That’s the way a commentator on NPR characterized the outcome of the midterm elections the morning after: Trump was rebuked, but not repudiated. Progressives simply have to satisfy themselves that they took back the House, and therefore will be able to effectively put roadblocks in the way to prevent the megalomaniac in the White House from continuing to run roughshod over the Republic and threatening the Constitution.
As the saying goes, half a loaf is better than none, but the country still is in big trouble. And as for immediately launching House investigations of the administration, I think they hold off on that move and use it as a threat no deter further anti-democratic moves by Trump, basically saying, “If you do thus and such, then we’re going to launch an investigation.”
Here in Ohio any lingering question about us being a swing state any longer was vanquished as Republicans swept all of the statewide offices, and even voted to continue to kill their own young by voting down Issue 1 (which would have made treatment for opioid addiction more readily available) by a large margin. The vote count proved once again that if you drive 25 miles south of downtown Cleveland you’re in “Brunstucky” which is representative of the fact we’re truly the Mississippi of the North, and for the most backward southern state.
But who would have dared to think a scant decade ago that black candidates could mount viable campaigns in Deep South states like Florida and Georgia? The big news is not that Andrew Gillium lost, but that he was able to keep the vote so close. Ditto in Georgia, where the vote is still too close to call as of this writing, with Stacey Abrams having to contend with Jim Crow-era tactics in her race against Republican Brian Kemp, who also served as the official vote counter in the state.
Closer to home, a number of members of city council — who really should be the on-the-ground field generals on Election Day — were missing in action since the National League of Cities decided to hold a confab in Los Angeles the same week as the vote. Was this some kind of Republican ploy to get Democrats out of town? Maybe the name of the group should be the National League of Titties, since the main attraction of most conventions is the partying that goes on in strip clubs at the conclusion of the day’s agenda. The members of council could have simply stayed in Cleveland until the day after the election — but nooo, they were too eager to go to an adult Disneyland.
And while they were having fun in the sun, a group of disgruntled Greater Clevelanders began circulating petitions to call for a special election to reduce the number of members of council from 17 down to nine. While I’m on record as stating that we have too many councilpersons for a city of our size, the proof that this effort is purely mean-spirited lies in the fact they want to also reduce the pay of the members at the same time. I guess in that way less qualified candidates will want the job, making it easier for people who don’t live in the city of Cleveland to exercise control. This is going to bear watching.
From CoolCleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author at http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.