The Free Press has written before that a short drive past I-270 might as well be driving to Mars when it comes to political beliefs and ideology.

London, Ohio in neighboring Madison County – just 15-minutes past Columbus – is one of those planets, er, towns.

The decline of small town Ohio is well-documented. Good paying jobs have vanished, drug addiction has sent too many kids into foster care, and the obsession for MAGA refuses to wane.

London is a community of roughly 10,000, but because it is so close to Columbus small numbers from the big city are moving there seeking affordable housing. The locals can be friendly, but simmering below the surface is rural Ohio’s anger towards the lefty oasis that is Columbus. Trump in 2020 won 70 percent of the vote in Madison County while Columbus went 65 percent for Biden, and with hundreds of thousands more votes.

To understand the imminent likely outcome of redistricting and reapportionment of Congressional and state legislative districts in Ohio, one must look at who is calling the shots among Ohio Republicans, who dominate the process. I call it the Republican Rigging Ring.

There has been a distraction of 10 public hearings around the state hosted by the redistricting commission. They were poorly attended by commission members – Gov. Mike DeWine preferred to attend a Cincinnati Bengals practice – because what the public says is of little consequence to the Republicans in charge, who make up five of the seven members.

It was alleged at one of the hearings by none other than former Ohio Democratic Party chair and former unsuccessful candidate for Oho attorney general, David Pepper, that somewhere off the books, either behind closed the doors or on private Zoom meetings, Republicans leaders were meeting to carve up the state to their satisfaction, public be damned.

The Republicans are making diplomatic public statements promising fairness when fairness is the farthest thing from their minds.

What is on their minds?

Tuesday, August 31, 2021, 7:00 PM
Join Massachusetts Peace Action to learn about whistleblower Daniel Hale. Daniel Hale served in the US Air Force, participating in the drone program from 2009-2013. In July 2021, Hale was sentenced to over 3.5 years in prison, for providing The Intercept with the source materials for “The Drone Papers.”  We are joined by Danaka Katovich, campaign coordinator at CODEPINK. We will discuss the case of Daniel Hale, his whistleblowing and prosecution, and more.  Register here.  

ne thing – and only one thing – can save our democracy and our Earth: a unified grassroots progressive movement.

It must be hugely diverse in terms of age, race, ethnicity, religion, class, gender, sexual orientation and more.

It must draw our national and global activist community out of its silos and into the streets and suites.

So on Monday (August 30, 1-5 p.m. Eastern Time), we are co-convening the first zoomed National Justice Roundtable, opened by the great Dolores Huerta, a monumental networking moment meant to join together activists and campaigners on a wide range of vital issues, including DC Statehood, Election Protection/Voter Engagement, environmental protection/Solartopian conversion, and Social Justice/Ending Poverty & Homelessness.

The Roundtable will host activists, campaigners, and organizers from everywhere explaining who they are, what they do, what victory will look like, and how we can get there together.

In some future lovely little war, perhaps with China or some other demonized target, some percentage of the U.S. public may suddenly exclaim: “Hey, since when does a draft include young women as well as men?!” Old tunes will be revised and sung in protest with lyrics about being the first one on your block to have your daughter come home in a box. The tragedies will be played out in tears and screams and flag-covered propaganda-regurgitating rationalizations. Dead women and men will be thanked for the service of stirring up World War III before being dumped in the ground to rot, as some of the living begin to envy them and wonder about the merits of the service they’ve provided.