ensure that “no child should have access to inappropriate materials or to materials that their parents or guardians deem inappropriate.”

Many factors explain the demise of earlier civilizations, but not one collapsed as a result of deliberate decisions by a top political leader who wanders about destroying the pillars of his country’s greatness. Donald J, Trump, however, does so—endangering not only the United States but also U,S. allies and others previously inspired by America’s example.        

The United States has long suffered from many of the challenges that brought down earlier political systems—from Uruk in Mesopotamia to Mayan Chichén Itza to the USSR. These problems included myopic leadership, rich-poor enmity, widespread corruption; racial and religious conflict, environmental abuse, overextension and unnecessary warring—all made worse by inflation and deficit spending.