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Ohio Senate should act quickly to create defense commission

The 82 members of the Ohio House of Representatives who this month overwhelmingly approved legislation creating the Ohio Space and Defense Commission merit a collective salute from all Ohioans, particularly those of us in the Mahoning Valley. That legislation, House Bill 292 sponsored by Reps. Nick Santucci, R-Niles, and Ty Mathews, R-Findlay, and co-sponsored by Rep. Tex Fischer, R-Canfield, has supersized potential to fortify Ohio’s already robust defense and aerospace industries. That enhanced impact also would hit home with great promise for growth and long-term sustainability of ...

Using religion to win votes

Democrats have had trouble in recent years attracting conservative evangelical voters, who mostly vote for Republicans. In 2000, former Vice President Al Gore gave it a try. He failed badly when he said the first instance of pollution in the Bible is when “Abel’s blood cried out from the ground” after his brother Cain murdered him. Gore said this meant Abel’s blood had “defiled” or “polluted” the ground, rendering it incapable of yielding crops. Not exactly. Now comes Democrat James Talarico, the party’s nominee for the Texas Senate seat currently held by Republican ...

Kristi Noem rides off into the sunset

At times, you could be forgiven for having thought that Kristi Noem wanted to be a uniformed DHS officer rather than the secretary of the department. Now, the cabinet member most inclined to glamour shots out in the field is going to have to go back to wearing civilian clothes. For all his trademark firings during “The Apprentice” and the rapid turnover of his first term, President Trump has been loathe to oust top officials this time around. Kristi Noem is the exception, and she’s earned the dubious distinction. Incompetent and preposterously self-promoting, Noem took a ...

Trump’s unjust and unconstitutional war

Over the past weekend, some apologists for President Donald Trump’s recently ordered attacks on Iran argued that because Trump’s plans call for a quick strike, the attacks do not constitute a war. George Orwell is vindicated yet again. These apologists believe that calling a war something else means it is not a war, and so moral and constitutional justifications are unnecessary. No rational observer looking at 2,000-pound bombs being dropped on military targets and thousands of missiles being fired indiscriminately at both civilians and military personnel in Iran can conclude ...

Iran’s last hope is American division

The United States is winning. Anyone telling you otherwise is either mistaken — or rooting for a different outcome. That may sound blunt. But it happens to be true. The Iranian regime’s best remaining strategy is not military. It is political. Tehran is not counting on its air defenses, which are being shredded. It is not counting on its ballistic missile program, which has been systematically dismantled. It is not counting on its nuclear infrastructure, which is being methodically degraded. It is counting on Americans. More specifically, it is counting on a strange and ...

We can and will prevail

The past two weeks have been hard. U.S. missiles and bombs have caused as of Wednesday at least 1,300 civilian deaths in Iran, including 188 schoolchildren. Seven American service members have perished. A direct line connects this violence with the U.S. government’s violence over the past year against people in Minneapolis, Chicago and other American cities. And with the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Behind it all is the vicious bully now occupying the Oval Office. If you’re feeling angry, you’re not alone. I see it in your comments. I’m struck by how you ...