I spent some time covering a special event this morning. Students from Ohio Northern University’s “Religious Life Organization” coordinated a Food Drive to help the local Food Pantry. One of the coordinators told me that the students heard the Food Pantry’s resources were thin because of the increased demand with the pandemic affecting some people financially. So why not help? And they did. Note: As president, I would try to inspire this type of local volunteering/giving, with an exponent of 25, at least. And our family practices what we preach with this. You have to wonder: Would Trump or Biden’s family do what we’ve done (click on link)? Probably not. Yet it is an essential key to really turning this country around.
In the last week, I’ve written newspaper articles about: the fiscal outlook of a typical village in the midst of a pandemic; about a high school student involved with an Ohio “Ambassador’s Program” designed to teach young people about the dynamics of state government; about a village bicycle path dedication; and for good measure, about a visit by “The Sons of the American Revolution.” There’s, actually, an American Revolution soldier buried in one of the Bluffton cemeteries. In doing some research, I found that only 230,000 soldiers fought with the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War. So, as one could imagine, after all this time, et. Al, there’d be few readable soldier grave stones anymore. And as these have faded, so, too, has many of their stories. But, in my belief, they are gravestones, and stories, that need to be preserved. One of the speakers said that it is noted Americans “… are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights.” And soldiers, like these American Revolution soldiers, fought, at great sacrifice, to preserve those rights. Note: For my take on all military veterans, and the military in general, see…
On the way to my kid’s soccer game near Toledo the other night, I stopped in Van Buren, Ohio (pop. 461). There’s a small post office there that had fall schedules for the local high school team. I, strategically, laid a Joe campaign card on top of the schedule with, as you can see: “Go Black Knights.” Okay, okay… so my kid’s team plays them as well, and I’ll probably not be hollering — “Go Black Knights!” — the night of the game, but… Whose going to know, right? Oops. Note: The wildfires continue almost unabated in 12 states out west now, the 2nd hurricane in two weeks is churning in the Gulf of Mexico, civil unrest in our cities is almost off the charts now… It is, indeed, a “Black Night” for our country. And there could well be a reason all this is happening. And, yeah, climate change might be one. But more to a systemic, spiritual point, sin is also off-the-charts in this country at this time, and it wouldn’t take an Old Testament prophet to see that. Just an “average Jonah” from the Midwest — just getting out of an “Uber whale” who is announcing that maybe God is trying to wake us up.
On a Buckeye Backroads Tour down Old Rte. 30 recently, I stopped at this restaurant in Cairo, Ohio. As you can see, the “joe mobile” is festooned with Browns stuff, Ohio State stuff… Well, when in Rome. And I thought it was a pretty great bumper sticker campaign slogan — that is, until Biden got the nomination. Best laid plans. Anyway, I passed on a campaign card to a local just walking into the restaurant. We ended up talking sports and politics. About politics, he said: “There’s no way I’m voting for a Democrat.” Me either. A party that is for wholesale slaughter of babies in their mothers’ wombs, no matter what rhetoric you attach to it, is pure evil. That simple. Note: If I had a dollar for every stumping conversation I’ve had, in and out of restaurants over the past 20 years, well “Joe knows” Warren Buffet and I would be buddies.
Catching up on the last couple weeks… I’m pictured here at the Pilot Travel Center in Beaverdam, Ohio, where I stopped to stump. Think about it. You’ve got people from all over the country stopping at these kinds of places. So if you can get the campaign cards into just the right hands… Well, it’s either this or millions of dollars in advertising… I covered the Ada Village Council meeting the other night for the newspaper. The fiscal officer reported that, surprisingly, Ada was only 6% below projections for village tax collection, even with the pandemic. While acknowledging this, indeed, was optimistic, one councilmember cautioned that there was still need for prudence in spending because things still could go south, so to speak. It’s this kind of small town fiscal common sense that we need with economic matters in D.C... I also did a feature story about a local Bluffton bicycle story owner. He said the shop has been going gangbusters since the pandemic hit. He said families are opting for semi- “staycations” in the form of day long, weekend, etc., bicycle trips, and such. [Never let a crisis go to waste.] Way less plane, bus, train… travel. Way less pollution, global warming gases, and so on. And it took a pandemic for us to realign and start doing more of the right thing. Hmm… Note: At my son Jonathan’s soccer match the other night at Elida (Ohio) High School, the booth announcer, after the perfunctory sportsmanship and social distancing warnings, then asked that people refrain from “talking politics” in the stands as well. Have we actually gotten to that point? Wow.
My “Buckeye Back Roads Tour” continued with a stop in Gomer, Ohio (pop. 488). And I stumped, not just in any ‘ole place in Gomer, but rather quite strategically at “Uncle Al’s,” which is, decidedly, the downtown hub of things. Okay, and it’s also the only thing downtown. What’s more, I passed on a campaign card to none other than “Al” himself. [At least he looked like he was probably Al behind the cash register, and all.] If I had a dollar, or an Uncle Al’s pizza, for everyone one of these stops over the years, and there have been thousands…
On my recent campaign tour down Old Rte. 30, I stumped in Cairo, Ohio. (Something I’ve done in hundreds and hundreds of towns over the years.) Cairo is a small, rural town made up, primarily, of working class folks. I also captured this sunset that evening. Meanwhile, across the country in California, the sky looks somewhat like this as well in many parts. But this orangish red is from flames. California is on fire. As I type this, 2 million acres have already burned, which is a record — and the state is just now moving into the main part of the fire season. The confluence of natural elements: extended drought, drier air, higher than normal temperatures, more Santa Anna winds than usual, a phenomenal 11,000 lightening strikes in just a couple day period to spark a lot of the fires… Pictures coming out of California make it look like, well, Hell. Question(s): Global warming? Yeah, to an extent, sure. But also, is it God’s warning? California, which often sets the trends for the rest of the country, over time, is now steeped in progressiveness that’s allowing for whole sale abortion, anything goes queer lifestyles, off the charts immodest dress, drugs… This stuff, all of it, is tremendously antithetical to what’s taught in God’s Bible. And to continue in all this is a ticket to a place that’s even hotter than California, for eternity. Wouldn’t you think God would step in to try to get peoples’ attention, before it’s too late? I do. Note: In fact, I believe God might be giving all of America a Nineveh Moment, before it’s too late.
While “Mar-a-lago Donald” and the “Scranton working class kid Joe” (cough) pull out all the stops trying to pander to the “average Joe’s and Jane’s” out there, I just finished painting part of this porch on, of all places, “Main St.” in Bluffton, Ohio (pop. 4,500). Populist? With a capital “P.”! What’s more, during my coffee break, I set up putting a public notice ($92) in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, a statewide newspaper. It will run Labor Day. How’s that for strategy? (A lot of people will be off that day with more time to read the paper.) This is part of the criteria the Georgia Attorney General’s Office has set up to meet part of the requirement for them to count your write-in votes. While 92 bucks would have been nothing to the Biden and Trump campaigns, for us, well, let’s just say we felt it.
This week I wrote a piece for the newspaper on a Youth For Christ (YFC) outreach in a hardscrabble area of Lima, Ohio. This place, as you see here (pre-pandemic), is usually bustling with youth activity, especially with it being a “safe space” in the neighborhood. However, it closed for awhile. And now only 10 youth are allowed in the building at a time. The director told me they recently got a grant for some nice outdoor picnic tables, umbrellas, plants… for a court yard. Kids now do Bible studies, art projects, homework, board games… at the tables. And Rally Point is currently trying to solicit a local volunteer electrician(s) to put some flood lights up so the youth can stay later in the evenings. The director said incidence of youth depression, drug use, suicides… are up since the pandemic hit. And places like Rally Point are scrambling to try to help. Note: Rally Point also has a fence-enclosed, outside basketball court. And a couple years ago, my son Jonathan (who plays on the Bluffton High School basketball team) undertook fundraising efforts, then joined with a master electrician who volunteered his time to put up a flood light for the court. It all went well. Note 2: Several years back, we intentionally moved to a hardscrabble area of Cleveland (the poorest city in the country at the time) to join with a Catholic Worker group to do regular outreach into the neighborhood. We saw, first hand, how desperate some kids can become in atmospheres like this. Trump never lived in this type of environment. And for all his “working class Joe” Scranton rhetoric, most likely Biden never lived in this type of desperate environment either.
While the Democrats and Republicans were doing Zoom Conventions (sans the Trump/White House lawn thing), I was ‘zooming’ (sorry) around Ohio on yet more of my “Buckeye Blitz Tour.” This night I headed down the Old Lincoln Highway, stopping in Beaverdam, Cairo, Gomer and Elida. [My son Jonathan was actually playing a soccer game in Elida tonight, so, in an attempt to be ‘fiscally responsible,’ I combined trips — to save money.] It was a productive night. Jonathan’s team won, and I had some good stumping experiences. Stay tuned… Note: At one point in our campaigning over the years, we actually did a Joe Campaign Tour down Old Rte. 66. It was quite a ‘kick.’ (Sorry, again.)
