Post Archives

In “Democracy Really Needs a Dating App,” David Esrati argues that America’s political system is built to exclude outsiders and waste billions on campaign theater. Drawing from his decades of firsthand experience running for office, Esrati exposes how “Boards of Elections” act as “Boards of Selections,” blocking reformers before voters ever have a choice. His solution, OKDemocracy, is a verified, open-source voter information system modeled after the logic of dating apps like OKCupid. Candidates and voters would both answer standardized questions, rank issues by importance, and see real-time transparency on donations, spending, and payroll. This system would replace the $15B election-industrial complex with a fair, data-driven infrastructure that restores trust, accountability, and access, turning democracy from performance into participation.

The criminal case against Montgomery County Clerk of Courts Mike Foley is no longer just a slow-motion trainwreck. It is a blueprint for how a justice system collapses when politics overrides law. From the 2022 Auditor’s raid to the 2024 indictment to the illegally withdrawn 2025 plea, every actor in this case has failed the public. Key charges involving Judge Piergies’ son quietly disappeared. Discovery was withheld for nearly three years and then delivered in a format neither side could open. The prosecution’s own negligence now risks a mistrial or double jeopardy, guaranteeing Foley may never face real accountability. Judges, prosecutors, and defense counsel all enabled this disaster. Foley should have been removed the moment he pled. Instead, the system contorted itself to keep him in power. This is not justice. It is a political protection operation masquerading as a trial.

The Franklin County grand jury refused to indict a single Montgomery County jailer in the death of Christian Black, despite video showing him dying in a restraint chair while ten officers stood over him. Four staff members were held out as scapegoats, and all were cleared. The system that killed him has exonerated itself again.
I guess this is what $7M buys.

Montgomery County Clerk of Courts Mike Foley has quietly dismissed his civil stalking protection order case against me, weeks after his allegations made front-page news and a lead TV segment. The case, Foley v. Esrati (2025CV05807), was voluntarily withdrawn on November 12, 2025, according to a notice filed by his attorney, Dennis Lieberman. Despite Foley’s public claims that I had threatened him, the court denied his request for an emergency protection order and no such order was ever issued. The filings are hidden from public view, but multiple procedural actions occurred before the case was dismissed without a hearing. The episode caused reputational harm and unnecessary legal expense. I am also appealing the Second District Court of Appeals’ decision in my Quo Warranto case to the Ohio Supreme Court, challenging Foley’s right to remain in office under Ohio’s Constitution.

Edgar Keiter Jr., accused of brutally killing and dismembering his father, died of an overdose in the Montgomery County Jail—his second while in custody. Though still awaiting trial, he somehow obtained drugs in a facility meant to ensure safety and sobriety. The post condemns the jail’s ongoing pattern of preventable deaths and abuse, calling it more “Thunderdome than holding home.” It criticizes county leadership, prosecutors, and media for their silence as the jail continues to generate lawsuits and tragedies without accountability.