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
Zelenskyy shows true leadership as Trump implodes in Oval Office meltdown Donald Trump and VD Vance teamed up to embarrass the United States last Friday and most likely they derailed any meaningful efforts for a peace deal in the Russia – Ukraine War. The childish ambush began with Vance launching a tirade, criticizing President Joe Biden’s handling of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Trump then escalated things by shouting out that Ukraine ” doesn’t have the cards to negotiate.” Putin must be laughing his rear end off.
After Trump’s first month back, personal defiance matters more than ever Argues that liberals should respond to Trump with two raised middle fingers and an invitation to the culture warriors to kiss our collective rear ends. Trump voters didn’t want the decimation of social services, economic chaos or the rising threat of all out war in Europe. They just wanted all the queer people, feminist’s and Black Lives Matter supporters to bend the knee. So two raised middle fingers to them.
Who will stop Trump and Elon Musk from dismantling the US government There are two ways to descend into autocracy, gradually and suddenly. And as you know, we are on the bullet train. Yes there are the court’s. But what happens if Trump and Musk don’t obey the court orders or if the Supreme Court sides with them when the cases get there? This article argues that Congress should step in and maybe the wealthy Democratic Party donors should back Republicans who fear a primary challenge if they grow a spine.
21 DOGE staffers resign, saying they won’t help ‘ dismantle ‘ public services A group of 21 career civil servants whose team was folded into Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency resigned last week, writing in a public letter that they refuse to use their skills to put Americans’ data at risk and ” dismantle critical public services.” The federal workers, mostly software engineers and product managers, were once part of the U.S. Digital Service, which was renamed DOGE when Musk started dismantling the federal government.
The Party of Reagan Becomes the Party of Putin Four decades after Ronald Reagan confronted the Soviet ” evil empire, ” Donald Trump has essentially switched sides. Reagan labeled the Soviet Union ” the evil empire ” for its human rights abuses and expansionist foreign policy. Trump regularly praises Putin as a ” strong ” leader. Reagan pushed for freedom in Eastern Europe from soviet hegemony, Trump victim – blames Ukraine, saying that the former Soviet republic brought in the invasion on itself. Are there now two ” evil empires”?
How Trump’s government – cutting moves risk exposing the CIA’s secrets In an effort to comply with an executive order to downsize the federal workforce, the CIA earlier this month sent the White House an extraordinary email listing all new hires that have been with the agency two years or less – a list that included CIA officers that were preparing to operate undercover – over an unclassified email server. While none of us actually know what the CIA does, we also don’t know what will happen if they stop doing their job.
Trump and Elon Musk are Floating ‘ DOGE Dividends.’ Low – income Americans might not benefit The intent here is of course to buy support for the dismantling of the federal government. People would then tend to look away from the disastrous effect of the cuts because, doesn’t a check for $5000 sound great? But the plan is to make the dividend available only to households who pay federal income taxes. And most people who earn less than $40,000 a year pay no federal income tax.
America’s nervous skies: Searches about airplane safety are rising Although flying is still considered to be safer than driving in a car, the growing fear is understandable. Two airplane crashes in Washington and Toronto, compared to none during the Biden administration, have spiked the number of ” how safe is flying ” searches on google. And this was before DOGE decided to lay off 132 FAA employees, including employees tasked with air traffic navigation maps.
Kennedy says panel will examine childhood vaccine schedule after promising not to change it To earn the vote he needed to become the nation’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a special promise to a U.S senator. And that promise was that he would not change the nation’s vaccine schedule. But last week he announced that he would be investigating the childhood vaccine schedule that prevents measles, polio and other dangerous diseases.
Local
Internal complaints against Cleveland police can ‘ languish ‘ in city HR for years, records show The Cleveland Community Police Commission released data last week that showed there were 44 complaints alleging workplace violence, harassment, discrimination and retaliation against city employees. The complaints date back more than five years and are categorized as ” open ” by the city and apparently have never been investigated, much less resolved. WTF!
State
DeWine’s budget cuts $103 million from Ohio School districts, as costs explode for charters and vouchers. See if your district gets cut. Projections from the legislature’s own nonpartisan research agency show Gov.Mike DeWine’s proposed budget would slash $100 million from traditional public schools over the next two years while costs for privately operated charter schools and voucher programs jump another $500 million.
DOGE for Ohio? Vivek Ramaswamy governor’s race pushing cuts and merit pay Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who announced his candidacy for governor of Ohio last week, wants to reshape public schools with merit pay for teachers, cut regulations and slash spending. It’s a disruptive agenda that sounds a lot like the one Ramaswamy helped draw up for Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. He is likely to get Trump’s endorsement and be the favorite in 2026
Unions brace for fight as Ohio GOP moves ‘ Right to Work,’ strike bans Remember SB 5 in 2011? State House Republicans are moving bills that gradually limit union power, a strategy critics fear is an under – the – radar revival of the infamous SB 5 attempted overhaul of public sector unions. This year’s SB 1 would gut the union power of state college faculty unions and the fear is that the Republicans are using a piecemeal approach which would gradually gut the power of other public sector unions.
Ohio Bill Would Add New Civil Liability for Property Damaged in Protests Since criminal law already covers property damaged during protests, the point of this bill is intimidation. Instead of simply holding the perpetrator accountable, the proposal would expand liability to those who provide primary support for the protest itself. So if CCPC organizes a protest, we would be liable for any property damage anybody who shows up to the protest inflicts. If the bill should pass, CCPC still intends to organize protests,
Immigration
GOP Budget Reconciliation Plan – Cutting Essential Programs to Supercharge Deportations The Senate deal will reportedly include at least $175 billion for border and immigration enforcement, nearly six times the latest annual budget of Customs and Border Patrol and ICE combined. While exact details are yet to be set, in order to pay for this staggering amount, the plan calls for sweeping cuts to essential programs including potentially, Medicaid, Social Security, food stamps and more.
Trump administration throws out protections from deportation for Haitians This is very sad news for our Haitian neighbors in Springfield. The Haitians have been here legally under Temporary Protected Status which allows refugees to enter the United States to flee persecution, war or natural disaster. Last week the Trump administration rescinded the Haitians Temporary Protected Status. So where will they go? Back to Haiti is not a good option and one has to wonder who else will take them in.
Trump administration halts legal aid for migrant children, leaving some to navigate courts alone Cruelty is the point with the monsters now running our immigration system. Many of the children have entered the country alone and cannot speak English. Some of the kids are as young as 2 and their feet don’t even touch the floor when they are sitting in the courtroom. And of course they cannot possibly navigate the legal system without representation.
ICE lets local officials stop immigrants on the streets as the task force program is back As the Trump administration pushes for more mass deportations, the government has revived a long abandoned program that lets local and state law enforcement challenge people on the street about immigration status – and possibly arrest them for deportations. In other words, racial profiling. The program was dropped in 2012 after numerous racial profiling suits which resulted in millions of dollars in payouts.
Black Lives Matter
Judge largely blocks Trump’s executive orders ending federal support for DEI programs A federal judge last week blocked sweeping executive orders from President Donald Trump that seek to end government support for diversity equity and inclusion. The preliminary injunction blocks the administration from terminating or changing federal contracts they consider equity – related. The judge found that the orders likely carry constitutional violations, including against free – speech rights.
Black Viewers Rally Around Joy Reid A day after winning an NAACP image award, one of MSNBC.s highest rated shows is done. The cancellation of Joy Reid’s primetime show, the ReidOut, has sparked outrage and confusion among viewers and fans. Reid was the only Black woman hosting a primetime cable news program and the ratings were high. So one has to wonder what the real reason was for the cancellation? What’s next? Is Rachel Maddow going to be cancelled too?
CCPC March Membership Meeting: Statehouse Issues
CCPC March Membership Meeting: Statehouse Issues Tuesday, March 18 from 6:30 to 8 pm. As horrible as things are in Washington, things are just as bad in Columbus. Rachel Coyle, the Communications Director at Innovation Ohio will be joining us to preview upcoming bills and the upcoming budget. You may know of or have seen Rachel’s popular advocacy training program ” How Things Work at the Ohio Statehouse,” which teaches Ohioans how to be effective Statehouse activists. Please click here to register for the event. After registering you’ll receive an email with the Zoom link.
And in case you missed it
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