LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

Without fear or favor
Since 2004

Tag: guest opinion

  • GOP believes John Wilkes Booth was participating in “legitimate political discourse”?

    GOP believes John Wilkes Booth was participating in “legitimate political discourse”?

    by Mark P. Painter

    As of February 2022, it is now official and incontrovertible: the Republican Party is the party of sedition.

    The official governing board, the Republican National Committee declared that January 6, 2021, rioters who attacked the Capitol were “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.”  So the rebels and thugs breaking into our Capitol, by hitting, choking, and smashing police officers in the head with fire extinguishers, shouting “Hang Mike Pence,” were engaging in the same activities as a high-school debate club.

    These “ordinary citizens” had just been whipped into insurrection by the Big Lie—by Donald Trump, the execrable Jim Jordan, and others who wanted the mob to forcibly stop congress from doing its duty to certify the results of an election that Trump’s own Department of Homeland Security called “the most secure in American history.” 

    We have since learned that the insurrection was planned.  Not a “demonstration” that went too far, but an attempted coup. The plan was to intimidate Mike Pence to refuse to certify the duly elected electors, have the Republican House pick bogus electors from states that voted for Biden, and keep Trump in office.  

    Fortunately, this scheme was devised by idiots like Rudy Giuliani, Jim Jordan, and Sidney Powell.

    But even that brain trust came closer than it should have.  Mike Pence, knowing that he had no power to do what Trump insisted, held firm.  After four years of groveling at Trump’s feet, treason was a bridge too far—he followed the law.  But later in the day, the sedition caucus of 147 Republicans in Congress, sadly including our own Steve Chabot, voted to overturn a free and fair election.

    Most sane Republicans were shocked.  

    But in the year since the insurrection, when even more proof of the plot has come out, the Republican leadership has continued to insist, against all evidence, that the 2020 election was stolen—Big Lie One. 

    Now we have Big Lie Two—that the rioters’ coup attempt was just a bunch of Rotarians visiting the Capitol.

    Surely, most Republican office holders are not so stupid as to believe either lie themselves.  But they still parrot it to the gullible.  Because these people know better, they are both liars and hypocrites.  

    The GOP I proudly was a part of for over four decades has become not the party of Lincoln, freedom and civil rights—but of voter suppression and outright racism; not of Teddy Roosevelt, national parks and trustbusting—but of slashing taxes on billionaires; not of William Howard Taft, Robert A. Taft, and principled conservatism—but of worship of an authoritarian sociopath of no beliefs except in his own rantings of the day; not of Dwight Eisenhower, Stan Aronoff, John Rhodes, and effective bipartisanship—but of hate and disruption; and the party of sane and measured foreign policy has become I know not what.  

    Until about last week, some of us thought that possibly, just possibly, the GOP could be saved.  Perhaps when Trump and his ilk were gone, sanity could be restored.  But when Mitch McConnell said of the GOP Big Lies, “We saw it happen. It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election, from one administration to the next. That’s what it was,” he was not praised and honored for defending truth.  He was excoriated by most other Republicans for contradicting the Big Lies.

    If there was a time when the GOP breathed its last dying breath, this was it.  The Republican Party became the Big Lies Sedition Party, mandating that its members believe the obvious lies.  (I would term it Treason Party, meaning the common definition, but someone will counter that the Constitution has a specific definition.) 

    There is no hope for resurrection.  Everyone associated with the present GOP who has supported what the party has become must be driven from office.  A new party must be formed, based on some of principles above.  Trump may comment from prison for countless felonies.

    GOP delenda est.  What’s to be done with the ashes I must leave to others.

  • Robert Giuffre : “Pass it Forward”

    Robert Giuffre : “Pass it Forward”

    by Robert Giuffre

    Robert (Rob) Giuffre is a resident of Loveland and a retired public-school treasurer, having served four districts including Loveland

    I have been a proud Loveland resident for twenty-three years. As a retired public-school treasurer, having served four districts including Loveland, I am familiar with Loveland School’s fiscal operations and its needs in placing the November 5th levy on the ballot…While this levy request is certainly about numbers, I encourage you to read this article and consider critical aspects of this levy request. (Loveland Board of Education asks for combined 16.78-mill levy)

    As a former school treasurer, I am well versed in school finance. I have been challenged throughout my career trying to explain how the laws governing school funding work and what their impact has been on school districts over the years. This redirection of tax-payer dollars by our legislators has fallen on our lap to explain. We have had little or no input on preserving the level of school funding voted and approved by our community. These legislative decisions cost Ohio school districts millions of dollars each

    a year and are almost impossible to explain to stakeholders. All I would ask of you is to consider that your feelings about this levy are not fully directed at the leadership of this district. Please understand your legislators’ responsibility for the confusion surrounding school funding and the redirection of tax dollars.

    With that, Loveland City Schools has a long and documented history of strong conservative fiscal management and has kept its commitments to this community. Two examples I would like to bring to your attention are: The District vowed that the last levy in 2014, would last for four years and it has lasted for five and a half. Twenty years ago, when I was still the District Treasurer, this community supported a bond issue to build and to renovate its buildings. Past and current students and community members benefit still from these facilities. Now, it is time to move forward with renovations and construction of new buildings for the next generation.

    This levy request is about what is best for our children and our community.  Students cannot learn as well in these rapidly changing times in buildings that are older than my fifty-year-old house. As we all know, maintaining, operating and implementing technology costs significantly more in old buildings as opposed to new construction. You may not be aware that students are currently being taught in temporary trailers and hallways. The one-time cost of new construction is certainly more frugal than continuing to expend operating funds year after year on dated facilities. Energy efficiency, our children’s safety and the continuing evolution of technological integration are our new normal. Unfortunately, safety training has become an urgent and critical component of our children’s and our community’s education. You own

    these facilities and although the Board of Education and Administration provide leadership, you are ultimately responsible to provide that which our children need to be safe so they can succeed. Our buildings do not have current safety and security infrastructure to protect against real threats facing them.

    The quality of our schools has a direct impact on the quality of our community and its economic stability, including the value of our property.  Legitimizing a “no” vote without taking into consideration these critical realities is short-sighted.

    As we each make up our minds about how to vote on November 5th, I ask that you consider not just the numbers, but also what the school district has consistently delivered for our children and for this community.  There is a shift in education. This vote is about all our children, the lives of the children of our community. This responsibility belongs to all of us. The return on investment will come both soon and later. Actually, return on investment has already been provided for us by voters in the past.  PASS IT FORWARD, please.

  • Gathering the facts to make an informed decision

    Gathering the facts to make an informed decision

    by Dr. Amy Crouse

    As the superintendent of the Loveland City School District, it is my responsibility to ensure that every child in our district has access to quality education while managing our tax dollars wisely and providing a good value to residents. I take this responsibility seriously.

    Dr. Amy Crouse is Superintendent, Loveland City School District

    Another responsibility I take very seriously is the dissemination of facts. This is why we have been hosting community chats and forums, such as the event held on September 12; it’s why we are constantly updating our website and addressing frequently asked questions; and it’s why we are so intent on engaging with our community. It is imperative that our residents have the facts in order to make an informed decision at the ballot on November 5. And some of what we’re seeing out there, well, it’s simply not accurate.

    What is accurate is that Loveland City Schools have reached a critical juncture: We have overcrowding, with some classes being held in hallways and in trailers, we have three old buildings for which repair costs have reached the threshold where industry standards recommend replacement over renovation, and we have a need to secure additional operating dollars. The needs facing our schools are very real and immediate.

    Over these last several years, we have spent time working with the community on a plan that is cost-efficient and meets the school district’s needs. This is the ballot issue facing voters with the Tuesday, November 5 election.

    We realize that this ballot issue is no small ask. We also realize, like the community members who helped identify and prioritize the needs, that it is more cost effective to do the work all at once and that the longer we wait, the more expensive it will be to remedy the needs facing our schools.

    Large amounts of money would have to be spent on other temporary solutions, like trailers, instead of putting the dollars toward real solutions for the long term.

    When considering this ballot issue, it is important to note that there is no zero-cost option with our facilities and the needs do not go away over time if we continue with the status quo. In fact, continuing to do so with our facilities comes at a substantial cost – we would need to divert funds from the classroom to pay for critical repairs, which are still only temporary fixes to problems that don’t go away. We would need to put off important safety and security updates in the buildings and continue to make do with antiquated science and technology laboratories and learning spaces. Large amounts of money would have to be spent on other temporary solutions, like trailers, instead of putting the dollars toward real solutions for the long term.

    I encourage you to visit the “Frequently Asked Questions” section on our website.

    These are important considerations for our community – it comes down to how we want our schools to operate. So that you can be informed about the facts regarding the district work, planning and needs, I encourage you to visit the “Frequently Asked Questions” section on our website. Among other facts on this page, we have also included the updated cost information that shows the board’s intent to structure the financing so that the overall impact of the tax is phased in for residents over three years. This helps residents and it helps meet the school district’s needs.

    In service to our Tigers.