House Bill 616 example of Republican hypocrisy

On Apr 16, 2022

Mar 28, 2022; Wilberforce, Ohio, USA; Ohio’s U.S. Senate Republican candidates stand on stage before the start of their primary debate at Central State University. Mandatory Credit: Joshua A. Bickel/Ohio Debate Commission

Ohio Republicans needs to have their own identity

The Republican primary U.S. Senate race has one consistent theme—prove your loyalty to former President Donald Trump or have no shot at winning any race.

All campaign ads for the top five candidates consistently revolve around who is closest to Donald Trump. Candidate Josh Mandel’s campaign slogan is literally “Pro-God, Pro-Gun, and Pro-Trump.”

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Last month at the Republican debate at Central State University, four out of the five candidates raised their hand to show they believe the 2020 election was stolen.

Mar 28, 2022; Wilberforce, Ohio, USA; U.S. Senate Republican candidate State Sen. Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls) gives an answer during Ohio’s U.S. Senate Republican Primary Debate at Central State University. Mandatory Credit: Joshua A. Bickel/Ohio Debate Commission

The only candidate who said the election wasn’t stolen, Matt Dolan, is the state senator that has consistently placed last of these candidates in the polls.

Almost every policy position, moral values, and even physical mannerisms are seemingly an attempted copy of Donald Trump.

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The Ohio GOP needs to have their own identity past Trump.

Their job focus seems to be more about appeasing the former president in their campaigns than fostering a plan to improve the lives of ordinary Ohioans.

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For the health of Ohio and the health of democracy, the Ohio GOP needs to form their policy positions on the issues that affect Ohioans, not the issues that encourage theatrics to secure an endorsement at the expense of Ohio voters.

Charley K. Quinn, Columbus

More:How to submit a letter to the editor for The Columbus Dispatch

Ohio Republicans only care about ‘free speech’ they agree with

As HB 616 regarding “the promotion and teaching of divisive or inherently racist concepts in public schools” makes its way through the General Assembly, Republicans need to make up their mind: Do they support free speech or not.

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In Ohio particularly, Sen. Jerry Cirino needs to take a stand.

As you explained in the April 8 article “Sweeping higher Ed reform bill passes,” Cirino advocated for the inclusion of protection of free speech on college campus with Senate Bill 135.

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I have been following the bill since it passed the Ohio Senate.

The original bill included robust stances about free speech in schools.

Why did Cirino remove language pertaining to K-12 classrooms from the final version? Did he change his mind about free speech in schools? What will his stance be about House Bill 616?

Will Cirino oppose the bill as it makes its way to the Senate? Does he care about free speech at all? If so, he shouldn’t support House Bill 616.