When A Write-In Wins A Contested Election There Is More To The Story

John Harrington won election as a write-in
John Harrington won election as a write-in

One problem with our overcomplicated and biased election system here in the US is the rare occurrence of a write-in candidate winning a contested seat. It happened on November 5th when John Harrington won the 5th Ward seat on the Findlay Ohio City Council. The news isn’t that a write-in won but about the battle between establishment Republicans and Tea Party Republicans in a civil war for the soul of the party.

Findlay Ohio rarely elected a democrat for any office the exception being maverick John Sausser. He was the Mayor in the late 60’s and early 70s and returned to council in 2001. He was more of what we now call a Blue Dog type of Democrat. He hated most taxes for example. For the most part Findlay and Hancock county is deep red Republican.

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Tea Party Member Of Ohio School Board Wants To Ban Books

image of Ohio Board of Education President Debe Terhar
Ohio Board of Education President Debe Terhar supports gun rights but wants to ban books

Pretty ironic when a Tea Party member, who screams about the right to bear arms, doesn’t see the irony in wanting to ban books in public schools. Ohio Board of Education President Debe Terhar, who is a member of several Tea Party groups and who once compared President Obama to Hitler, sees nothing wrong in violating the civil rights of students and their families by wanting to ban books used in schools.

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The IRS Doing Its Job And Other Drummed Up Political Outrages

created image with the word Outrage

Well the Republicans have a real “scandal” to use to make more excuses to avoid doing their own jobs. The IRS apologized for doing their job when a boatload of political groups tried to gain tax exemptions as charities to keep from having to disclose their donors. I get it, no one likes the tax man so this is an easy “outrage” to get on board. That’s why President Obama is equally “outraged”. I get a chuckle from my conservative friends who think we are entering a period similar to what lead President Nixon to resign in 1974. These fake “outrages” (IRS, Benghazi, and the AP phone records case) are no where near Watergate level. I mean if a President can start an unnecessary war in Iraq with lies and allow the economy to be trashed by the banks, then these current events are nothing in comparison.

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In Defending Rights There Are No Trivial Issues

image of VP Biden taking the oath of office
Vice President Biden taking the oath of office 01/20/2013

The other day I read that a Republican legislator, in Arizona, introduced a bill that would require high school students to take a loyalty oath before being allowed to graduate. The oath includes the usual invoking of God clap trap we see in the Pledge of Allegiance. The requirement is stupid, doesn’t help educate kids, and could be used to discriminate against people who either don’t believe in such pledges or don’t believe in the God part like Atheists. What bothered me more was the reaction from an Atheist who thought the possibility for discrimination was trivial and nothing to get worked up about. In defending our rights nothing should be trivial.

Here is the text of the proposed high school graduation loyalty oath:

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Jon Husted To Pal Around With King Of Ohio Voter Suppression

image of voting suppressor in training Jon Husted
voting suppressor in training Jon Husted

The blog Plunderbund is reporting that Ohio Secretary of State (SOS) Jon Husted is going to attend a tea party “voter protection” event with former Secretary of State and still RWNJ Ken Blackwell. Don’t remember Blackwell? He was responsible for voter suppression efforts while Secretary of State during the 2004 Ohio voting debacle. His work pissed off so many people that a state referendum was tried in 2005 to take voting oversight away from the SOS. I guess we know how Husted really feels about voting rights.

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