Things Are Even Worse in Ohio than Anyone Could Imagine

[maxrandb]

I've got two little tidbits. One that is LOL funny. The other that scares the hell out of me.

Had a chance to talk to my brother last night. He's living through the hell that is Ohio right now. I am in the Navy and was able to escape, but I still call Ohio my home.

My brother pointed a couple of things out to me.

First - The investment scandal is shaping up to be a scandal of epic proportions, with a hell of a lot of humor as well. Here's something I did not know. As part of the investments in collectables, Ohio also invested in....(pregnant pause for effect).....Beanie Baby's!!!:rofl:

My brother said as an act of protest, many people are planning to pay their property taxes by mailing in a couple of Beanie Baby's.

Second, and scary - Apparently there is a growing number of "Mega Churches" full of "fundies" cropping up all over the state. My Bro' seems to think unless something is done to counter their influence, Ohio is lost. He points out that Taft wasn't even liked by his fellow Republicans, yet he still won with close to 70% of the vote.

Is the Democratic Party in Ohio that bad?

I know that I will do all I can to help. Ohio is the KEY! We turn it "blue", and the neo-cons can't win.

[Dr.Phool]

1. Yes, the Ohio Democratic Party is that bad.

They've been blowing it big-time for about 20 years now.

I lived there my entire life, until I relocated to Florida 3 years ago.

I think the only bright spots in Ohio are Dennis Kucinich and Sherrod Brown.

[maxrandb]

5. Could

this terribly unpopular Governor, combined with scandal after scandal after scandal, present an opportunity for Dems to finally start winning state-wide elections?

I've been gone for about 20 years, but plan to move back when I leave the Navy. Saturdays in the fall I bleed "scarlet and gray" and Sunday's I bleed "Orange and Brown"

Go Bucks!! Beat Michigan!!

[kittenpants]

49. yeah, I couldn't believe Taft was re-elected

given the pre-election hatred everyone I knew had for him. oh yeah, as a former Ohioan, I also bleed "scarlet & gray" in the fall so go bucks!

[HughBeaumont]

63. One could argue that this asshat's re-election

AFFIRMS the accusation of corrupt elections in this state.

[MeDeMax]

7. and Stephanie Tubb Jones

(don't forget Rep Jones).

and for a brief period during bolton hearings - George Voinovich. Sorry, give the man where credit is due.

[POAS]

27. Don't forget Marcy Kaptur

[Arugula Latte]

18. Ohio and then Florida?

Wow, you've experienced your fair share of corrupt election systems!

[eridani]

39. And Marcy Kaptur too?

And Stephanie Tubb-Jones? Does the Ohio Dem congressional delegation have anything to do with the Ohio Democratic party, or do they just ignore it and get elected on their own?

[Stew225]

48. I'd hasten to add Marcy Kaptur, also. eom

[patrice]

2. Church congregations are forming economic cartels. These are the root

of Fascism in the U.S.A.

It IS scary; we'd be able to accept theological or philosophical differences if they weren't tied to economic oppression. Our Fouding Fathers saw this possibility and tried, unsuccessfully, to prevent it.

IMO, the only response we have is an unpleasant/hard one: Tax the churches.

[EVDebs]

6. Read End Time Delusions by Steven Wohlberg

The pre-tribulation/secret-rapture crowd is is for a BIG surprise...they're going to go through tribulation WITH THE REST OF US !

[Gay Green]

64. And their Dear Leader...

...will commit the tribulation.

[converted_democrat]

9. I understand what your saying, but I tried looking at it from

the other side. Can you imagine the attacks on us? I can hear it now "The Democrats are trying to take our religion away." Trust me I feel your frustration, but we can't punish all for the sins of a few. They would stab us so hard with that, that we would never stop bleeding.

[patrice]

14. So we need a process for distinguishing between

those who should be taxed and those who shouldn't. I'm sure there are IRS rules about churches; I imagine they aren't being pursued with much effort by * Co.

I know there are natioal groups interested in separation of Church and State. I'm so busy doing other things, I can only hope they are actively evaluating their responses to religious phenomena like those represented by James Dobson and Ted Haggard (National Association of Evangelicals).

[converted_democrat]

16. Exactly.

If they want to play these games we go to the churches that we can prove have been used politically and sanction them with fines.

[suziedemocrat]

59. Tax the Churches. We tax families - families are sacred!

I was raised Catholic and I remember hearing about my father's cousin who was a priest and very disillusioned. He said he was there to raise money and not to be a spiritual adviser. But - what options does a 50+ year old priest have when he entered the seminary at 13? I felt so sorry for him. He wouldn't even go to a Catholic hospital when he died.

[Sapphire Blue]

43. See post # 42 & reclaim Christianity

[MisterP]

23. megachurches are spreading like mushrooms, extending the

Bible Belt.
Much of central Indiana and Ohio are blood- and burgundy-red bulwarks: there are also inroads in western Minnesota, north and south Missouri, eastern Illinois, and central Pennsylvania. When this reacts with slightly higher population densities, megachurces often occur and metastasize. I know this 'coz I live in megachurch-Serf*Mart central, the southeastern outliers of LA.

[FreedomAngel82]

29. Yep

Here where I live in Tennessee there is this small town where my church is. The town isn't that huge or anything and they have this one street and there a handful of churches all next to each other. :crazy: Baptists, Methodist, Church of Christ and Presbetaryin. One of basically each flavor.

[LightningFlash]

3. Ohio is a cesspool of corruption and 2004 fraud...

Of PROVEN 2004 fraud, and illegal dealings.

I'll say it right now......Only Howard Dean and the people, can save Ohio.....FROM THE GROUND UP, and by mandating VVPB....KICKING GOVERNOR TAFT "'Idiot'" OUT OF OFFICE.

Not even Voinovich approves of Taft.....I'd bet he would love to see him leave after all these lies and wars...

[FreedomAngel82]

31. I think so too

Too bad Dean and Voinovich couldn't work together. Of course then the rightwing smears would go after both of them. I think Voinovich probably knows a lot of what goes on in Ohio from inner circles and whatnot by being a republican. I wish there was a way to get him to talk.

[formercia]

4. The Dominionist State of OHIO

Anyone not like us
Keep OUT!!
YOU have Been WARNED

This ad sponsored by burnematthestake.biz

Praise Yaweh

[HughBeaumont]

8. What are you going to do?

Our state is being held captive by a mass of country-ass RNC-slobberin', religious-reich addled rubes - many of whom reside in counties devestated by manufacturing job losses. Most of Duh-High-ah's counties went heavily red, much of it having to do with the voter's gay/librul/trial lawyer/athiest/furriner/hollywood/whatever hatred, total ignorance of issues and delight at the "return to tha Almaghteh" talked about in What's the Matter With Kansas. Oh, and a little voter fraud and partisan chicanery from Ken Blackwell didn't hurt things.

You buys the ticket, you takes the ride. Unfortunately, they're dragging everyone else to oblivion with them.

[theHandpuppet]

41. Oh really?

From the stats I've studied, the most heavily-red counties in Ohio were to be found in western and SW portions of the state; ie, the rural western (farming) counties and urban-wise, Ohio's version of New Berlin, Zinzinnati.

Here's a link to a breakdown of Ohio voting trends:
As you will see, according to the ACTUAL VOTING in Ohio, the Appalachian and steel-belt counties in eastern Ohio vote or trend DEM. There are also stats available on the actual votes cast which make it perfectly clear that the WESTERN portion of the state went for Bush. In fact, you can almost draw a line splitting the state East-West and see just what happened.

If you have other data to back up your claims, please be my guest. As a born and bred Appalachian Buckeye from SE Ohio, I take exception to the perpetuation of stereotypes which paint "country-ass rubes" or steel-belt voters as the root of the Dem Part's problems with Ohio.

[Awsi Dooger]

44. Where did you get that map?

I used a site that broke down every state that way, but it went offline very recently. I've been scrambling for a good replacement.

[theHandpuppet]

46. Here's the link

http://www.bringohiohome.com/resources/

This site is just for Ohio, however. Were you looking for a more national map by county?

[HughBeaumont]

62. Man I KNEW this shit would happen . . .

"I'm from the Southern part/red county/rural area/whatever of Ohio, and broad brushes are the language of hate" BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH. If I had a dime for every one of these that popped up . . .

Man, rubes are ALL OVER the state, in every county. Witness my city - there are piles of NASCAR dad Bushmen, nouveau-right college rednecks and scaredy-cat security moms that feel they're safer among der Fuhrer . . . they exist in droves, even between two of the heavier blue counties in the state (Lorain and Cuyahoga). Two of my neighbors, one of whom lost his job of 22 years during Bunnypanties' first "term", proudly displayed their "Protect Marriage" and "Bush/Himmler 04" signs, since they're the kind of wedge-issue dolts Rove got to successfully. It makes you freaking cringe in agony at the stupidity.

Please, I BEG of you, specifically state WHERE in that entire rant did I narrow the said "rubes" to location or area of the state. My venom deals with the idiots of this state, WHEREVER they are, who think a bunch of partisan liars discrediting officially documented acts of a candidate's heroism makes more sense than realizing the incumbent's first term had not ONE success. AT ALL.

You metion east vs west, but the fact is in 2004, only 13 counties in the eastern half of the state went blue or violet, ten of which always voted that way. With the exception of Erie, Stark and Portage (and Franklin, depending on where the division is), every swing county listed on your map in the eastern portion of the state voted for these bastards once again. Don't tell me those rural counties in the eastern and southern portions of the state weren't hurt in some way or another by Republican rule. I've driven through many of them and they're like wastelands. Closed stores everywhere. Old hulking buildings with parking lot weeds. Closed businesses. Abandoned homes.

If you voted Kerry, praise be unto you - you didn't buy into the horseshit the COM tried to sell the country and you also shouldn't be offended by this rant. The fact is that because of the evangelical "morals" crowd (you know, the ones who think aborting a fetus and utilizing "snowflakes" is immoral but see nothing wrong with the wholesale oil bloodbath happening 7000 miles away), because of the easily manipulated, uneducated, purple-heart band-aid-wearing dickheads (and Ken Blackwell), this election was close and it should not have been by a longshot.

I mean, how many times do you smoke crack before you realize your heart is about to explode? If this were set in the 30s, it would be like the victims of the Great Depression rising up and voting to give more power to the DuPont and Morgan corpocracies.

[donsu]

10. people should protest in front of these churches

a big group of protesters, holding signs, handing out fact sheets. letting the church goers know that we know they are in thrall to religious con/political church leaders.

and are being used as a tool for the criminal empire of the bushgang.

(in language appropriate to the territory)

[patrice]

15. Here's an organization that has been doing that.

http://www.whtt.org/whoweare.htm

I have not researched them closely, but I do know that they have been active, non-violent, church-picketters. They have strong criticism of our war policies and policies in support of Israel to the exclusion of human rights for Palestinians.

[donsu]

53. thank you for the link

nt

[stopbush]

11. I was born and raised in Ohio. My immediate family all still live there.

I haven't been back since 2001. If I'm to see my family they need to visit me. My family breaks down the middle between sensible/fundies. The sensibles tend to visit, the fundies...not so much.

I refuse to enter that Bible-thumping disaster. Even when I was in the lowest depths of unemployment a couple of years ago I would not consider a job in Ohio.

[kindley]

12. test post

[newyawker99]

38. Hi kindley!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[kittenpants]

58. don't worry, there were no jobs in Ohio anyway. n/t

[BiggJawn]

13. Beanie Babies? You're shittin' us, right?

PLEASE tell me Ohio didn't "invest" in those stuffed pieces of sweat-shop-produced SHIT?

Good GAWD, I see them at the GOODWILL STORE for 99 cents now! With the little plastic clamshell "tag protectors" still intact...

I buy the birds for my Girlfriend and NEVER pay more than a buck!

Beanie Babies...Did that Ty guy have his market figured to a "T" or WHAT? :rofl:

[maxrandb]

21. As We Say in the Navy

I wouldn't shit you..you're my favorite _____

I'm looking for confirmation, but I trust my brother. He said there were people that planned to protest by sending in Beanie Baby's to pay their taxes.

I'm sure the Toledo Blade might have something about it.

[salin]

22. surprised they didn't get some old cabbage patch dolls

just in case they came back into vogue...

or pet rocks

maybe some moodrings...

[RBHam]

17. DIEBOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wally O'Dell promised he's "deliver" and with Kenneth "I wanna be called WHITEwell" Blackwell's assistance, they STOLE the vote.

Kerry won Ohio.

Even Republicans secretly know it - but they don't mind using fraud, deception and extortion to reach their political goals.

It is their "raison d'etre..."

[liberalpragmatist]

19. The Best Democratic GOV Candidate is Ted Strickland

He can win and help usher in a new day for the Ohio Democratic Party. And with verifiable voting and good governance, we have a great chance at turning Ohio blue in '08, esp. b/c governors are said to add 2 or 3 points to their party's presidential candidate.

[ohio_liberal]

24. Yes indeed

Ted is my congressman. He's not perfect, but he has the ability to drag some of the western and southern Repubs back to the Dems. Especially because of this scandal. He's our best hope. Don't get me wrong, I love Michael White, but he doesn't stand a chance with the conservative Dems in much of the state or any moderate Republicans.

[FreedomAngel82]

33. Good

I hope so. Then maybe he can uncover all the fraud in that state from the whole coin theft to the election theft.

[liberalpragmatist]

61. He's a Methodist minister

With slightly right-of-center views on many cultural issues. But while overal generally centrist, he is still pro-choice and generally good on gay rights. He's also a strong populist on economic issues.

There are some good profiles of him swimming around online. No, he won't satisfy everyone on DU. And there are statements he has made that are clearly conservative. But overall, he's a vast improvement over the Republicans and for a state like Ohio - which leans right but would very much appreciate a common-sense social-justice-seeking Democrat, Strickland sounds like a great candidate.

I should not I'm not from Ohio, but I've read a number of profiles of this guy b/c I'm a dork for political campaigns.

[salin]

20. Much of the flocking to church is due to fear

fear of change
fear of a changing economic base - and thus fear for survival
now add fear of trumped up threat of terrorism

I can't believe I am about to say this - but it is time to steal from the Reagan playbook.... sell hope.

Sell hope for the future
Sell hope for reviving our economy - with real jobs not just service (low end jobs)
Sell a Vision of the country - where folks can thrive.

We are working with folks who have been scammed by those praying on their primal fears. Counter it both with truth (the lies between what is being told to them and reality) AND with HOPE for the future.

Not just hope for a future "free from terrorist attack." - But hope for a stronger, better future - one rooted again in posterity. One that rallies together for families, for children, for seniors, for single folks for people!

And going back to a playbook stronger and more lasting than Reagan's - FDR's We have nothing to Fear, but Fear itself!

[flyarm]

25. not to worry ..the cons are working on stealing calif!! n/t

[Jose Diablo]

26. On the Mega Churches

Are these churches recieving federal money for those so called faith based initiatives? If so, then this clearly is unconstitutional as the separation of church and state has been argued to mean 'no state sponsored church'.

Now couple this with being a tax exempt operation persuing a political agenda to recieve this faith based federal money and we have fraud on the people.

Where are these Mega Churches getting the money to build those huge churches?

[FreedomAngel82]

28. Scary indeed

Both haha scary and eek scary. Beanie babies are still around??? I think once the coin theft comes to light a lot of the powerhouse republicans will be taken away. I'd hate to live there now.

[Blue_In_AK]

30. Things are so bad in Ohio

that it was even written up in the Anchorage Daily News this morning. :wow:

[Dover]

47. Let's not take our eye off of California right now. A critical juncture

there. Arnold is going to announe a special election for Nov. Another coup in the making. First Fla, then Texas, ....and California will be the nail in the coffin if it's now stopped NOW.

[seemslikeadream]

32. Manhattan's veteran District Attorney Robert Morgenthau Five Star Trust

Manhattan's veteran District Attorney Robert Morgenthau is on the verge of penetrating a major conduit for foreign money into the Bush family network and the American political system that parallels the campaign finance scandals in Ohio and Florida. Morgenthau's investigation of the notorious Sam and Charlie Wyly brothers of Texas, the billionaires who spearheaded the Swift Boat disinformation campaign against John Kerry and a similar distortion effort against John McCain in 2000, is focused on a Wyly-controlled Isle of Man off-shore account tied to the Bank of America. In 1989, George H. W. Bush dispatched a Houston attorney to the Isle of Man to take charge of the secret Bush accounts. One of the accounts was Five Star Trust, a multi-billion dollar account used by the Bushes as a covert off-shore money tranche for their political and business purposes.

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/scoops/Lemme.htm

http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/120104Madsen/120104madsen.html

Maybe just maybe Madsen didn't deserve the trashing he got here. Maybe just maybe there were a couple people now tombstoned who didn't want Madsen's info to be seen as credible. They sure worked very hard to discredit and silence people here who only wanted to find the truth.

note the date of this warning
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x123856

[FreedomAngel82]

35. Interesting

I do think the Bush's are involved in everything going on in Ohio now where the coin theft and election is concerned.

[kittenpants]

50. Bush has roots in OH too...

I think HW's father grew up in Columbus & Bab's parents were from Dayton. what a happy coincidence, huh?:argh:

[Logansquare]

34. The Dem party in Ohio is pathetic. My mother and her friends organized

on their own after waiting for the county Democratic party to put together a get-out-the-vote push in 2004. The big boys never seemed to able to get their shit together.

Also, some people in state organization wanted to put up JERRY SPRINGER as a senate candidate.
I think he's a great radio personality, but PLEASE...what a pathetic idea.

[Logansquare]

36. I grew up there, and back in the 60s people went to church

but they weren't fundy bible-bangers. Nobody said "Praise Him" or complained about Halloween being a Satanic holiday.
I blame both the influx of lower-income southern whites to Ohio (at one time, Columbus had a higher population of people from rural Appalachia than any city in Kentucky, Tennessee, or West Virginia), and the brain-drain that's been occuring in recent years. People who are gay, liberal, artistic, etc. have gotten the hell out of Ohio--the culture and economy doesn't offer enough to any of those categories. I don't mean this as an insult to those heroes who have stayed; I feel for you, honestly. I just couldn't take it any more.

[demgurl]

37. Yes, that was part of the seized inventory!

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20050601&Category=NEWS24&ArtNo=506010479&SectionCat=&Template=printart

<snip>

“Beanies” in cases (18)

<snip>

It is in the box on the left hand side of the page! What is even more laughable (to me) is that they also collected THREE George W. Bush wall clocks. I am so sure these will be worth an infitite amount of money after he has been impeached!

[Erika]

40. Just an outsider's view

Ohio is seen as radical as Kansas, but with a lot more corruption.

I wouldn't look forward to too much new business or tourism.

[Sapphire Blue]

42. Reclaim Christianity

Reclaim Christianity - Flash movie: http://www.christianalliance.org/site/c.bnKIIQNtEoG/b.689007/k.2601/Flash_Movie.htm (Turn up your speakers)

Sign the Jacksonville Declaration: http://www.christianalliance.org/site/c.bnKIIQNtEoG/b.683987/k.39F5/Sign_the_Jacksonville_Declaration/apps/ka/ct/contactus.asp?c=bnKIIQNtEoG&b=683987&en=bfIFKLOwEaLFKZMvEaKMJYOzE6IMJ3NyFfLVI6PMG

Christian Alliance for Progress: http://www.christianalliance.org/

[0rganism]

45. If the Dems let this corruption scandal wither, I will be pissed as hell

Tragic as this is for the pensioners, for Dems this is like having your opponent's legs fall off during a marathon when they're a mile ahead. We should be publishing "Corrupt enough for you yet?" bumper stickers with a silhouette of Gov. Taft on the head of a -$50 million coin.

Hell, make a whole new currency of "funny money", monopoly-type money graced by the faces of Taft, Blackwell, the DA, etc., that can be used as non-payment for debt. On the backside of the bills would be a list of their various crimes.

Wait! I just received a vision: a boardgame, similar to Monopoly or Risk, where your goal as a hypothetical Ohio state republican politician (represented on the board by tiny plastic sculptures, Easter-Island-head-style of Taft, Noe, et al) is accepting money from and make paybacks to large contributors, give out massive benefits from the general fund to croneys and close relatives, and try to retire to the Caymans before anyone notices what you've done. It would use the fake money from idea #2, as well as a combination of junk bonds, sketchy novelty investments, and political payback tokens to rack up the largest debt possible.

This theft must be immortalized somehow. Right now Ohio is the festering rip in the hide of the ugly boiling sore that is today's republican party.

[seabeyond]

51. dominian plan

get into coummities. get on boards. take over. it is simple. we have document seeing them do it. i know they are doing it in this area too. i am seeing a base develop. all the panhandle of texas to colorado spring.

[Toots]

52. Taft has the lowest approval rating of any Governor in America..19%

and you say he was "selected" by over 70%. I find that a bit odd.

[kittenpants]

54. 19% and dropping I would expect... n/t

[TimeChaser]

55. Just another reason

... for me to keep my official residence as Pennsylvania when I go to Ohio for college...

[kittenpants]

56. don't worry, OH will make you proud when they kick these crooks out!

where are you going to school, btw? I went to and taught at a few OH colleges.

[TimeChaser]

57. It's a smaller school

Ohio Wesleyan, which is just outside of Columbus. I've noticed, over the past year, that the state's been trying to put some restrictons on public colleges, so I'm just glad it's a private school.

[kittenpants]

60. I had a few friends at Ohio Wesleyen in the English program.

I went to OSU so I visited a lot. Delaware is a cute town, but pretty conservative (kind of like a white flight suburb).