Trump won Ohio three times with an 11 point win in 2024 so why is the GOP nominee for Governor Vivek Ramaswamy tied, in the polls, with the Democrat Dr. Amy Acton? The GOP super-majority in the Ohio legislature is worried too so they decided to manipulate their base to get them to the polls in November for Ramaswamy. Although controlling the state since 2011, the Ohio GOP is letting Trump and his goons focus on Medicaid fraud in the state. Meanwhile the Ohio GOP is putting up a constitutional amendment to require photo ID to vote even though that does nothing to secure an election system they tell us is a model for the country, and they also decided to hide a bill that would ban child marriage so as not to trigger their religious extremist friends totally ignoring the whole Trump Epstein files and other sex abuse scandals with the Catholic church and LifeWise Academy.

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Of course there is corruption in US politics that some call campaign contributions but President Trump and family have said "hold our beer" with the just the latest being a slush fund to pay off people who attacked the capitol in 2021.

There have been corrupt presidents in the past - Harding and Nixon come to mind but nothing like the scale of the Trump family - there doesn't seem to be any policy or action they can't profit from.

Other stories in the episode include Ohio Republicans’ effort to place a photo ID requirement into the state constitution. The proposal copies existing Ohio law but we note the added language that could make early voting harder or impossible by limiting voting to in-person voting on Election Day.

Ohio Senate President Rob McColley who is running on a ticket with Vivek Ramaswamy for Ohio Governor, personally removed a child marriage ban from the Senate Judiciary committee so it couldn't be voted to the Senate floor. It was a bi-partisan bill with no public opposition before McColley stuck his nose in for no apparent reason. For a party that runs on "protecting children" it is a bad look for the Ohio GOP and Ramaswamy.

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We highlight significant outcomes from the May primaries in Ohio, emphasizing how the ongoing struggles against Christian nationalism and extremist ideologies manifest in local politics. One standout event was the primary defeat of some vocal proponents of Christian nationalism, which could signal a shift in voter sentiment since one candidate, Rep. Josh Williams sold his soul to the religious extremists and didn't even win his home county. While some positive changes occurred, the presence of remaining extremists raises concerns about their potential influence in the upcoming general election.

Another freethinking celebrity, Bill Maher, took his podcast guest, comedian David Cross to task for Cross' daughter having Trans friends. Maher repeated many transphobic myths like he was a member of Turning Point USA. We listen to a segment from Sam Seder of Majority Report about the interview and we agree how Maher’s skepticism reflects a disregard for the lived realities of many. It is crucial to highlight that listening to and validating children's identities is not an agenda; instead, it is an essential aspect of affirming their dignity and well-being.

Finally we try to unpack the US Supreme Court case Louisiana v. Calais that finally gutted the last bit of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Many southern states with history of racial voter suppression are trying to quickly redraw their voting maps to eliminate as many Democrat held seats as possible before the midterm election in November. We connect the historical context of voting rights with contemporary struggles against systemic racism, illustrating how far we still need to go in achieving electoral equity.

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