Пълният препис на The Blue Wave Crashed Over Ohio and Trump Gets His Rebuke

then there's the controversy about the two Dan Sullivans, but once the ranked choice voting kicks in, that's not going to be relevant, even though Republicans are still gonna cry about it. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:18.879 It was just uh amazing, and and one of the other amazing races was Marcy Captor in the ninth district here in Ohio. 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:20.959 She was expected to lose. 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:25.040 They had gerrymandered her district twice now. 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:41.040 Uh, the second time they pretty much gave her a bunch of cornfields and rural areas, uh, which was majority, uh made up majority of Republicans, but they also still gave her parts of Lucas County and Toledo. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:44.160 And that is what put her over the top. 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:49.439 Plus, it didn't help hurt that she had uh the incumbent tag. 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:54.160 So, you know, a lot of people voted for her because she had been in the job. 00:07:54.480 --> 00:08:05.839 Personally, I don't want to support her any longer, and I hope that Democrats or DSA or anybody else primaries her the next time. 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:08.959 Um she threw trans people under the bus. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:14.560 Um in her election in 2022, she threw immigrants under the bus. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:19.040 So she'll do anything, she'll say anything to get elected. 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:28.959 And she, some of her votes, recent votes, have been kind of questionable, uh, coming from a Democrat, because she's trying to play both sides of the fence. 00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:37.120 She's trying to appeal to the rural conservative voter who won't vote for vote for her anyway. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:52.080 And so then she ticks off the progressive uh liberal people that will still vote for her because, again, the country's election system is rigged for only two parties. 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:57.200 It also, the election got gr better for Ohio. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:01.840 Uh, they had gerrymandered our congressional maps. 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:07.919 And a couple of years ago, the Democrats had a lawsuit. 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:16.559 Uh well, they originally had tried to do a uh a constitutional amendment to change how it was done. 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:39.919 And Frank LaRose, who was Secretary of State at the time, um put his thumb on the scale and mucked up the the uh wording on the ballot measure, so people were confused and they voted against it, thinking that that was going to keep that was gonna stop gerrymandering when they needed to vote in favor of it. 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:41.600 And so it lost. 00:09:41.919 --> 00:10:02.320 So the Democrats sued in federal court, and they made a deal with the Republicans in the State House that they would accept the map for that election, and uh and the Republicans said that they would not make it gerrymander it worse. 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:06.960 So they still gerrymandered it to try to favor Republicans. 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:12.480 And because of the blue wave, that blew up in the Republicans' face. 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:19.200 The Democrats ended up taking eight of the 15 congressional districts. 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:31.200 Um they got uh Marcy Captor re-elected, uh, another one, another Democrat that was already, uh there was two other Democrats that are already in office, it got re-elected. 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:41.200 And then they also won, uh, the Democrats won like the 15th district that had been had a Republican for a long time, and some other places. 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:42.879 So they did really good. 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:51.200 The other place that Ohio did great was they pretty much ran the table of executive offices. 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:59.919 The Democrats won the governorship, attorney general, and uh the uh secretary of state. 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:08.960 Uh Frank LaRose did win his election to be the auditor, so he won't be in charge of the elections anymore, which is good. 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:24.159 Uh Alison Russo, who was the one that that uh gave up on the map lawsuit, the gerrymandering lawsuit, uh, she becomes the Secretary of State, so she's gonna handle elections. 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:49.039 Um, there was one bad thing about the election, is that the Republicans, in order to jazz up their base, put in a uh constitutional amendment to enshrine photo ID for voting and to make other changes that are gonna probably come down the line, at least so they'll try later, like messing with absentee ballots and things like that. 00:11:49.279 --> 00:12:11.440 And unfortunately that passed because all they did was they said it was just uh making it permanent that you were gonna have to have photo ID, and a majority of people support presenting photo IDs, even though it doesn't make elections safer or uh avoid uh voter fraud. 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:14.720 You know, and I've I've talked about that before. 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:22.720 Uh poll workers are not experts in driver's licenses and paperwork and things like that. 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:35.440 So I always think that requiring a signature on a poll book has far more is far more secure for your vote than asking for a photo ID. 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:38.159 So unfortunately, that passed. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:40.320 But it is good to see. 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:50.720 And then the other thing, too, in the Ohio House of Representatives, the Democrats ended the Republicans' supermajority. 00:12:51.840 --> 00:13:11.360 So we're actually going to have the need for bipartisanship and give and take, and we're actually going to have some transparency and some public hearings for some bills, because if you don't, they're probably not going to make it through the legislature like the Republicans have pulled in the past. 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:19.679 And the example I give is the release time religious instruction law was originally HB 445. 00:13:20.720 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00:13:30.639 Um, it got stalled in the House because the chair of the education committee was a former teacher and board member, school board member, and she didn't like the bill. 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:35.679 So she stalled it by not scheduling any more hearings on it. 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:41.200 So they introduced it in the Senate, where it also kind of stalled out. 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:46.080 They couldn't get any votes or any enthusiasm for it. 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:58.720 So the uh Christian nationalists like uh Andrew Brenner and uh Gary Click got it shoved into a bill that had already passed the House. 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:06.879 It was House Bill Eight, which was called the Parents Rights Act, and it was an anti-LGBT bill. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:22.799 And so they shoved the RTRI language into that bill, and of course it passed because most of the most of the legislature and the majority wanted the anti-LGBT stuff passed. 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:27.120 So they passed it, and they didn't care about the religious part. 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:31.519 And then it went to the Senate and they conferred with the changes. 00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:39.600 Well, no, the Senate, the Senate adopted it, sent it to the House, since the bill had already passed the House, they just had to approve the changes, and they did. 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:51.440 And so with this change in the end of the supermajority, there'll be less likely that that's gonna happen in the future, at least in the next legislative session. 00:14:51.600 --> 00:15:21.919 You're not gonna have some uh bill that's not getting any traction, that's some culture war crap, and they're not gonna like stuff it into another bill without any hearings or or uh against the will of the people, because they on that uh House Bill 8 that got passed, they had over 200 people send in testimony in uh in opposition to that bill, and they still passed it because they didn't need Democratic votes to pass it. 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:23.679 They had a supermajority. 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:26.399 So we won't have to worry about that too much. 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:31.200 So, all in all, with the election, I'm very pleased with how it turned out. 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:39.919 Um, we're now going to have to deal with the Democrats actually governing in Washington, D.C. 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:41.919 and in Columbus. 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:44.799 Uh, Columbus, I'm not too worried about. 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:47.279 Uh, there's still a lot of good experience. 00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:58.000 Uh I had a friend of mine that complained about the uh governor-elect Amy Acton reaching out to uh members of Ted Strickland's administration. 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:04.960 Ted Strickland was the last Democratic governor uh back in the early 2000s. 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:08.080 Um, he was the last Democrat governor. 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:09.679 He served one term. 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:17.360 And so my friend was concerned

that she was going to take the advice of people that failed. 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:19.120 They didn't get a second term. 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:27.279 And the thing is, what you got to know is the Democrats haven't been in power in Columbus at least 20 years. 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:38.559 It's been at least since 2011 that they have not had any of the top top offices or control of the legislature. 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:42.559 So I think that there's going to be, there was missing some experience. 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:46.000 And so you go to the people that have some experience. 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:49.679 You know, I hope, I'm I'm hoping for the best. 00:16:49.919 --> 00:17:00.559 Um, I've already sent information to um my Congresspeople about trans rights, and and I'm sure that I'll be sending some messages to Dr. 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:07.359 Acton about church and state separation and about trans rights as well when she finally gets into office. 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:16.319 And so the thing that I like is that Democrats tend to be amenable to persuasion. 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:29.119 You know, if you make a good argument and you talk to them about it and you and you explain why you have to do it this way or do that way, then they'll sometimes they'll change their mind. 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:38.880 Now, in the Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., there's going to be some issues. 00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:49.680 And the reason why there's going to be some issues is because Hakeem Jeffries, who's the current minority leader, is set to become the Speaker of the House in January. 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:53.039 Uh, he's already indicated that he wants the job. 00:17:53.599 --> 00:18:07.839 And so because he is a black person, uh, there's a lot of people that are creating this thing where you can't oppose him because if you do, you're you could be considered racist. 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:17.279 And the problem is that Hakeem Jeffries has been an ineffective leader for the past two years of his caucus. 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:23.039 Um he how how how did they say that? 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:51.440 Oh, there was some political commentator that was talking about, and I forget who it was, it might have even been Abdul El Syed, is that people in the Democratic Party leadership think that they're in an episode of the West Wing, where everybody's collegial and only what's best for the country, and once and they want to work together. 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:58.640 And the Republicans have not been like that at all for 10 years since Trump took over the party. 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:05.680 They've been not, they do not want to work with the Democrats, no matter how much they say. 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:14.880 And so if Jeffries just gives up right now and just says, well, we're just going to work on stuff that we can work on together, and then it's what's the point? 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:18.720 Why did people vote the Democratic majority in the House? 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:20.559 They want to see things done. 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:23.759 They want to see affordability addressed. 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:26.319 They want to see an end to the Iran War. 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:29.119 They want to see corruption dealt with. 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:31.359 And you can do all those things. 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:35.519 You can't, you just don't have to do one thing at a time. 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:44.400 Uh Jamie Raskin, representative Jamie Raskin from Maryland, who's a member of the Free Thought Caucus, is set to become the chair of the Judiciary Committee. 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:47.279 And he also said, you can do both. 00:19:47.519 --> 00:20:07.359 And by addressing the corruption in the administration, you're also dealing with the Affordability Act uh issues because a lot of the money that they pulled out and like cutting people's uh uh health care and the tariffs and things like that, the authoritarian stuff, is related to the corruption. 00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:10.079 And so you can fix all that. 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:14.480 And I personally don't think Hakeem Jeffries is the person for the job. 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:32.480 Now, pretty much the way people have been talking about it that are have uh skin in the game to say it to make it simple, have said that he's probably gonna get elected speaker, and that's fine. 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:36.160 Chuck Schumer, on the other hand, does need to go home. 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:39.599 He does he need to go back to just being a regular senator. 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:42.880 They do need new leadership in the Senate. 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:45.200 He has been ineffectual. 00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:50.640 Um, he refused to support Abdul El El Sayed. 00:20:51.440 --> 00:21:04.480 Uh he recruited a uh 80-year-old former governor of Maine to run for the Senate seat in Maine, who got beat in the primary by Graham Platner. 00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:06.400 He didn't support Graham Plattner. 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:09.440 He didn't support uh the guy that won, James. 00:21:09.599 --> 00:21:11.680 I can't think of his name right offhand. 00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:18.240 And when he was he's given speeches, he uh it's just he's just awful. 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:19.440 He's just an awful leader. 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:20.960 He's not good at all. 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:36.559 You know, he he let he let Joe Manchin and Kristen Semena uh muck everything up when they had the control over whether or not Democratic issues got uh voted on or not. 00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:41.200 You know, a uh majority leader should not allow that to happen. 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:45.680 You have to have control of your caucus and you have to put your foot down. 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:48.799 And that is one thing he does not do. 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:56.880 He does send uh strongly worded letters a lot, and he just doesn't give very good speeches. 00:21:57.039 --> 00:22:03.039 So if any of these

leaders Jeffries or Schumer get replaced. 00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:06.720 I would much like to see Schumer replaced. 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:14.079 I'd like to see them both replaced, but I'm willing to give Jeffries a chance, at least to start out. 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:21.759 In Ohio, with Alison Russo as the Secretary of State, I see that she's hopefully going to be a fair person. 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:23.039 She's going to be neutral. 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:37.279 She's not going to try to put her thumb on the scale by mucking up ballot languages and complaining all the time and filing lawsuits and actually following the law. 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:56.960 And I know Cole Witch, who got the attorney general, hopefully he's going to be looking into corruption, especially Jobs Ohio, which really needs somebody to do an audit of and oversee, since we supposedly it's their money is secret. 00:22:57.119 --> 00:22:58.720 We're not allowed to know it. 00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:01.359 And so I'm hopeful. 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:02.559 I'm hopeful. 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:09.519 Like I said, you know, it's been a long time since I woke up the day after election and I was in a decent mood. 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:12.480 And I feel hopeful for 2027. 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:15.440 You know, I'm not going to sit back and just let it happen. 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:21.039 I'm going to continue to be active and be an advocate for the issues that are important to me. 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:27.680 I'm still in the groups and the groups that I work with, they're still raring to go. 00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:30.640 And so we'll we'll go ahead and do that. 00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:46.960 For more information on the topics in this episode and the links used, visit secularleft.us. 00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:06.559 I'm sure you're aware, if you follow this podcast intensely as everybody should be, right? 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:12.000 I have a Substack called Secular Left Nuggets. 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:40.799 And basically what I do with that Substack is I do some posts from time to time, not very often, of things that are grinding my gears at that particular time that may or may not become a segment in a podcast, either because the time frame is different, you know, like my next episode would be after this certain thing that I write about, and so won't be relevant to talk about later. 00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:43.119 And so, you know, check it out. 00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:47.039 It is secularleft.substack.com. 00:24:47.359 --> 00:25:09.119 And one of the articles I have currently up is about the um uh conservative uh MAGA um gaslighting that was attempted when the Vivek Ramaswamy ad using Amy Acton's mother came out, and and you remember all the backlash about that. 00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:24.400 Well, some of the Magas decided to try to gaslight people that it was not about sexual assault, that it was about uh Amy Acton being a terrible person, candidate, and a liar. 00:25:24.640 --> 00:25:36.880 And so they tried to they tried to um disassociate it from Amy Acton's uh childhood trauma, which didn't work, but this is what they tried to do. 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:41.200 And one of the articles I have up, the title is Don't Believe Your Lying Ears. 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:43.920 MAG is gaslighting defense of the Acton ad. 00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:49.359 It with the subtitle, Sometimes a Mother Doesn't Know Their Children Best. 00:25:50.400 --> 00:26:05.359 After the righteous backlash against the recent Vivek Ramaswamy ad using the estranged mother of Amy Acton to call her a liar, many people in the MAGA world are doubling down on using the ad by trying to gaslight all of us about what it was saying. 00:26:06.240 --> 00:26:20.240 And so then I have an example of one of those gaslight uh attempts by failed wedding venue owner Jack Windsor who says decides that he's a citizen journalist now. 00:26:20.720 --> 00:26:25.039 And he put up a note on his Facebook. 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:29.119 He says the press incorrectly stated that the ad was about SA. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:30.799 It was not. 00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:32.880 It was Acton's mom calling her a liar. 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:42.079 The Acton press release spoke about SA, and the press took that bait and largely ignored the only claim the I the ad contested living in a tent. 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:53.039 And today, one of your acolyte claims, court documents say otherwise, her subhead, but writes one sentence about police finding the stepfather living in a tent when Acton was a child. 00:26:53.279 --> 00:26:55.839 No evidence actin was there, no leak to the record. 00:26:55.920 --> 00:26:58.880 I see the reporting you're praising, it misses the mark. 00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:08.880 So basically, what Jack Windsor is trying to do is say that the only claim made in the ad was that Amy was lying about her childhood living in a tent. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:23.039 Totally ignoring the fact that the reason why this woman in the ad was her estranged mother is because they hadn't spoken since 1978. 00:27:24.480 --> 00:27:34.480 So wanting to use her to uh judge the credibility of Amy Acton today, it just doesn't work. 00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:35.519 It's not logical. 00:27:35.599 --> 00:27:40.720 You can't you can't do that because she doesn't know Amy after 1978. 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:51.599 So when she's on on the camera saying that Amy lied about her childhood, she's saying that she lied about her childhood, which included the sexual assault. 00:27:54.480 --> 00:27:55.599 And so that's what I say. 00:27:55.680 --> 00:28:10.319 I said the problem for Windsor and Ramswamy is that Donald Arthur Donna Author has not seen or talked to Amy Acton since 1978, when Author picked her then husband over her children when he was indicted for raping Acton when she was 12 years old at the time. 00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:16.480 Acton and her brother were removed from the home, and Arthur and her husband

fled Ohio to avoid trial. 00:28:16.880 --> 00:28:23.680 Author's claim that Acton lies about her past can only mean her past before 1978. 00:28:23.839 --> 00:28:30.799 And the inference by Arthur mentioning building two sex abuse programs is that Amy is lying about her rape too. 00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:37.839 Why would she mention the sex abuse programs in the ad at all unless she was connecting it to the lies? 00:28:38.079 --> 00:28:45.680 And even if we limit the ad to the tenth story, Arthur has no credibility about what acting is like in 2026. 00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:53.039 And uh, and so that is one of the articles that I have. 00:28:53.279 --> 00:29:00.160 It it's not enough, it really wasn't enough information at the time to do a podcast segment. 00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:02.400 I probably would have if I had the time. 00:29:02.640 --> 00:29:10.319 And now with the time has moved on and it's post-election, there really isn't any reason to go over it. 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:15.119 But I just wanted to point out one of the things that I do with the Substack. 00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:25.200 And so if you're interested, if you don't want to listen to the podcast all the time, but you're interested in what I have to say about politics, you know, subscribe to the Substack. 00:29:25.279 --> 00:29:26.880 Right now, it's currently free. 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:34.640 I don't intend on charging a subscription for it anytime soon because you know, my main focus is my podcast. 00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:41.200 You are listening to the Secular Left Podcast. 00:29:44.319 --> 00:29:55.359 One of the issues that I've been dealing with for a couple of years now is fighting the Christian nationalist group, Lifewise Academy. 00:29:55.839 --> 00:30:09.200 And in case you don't know, this is the group that is injecting itself into public schools around Ohio and the rest of the country to provide big Bible classes for kids. 00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:28.960 And it's uh constitutional, relatively constitutional, as long as it's voluntary, that it happens off campus, that it's not in the school, and that no tax dollars are spent on it, and the school doesn't promote it. 00:30:29.920 --> 00:30:42.720 And so basically what it is is uh the parents sign a form and they give it to the school, and then the kid is released to somebody from LifeWise. 00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:54.160 And in most cases, they either get on a bus or van and they travel to a local church where they do their Bible class. 00:30:54.720 --> 00:31:02.880 Uh, some districts, like Elida near Lima, they actually have a place next door to the church, uh to the school. 00:31:03.119 --> 00:31:07.039 So the kids walk to their lifewise class. 00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:13.440 And typically it's 45 minutes to an hour, then they go back to school. 00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:19.200 And and this is uh called release time religious instruction. 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:30.880 It was cut it was uh allowed after a couple of court decisions

in 1948 McCollum v. 00:31:31.359 --> 00:31:34.240 Uh Board of Education, I believe was the name of it. 00:31:34.400 --> 00:31:36.000 Yeah, it was uh McCollum v. 00:31:36.160 --> 00:31:40.079 Board of Education in 1948 and Zorach v. 00:31:40.160 --> 00:31:42.559 Clausen in 1952. 00:31:43.839 --> 00:31:56.799 And those cases say that RTRI, release time religious instruction, has to be voluntary off campus, not promoted or supported by the school district, and no tax money is spent on it. 00:31:58.480 --> 00:32:08.079 There is a school district in Ohio where we know they are egregiously violating those court decisions. 00:32:09.440 --> 00:32:11.759 It's the Elmwood Local Schools. 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:17.759 It's in Wood County, it's about 35 miles south of where we are at in Toledo. 00:32:18.480 --> 00:32:34.720 And I think about 10 or 15 years ago, I'm not sure, I haven't dug into it, they worked with the state to build a new combined K through 12 school building next door to their current, their old school. 00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:48.799 A lot of schools, rural, especially particularly rural schools in Ohio have done this, is where the state pays money, they pay part of it, and then the local districts, they pay part of it, and they get a brand new school. 00:32:48.880 --> 00:32:58.480 And a lot of these rural schools needed new schools because they were either built in the 50s or 60s and and a lot of maintenance issues. 00:32:59.680 --> 00:33:08.480 So they have this new building, this new combined building, and most of the old building, the previous building, was demolished. 00:33:08.720 --> 00:33:15.440 Uh, the state allows them to keep a couple of parts of the building uh for other uses. 00:33:15.680 --> 00:33:33.200 Um, I know there was a school district in Hancock County, Arlington, where they kept the old gym, but they tore the rest of it, not old gym, but there was like an addition that had been put on in 1995, and they kept that addition and tore everything else down. 00:33:33.599 --> 00:33:38.880 That is part of the deal with the state, is you just can't keep the old building complete. 00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:43.759 And so they had this building and they called it a community center. 00:33:45.759 --> 00:33:54.000 And there's a theater, a weight room, uh, some classroom space for meetings, and they rent out the center to local groups. 00:33:55.599 --> 00:34:02.480 The school district still owns the building, the land, and they control who rents that building. 00:34:03.119 --> 00:34:12.079 So if you're a local group in in Wood County and you want to use that community center, you have to contact the school district. 00:34:12.239 --> 00:34:14.719 And there's like a form you have to fill out. 00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:20.880 Uh Elmwood has had a Lifewise program since I think about 2022. 00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:23.360 Don't hold hold me to that date. 00:34:23.599 --> 00:34:35.280 Um, in fact, that was that program was what got me on the road to

uh opposing LifeWise. 00:34:35.440 --> 00:34:38.000 That's when I heard about LifeWise for the first time. 00:34:38.159 --> 00:34:47.360 Was somebody in the Elmwood district had contacted my group, contacted uh secular humanists of Western Lake Erie and wanted to know what to do about it. 00:34:48.159 --> 00:34:55.599 And so I looked into it and and kind of, you know, and the rest they say is history, where we're at now. 00:34:56.800 --> 00:35:05.519 But instead of being taken off campus, like all the other program, Lifewise Pro, most other, there's some other ones too. 00:35:06.239 --> 00:35:18.719 Uh instead of being taken off cha campus to a local church or to private property, LifeWise rents a room at the community center during the school day. 00:35:20.880 --> 00:35:25.199 Uh there's a gentleman, Keith Comer, who we've interviewed previously. 00:35:25.360 --> 00:35:28.880 Uh he inquired about this because he lives in that area. 00:35:30.559 --> 00:35:33.119 And he he mentioned that it doesn't seem legal. 00:35:33.760 --> 00:35:47.039 And the school responded back to him that they rent out the space to the community, and due to previous Supreme Court cases, they can't discriminate just because life-wise is religious. 00:35:48.880 --> 00:35:50.719 Which is technically true. 00:35:52.400 --> 00:36:09.519 If they offered space in their clas in their school buildings to uh other community groups like Boy Scouts or uh the Shriners or maybe a church service every once in a while, who knows? 00:36:09.840 --> 00:36:15.679 If they do that, then they cannot discriminate based on content. 00:36:16.719 --> 00:36:19.840 Uh it's uh uh public uh what do they call it? 00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:20.639 Access. 00:36:20.880 --> 00:36:22.719 It's an access law. 00:36:23.360 --> 00:36:27.920 So so if you uh they call it a limited public forum. 00:36:28.639 --> 00:36:37.199 So, you know, you're not letting everybody in, but if you let some people in, you have to let the people that want to come in come in. 00:36:38.159 --> 00:36:42.559 And so that's technically true, what the school told you. 00:36:43.760 --> 00:36:50.559 The problem is lifewise takes place during the school day. 00:36:52.079 --> 00:36:56.480 And I'll have a graphic up and I'll have it on in the show notes. 00:36:56.800 --> 00:37:09.440 But if you're watching the video of this episode, if you look over my shoulder, you'll see a graphic of the website, the Elmwood Local Schools website about their community center. 00:37:09.599 --> 00:37:16.079 If you look at the hours that it's open, it's prior to 9 a.m. 00:37:17.199 --> 00:37:19.840 And then they have hours after 3 p.m. 00:37:20.559 --> 00:37:21.679 that it's open. 00:37:22.960 --> 00:37:24.880 So between 9 a.m. 00:37:25.199 --> 00:37:30.559 and 3 p.m., they do not rent out that community center. 00:37:30.960 --> 00:37:35.920 And the fact is the school rents only to LifeWise during the school day. 00:37:38.719 --> 00:37:47.760 Um the same commute concerned community member that I talked about earlier tried to rent a meeting space during the school day and was denied. 00:37:48.239 --> 00:37:54.480 And he was told that the students still use some of that space and it was a safety issue. 00:37:57.760 --> 00:38:11.360 So basically, they have a religious Bible class on school property during the school day, and that violates the Supreme Court case, McCollum v. 00:38:11.519 --> 00:38:15.440 Board of Education, in 1948, because that was the exact same thing. 00:38:15.599 --> 00:38:36.079 And the court said even if you rent a room to a religious group, it does not absolve you of the violation because you have control of the school building, and the children have to go to school, they're required to go to school the compulsory attendance laws. 00:38:39.199 --> 00:38:44.800 And that lifewise program is also violating the Zorach V. 00:38:44.880 --> 00:39:00.880 Clausen case because it's not off campus and it's supported by the school district because we also have information that they set them up with the school com with the school computers and some phones. 00:39:01.519 --> 00:39:09.760 And they even have a permanent room, I'm told, a permanent room in that community center that they can use all year. 00:39:10.559 --> 00:39:18.400 So it's not like that, you know, they have their materials in a tote and they bring it out for class and have to put it away before they leave. 00:39:18.800 --> 00:39:20.480 That's their room. 00:39:21.119 --> 00:39:23.119 That is totally illegal. 00:39:23.840 --> 00:39:40.559 And Elmwood Local Schools is violating Ohio Revised Code 3313.6022, release time courses in religion instruction, which is a codified version of the Zorach court decision. 00:39:40.880 --> 00:39:52.880 And that was created in 20, part of it was created in 2014 when the initial law was passed, and it was amended to require schools to work with LifeWise. 00:39:53.199 --> 00:40:12.159 Uh, and that was House Bill 445, and that was the the law that was stuck into the attack on the uh LBGT community, House Bill 8, the Parents' Rights Act, um, at the end of the Laden Duck session 2023, I want to say, something like that. 00:40:12.880 --> 00:40:17.840 So Elmwood Local Schools in Wood County is violating the law. 00:40:18.800 --> 00:40:29.840 Now, I also told was heard from the person, the concerned citizen in that area that that Elmwood recently got a new superintendent. 00:40:30.159 --> 00:40:33.760 So maybe we can change it. 00:40:33.920 --> 00:40:38.320 I do know that this was extensively reported in the Ohio Capitol Journal. 00:40:38.480 --> 00:40:52.800 Uh FFRF, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, sent a strongly worded letter to the school district earlier this year, and it's gotten some coverage, local news coverage, but they are still violating the law. 00:40:54.079 --> 00:41:02.880 Now, I don't care so much that kids attend life-wise if that's what parents want their kids to do. 00:41:03.519 --> 00:41:12.000 I care that they're allowed to flaunt laws and and be privileged that way. 00:41:12.880 --> 00:41:20.000 You know, if the community center is not open during the school day, lifewise should not be on school property. 00:41:20.079 --> 00:41:22.400 They shouldn't be on school property anyway. 00:41:23.519 --> 00:41:29.360 They should bust those kids to a local church or somebody's private property. 00:41:31.360 --> 00:41:45.760 So our group, the uh we're what we're doing is we're working with some people uh to look at the legal options, including maybe having a taxpayer uh lawsuit brought against the Elmwood School District. 00:41:46.800 --> 00:42:06.719 Um, so if you are concerned about this and you live in the Elmwood local school districts, and you want to take the chance of suing the school district and lifewise for violating Ohio law, uh let reach out, let us know. 00:42:07.519 --> 00:42:13.599 And we'll keep your information confidential, you know, until we go through the process. 00:42:14.000 --> 00:42:23.360 Uh it's probably what we're probably going to do is start really looking close at it at the beginning of 2027 when the legislature changes. 00:42:23.519 --> 00:42:32.159 So maybe we'll have a better way of taking care of it uh through normal channels rather than having to file a lawsuit. 00:42:32.320 --> 00:42:48.320 And it could be with the new superintendent, maybe we can get some kind of legal advice to him to let him know that they are violating two Supreme Court decisions and Ohio law by having lifewise on school property. 00:42:48.800 --> 00:42:50.480 That's the issue. 00:42:50.960 --> 00:42:58.320 And so I will keep everybody updated on that because that is going to be a major issue going forward. 00:43:03.280 --> 00:43:04.880 Thank you for listening. 00:43:09.760 --> 00:43:16.320 Secular Left is hosted, written, and produced by Doug Berger, and he is solely responsible for the content. 00:43:23.440 --> 00:43:30.079 For more information on the topics in this episode and the links used, visit secularleft.us. 00:43:35.599 --> 00:43:43.280 If you want to support the show, share it with your friends or visit our merch store at secularleft.us slash shop.