Local
The US Supreme Court may be about to make a second Trump term inevitable.
The nine "Justices" have just heard oral arguments in an Ohio voter registration case. If their decision goes with Secretary of State Jon Husted, it would mean Republicans like him throughout the United States will be able to scrub from the voter rolls millions of citizens merely because they are suspected of wishing to vote Democrat.
In Ohio alone, millions of Ohio voters have tried to vote on Election Day over the past four presidential elections, only to find their names were erased from the pollbooks.
What's technically at stake is whether the federal government has the right to demand fairness in purging voter registration rolls. Or will the secretaries of the various states be free to purge whomever they want.
In other words, it's supposedly a "state’s rights" case.
But this is a country where an Attorney-General who fought for state’s rights to avoid accepting racial integration is now overriding the explicit choice of some thirty states to enjoy legal marijuana.
On December 6th, HB 440, the Ohio Health Security Act, was introduced to the Ohio House by Representatives Teresa Fedor and Bernadine Kennedy Kent.
Today we received the notice of the first hearing of this bill, the Sponsor’s Hearing, on Wednesday, January 24th at 10:00 am. The hearing will take place in the Statehouse in Room 116.
The hearing will be conducted by the Insurance committee. The members of the committee are: Thomas Brinkman (R), Chair, Michael Henne (R), Vice Chair, John Boccieri (D), Michael Ashford (D), Kristin Boggs (D), Andrew Brenner (R), Bill Dean (R), Anne Gonzales (R), Glenn Holmes (D), Larry Householder (R), Stephen Huffman (R), Sarah LaTourette (R), Wes Rutherford (R).
We need to have as many people as possible show up for this hearing. We need to fill the room and spill out into the hallway. The members of the committee need to know that we are serious and that we can show up in large numbers. As Representative Fedor said to us,
House JointResolution 5 (HJR 5), introduced in fall 2017 in both houses of the Ohio General Assembly, would dramatically change the already-difficult process to amend the Ohio Constitution and is stealthily making its way through the Ohio General Assembly.
On January 17, former U.S. Congressman and former Mayor of Cleveland, Dennis Kucinich (D) announced his candidacy for governor of Ohio. He outlined a campaign strategy entitled "Power to We The People." He noted that he is "not owned by anybody and not beholden to 'wealthy interest groups.'''
The former presidential candidate has a 30-point agenda that will rebuild Ohio's infrastructure, bolster the public school system, dismantle "the prison-industrial complex," and promote clean air, water and energy in the state.
See video of his speech:
Thursday, January 18, 2018, 6:00 – 8:00 PM.
Come on out to our first meeting of the year! We will be going over plans for the #BlackPride4's weeklong trial (which starts February 5) and discussing proposals for Community Pride. The library and room are wheelchair accessible. Please message us if you need any accommodations such as an interpreter or childcare. Location: Columbus Metropolitan Library, Parsons Branch, meeting room 3, 1113 Parsons Avenue, Columbus 43206.
Facebook Event
Wednesday, January 17
Kucinich4Ohio: Announcement
2:45-4:45pm
Ground floor, Ohio Statehouse, Broad and High Streets
Come show your support for Dennis Kucinich as he announces his run for Governor of Ohio.
Meet on the Ground Floor of the Statehouse, Thomas Worthington Center, at 2:45. We will have signs to hold.
Dreamers of Columbus Art Display
5-8pm
Third Way Cafe, 3058 W. Broad St.
Columbus artists Olga Pavlovska, Sahar Fadaian, and Leticia Wiggins are previewing their new work that showcases portraits and stories of local Dreamers.
Also know as DACA recipients, Dreamers are the sons and daughters of undocumented immigrants in America who have grown up going to school with us, graduating college with us, and now work with us, but don't have citizenship.
Their fate is currently being debated in Washington, D.C. and will most likely be decided January 19th. Please come to show your support for these brave individuals and learn how you can get more involved.
This event is free to the public. Locally Roasted Coffee is available for a $2 cover charge.
Tuesday, Jan 16, 7-9pm
Columbus Mennonite Church, 35 Oakland Park Ave.
Over the past few months we have witnessed two things: 1) the cruelty of the Trump administration’s efforts to deport immigrant families and 2) how those immigrant families are leading our movement by resisting Trump’s deportation agenda.
While many localities, like Columbus, Ohio, have made proclamations that no local resources will be used to enforce federal immigration law, the reality is that ICE continues to terrorize and separate families like Edith Espinal’s.
On October 10, 2017, Edith, a mother of three, was ordered to leave the country. She courageously made the decision to fight her deportation by entering sanctuary. Edith’s case is one of a handful of other cases where immigrant families have taken up sanctuary across the country.
We invite you to join us to hear from Edith and others living in Sanctuary who are leading the sanctuary movement.
The conversation will include:
As the nation prepares to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – one of our greatest Americans – on Monday, President Donald Trump offers a stark contrast in leadership.
The best way to react to Mr. Trump’s latest decidedly non-Presidential outburst is not with anger at his incendiary, vulgar and racially-charged remarks this week about immigrants from “shithole countries.”
The best response is to do what Dr. King fought so hard for. It is to get registered to vote and then to cast ballots in massive and historic numbers. The 2018 midterm elections are just around the corner.
Now more than ever, we must continue Dr. King’s movement to “redeem the soul of America.”
Hours after the world-wide fire storm ignited by his vile words, Mr. Trump is denying saying them. But Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois was in the room where it happened and said today at Chicago’s 32rd annual breakfast celebrating the life of Dr. King that it is “exactly what [Mr. Trump] said and he said it repeatedly.”
When it comes to veracity, I’ll put my faith in the Senator from the Land of Lincoln.
Everything above my shoulders is in agony. I’ve spent an entire week rolling my eyes, shaking my head, and gritting my teeth. I actually rolled my eyes so viciously my wife started calling me Liz Lemon. This week regrettably has been one which left my respect for American liberals hanging by a thread. Liberals and devotees of the elected left reminded me how extraordinarily hypocritical they are and how dangerously short their memories are.