Why are the most radical groups in America, from BLM to the ACLU, suddenly so enthused about politics in Ohio?
After all, Ohio is a generally traditional, center-right state. But these leftists now seek to abuse the process of representative government in Ohio by compelling binding state constitutional referendums in lower turnout election cycles to inflict liberal policies that would never survive the normal lawmaking process.
Among these groups is the newly exposed “School Porn Moms of Shaker Heights,” who openly boast they will insist that Ohio schools expose deviant and sexually explicit curricula and books to children as young as first grade. The leader of this self-described “wine mom” group, Katie Paris, actually compares these explicit adult books like Gender Queer and This Book Is Gay to “Shakespeare or Ernest Hemingway, [or] the Bible.” fSource: Red Wine & Blue website, founder Katie Paris (from Cleveland Reporter)
These radicalized women of “Red Wine and Blue” join a broad coalition of leftist activists against Issue 1. Other aligned professional activists target the Second Amendment and promote eco-radical environmentalism. These organizations are, predictably, well-funded, drawing on a constant flow of capital from liberal foundations, Soros-style donors and Big Business.
But thankfully, these radicals now confront energized grassroots Ohioans in favor of Issue 1, which will raise the threshold for voter-sponsored changes to the state constitution to 60%. Such a move is much more in line with other states.
In fact, 32 states do not allow outside groups to propose changes to state constitutions. Of the 18 states that allow such changes, half require more than a simple, single majority vote. Ohio’s Issue 1 would simply bring the Buckeye State into alignment with Florida, for example.
Clearly, the vast majority of states agree with the overarching principle that amending state constitutions should require consensus. But even more importantly, since our independence, America broadly has operated on the premise that we are a republic, a people with inalienable God-given rights that are protected by a representative government. That government, in turn, is bound by both the Constitution and by internal, purposeful checks and balances on powers.
Our Founders prudently rejected the idea of a straight Athenian-style democracy. They wisely recognized that a pure democracy could become just as tyrannical as a dictatorial monarchy because 50.1% of the people at any given time could abuse the rights and prerogatives of 49.9% of the people through a simple popular vote.
So, American polity has always required that sustained, consensus majorities form to make significant changes to foundational laws and rules. Hence, the reality is that in almost 250 years of self-government, America has only amended the U.S. Constitution 27 times total and only 17 times since the Founding period.
As such, the reverberations of this upcoming Aug. 8 vote extend far beyond Ohio. This choice matters nationwide, in part because Ohio is the literal and metaphorical heart of America. For example, this bellwether state has determined the national presidential winner in 14 of the last 15 elections.
Therefore, it is imperative that the sensible patriots of Ohio rally and vote yes on Issue 1. Those school porn moms, BLM and the ACLU, are free to promote their toxic radical ideas. But they will no longer find an easy target in the Ohio state constitution because patriotic Ohio citizens rise up.
In doing so, Ohio will protect the rights of political minorities, deter outside radical groups and reassert the principles of republican (small “r”) rule in the American heartland.