Politics

Approximately 50 people representing various organizations, including Veterans for Peace, Students for Justice in Palestine, and The Communist Party of the United States,  protested against ICE, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in downtown Columbus, Ohio last Tuesday, June 17, 2025.  The protest repeats each Tuesday from 4:30-6PM.

Protestors walked with signs and chanted “Stop ICE” at specific intersections near parking garages where workers were leaving their jobs at 5:00 PM.  Protesters loudly voiced phrases such as “Say it Loud. Say it Clear.  Immigrants are Welcome Here,” and “No ICE. NO KKK.  No Fascist USA.”

Trump’s win convinced local conservatives they too have a mandate to rid Columbus of immigrants, but their tactics amount to nothing more than spreading lies, and hopefully that’s all they do. But the anxiety-inducing damage inflicted by these rumors is ongoing.

ICE agents are increasingly witnessed in Columbus making arrests of non-criminals, this is fact. Putting them in ICE-contracted county jails for overstaying their visa, for instance, which according to the Ohio Immigrant Alliance is a civil violation, not criminal. Thus, holding on to your job to achieve the American dream could get you sent to the hellhole that is Buter County jail which is run by Trump glory-hole lover Sherrif Richard K. Jones.

This article first appeared on the Buckeye Flame.

The Ohio Senate has passed their version of the state’s two-year budget and left intact all of the anti-LGBTQ+ provisions passed by the House. 

The version that the Senate passed on Wednesday included:

On the last day of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Dayton, delegates unanimously adopted Resolution 497 which, among other belligerent assertions, emphasized “that only peace through strength can lead to lasting peace.” That is a fatally flawed and dangerous delusion. Peace through strength translates into the fallacy that “if you want peace, then prepare for war.” Preparation for war, which succinctly summarizes the overarching theme of the entire five-day Assembly, leads to war, not peace. NATO is not alone in that operational mobilization and development of war resources.

Plans are well underway to create a military-industrial-nuclear nexus in Ohio. With a massive AI weapons manufacturing plant (Anduril’s Arsenal One) south of Columbus, a modernized nuclear fuel facility (Centrus Energy’s low-enriched uranium plant) on the heavily contaminated grounds of the former Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, and use of Wright-Patterson airbase in Dayton (as well as Rickenbacker by Columbus) as a deployment hub for the newly developed weapons, this trinity of military sites is designed to convert Ohio into the heart of new nuclear military industrial complex.

In recent years, Donald Trump has frequently billed himself as a bringer of peace. During 2023 and 2024, as he campaigned for re-election, he declared at least 53 times that he would end the Ukraine War within 24 hours of taking office or even before that. Referring to peace for Ukraine before a gathering in Council Bluffs, Iowa in July 2023, he insisted: “I’ll get that done within 24 hours. Everyone says, ‘Oh, no, you can’t.’ Absolutely, I can. Absolutely I can.”

Trump has vowed to terminate other wars, as well. Promising to end the war in Gaza and “bring peace back to the Middle East,” Trump assured audiences that “we will return the world to peace.” Indeed, in his January 20, 2025 inaugural address, he proclaimed that “we will measure our success . . . by the wars we end.” And “my proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker.”

Right now, Congress is working on a giant, fast-track bill that would make historic cuts to basic needs programs to finance another round of tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations.

As the Communications and Policy Director for the Rural Democracy Initiative, I’ve been hearing from rural leaders across the country about the devastating impacts this bill would have.

The good news is it’s not too late. But there’s little time to spare.

This dangerous, unpopular bill would increase costs for rural working families by thousands of dollars per year, leaving millions hungry and without health care — all to provide tax breaks and handouts to the wealthy and special interests.

Here are just six of the worst provisions.

1. It guts rural healthcare.

TransOhio and Equality Ohio strongly condemn the decision by the Ohio Government Oversight and Reform Committee to reject public testimony submitted by both organizations and community members regarding harmful anti-transgender language proposed in the state budget: “It is the policy of the state of Ohio to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”

“This testimony was submitted in accordance with all legislative rules, and it was explicitly relevant to language in the budget that aims to strip trans, nonbinary and intersex Ohioans of legal recognition,” said Dara Adkison, Executive Director, TransOhio. “Rejecting our public testimony is just another egregious attempt to silence trans voices and the voices of community members who respect our right to life, liberty, and happiness. This language has the potential to affect people receiving services from every agency in Ohio.”

This week President Trump and his regime are welcoming Afrikaners - white South Africans who are part of an ethnic group that facilitated legal discriminatory violence against their Black and Indian counterparts for decades – into the U.S. as refugees. To many, it may seem odd – if not downright ridiculous – to classify full citizens of a first-world country in this way despite their having lived comfortable lives without the threat of persecution, war, or violence. Odd or not, it’s on-par with U.S. immigration policy since the eighteenth century.  

They’re at it again. Despite a year and a half. Despite a half billion dollars. Despite record opposition to a similar bill, the Ohio General Assembly is once again pushing forward with its wet dream of legislatively killing last year’s Issue 2 that legalized adult use marijuana. So, what’s a seasoned activist to do? How about submitting written testimony to the Judiciary Committee, followed by reworking that same testimony into an article for the Columbus Free Press. Then, everyone can to see, hear, read, digest, and abhor the legislature’s total lack of understanding of what mandatory minimum sentencing means to sick, dying, and disabled patients.

President Biden left behind an economy that was pretty healthy, conventionally speaking. Unemployment was low and wages were rising, but stubbornly high costs of living opened a door for Donald Trump’s political comeback.