The Best Bust Ups of 2024

Well, well, well...

I saw legendary reporter Randy Ludlow at the Statehouse about a month ago. Ludlow recently called it quits on his career, but he said something I’ll never forget after I complimented his social media presence.

“I appreciate you giving them Hell,” I said. “And keeping them honest.”

“Well,” he replied. “Those are two different things.”

It’s a quote I think about whenever people compliment me for holding politicians “accountable.” The only way to do that is at the ballot box, and we know how that racket works in Ohio.

But I have come to learn about the power of making fun of politicians and their sycophants. You’d be surprised how much psychic damage you can put on the doughboy cartel by simply refusing to kiss their ring.

I want to think I’ve gotten pretty good at it. And by popular demand, I’ve distilled a year’s work of Bust Ups into a roughly eight-minute highlight reel for your enjoyment:

I say it a lot, but it’s important to thank the brave and noble soldiers in the Patriots Caucus for allowing me to pursue this work. Thanks to their generosity, the Statehouse rumor mill has seen me go from a homeless man who blogs from the local library to a multimillionaire doing this work out of pure derangement.

My therapist and I enjoy the laughs. And the truth of the situation is somewhere between those two extremes.

I’ve come to think I have proven my point on Capitol Square when doing things “the hard way,” as I like to say. That will still be an option in 2025, but I hope to do more stand-and-talk interviews with legislators. It’s more informative for the view, albeit sometimes not as entertaining.

But don’t worry! We’ve set our sights on a bigger prize: Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.

This will always be an Ohio-focused blog, but I plan to supplement Statehouse coverage with excursions to the nation’s capital. So, don’t fret; the forecast for bust-ups looks splendid.

If you’re a free subscriber, you can sleep easily knowing you’re doing your part. But I’d be honored if you considered a paid subscription to help seed the war chest for the coming battles in 2025:

Thank you for reading! Together, we’ll soar to even greater heights in 2025.

THOSE WMDs. How rich musicians bilked the American public for luxury hotels, shopping sprees and million-dollar bonuses… How Hallmark took over cable… The Deep Horizon’s final hours… They missed their cruise ship, and that was only the beginning… The killing of young mothers.