Rooster in Review: Blood of Tyrants
The wheels of power never stop turning in Ohio.
As every business leader knows, the best time to send a company email is around 5 o’clock on the Friday of a four-day work week.
Despite that, we can thank Governor Sleepy Tea for an extra week of bonus content. But as you know, it’s usually bad news when the State Legislature is in business.
The Senate did what they were expected to do Friday. Senate Floor Majority Floor Leader Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) was the most grating of the day.
The GOP, in exchange for putting Sleepy Joe on the ballot, did so in exchange for an ostensible foreign money ban for statewide ballot initiatives.
The ban comes with added language banning green card holders from donating to these groups. It was Senator Niraj Antani of all people who made the point that legal precedent means this kind of language is headed for a dumpster.
But that qualifies as The People’s Business for the State Senate, an institution about 100 years passed its expiration date.
I’d be honored if you considered a subscription to help sustain the work of putting psychic damage on these types of gremlins.
It was a short week but a brisk week at Rooster Worldwide LLC. And I have to pay freelancers these days, with another piece coming hot your way Monday at 4:33 a.m.
This week in Ohio Man…
Listen… I’ve probably had more criminal thoughts against various state legislators than most Americans. Some of them might have been actionable.
But what you have to realize is if you’re going to go to prison for making a death threat, you should make it against somebody worthwhile. An Ohio Man didn’t heed that advice!
From the Associated Press:
An Ohio man received supervised probation after pleading guilty to threatening to kill a North Carolina state senator in a social media message last year.
Nicolas Alan Daniels, of West Portsmouth, Ohio, entered a plea to one felony count of threatening a legislative officer last Thursday in Wake County court, according to legal documents. He received a suspended sentence of 6-17 months in addition to two years of probation.
Knowing the types of geeky freaks that serve in state legislatures across America, there are good odds the threatened State Senator got a little horny about the fact somebody knew about their prestigious title in the first place.
This week in The Rooster…
We only had two dispatches this week, thanks to Memorial Day. Given that, I decided to make my Statehouse testimonial debut on Wednesday in front of the Government Oversight Committee.
In case you missed it, I cut down 11 minutes of banter into a four-minute clip:
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Once again, the Statehouse runs laps around Columbus City Hall when it comes to John Q. Public. You are limited to three minutes at City Hall, which goes quicker than you’d think.
In the Statehouse, you can basically let it rip for as long as the Committee chairperson will recognize you. And the State Legislators will actually engage with you in response.
Did my testimony result in any major policy changes? No. But it’s not like City Council smiles whenever they see my swollen Irish head trundling towards their dais.
This week’s other dispatches, including our first installment of Freelance Friday!
Better late than never? Ohio Republicans exploit Democratic doddering for naked power play, Cliff Rosenberger escapes a prison cell, Experience Columbus laughably tries to justify its feel-good existence, and a Dayton billionaire (a hilarious phrase in and of itself) wants to rumble with the sea.
Mayor Suburbs & Local Democrats appointed Republicans to powerful board and got predictable anti-worker results. The Hilltop Husband drops through on Freelance Friday to report on County and City Democrats washing each other’s hands while appointing Republicans to the Airport Authority Board.
THOSE WMDs. Why Dave & Buster’s is transforming arcades into casinos…. We’re watching Facebook die… Ohio public schools could soon be required to release students for private religious instruction… How extremists took over Israel… After 20 years, I can say what Trump did during The Apprentice.
Great work this week, D.J.!