Advertisement

 

Wars are not fought against flags or ideas, nations or demonized dictators. They are fought against people, 98 percent of whom are resistant to killing, and most of whom had little or nothing to do with bringing on the war. One way to dehumanize those people is to replace all of them with an image of a single monstrous individual.

The Chicago Cubs have won the World Series. They beat the team of Chief Wahoo and it’s long past time for him to depart.

With a rare comeback victory from being down three games to one, the Cubbies have ended the longest World Series drought in baseball history, beating the Cleveland Indians, the team with the second-longest drought. Not since 1908 have the Windy City north siders done this.

Congratulations especially to team president Theo Epstein, who put together the team that in 2004 ended the curse of the Red Sox, who had not won a World Series title since 1918. Now he's done it again in Chicago. How my native Boston let the best baseball operations guy and the best manager (Terry Francona) leave town at the same time is beyond me.

But the real loser this year is Chief Wahoo, and it’s time to bury him forever.

The Cleveland Indians have been soiled for decades with the most cringeworthy logo in all of sports. It is an obscene cartoon that is beyond degrading. I will not describe it in detail. Cover up the feather and it could be an insult to every racial or ethnic group on the planet.


 

In a time of division and disagreement, when people who all agree on something important sometimes spend more time bickering with each other than working on their collective cause, is it possible to craft an agenda that brings them together and adds to their numbers?

It turns out, somewhat to my surprise, the answer is yes.

Hillary Clinton talking into a mic

Why, why, why, are people saying that we should prepare to hold Hillary Clinton accountable once she is in office? Why on Earth isn’t everybody doing that right now? Are we seriously going to gift her the White House and then expect her to listen to us?

If she is elected on her current platform, she will have a mandate to remain moderate for the next four years. The people will have given their approval of her ideas, and handed her permission to act on them throughout her term. Should she be moved to the left before election day, she would have a more progressive mandate to govern. Electing Hillary Clinton after she agreed to offer free pre-K classes to all children would let the people hold her accountable for actually doing so. It would be ridiculous to vote for her platform in November then kick and scream for something different in February.

 

By Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon

 

 

Even now, in the last days of this horrendous campaign, we’re amazed by fervent assertions coming from some progressives about Donald Trump. Here are three key myths:

 

Trump with Ohio flag

John F. Kennedy once said: “There is no city in the United States which I get a warmer welcome and fewer votes than Columbus, Ohio.”

Even if you live on Mars you probably know, “As goes Ohio, so goes the nation.” Yet in 1960, Nixon took Ohio, but Kennedy won the election – the last time a candidate from either party won the White House without carrying the Buckeye State.

Incredibly, if the polls hold true, this could happen again nearly half a century later. Don’t pinch yourself, this is no nightmare.

Behind the scenes, however, the reality of Ohio going red for Trump undoubtedly has some wringing their hands and sweating buckets. From Gov. Kasich’s office to Ohio Democrats, to our own city’s effort to attract young professionals, and last but not least, for a lot of Ohioans, the thought of a Trump victory for either Ohio or the White House is a reality that has some wondering what the future consequences could be both culturally and financially. Certainly Gov. Kasich is worried about it. He voted early and wrote in Sen. John McCain.

Our revolution logo

Far too many progressives discuss changing the Democratic Party from the inside. It is the central effort of many members of Our Revolution (a group of Bernie Sanders supporters), Democracy Spring, and other activist groups. There is the belief that electing more progressive candidates as Democrats, and putting widespread pressure on incumbents, will force the party to move to the left. Unfortunately, we have been there, tried that, and had our hearts broken.

Bernie Sanders’ entire presidential primary campaign was based on changing the Democratic Party from within. He wanted the party to stop using Super-PAC funds. He asked for it to implement a single-payer healthcare system. He demanded that climate change be a central issue, demanding immediate action. It is exactly because of those issues, and his desire to permanently alter the Democratic Party, that he was crushed by the DNC.

Kevin Boyce

Although Kevin Boyce’s tenure as Ohio treasurer from 2009-2010 was riddled with scandal, Boyce claims he knew nothing about the corruption carried out by his deputy treasurer, Amer Ahmad, who is now in federal prison. Boyce’s claim was called into question this year by federal Securities and Exchange Commission filings.  

Those filings are against others and don’t charge Boyce with any legal violations. But the allegations in them, along with Boyce’s responses, deserve to be considered by voters in deciding whether to make Boyce a Franklin County commissioner in the November 8 election.  

The filings involve State Street Bank and Trust Company. According to the SEC, the Massachusetts bank in early 2010 paid not only kickbacks to Ahmad but also contributions to Boyce’s campaign in return for lucrative state contracts to provide custody services for three Ohio pension funds.

Pages

Subscribe to ColumbusFreePress.com  RSS