Senator's Selects 2023/11/15
You can tell it's that time of year because I've switched over to gruel for brekkie
From the Desk of…
Heck of a week, right? Hey, check this out for a surprise. By and large, the Christian nationalists and fascist ghouls who haunt the halls of our Statehouse have taken their Ls fairly well. DeWine has accepted the results, and his talking has mostly been about tweaking Issue 2, which makes sense given that it was initiated legislation and not an amendment to the Constitution. That hasn’t stopped everyone though, as a number of press releases (like this gobbledygook PDF from the Pro-Life Caucus) and Rep. Jennifer Gross claiming to work on a bill that would “prohibit judges from interpreting Issue 1.” This would, of course, limit the powers of judicial review and simply ignore the two-hundred-odd years of precedent set forth from the Marshall Court and its Marbury v. Madison decision regarding the rights of the judiciary over the legislature. At least Speaker Jason Stephens came as close as he could to calling it foolish, saying “this is Schoolhouse Rock-type stuff. We need to make sure that we have the three branches of the government.” Who ever thought you would need to know how the government works to work in the government? Broadly, it seems like the Republicans are ready to move on, instead focusing their ire and stoking the flames of hate with a flurry of anti-trans legislation. That, and giving the weed tax money to cops. Maybe we ought to make working in the legislature a grueling slog of public service and less a “ooh put me in the spotlight” gig.
Speaking of public service, did you notice we didn’t have a Veterans’ Day parade this year? Well, we didn’t. The people who put it on canceled it in advance of the observance for “low attendance.” Such a sadness that the young people don’t love parades or the troops. Semper fi.
Meanwhile, a Westerville man is being sued because he, and I want to make sure I say this correctly, he made a Kickstarter saying he would send people wristwatches and then donate some of the money to saving turtles. This raised $18,000. He then did neither of those things, and he instead dumped the money into cryptocurrency. Now, I have been on Kickstarter once or twice. I have seen many well-executed plans or great pitches fail to meet their funding goals. $18,000? For turtle charity watches? What?
Steve Dackin, whose name you might recognize from when he was leading a search committee for a superintendent while president of the State Board of Education and then decided he was the best candidate and resigned to hire himself, which surprising did not pass the sniff test for ethics, has been named to be the head of the new Department of Education and Workforce, now that Governor DeWine has stripped authority away from the elected Board of Education and shuffled into gubernatorial appoints and toadies. Can’t wait to watch this evolve!
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) is so mad about cartoons that he’s calling for a federal investigation. No, but the recurring tactic of Warner Bros. Discovery to bury movies for tax credits is grade-A bologna, and something needs to change to stop incentivizing it. Makes me think that money shouldn’t be the driving factor for art. Oh well.
The repugnant Niraj Antani, one of the most odious senators skulking in the Statehouse shadows, has announced he will not be running for re-election (because revised maps drew him out of his district at the state level) and rather will be running for Congress in a district he doesn’t live in. You’d better believe this is a race I’ll be watching.
In federal news, Senator Bernard Sanders (I-VT) had to wield the gavel during a recent Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing to prevent a fight from breaking out between Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien. O’Brien, who had called Mullin out on Twitter for being a Republican fraud, was confronted with copies of his own posts and stood by them. It would’ve been such a sight to see a fight break out in the Senate, but… it would’ve been such a sight to see a Teamster beat up a sitting senator. Great job chairing, Bernie!
The Brain Dump
when I'm governor I am going to ban billboards from disfiguring the natural beauty of our state
of course there will be cultural heritage carveouts for Hell Is Real, Grandpa's Cheesebarn, etc
when will there be a candidate brave enough to run on smoker's rights
ah damn i forgot to vote
anyone want these Wine with DeWine tumblers I ordered in bulk?
they should make roads drivers can't speed on
Strange, with my stress levels, I figured I would have bad brain. Wait, maybe banger posts are indicative of bad brain. Much to consider.
At the Movies
A number of reviews have been embargoed so as to keep it a surprise for this year’s Christmas Challenge… but there’s some good and bad stuff out there, folks.
The Killer (2023), dir. David Fincher ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ❤️
great job, 47
i laughed at every alias because i am an easy mark for retro television jokes
The Hebrew Hammer (2003), dir. Jonathan Kesselman ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ❤️
this needed either a much smaller budget or a little bigger of a budget
but it has both Van Peebles... and Judy Greer... and some really good jokes... and an evil Andy Dick...
it doesn't 100% work for me, but at least it held up to my catching it on Comedy Central memories
great songs, also
3 Godfathers (1948), dir. John Ford ⭐⭐⭐
I wish they'd been, like, worse? Like worse people. Like meaner and nastier and dirtier. It's fine. They really greased up that baby though.
I think this spoon is too old. Smells like… onions?
One Picture
We lost. The gig bros won. It’s so over. Now I have to use some app to get food, like an animal at the zoo.
In closing,
We can never really know what the future holds. It can be a bright, clear morning about a week before Thanksgiving when tragedy strikes. That’s what we saw yesterday when a band bus and a semi-truck collided. The Tuscarawas Valley high school band was on its way to Columbus, set to perform at the Ohio School Boards Association conference. Details of the causes of the five-vehicle collision are still being investigated, but news agencies have confirmed six fatalities and around twenty injuries at this time. Each of those people—two chaperones, a teacher, three children—had short- and long-term plans they’ll never see to, and the people who were expecting to see and to enjoy and to celebrate them over the coming holidays will never get that chance. It’s easy to take things for granted and to assume there will be a next time, but sometimes when we say goodbye, we’re saying goodbye forever.
Until next time, find something—or someone—to be thankful for.