I am a straight, white woman who lives in the suburbs. I grew up in Columbus, taught in Columbus schools. But, now, I live in the suburbs. I have no friends here. At one time, I had many. We supported each other, babysat each other’s kids. We planned activities. We shared a common routine in life. We were mothers, who needed a connection to another woman that shared our sorrows and successes in this vulnerable time. I was kicked out of the “neighborhood group” when someone (who happened to be a pastor) asked if it was okay to fly his Blue Lives Matter flag. I said no. Part of my explanation referred to minors who had recently been held by CPD in their van, with no water, no parents for hours because they witnessed a crime (June 22, 2021). I asked these suburban mothers how they would feel if it was their child, desperately trying to get them to relate, have empathy for the mothers who were demanding their children be given back. My friends did not defend me. One said “at least they were released.” For fear of retaliation from my new friends, she said that she wouldn't comment further.

Tuesday, December 27, 8pm, this event will be occurring via “Facebook Live”

Join us at 8pm on Tuesday, December 27 for case updates and tips for dealing with the holidays from people who are living in that situation, including John and Michelle Lucio, Julis Jones’ family, Rodrick Reed, Charles Keith, Delia Perez-Meyer, Keith Lamar (live from Ohio’s death row), and others.

This event will be occurring via “Facebook Live.”

Hosted by Reed Justice Initiative, Death Penalty Action, and Abraham J. Bonowitz.

Facebook Event

The Christmas present of the congressional January 6 Committee is a report that the White House administration of Donald Trump, in its final months, opted for an official policy of lawlessness and sedition. Not only was there a conspiracy to overturn a presidential election, but the conspirators intentionally violated numerous federal laws in order to do it, including laws against interference with the workings of Congress and laws against the incitement of violent mobs.

Enabling this would-be coup d’etat, various agencies including the Pentagon and the FBI, failed to timely act against the conspiracy, essentially because they failed to conceive it could be happening. This is an advantage that criminals have over the bureaucratic state. The quotidian expectation of adherence to law leaves law-abiding citizens open to victimization by flagrantly law-breaking politicians. It should not have been a surprise when the golfer announced his new run for the presidency on the platform of chucking the Constitution.

These days, conventional media wisdom says that President Biden will have a smooth path to renomination if he wants it.

Don’t be so sure.

Fifty-five years ago, pundits scoffed when a Democratic senator announced that he was running against incumbent Lyndon Johnson for their party’s presidential nomination. Eugene McCarthy launched his campaign to challenge Johnson’s continual escalation of the war in Vietnam.

Joe Biden’s public approval rating is now at 42 percent, virtually identical to what it was for President Johnson when the McCarthy campaign began in November 1967. A few months later, on March 12, 1968, McCarthy received 42 percent of the votes -- a stunning result, just 7 percent behind Johnson -- in the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary. Senator Robert Kennedy jumped into the race four days later. And two weeks after that, Johnson shocked the country by declaring that he would not seek re-election.

 Unlike the group’s first appearance on September 2, the number of fighters who took part in the rally in the Old City of Nablus on December 9 was significantly larger, better equipped, with unified military fatigues and greater security precautions.