I gave a talk to a chapter of the Ohio Right To Life group in Norwalk last night. The chapter president, John Hug, told me every year they have a booth in the Huron County Fair. On a display board, they show the now famous picture of a little unborn baby’s hand reaching through an incision in the womb (during surgery) to grasp the finger of the doctor. How some of us have come to think these little unborn babies are anything other than, well, unborn babies — is amazing. This group also sponsors a March for Life every year in January… The meeting was held in Jack and Jean Rospert’s home. Jack has been to Belize, South America (where Hurricane Felix just missed), three times on mission trips. Jack takes his vacations to go help the poor. That speaks volumes.
9/1 trhu 2/08
“average JoeOhio Tour” cont: We headed west to Milian, Ohio, for the Milan Melon Festival Parade. What a crowd! Our kids buzzed about the average Joe mobiles (one driven by Liz’s father Stuart) on roller blades throwing candy and passing out flyers. I walked along the curb, shaking hands and promising everyone wearing an Ohio State shirt (and there were a lot) that: “When I get to D.C., I’m going to have a big buckeye put on top of the Capitol Dome!” (Well I can do that, can’t I?) Passing through the bandstand area, the announcer noted that another of my campaign promises is that I was going to have “…melons at the Inaugaration.” Just as he finished reading this, I turned to the crowd in the stands and yelled: “AND A MELON IN EVERY POT, TOO!” (Well, when in Rome…). Note: The night before, we attended part of the High School Band Concert and the Melon Festival Queen Contest. As the contest was going on, I milled about passing out flyers and finding myself in a conversation with a local high school football coach. At one point I asked him: “Why does the Milan Melon Festival Queen need a chaperone?” He didn’t know. Answer: “So she cantelope.” He smiled.
8/29/08
I have spent part of the week expanding our U.S. Department of Peace position paper based on years of cross country research. Go to http://www.voteforjoe.com/stands/stands_domestic.html
8/28/08
We’ve been at home preparing the campaign vehicles for the next Ohio tour legs. We’ve had to replace a master cylinder, a transmission starter switch, a battery… and thus is the lot of an independent presidential candidate with old vehicles. Note: I just received the following. It is a You Tube of a talk I gave to the General Assembly at the Green Party National Convention recently.
8/27/07
My wife Liz’s parents are here from New Zealand. Last night I was talking to her father, Stuart, about the economy. He was telling his grandkids about how things were so much cheaper in the old days. But then, of course, there was “inflation.” He explained, for example, that as the price of fuel went up, prices went up. Inflation, in turn, sets the stage for adjusted wages, lower interest rates, elaborate strategies to curb some of the inflation… In other words, it’s all become quite complicated, and even more convoluted. Our administration would push for decentralism. That is, local production for local consumption within quite interdependent, small communities — like it was in the old days. This would simplify transactions, cut fuel use exponentially, and make tomatoes 5 cents again. Note: For our overall economic philosophy…
8/25/07
In my last post, I talked about a brand of “Social Justice Football” we’re involved with here in Cleveland. The concept, in part, actually originated from a ball diamond cut out of a corn field in Arthur, Illinois. We stopped there during our Campaign 2000 travels. It is the place I will throw out the “first pitch” when I’m president.
8/24/07
We continue to be back in the Cleveland area where we’re working on position papers, filing, tour itineray, and yard work. The other night our family took a break to play some “Social Justice Football” at the Catholic Worker House around the corner. The rules of Social Justice Football are: 1) Everybody gets a chance to play quarterback, if they like. 2) Everybody gets a chance to catch a pass — even our four-year-old Jonathan. 3) And you never keep score. (Ok, I’m lying on that one. There is, oh, a couple of us more competitive sorts that were keeping score the other night, under our breaths.) Note: It’s not just about throwing money at the kids down here in the city. It’s about letting them get in the game.
8/23/07
We attended the Green Party National Convention last month in Pennsylvania. (I am currently vying for the Green Party presidential nomination.) A video from the Presidential Candidate’s Forum to the general assembly was released recently. To view it, see: http://wilderside.wordpress.com/2007/07/18/daily-greens-green-party-presidential-candidate-forum/ *My segment is at the 35:20 mark on the video.
8/22/07
I attended a Bible Study in Avon Lake, Ohio. The readings revolved around the prophet Isaiah telling the Isrealites that they were so concerned with shiny “anklets… pendants… and veils…” — that they’d forgotten about the poor. And as a result, it wasn’t going to bode well for these advantaged Isrealites. After the reading, I was introduced to the group as a presidential candidate. I said I had a strong social justice platform. And I explained that in the year 2007, “anklets, pendants and veils” could easily be substituted for nice suburban homes, luxury cars and air conditioning — while two-thirds of the Third World live in stark, abject poverty. Avon Lake, Ohio, is an upscale Cleveland suburb. And my comment sparked, oh, a bit of a debate. On the optomistic side, these kinds of encounters are getting me ready for the National Debates next year.
8/21/07
We’ve come back home to Cleveland. I interviewed Athmo Bhandari in nearby Westlake, Ohio. He’s from India. He said the people of America are already at war, with themselves. That is, he said an extremely large portion of the population are on any combination of synthetic drugs (prozac, rittalin, vallium…). A just as significant portion are addicted to any combination of ‘illegal’ drugs (cocaine, heroine, marijuana…). Then there are all those addicted to alcohol. And if it isn’t these substances, it’s rampant materialism, compulsive sexual acting out, compulsive overeating… Isn’t it fascinating how people from other cultures see us, much more objectively. I’m a former drug and alcohol counselor and I know the reason we can’t see it very objectively, just like an active alcoholic can’t see it very objectively, is simply: because we are in denial.