Yesterday, I emphasized the need to turn the battle for democracy into a “war of attrition”:
“Right-wing strategists like Steve Bannon make clear that they are pursuing a “flood the zone” strategy. Those who support democracy must fight back early and aggressively to turn it into a war of attrition. By creating delays, generating friction, displaying individual acts of courage (which inspires others to do the same), and taking advantage of their inevitable overreach, we can slow the decline and give ourselves an opportunity to grab meaningful power back in 2025 and 2026.”
Hours after pressing “send” on that email, I saw an example of this up close—and I captured it as best I could in the above video (the opening minutes are a little spotty signal-wise, but it gets better).
Bottom line: more than 1,000 volunteers are working tirelessly to gather signatures to put what we call the Higher Eduction Destruction Act (SB1) on the Ohio ballot for repeal. As I’ve written before, this law (which passed several months ago):
“Prohibits orientation and training courses regarding diversity equity and inclusion, the inclusion of DEI in any job descriptions and the continuation or establishment of DEI offices or departments.
Expands the list of public employees who are prohibited from striking to include full-time faculty members among other categories;
Requires that state universities eliminate any undergraduate degree program it offers if the institution confers an average of fewer than five degrees in that program annually over any three-year period.”—this has already led to the elimination of majors such as philosophy, religious studies, data analytic, African and Asian Studies, at the University of Toledo.
Adds restrictions on the teaching of “controversial topics,” which include climate policies; electoral politics; foreign policy; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and issues; immigration policy; marriage; and others.
Ends student scholarships that serve diversity and inclusion goals.
The bill has motivated a furtive grassroots repeal effort, and people are out working hard to gather the signatures needed to get it on the ballot.
In the video, I talk to an old friend (Margot Madison….we were in 4th grade together!) who decided that standing up for democracy was her primary mission this year, and that repealing this bill was a critical way she can make a difference:
So Margot spends hours each day at “office hours” in different public locations, explaining all the damage SB1 would do to higher education, and Ohio more generally, and collecting signatures so that Ohioans have a chance to repeal it.
I also talked to Lew, who is also actively gathering signatures—all the time, and all across the Cincinnati community.
In just a few minutes, Margot and Lew provide truly insightful and inspiring comments about why they’ve gotten involved, how they’re using wide networks to do the work, and why it’s so important to repeal this terrible law in particular.
Margot committed, this year, to start reading what bills are being introduced at the statehouse level:
She was excited about “this referendum opportunity — most people I know would completely disagree with [SB1]. Terrible to read. Embarrassing.”
“I’m really enjoying explaining what a referendum is….we actually have some control.”
“I’m in it for the long haul now….I work evenings, so I take a couple hours and commit to doing it every day.”
“The pressure is on.”
Lew has been gathering signatures for ballot initiatives for years:
“This is our citizens’ right to democracy.”
“This is the worst education bill in the country.”
“I have no problem when I’m out talking to people to get folks to sign it."
“I have a lot of networks…I just go to my networks and people sign it.” — Religious, movie, music.
“It’s easy work. I love to do it.”
Thanks to them both! Their spirit and passion are exactly what we need all over the country to protect democracy.
And in Ohio, most urgently, the effort to repeal SB1 needs your help. We need more people collecting signatures just as Margot and Lew are.
In fact, we need to collect 250k+ signatures — by June 25.
You can read more about the overall effort HERE.
To find a location where you can sign the petition, go HERE.
You can follow the campaign’s Substack account HERE.
And you can volunteer to gather petitions and volunteer in other ways here: https://bit.ly/VolunteerAgainstOHSB1
For those beyond Ohio, know that what passed here is part of a national right-wing template—we just happen to be one of the first.
Just as with the effort to thwart direct democracy in August 2023 (by raising the threshold to 60%), if we stop this here, we can help build momentum to stop it elsewhere).
Day 194 — June 4, 2025
A new CBO estimate came out confirming what a disaster the House budget bill is. 10.9 million Americans will lose health insurance while the national debt will increase by 2.4 trillion dollars. Other GOP policy stances would increase the number of uninsured Americans to 16 million people by 2034.
White House spokeswoman Leavitt—who lies daily from the podium—immediately attacked the CBO for not being Republican enough. But…the current CBO director was a Bush political appointee.
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