Ohio Gubernatorial Debate in Cincinatti, Ohio
The Cincinnati Beacon
1 hr 7 min 27 sec – Oct 14, 2006
See also:
Fitrakis, Live! Greens in Cincinnati
The Cincinnati Beacon
44 min 59 sec – Jul 31, 2006
And lastly
Bob Fitrakis Speaks
The Cincinnati Beacon
15 min 15 sec – Mar 5, 2006
Thanks to:
www.cincinnatibeacon.com
Moderator
I got to speak with Rev. Werner Lange this weekend at the “We Count” voting rights conference in Cleveland. On September 22, within an hour of the funeral of Sgt. David Gordon of Andover who was killed in Iraq, Rev. Lange took to the streets. Bearing a sign that read “Stop the war now!” Lange stood in the middle of the street in Andover’s town square and spread the following message: “Not one more life, not one more wound, not one more dime for this immoral war based on lies.” Lange was eventually arrested and taken to the Ashtabula County Jail.
Lange’s protest is part of a new nationwide campaign of nonviolent disobedience against the illegal war in Iraq which began September 21 on the International Day of Peace. Lange is an independent candidate for U.S. Congress in Ohio’s 14th district. More of us need to take action like Rev. Lange, support his efforts, as well as his candidacy. The Republican Party is a party of war and Democratic Party are their enablers.
Moderators Comment: See (and click) adjacent calender Oct. 2 for Governors’ debate event on October 4th at Media Bridges in Cincinnati.
School funding:
School funding should be equalized with each child getting the same amount of money regardless of whether their parents own a mansion or rent a shack. Vouchers for private schools should end, but publicly chartered voucher schools under school districts should be encouraged. The prison budget should be cut back dramatically by medicalizing drug addiction and ending the senseless war on drugs, and shifting the savings into the school budget.
Key factors for Ohio jobs:
Providing universal health care for all Ohio workers, developing new high-tech and green industries, and going back to the future by building trains, trams and trollies to improve our mass transit system and freight rail and to create jobs.
Why best candidate?
I am more interested in changing the culture of corruption in Ohio than being a player in one of the major political parties. The two major parties are incapable of ending the pay-to-play system in Ohio. Only an outside independent force can restore integrity in Ohio politics. My background as a political scientist, investigative reporter and attorney, I have the skills to bring back honest government to the people of Ohio. I want to see Ohio become a place known for green alternative energies, convenient mass transit, clean air and water, great college and universities, and a place where the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution in enforced.
Appropriate role:
Government should rein in the large trans-national corporations when they engage in anti-social practices such as polluting our environment. Government should encourage the relocalization of small entrepreneurial businesses throughout Ohio. It is illegal for government to spy on U.S. citizens without a warrant. Federal officials who engage in such practices should be arrested. Government should move out of people’s bedrooms and quit enforcing an insane racist and class-based war on drugs. There should be a separation of church and state.
STEALING AMERICA
Vote by Vote
A new documentary film by
an OSCAR-nominated, EMMY-wining filmmaker
For more information contact: The Free Press, 614-253-2571, truth@freepress.org
Date: September 10, 2006
On September 24, at 7:30pm the new documentary STEALING AMERICA: Vote by Vote will be shown at the Drexel Gateway Theater, 1550 N. High St.
This film brings together dramatic behind-the-scenes stories related to the election of November 2, 2004. The heart of the story is a candid assessment of ways in which privatized election systems, disenfranchisement of certain populations and vulnerable voting technology are impacting our democracy.
Honors for the Director’s media work include an ACADEMY AWARD nomination and the CPB Gold Medal (Best Short Documentary from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting).
The film features voters in Ohio and interviews with local voting rights activists Bob Fitrakis, Harvey Wasserman and Charles Traylor. The event is a fundraiser for the Columbus Free Press.
WHAT:
A screening of the new film STEALING AMERICA: Vote by Vote
WHEN:
September 24, 7:30-9:30pm. Discussion with filmmaker Dorothy Fadiman, Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman following the screening.
WHERE:
Drexel Gateway Theater, 1550 N. High St., south OSU campus.
ADMISSION: $8 or $5 for students.
Reporters wanting background information on the film, or on invited guests, should call – the Free Press, 253-2571 or email truth@freepress.org.
Parking is available in the garage behind the theater.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Interviewees include poll workers, computer experts, journalists, politicians, voters of all ages and others concerned about reports that certain communities may have been targeted for intimidation. The film introduces a spectrum of issues, including discrepancies between exit polls and final official tallies, the silence of the media following the election and the impact of technological glitches – for example more votes than voters, and vote flipping from one candidate to another. The film documents stories such as those of inner city voters who experienced waiting hours in line, along with the apparent unequal distribution of voting machines. Throughout, we underscore that election reform is not a partisan issue. It is the responsibility of both Democrats and Republicans to work with each other to address these issues. Various solutions to real problems are integrated into the film.
Our goal is to be provocative, but not confrontational. We want to engage viewers who may be uncomfortable addressing the realities of the election system. Our goal is to open people’s minds to the irregularities in the technology and open their hearts to the devastating impact of disenfranchising voters. The final question that the film poses is: How can we create an election system in which voters have confidence, and in which they can trust that their vote is being counted fairly?
Third Party Candidate For Ohio Governor Vows Fight To The Finish
Bill Cohen, Ohio Public Radio
COLUMBUS, OH (2006-09-18) His name is on the ballot in this year’s race for ohio governor, but he’s been shut out of the debates and is rarely mentioned in news reports. He’s Bob Fitrakis, the favorite of the Green party and activists on the political left. Fitrakis is a lawyer and political science professor from Columbus and he has sparked headlines by helping file two lawsuits, claiming Republicans stole Ohio’s last presidential election and, with it, the national election. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen has this audio portrait of a candidate who admits he’s a long shot but isn’t giving up:
(original link http://tinyurl.com/r68a4)
Blackwell Faces Green Challenger in Ohio Governor Race
By Matthew Cardinale, News Editor and National Correspondent
Atlanta Progressive News (September 16, 2006)
(APN) ATLANTA – “People need somebody running who can keep Blackwell from stealing an election. Democrats can’t say ‘Quit stealing,'” Bob Fitrakis, 50, told Atlanta Progressive News.
Fitrakis has won the Green Party Nomination for Governor of Ohio and this November he will be facing Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell and Democrat Ted Strickland.
“There’s a socialization process in the media that ‘By god, you don’t challenge the results of the election.’ Because the corporate media would fry them,” Fitrakis said.
Fitrakis is running for many reasons, but one of these is to “give me some [legal] standing,” in case of elections integrity issues in the 2006 Gubernatorial Election in Ohio.
Fitrakis is an amazing person. In addition to running for Governor of Ohio, he is a Professor of Political Science at the Columbus State Community College, the Editor of the Columbus Free Press Newspaper, and an attorney.
Fitrakis’s Republican opponent Blackwell is pretty amazing too.
While apparently treating Blacks not-so-well as Secretary of State during the 2004 Presidential Election in Ohio, Blackwell was also the Co-Chair of the Bush/Cheney Reelection Committee in Ohio. Read more
Heard Ted Strickland speak the other day at the Chamber of Commerce gubernatorial candidate breakfast at the Holiday Inn on the Lane in Columbus – best moderate Republican political talk I’ve ever heard. American politics runs in cycles. We’ve swung dramatically to the right since the appearance of Ronald Reagan and his CIA sidekick George the Elder. I walked out before I was condemned to the rhetoric of J. Kenneth. I wasn’t invited anyway.
Part of the problem with inviting third party candidates like Bill Peirce and I, is that there would be actual debate and innovative ideas. The next thing you know, a marketplace of ideas would flourish. There would be real political debate and, heaven forbid, democracy might break out. By merely having Strickland and Blackwell, you can span the political spectrum from theocratic Christo-fascism a la Blackwell, to modern 50s Republicanism a la Strickland. I suppose you could make the argument that having two candidates constitutes one more than a dictatorship.
If we are to change the disastrous course the Bush regime is on, Strickland cannot make arguments appealing to the right. He must feel the heat of the progressive forces to his left. If Strickland wins the governorship of Ohio by embracing Republicanism, the people of Ohio will lose. If you really believe in democracy, you should fight for democratic principles. That includes all certified candidates in the debate.
Bob Taft understood this. Why doesn’t Ted Strickland?
I heard an interesting statistic recently. Our state loses more young people aged 18-24 to jobs and opportunities outside Ohio than any other state in our nation. Not something to be proud of. As an educator at Columbus State Community College, I’ve seen thousands of students pass through Columbus State to go on to bigger, better jobs in other states. We can turn this around in Ohio, if we make our state a better place to live and work.
To rebuild Ohio economically, we must do three things:
1) Raise the minimum wage
2) Provide universal health insurance to all Ohio citizens
3) Make all state government contractors pay a living wage
I fully support the campaign to raise the state’s minimum wage to $6.85 an hour. The more we create a stable middle class society, the more we’ll reduce crime and the need for our massive prison industrial complex. The more we pay people, the more likely they are to afford to send their children to college or get increased education and training for themselves. Instead of exporting the greatest amount of 18-24-year-old educated and trained young adults to other states, we may keep the talent here in Ohio.
These proposals, along with increased funding for education, will make Ohio a progressive and productive state.
I spent 12 hours at the Ohio State Fair on Saturday and Sunday at the Green Party booth. The best thing the Greens had going for them is that they are not Democrats, and particularly not Republicans. There was a fair amount of hostility against Bob Taft, even from the rock-ribbed rural Republican base. Couldn’t find any fans of Blackwell, either. And Strickland was an unknown to this crowd.
Some people were mad about the voting machines and long lines. We had a special appearance by General Bruce and the talking electronic voting machine on Saturday and Marj Creech, the “Honest Elections Cow” on Sunday. The cow was a huge, huge hit passing out voting instructions and stickers to youngsters. Of course the costume was a bit hot. Roast beef, as it were.
People want reforms and practical solutions. Our problem, as always, is to get the message out with limited resources and a virtual media blackout. Ohio is ripe for new and innovative ideas. Working the fair is a great grassroots way to get the pulse of the people.
You are invited to a meet & greet for Ohio’s first Statewide Green Party candidates:
Bob Fitrakis for Governor
Anita Rios for Lt. Governor
Timothy Kettler for Secretary Of State
On Friday Aug. 4th from 4pm to 7pm
At the Gerber House of the Collingwood Arts Center 2413 Collingwood, Toledo, Ohio
Snacks and beverages provided but bring political opinions and ideas to share.
Please pass this invitation along to other interested folks. for more information call Anita Rios 419-243-8772
Hope to see you in person! You can see the building here http://tinyurl.com/okygw
You can see the building here