The Bust Up List: Back to the Swamphouse Edition
As the Ohio Legislature returns to Columbus, its high crimes include Nazi fraternization, lunacy, dereliction of duty, and more.
The Ohio Legislature is back in full swing as both the Senate and House of Representatives are set to convene full sessions this afternoon.
May God have mercy on the souls of anyone who isn’t a heterosexual cracker Christian making less than $250,000 a year.
While I feel terrible for our state, I would be lying if I said it wouldn’t provide for phenomenal content from some of the worst people alive.
Today’s focus is on opponent testimony to House Bill 183, colloquially called “The Bathroom Bill.” Transgender people and their allies from across the state are set to testify in front of the Higher Education Committee in Room 017 at 9:30 a.m.
If you’re unable to walk or ride your bike to the Statehouse to support them like I am, you can watch this assuredly brave testimony for free via OhioChannel.org.
Today is as good a day as any to join the fabled Patriots Caucus and help financially support independent journalism at work in the Statehouse. I’d be honored if you’d consider a subscription to The Rooster ahead of Friday’s patriots-only dispatch.
With the Legislature back in session until the end of the year, that means the return of The Bust Up List.
While I’ll play my cards closer to the vest this year to avoid alerting the flagrant offenders that I’m on the hunt for them, I decided to give you five politicians who will have to answer for their various misdeeds the next time we cross paths at One Capitol Square.
The Three Stooges: Come get y’alls juice!
There are no bigger losers in the Ohio House of Representatives than Reps. Josh Williams, Brian Stewart, and Gary Click. They routinely operate in bad faith, wear their naked political ambition on their sleeves, and would be rocket scientists if only they were half as smart as they think they are.
Naturally, they made themselves the faces of the Special Election in August in which the hog voters of Ohio dealt these losers a 14-point humbling.
These bums walked away from the wreckage like a drunk driver abandoning his car that just crashed through an Applebee’s at 2 a.m. on a Thursday morning.
They have yet to speak on the record about how a group of fiscal conservatives lit $20 million on fire in the latest Republican gambit to bend the rules toward their desired outcome.
I can’t wait to see how much bullshit they shovel in their responses. It would be enough to fertilize an industrial farm.
State Rep. Angela King (R-Celina): Nazi fraternization
State Rep. Angela King once complimented my short shorts as we crossed paths in a Statehouse hallway. Unfortunately, she ruined our chemistry a couple days later by protesting gay rights alongside Neo-Nazis in Celina.
From Ken Schneck of thebuckeyeflame.com on June 28:
The two groups settled in only a few yards from each other: the red-shirted Christians with signs protesting the presence of children at Pride standing just a few feet away from the black-masked neo-Nazis with their camouflage pants and signs declaring their affiliation with “white power.”
[…]
One of the individuals standing with the red shirts near the neo-Nazis was of particular note and familiar to the local community: Rep. Angela King (R-Celina), clad in a red shirt herself.
I’ve been to a lot of protests in my life. I’ve never looked over and saw Neo-Nazis joining in my cause. If I did, I would probably have to do some reflection on my life choices and political compass.
But it apparently was no big deal for Rep. King!
This is the exact kind of story that people forget about after a month and move on to. But not me! I have a long memory, which means King can’t run forever.
Senator Bill DeMora (D-Columbus): Dereliction of Duty
That’s right, I’m picking a fight with one of the most politically connected Democrats in Columbus! Because frankly, I haven’t been too impressed with Senator DeMora’s work as of late.
Two weeks ago, he co-sponsored a bill with Senator Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green) to ban ranked choice voting, while also testifying in support of a statewide ban of participatory budgeting that the House has since killed off.
Strike three came when the Senate Democrats rolled over and allowed Dan McCarthy, a Mike DeWine henchman and former First-Energy lobbyist who was deeply, deeply connected to the HB-6 scandal to get appointed to the Racing Commission without nary a protest vote because he “hadn’t been charged with any crimes.”
With Democrats like this, who needs Republicans!?
State Rep. Beth Lear (R-Galena): Lunacy
Listen to these two videos of Bathroom Bill sponsor testimony from State Rep. Beth Lear and ask yourself if she should be in charge of anything above a charity bake sale.
Even her co-sponsor, State Rep. Adam Bird (R-New Richmond) is looking at her like she has a penis sprouting out of her forehead.
Nobody pushed back on this lunacy! Nobody asked her to cite where she got any of the information. They just nodded their heads and went along like it was business as usual.
Well, Rep. Lear is officially on notice!
State Rep. Jennifer Gross (R-West Chester): Classified crimes!
I got a tip from a Republican legislator about Gross that I don’t even want to spill until I can get her on camera.
It’s nothing criminal, but I will tell you guys this much: They’re going to be kicking her ass on TikTok when I get her on camera about it.
Speaking of TikTok, please follow The Rooster if you’re over on Chairman Xi Jinping’s preferred social media network. I’m only a couple hundred followers away from getting access to the influencer’s market and adding another stream of sweet, sweet revenue to this humble operation.
There are some other suspects that I’m intentionally not naming because I want to catch them by surprise. As always, I’ll have the full report on Friday breaking down the chaos from an independent vantage point.
If you have any specific issue you would like me to broach with your state legislator(s), you can respond to this email or anonymously drop me a tip through my Jotform.
And I’d be remiss without thanking you again for your readership—even the freeloaders huffing fumes in the parking lot. If I don’t sell another subscription for the rest of the year, it’s already been a record-breaking year for The Rooster.
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