Rooster in Review: I got one more in me!
Rooster in Review: I got one more in me!
What, exactly, is to be done?
I spilled 2,300 words in this morning’s post answering various questions from the brave souls that comprise The Rooster’s readership.
But I got hit with one question that I couldn’t reflexively answer and had to ponder. I wanted to highlight that question here.
From Patriots Caucus soldier Brian Estabrook:
We already know that the state of actual democracy in Columbus and Ohio is, well, dogshit. You've spent a LOT of time in and around spaces where actual power and decision-making are being wielded.
Do you have any thoughts or recommendations on where our limited energy should be directed in terms of actually putting meaningful, material pressure on the elites that rule us?
One thing that I have come to believe is we are beyond the days of peaceful protests doing anything at all. The last gasp was the George Floyd uprising in 2020, and the last three years have seen Democrats and Republicans alike funneling money to the state’s various security apparatuses to ensure something like that never happens again.
But let’s say, for example, we wanted to put Sullivant Avenue from Central Ave to Dodge Park on a road diet. We could go to City Hall and testify for our little three-minute allotments.
City council members would nod their heads gravely before saying that they see us and hear us. And then they’d pass us off to some bureaucrat to detail the latest study that the city has commissioned around the idea as proof they’re doing something.
But what would happen, again hypothetically, if Franklinton residents started blocking the Main Street and Town Street bridges with their bodies during the morning rush hour? Or even on the monstrous stroad of Broad Street? How much money could we cost downtown employers by delaying their workers for even 90 minutes?
That would be much more effective than making signs and chanting in the streets like anybody with the power to do anything about whatever plight is on our agenda that day is actually listening. But it would also require a lot of people willing to get arrested for obstructing roadways or whatever, and that’s a lot easier to type than to do.
On the state level, I wish politicians pushing the six-week abortion ban or other nonsense, wouldn’t be served in Columbus restaurants. I wish they would have to answer questions about their heinous policies whenever they stepped foot in public. I wish they dreaded coming to Columbus instead of seeing it as a Las Vegas-style playground where they can drink with their mistresses in one of the five bars that political people patronize in this god-forsaken city.
Our state is the way it is because most people don’t care. They have been deluded into thinking all politicians are crooks (which only helps the actual crooks) or that one person can’t affect the political system.
Walk down High Street on a Saturday night. How many bar patrons do you think know their state representative or city council member? What kind of change do you think we could effect in this city if we could convince those people to stay out of the Short North for even one weekend?
Until that changes, nothing will systematically change in Columbus and Ohio at large. But if enough people subscribe to The Rooster….
This week in Ohio Man….
Romance in Ohio can be a fickle thing. But thankfully most romances don’t end with an Ohio Man ran down and dragged under an SUV.
From Cliff Pinckard of cleveland.com:
NEW BOSTON, Ohio — A 41-year-old Portsmouth woman is accused of chasing down a man on a motorcycle following an argument, then repeatedly running him over and dragging him with her SUV, killing the man.
Brooklyn Maxine Frazie is charged with two counts of murder and one count of reckless homicide in the death of Darrell Scott Donahoe, 44, of Portsmouth, according to the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office. Frazie is being held in jail on a $100,000 bond.
A news release from the sheriff’s office says witnesses told investigators with the sheriff’s office and State Highway Patrol say Frazie and Donahoe were seen arguing Wednesday in Minford, Ohio. Donahoe left on his motorcycle, with Frazie pursuing him in her SUV.
The chase covered several miles and reached high speeds, the sheriff’s office says, eventually entering New Boston on U.S. 52. The sheriff’s office reportedly received multiple calls from witnesses who said the SUV was trying to hit the motorcycle.
Reading this, if I’m a jury member, I’d want to see, exactly, what Mr. Donahoe did that inspired Ms. Frazie to chase him for miles, run over him, and then drag her under her SUV for miles.
I’m not saying I have been perfect in past relationships. I haven’t. And it’s because of that I know that if a woman went to that lengths to murder you, it wasn’t because you did something good.
Not to victim blame, but Ms. Frazie might have a case if this goes to trial! Just saying.
This week in The Rooster…
Ohio Republicans are on the verge of getting what they deserve on abortion. It would seem that the Ohio GOP has given up on trying to persuade the types of suburban voters that will decide Issue 1 in November.
The Rooster Mailbag: September 29, 2023. Answering questions for the masses about Ohio politics and anything else. This dispatch is free for all.
THOSE WMDs. Peter Daou’s theory of election interference—by Democrats… How to roast any vegetable… The real difference between cheap and expensive bikes… How Instagram ruined your personal style… The technology Google and Facebook didn’t dare to release.
appreciate that answer, brother. and i agree that meaningful change is going to depend on organizing a critical mass of people who are willing to get arrested for civil disobedience. and even then the system is so insulated and the police so well-funded that it might not matter at all.