Part 1:
We are then joined by the legendary KEITH ELLISON, Attorney-General of Minnesota and lead prosecutor in the legendary George Floyd case. 
Keith is a former multi-term US Representative and Vice-Chair of the national Democratic Party.
We discuss with him the relatively safe, democratic voting conditions in Minnesota and the desperate need to replicate them nationwide.
Keith is gratefully joined by RAY MCCLENDON of the Georgia NAACP, connecting powerful pro-democracy organizers in critical states where conditions are very different.
Joining them also are BOB FITRAKIS, JULIE WIENER, WENDI LIEDERMAN, HEDI TRIPP, TATANKA BRICCA and others.
The need for a national organization of progressive state Attorneys-General and secretaries of state has never been more critical.
We finish this amazing hour with JAMIAH HARGINS and his truly mind-boggling organization promoting urban farming and water conservation.

Ah, the children!

They belong to us, sayeth the Department of Defense. At least some of them do.

It’s a little more complicated than it used to be, thanks to one of the changes that occurred back in 1973, a year of startling historical significance. That was the year of the Roe v. Wade decision and, oh yeah, the Watergate hearings (remember those?). But there was more. The United States, tangled militarily in the quagmire of Vietnam and increasingly torn apart on the home front by protests, was on the brink of conceding defeat in Nam and getting the hell out of the ravaged country. Before that came about, the military-industrialists made a pragmatic decision. They got rid of the draft.

The idea was to shut up the protesters by taking away their personal stake in America’s militarism. The term that was then emerging was “Vietnam syndrome” — people were sick of war. Uh oh! Big problem for the defense industry and all the groveling politicians indebted to it. Patriotism itself had become poisoned. People began calling for profound national change, including (God help us) an end to war. Was the antiwar movement becoming the new patriotism?

WHAT LED YOU TO THE OPEN SHELTER?

“I asked some homeless guys where to get stuff at and they told me the location. They showed me where to go and ever since I have been coming here. It was about eight or nine years ago. I didn’t have anywhere to go. I didn’t want to live with my family. I needed to go away and get my stuff together. There was drama. I wanted to be by myself. I was staying in a tent in downtown.”

“I would get up at 7 in the morning. Trying to find places to eat, get clothes and stuff I need. I never had any real problems except for the city coming down and tearing people’s tents down for no reason. I lost a lot of things. Sometimes other campers won’t tell you if the city is coming. So if you go away for a couple of days, your stuff could be gone.” 

United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) 1059 told local Kroger members earlier this week: “To this point, there is no firm commitment from Kroger to return to the bargaining table, but we expect further communications from the Company this week.”

Since this letter, Kroger employees told the Free Press that 1059 has alerted union stewards they may give authorization to strike, which could occur today (Wednesday). UFCW 1059 represents 12,500 Kroger associates in 84 stores. Some are part-time, such as teenagers and those on the autism spectrum.

But there’s the difference – the majority of 1059 members work full-time and are longtime veterans of Kroger, like the 40-year union steward we spoke with, or those who stock our freezers for hours on end, drive a forklift in warehouses, or man the registers eight hours a day.

One thing the pandemic proved is that every community has a far greater dependence on fulltime grocery store workers than was once apparent.

In the past few months, I have renewed my love for all-things Star Wars, watching and re-watching the movies, TV shows, and limited series. While this franchise takes place in a galaxy far, far away, one scene from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith feels as if it is happening in Ohio today. 

As the democratic Republic is transformed into the evil Galactic Empire, amid the rancorous cheering of fellow senators, Senator Padmé Amidala exasperatedly comments, “So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause.”

While it might seem reductive to apply the events of a science-fiction movie to the politics of our own state, Ohio Republicans have gerrymandered their way to veto-proof supermajorities in the State House and State Senate in a manner that threatens our own democracy.