by Michael O'Brien
President Obama, in releasing his long form birth certificate, has put the the race-based, xenophobic birthers and fraud peddler Donald Trump in a corner. Throwing the last shovel of dirt on the birthers, President Obama has again shown his political skill. Trump and his racist birther followers have no where to go but deeper into Crazy Land where even the most ardent conservatives will be slow to tread.
In a master stroke of in-your-face politics the President will find it easier, not harder, to fend off what he himself referred to as the "silliness" of the birther movement. This did not stop Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus from attempting to blame the President for stoking the birther conspiracy, thus creating what the President called the "carnival sideshow" of Birther Land. Priebus conveniently forgot to mention in his remarks that close to half of Republicans polled wrongly believed that Obama was not a citizen, with another 15% not knowing.
Should the President have done this sooner? The answer lies in how much further the Right Wing will push this. The timing may well work in Obama's favor as the GOP will need to push the Tea Party aside for fear of being connected with increasingly unbalanced and delusional conspiracy theories about the President's educational pedigree. Trump insists that the President could not have gotten into Harvard, a school that more than likely rejected Trump. Trump flaunts this nonsense in the face of Obama graduating cum laude and having been the first African American president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review.
The advantage also falls to the President given that the sensible middle of likely voters have not embraced that Right's racist paranoia and the few that have will likely be persuaded that, as has always been, President Obama is a citizen.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Kasich’s “No Jobs Budget” Hits Home
by Michael O'Brien
The ink was not yet dry on the Governor Kasich's so-called jobs budget when over 90 Ohio state employees were issued layoff notices, the first of many more to come. Locally, the City of Nelsonville, in a story published by the Athens Messenger, stands to lose an estimated $100,000 according to City Auditor Sue Powell.
Many local residents are under the impression that local fire and police services are funded by local tax levies and that these services will not be affected. According the Messenger's report, "Nelsonville does not have any levies that support those services".
Overall, state funding to local governments is expected to fall from its current level of $665 million to $339 million in FY 2013.
Mark Guarino, reporting for the Christian Science Monitor, cited a poll released Monday by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati which shows "53% of Ohioans favor a combination of tax increases and state spending cuts to balance the budget". This compares to 35% who favor solely cuts in state spending.
Progressives and Democrats must ask themselves how far to carry the fight against the Kasich's no jobs budget and Senate Bill 5. This is only the start of a long downhill slide. With Gov. Kasich’s approval rating at only 40% and with a majority of Ohioans favoring a combination of tax increases and spending cuts the Governor will find Ohioans bringing the fight straight to the Statehouse door.
The ink was not yet dry on the Governor Kasich's so-called jobs budget when over 90 Ohio state employees were issued layoff notices, the first of many more to come. Locally, the City of Nelsonville, in a story published by the Athens Messenger, stands to lose an estimated $100,000 according to City Auditor Sue Powell.
Many local residents are under the impression that local fire and police services are funded by local tax levies and that these services will not be affected. According the Messenger's report, "Nelsonville does not have any levies that support those services".
Overall, state funding to local governments is expected to fall from its current level of $665 million to $339 million in FY 2013.
Mark Guarino, reporting for the Christian Science Monitor, cited a poll released Monday by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati which shows "53% of Ohioans favor a combination of tax increases and state spending cuts to balance the budget". This compares to 35% who favor solely cuts in state spending.
Progressives and Democrats must ask themselves how far to carry the fight against the Kasich's no jobs budget and Senate Bill 5. This is only the start of a long downhill slide. With Gov. Kasich’s approval rating at only 40% and with a majority of Ohioans favoring a combination of tax increases and spending cuts the Governor will find Ohioans bringing the fight straight to the Statehouse door.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
A Sadder Spectacle at the Columbus Dispatch
Columbus Dispatch risks becoming irrelevant in labor battle
by Michael O'Brien
Newspapers have a long tradition in American politics of choosing up sides in bitterly fought political struggles and a free press is the backbone of any free society - but there in lies the rub. The Columbus Dispatch editorial board, abandoning all pretense of taking the high road, attacked former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland. The Dispatch naively, almost childishly chided the former governor for standing with Ohio workers and their families in the fight to retain basic labor rights. The Dispatch would have us believe that former office holders should “graciously” step aside, even in the face of a concerted effort to strip Ohio workers in both the private and public sectors, of their legal rights to organize and bargain.
The Dispatch seems to feel that once out of office politicians should “seek new avenues where their experience and understanding can make a difference…”. The key word in this statement is new. What “new” issues would the Dispatch suggest the former governor attend to?
Many of the issues facing Strickland during his administration were the same issues faced by virtually every governor in the country, brought on the near collapse of the national economy at the hands of the Republicans and Wall Street in 2008. Ohio’s budgetary woes were further compounded the poison pill pushed through by former Ohio Governor Bob Taft that called for unfunded and unfounded tax cuts.
The inequity in Ohio’s education funding despite, Ohio State Supreme Court decisions, was left to languish by two-term Governor Taft who chose to ignore the Court, dumping the problem in Strickland’s lap. Taft and the Republicans in the statehouse chose to kick the education can down the road. Yes, Taft has remained silent on Ohio’s problems but that makes sense given that, in 2005, Time Magazine named Taft one of the three worst governors in the country, and left office with an 18 percent approval rating.
Having struggled mightily to reform Ohio’s education system Strickland passed a series of reforms that while not perfect put Ohio’s education system on a more sustainable track, legislation that Governor Kasich is intent on overturning.
by Michael O'Brien
Newspapers have a long tradition in American politics of choosing up sides in bitterly fought political struggles and a free press is the backbone of any free society - but there in lies the rub. The Columbus Dispatch editorial board, abandoning all pretense of taking the high road, attacked former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland. The Dispatch naively, almost childishly chided the former governor for standing with Ohio workers and their families in the fight to retain basic labor rights. The Dispatch would have us believe that former office holders should “graciously” step aside, even in the face of a concerted effort to strip Ohio workers in both the private and public sectors, of their legal rights to organize and bargain.
The Dispatch seems to feel that once out of office politicians should “seek new avenues where their experience and understanding can make a difference…”. The key word in this statement is new. What “new” issues would the Dispatch suggest the former governor attend to?
Many of the issues facing Strickland during his administration were the same issues faced by virtually every governor in the country, brought on the near collapse of the national economy at the hands of the Republicans and Wall Street in 2008. Ohio’s budgetary woes were further compounded the poison pill pushed through by former Ohio Governor Bob Taft that called for unfunded and unfounded tax cuts.
The inequity in Ohio’s education funding despite, Ohio State Supreme Court decisions, was left to languish by two-term Governor Taft who chose to ignore the Court, dumping the problem in Strickland’s lap. Taft and the Republicans in the statehouse chose to kick the education can down the road. Yes, Taft has remained silent on Ohio’s problems but that makes sense given that, in 2005, Time Magazine named Taft one of the three worst governors in the country, and left office with an 18 percent approval rating.
Having struggled mightily to reform Ohio’s education system Strickland passed a series of reforms that while not perfect put Ohio’s education system on a more sustainable track, legislation that Governor Kasich is intent on overturning.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Obama Shows Courage in Mosque Support
by Michael O'Brien
Amid a maelstrom of manufactured outrage by the radical Right, President Obama took one of the most courageous steps of his presidency Friday, reminding us that “Islam is not the enemy, al Qaida is”. The occasion of the President’s remarks was a White House dinner held to celebrate Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of prayer and fasting.
While the usual collection of Right Wing hacks cried foul, the President Obama called on Americans to embrace the constitutional protections accorded all religions. Wading further into the storm, President Obama articulated his position on the proposed mosque and community center in Lower Manhattan saying that “…as a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances".
Even before the President spoke, noted Constitutional scholar and defender of religious freedom Sarah Palin wondered if Obama would disavow the First Amendment, tweeting "Will Obama express US lingering pain & ask Muslims for tolerance by discouraging 9/11 mosque while he celebrates Islamic holy month tonight?".
Sorry Sarah, there is no such thing as a 9/11 mosque and, as the President so aptly put it "This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable”.
Palin's fellow tea party traveler Mark Williams stirred the pot of hate by declaring that the community center would be used for "terrorists to worship their monkey god."
In the wake of the President’s remarks, in what can only be described as a fit of knee-jerk jingoism, the heroes of the Right Wing lined up to express their outrage. Declaring that "President Obama is wrong," Rep. Peter King (R-NY) attempted to put lipstick on the pig of anti-Muslim hysteria by claiming that Muslims in Lower Manhattan are “abusing” their freedom to worship when and where they choose. “While the Muslim community has the right to build the mosque they are abusing that right by needlessly offending so many people who have suffered so much”.
Does King really believe that Muslims, many of whom are his constituents, are not offended by the, misguided, anti-Muslim rhetoric of the American Right? Has Rep. King forgotten the suffering of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan after almost 10 years of war and occupation? Is not the blood of thousands of Americans and Muslims lost to the horrors of armed conflict enough to satisfy King’s quest for endless revenge?
In face of an unprecedented campaign by the radical Right Wing to paint President Obama as everything from a “secret Muslim” to an undocumented immigrant, Obama has held true to his core strengths. True courage has become a rare commodity in politics today. By embracing American values and defying the hate and paranoia, the President has shown courage not seen since the days of the civil rights movement.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Federal judge strikes down California ban on same-sex marriages
A Federal judge has declared the California ban on same-sex marriages unconstitutional.
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