Randy’s Rants
Randy’s Rants is a series of essays by legendary Cleveland author, activist and CCPC Member Randy Cunningham. We’ll be featuring a different one each week for as long as Randy is willing to write the articles
CCPC Recommended
National
Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio – Cortez and the courage to brawl for the working class Bernie’s Stop Oligarchy Tour was exciting enough as a solo act. But with AOC now the opening act it’s twice as exciting. The tour is actually drawing bigger crowds than when Bernie ran for president. All Democrats have been looking for leadership and maybe this is it from our wing of the party. Bernie has said that he will be too old to run for president in 2028, but AOC will be just old enough to run then.
Trump officials texted war plan to a group chat in a secure app that included a journalist Top national security officials for President Donald Trump, including his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, texted plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in a messaging app that included the editor – in – chief of the Atlantic. And of course they blamed the editor. The basic problem with the Trump administration isn’t just the draconian policies, it’s the incompetence.
Here’s what federal judges could do if they’re ignored by the Trump administration Sadly the options aren’t good. The most likely response by a court if the administration were to defy a court order would be to hold the agency acting in defiance of an order in civil contempt, which would allow a judge to levy daily fines on the government for non – compliance until they comply. But it would be the Trump controlled Injustice Department that would be collecting the fines. More on the courts below.
Trump, Roberts on collision course as lawsuits creep toward Supreme Court So far most of the unconstitutional executive orders the Trump administration has issued have been blocked by the federal courts. And so far most of the blocked orders, even the most absurd, have been appealed by the Trump administration. And so far Trump has said he will not violate a court order. But all of these cases will eventually get to the Supreme Court. What happens then will decide the fate of the nation.
Trump voters are starting to get burned by DOGE’s chainsaw Some examples are a Wisconsin man who voted for Trump and his Peruvian wife got deported, a vet who voted for Trump and lost his job at a Veteran Affairs office, and a woman who proudly flew a Trump flag at her house and was fired from her Treasury Department job. There are more in the article and probably tens of thousands around the country who are just as angry as those cited in the article. Let’s hope they all vote for Democrats in the midterms.
There’s only one word to describe Trump’s negotiations with Russia: appeasement Trump and his top national security officials have persistently encouraged Putin by preemptively conceding some of Moscow’s key condition’s. There shall be no NATO membership for Ukraine, ever. Nor the recovery of Ukrainian territory seized by Russia since 2014. No peacekeepers either. And of course the Ukrainians are not even included in the negotiations.
RFK Jr. Unveils Disturbing Plan to Combat Bird Flu This would be a funny Saturday Night Live parody if it wasn’t true. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that he thinks that the bird flu should be allowed to spread unchecked to identify birds that could be immune. What could possibly go wrong? According to experts cited in the article there is a lot that could go wrong. More on RFK Jr’s lunacy in this week’s state section.
The most likely Medicaid cuts would hit rural areas the hardest Working – age adults who live in small towns and rural areas are more likely to be covered by Medicaid than their counterparts in cities, creating a dilemma for Republicans looking to make deep cuts to the health care program. Most rural areas are represented by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the dilemma for them is do they hurt their constituents or do they continue to bow down to Trump and Musk
The Varied Strains of Democrats Is an interesting article from our friends at The American Prospect. It describes the party as now having four quadrants. The first two are obvious, the progressive wing of the party that we are a part of led by Bernie Sanders and the corporate centrists who now have no apparent leader. The other two are degrees of Trump activism, Those who want to respond as if things were normal and those who want to respond as if we’re in a constitutional crisis threatening democracy.
Sex, Drinking and Dementia: 25 Lawmakers Spill on What Congress is Really Like It’s hard to find an institution the public loathes more than Congress. And if you’re one of the loathers and you click the link and read the article, you’ll most likely loath Congress even more. Politico interviewed 25 members of Congress who spoke only on the condition that their name cannot be used in the article. Which means a lot of this may or may not be true. Nevertheless, it is a good read.
Local
A week of Cleveland Browns stadium smack talk, explained The Browns and Cleveland leaders spent last week trashing each others’ competing visions for the team’s future home. The chest – thumping made for good headlines in Cleveland. But the real action is now in Columbus. State lawmakers are weighing $600 million for the new Brook Park stadium. That would get the Browns halfway to their goal of $1.2 billion in public financing
State
Republicans in Ohio, and nationally are waging war on freedom of thought and expression in higher ed We have seen dictatorial regimes throughout history attempt to destroy institutions of higher learning that fail to sufficiently align themselves with the ruling ideology of the state. But we’ve never seen it in Ohio or in the United States – until now. In countries where the state is all powerful, citizens and institutions are told what to think, how to act, and even what words they can and cannot do. Is that where we’re heading?
Vaccine rates against measles, other infections sliding in Ohio Fewer and fewer children statewide are being immunized against preventable diseases, such as polio or measles, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Prior to the pandemic the vaccine rate in Ohio was 90%. But since then the rate is just above 80%. What do you think is going to happen to that rate in the next few years with anti – vaccine activist and conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. now running the Department of Health and Human Services?
After bitter defeats last year, Ohio Democrats are biding time as GOP moves full swing in 2026 Fresh off a pair of devastating losses last year – the bitter defeat of U.S. Senator Brown to Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno and the rejection by voters of the anti – gerrymandering amendment known as Issue 1 – the party’s efforts at building anything close to a winning ticket in 2026 have been muted, and for some moving too slowly. What do you think?
Immigration
Experts fear the men who were sent to El Salvador’s mega prison may never make it out Hundreds of Venezuelans who were deported to El Salvador from the United States in recent days could face long or indefinite detention in a prison system rife with human rights abuses, according to attorneys and experts on the region. But cruelty is the point with these detentions. And the fact that many of those deported were denied any due process and therefore might be innocent may be the cruelest thing about this saga.
Homeland Security makes cuts to offices overseeing civil rights protections The Department of Homeland Security is making cuts to three key offices that oversee civil rights protections across its broad mission, suggesting that they were impeding immigration enforcement efforts. The offices being gutted are the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, and the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman.
Trump revokes protections for 530,000 Cubans, Haitians and other migrants US President Donald Trump’s administration has said it will revoke the temporary legal status of more than half a million migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The migrants were brought into the US under a Biden – era sponsorship process known as CHNV that was designed to open legal and migration pathways. Trump suspended the program once he took office.
Thousands of agents diverted to Trump immigration crackdown Federal agents who usually hunt down child abusers are now cracking down on immigrants who live in the United States without documentation. Homeland Security investigators who specialize in money laundering of the drug cartels are now raiding restaurants and other small businesses looking for immigrants who are not authorized to work. And obviously this is making us less safe than before the immigration crackdown began.
Black Lives Matter
Federal investigation targets Ohio universities over diversity program The U.S. Department of Education has opened investigations into the Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati and 43 other schools for their participation in a program that encourages diverse people to get doctoral degrees in business. This must be what the half of the Department of Education that’s left is doing. Meanwhile the department is gutting student loans, enforcement of discrimination complaints and services to students with disabilities.
Trump threats have led to cancelled university events for women and Black alumni in Ohio On Valentine’s Day, the U.S. Department of Education issued a dear colleague letter to colleges and K – 12 schools that threatened to rescind federal funds for schools that use race conscious practices in admissions programing, training. hiring, scholarships and other things. Wouldn’t it be great if colleges would say FU to Trump and use the NIL money they are now paying athletes to make up for lost federal funds.
CCPC April Meeting: The State of Labor in Northeast Ohio
CCPC April Meeting: The State of Labor in Northeast Ohio Wednesday, April 23 from 6:30 to 8 pm. Our main topic in April will be the state of the labor movement in Northeast Ohio. Our guest speaker is Brian Pearson, the Executive Secretary of the North Shore AFL – CIO Federation of Labor We’ll also have our usual update on the Trump Resistance movement in Northeast Ohio. Please click here to register for the event. After registering you’ll receive an email with the Zoom link.
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