“Banks have all the money, and the rich hold all the cards.” These are common laments among Central Ohioans who, as the dismal turnout in the November 2014 elections indicate, suspect that democracy is not working as it should. While the majority of citizens and businesses play by the rules, clearly other are writing the rules, and not to our benefit. Large and often multinational corporations expect politicians to fight for their interests, not ours. It’s all too much, and we wonder, why don’t citizens unite and take back our democracy? Then along comes an organization called Citizen United. Sounds inviting.

When asked who he thought was the most valuable player for the Ohio State football team’s drive to the national championship game, Evan Spencer carefully weighed his options.

“I don’t even know. There are so many people who have been so valuable to us,” the senior wide receiver said at a media day before the team’s trip to the inaugural national championship game Jan. 12 in Arlington, Texas. “It could be (quarterbacks) J.T. Barrett, Cardale Jones, (wide receiver) Devin Smith or (running back) Zeke (Elliott). Name whoever you want to.”

Asked the same question, coach Urban Meyer had one name jump quickly to his mind.

“(Spencer) is the MVP of our team,” Meyer said. “He's the leader of our team. I'll probably make an executive decision and make him a captain. He's really what, to me, football is all about.”

Spencer made a strong case for the honor in a 42-35 victory over top ranked Alabama in the Jan. 1 Allstate Sugar Bowl. Although he was limited to one reception for seven yards, Spencer:

* tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Michael Thomas;

* leveled two Crimson Tide players to pave the way for Elliott’s 85-yard touchdown run;

As Ohioans fight to shut the state's two dying reactors, good news has come from Vermont.  Thanks to decades of dedicated activism, the Vermont Yankee reactor at Vernon was permanently shut down on  Dec. 29, 2014. 

Citizen activists made it happen. The number of licensed U.S. commercial reactors is now under 100 where once it was to be 1,000.

Years of hard grassroots campaigning by dedicated, non-violent nuclear opponents, working for a Solartopian green-powered economy, forced this reactor’s corporate owner to bring it down.  Hopefully, the same can be done--SOON!---to the dangerous, decrepit reactors at Davis-Besse, near Toledo, and Perry east of Cleveland.  

Selma gives us our first glimpse of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) while he’s preparing to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.

Given our memories of King as the inspirational leader of the Civil Rights Movement, you might expect him to say something profound and high-minded. Instead, he complains to his wife (Carmen Ejogo) about the formal tie he’s forced to strap on for the occasion.

That’s one way Selma distinguishes itself from the average historical drama it could have been. Rather than turning King and other luminaries of the period into cardboard heroes, it renders them as recognizable human beings.

The other way Selma distinguishes itself is by delving into the arguing and strategizing that went on behind the scenes as King fought to secure voting rights for black Americans. Director Ava DuVernay and screenwriter Paul Webb have put together an illuminating account of the events leading up to a massive demonstration he organized to promote those rights: the 1965 march from Selma, Ala., to the capitol building in Montgomery.

Oh, the moral force of a snub.

Several hundred cops turn their backs on New York’s mayor as he eulogizes one of their own, killed in the line of duty, and the media have another us-vs.-them story to report. Bill de Blasio’s in trouble, accused of playing politics with the lives of heroes. And, of course, the story goes no deeper than the dramatic accusation.

As the sign of a lone protester at the officer’s funeral proclaimed: “God bless the NYPD: Dump de Blasio.”

There’s nothing like a good, righteous condemnation to stop a national discussion. Criticizing police tactics means contributing to an anti-police atmosphere. End of debate.

Personally, I view the snub, by some New York police, as de Blasio’s red badge of courage more than his moral condemnation. He stood for something outside the zone of official righteousness. He met with protesters. He ended stop-and-frisk, the tactic of warrantless street searches that primarily targeted blacks and Hispanics. He told his biracial son to “take special care in any encounter he has with police officers,” in other words, refused to sugarcoat a pragmatic truth.