We went over the Washington Bridge out of Long Island and headed south on the New Jersey Turnpike. At a Service Plaza, I passed on a campaign card to a man from Massachussetts. He said he would have liked to see the general citizenry in various areas voting for where the government stimulus money would go locally. Good idea… Some of it, for instance, could have gone to our engine. Shortly after leaving the Service Plaza, a loud clanging noise started up in our 1978 camper. The bolt holding the alternator in place had shaken loose and was hitting the fan. With trucks rushing by at 75 mph, the camper noticeably swaying each time, etc., I found myself under the hood working feverishly to get the bolt back in place. I was able to fix it just enough (the threads were partially stripped) to get it to a garage in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where a guy named Tony actually welded the bolt in place, no charge. Just a: “Good luck on your mission.” …We then went to a YMCA in a rough section of Elizabeth. While the kids played basketball upstairs, I found myself in a no frills, basement free-weight room working out with a good number of Hispanics and Blacks. Some were tattoed with what looked like various gang insignias, and the like. I’m sure, just like in the inner city of Cleveland where we come from, that many down here are just trying to survive under extremely tough circumstances… The next morning we stopped in Westfield, New Jersey, where I stumped with a table of eight out on the sidewalk in front of Panera Bread on Broad Street. (They meet there every morning and are part of the town “brain trust.”) The banter was lively and we covered a number of issues. One man, lightening things up a bit, said his main “issue” was two slices of toast at Panera had recently been raised from 69 cents to 99 cents. Shortly after, this same man said he’d like the country to go to a much shorter work week, like just two four hour shifts — every week, that’s all “I can see why you’re concerned about the price of the toast going up,” I smiled. Note: I just read that Charter Schools now make up 4% of the schools in America.
over crowding?
While in Southhold, New York (at the eastern end of Long Island), I learned that to curb over crowding” in this rather well-to-do area, zoning now only allows for one single family dwelling on an acre of land. I recently read an article about a slum in India that has 18,000 people for every acre of land. What an amazing social justice disparity, huh… We headed back east, stopping in Farmingdale, New York. In the concourse of a mall there is a pro-life display, with a wide screen TV continually showing live (literally) scenes of little babies in their mothers’ wombs at all different stages of development. How we can allow these babies to be killed is just totally beyond me… Back in Southhold, I had interviewed Ann Reitman at a new Birthright satellite office there. Birthright provides counseling and referrals to things like government programs (WIC, as an example) all intended to help mothers with their pregnancies. In addition, Birthright provides some money for doctors, housing, and other suplmental support for mothers… Coming back east, we passed the town of Babylon, New York. Enough said. Note: Long Island bumper sticker sighting (on a compact car): Hummers are Bummers.
public enemy #1
We headed through part of New York City and over the George Washington Bridge the other night late. Quite a view! Then it was on to Long Island. We stopped in East North Port where I passed out campaign cards at a Panera Bread Restaurant… Then it was south to Patchogue (Indian name for something) where I passed out more campaign cards in the downtown… After this stop, we headed east to almost the far end of the north side of Long Island’s “fork.” In Greenport, we talked with Don Shea, a retired New York City policeman. He was just interviewed for a television documentary around his arrest of the notorious bank robber Willie Sutton. (Last century’s version of Butch Cassidy. During his almost 40 year criminal career, he stole some $2million.) Officer Shea fascinated our boys with a number of tales of “crime fighting” in the city. For more on my ‘tales’ of crime fighting in our country, see my preventing crime position paper…
…the man with a tool belt, and ‘kids like shadows’
In East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, we talked with a retired elementary teacher who had worked in the Bronx, New York. He said what we’re seeing in America is a domino effect. That is, as the discipline breaks down in a home, this gets translated into the classroom, which then gets transposed into all of society. That simple, and that tragic… Then it was on to Hackettstown, New Jersey. Here I talked with electrician Ken Rapach, who was working on a library renovation project. He said he’d just been talking to “the guys” about politicians in D.C. He said currently people in Congress get a full pension, sometimes for just serving one term. Why don’t these politicians, “like the rest of us,” have to be at a place a lot longer before they’re eligible for a pension? Mr. Rapach wondered. Common sense says this might even give them incentive to do a better job to stay in, the man with a tool belt on continued… From Hackettstown, we headed into Paterson, New Jersey. Poverty everywhere we turned, congestion on the streets, congestion in low-income housing, kids playing on basketball courts with rusted rims and broken glass… I couldn’t help but think of New Jersey’s Bruce Springstein singing: “Kids down here look just like shadows…”
Anyone remember that concept?
The Keystone State Tour 2 rolled on… At a Flying J Truck Stop in Lamar, Pennsylvania, I passed out campaign cards to some rock band ‘roadies’ just getting out of their tour bus. (Speaking of music, check out our “avge. Joe theme songs” at the bottom of our home page.) We then continued on through the Appalachian Mountains. In Milton, Pennsylvania, I put up a flier on a downtown community bulletin board, then headed a bit south to Lewisburg where the boys and I played some sandlot football… In Bloomsberg, PA, my daughter Sarah and I talked to a church youth group about abortion. One of the girls, a freshman in high school, said she and some other school teammates had won a formal debate about abortion. They took the pro-life position and she said she described, in graphic detail, what happens during the abortion procedure (dismemberment, vacuum extraction…). “It was really quite emotional,” she said. Note: A New York Times article today said that Google and a New York financial firm have each agreed to invest heavily in a proposed $5 billion transmission backbone for offshore wind farms along the Atlantic seaboard. It seems to me that if we’re going to do anything offshore, this makes a whole lot more sense than drilling for oil out there. Yet people will say the wind farms (solar, geothermal…) won’t be enough to provide for all our energy needs in America. I say they would, if we (…and here’s that s word): sacrificed. Anyone remember that concept?
stepping up more, and a Bison
Keystone State Tour 2 cont… We stopped in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, where I walked around the downtown passing out campaign flyers. I ended up in a conversation with Mike Barber who said that, while he’d been an independent, he finally declared with one of the main political Parties in order to be able to vote in the primaries. His contention is that every voter should be “independent” and have access to voting in any primary they so choose… That night we went to the Clearfield High School Homecoming football game. Clearfield’s mascot is the Bison and he/she (it was hard to tell) performs with the cheerleaders. Quite a feat, given the costume has to be a little cumbersome… This night, I ended up in a conversation with a man who works at the nearby DuBois Hospital. He said besides the regular hospital, there is a Clinic of DuBois that is staffed with volunteer doctors, nurses and other citizens doing any range of other clinic duties. Open two days a week, the clinic provides free services (even including dental) for the “working poor,” and others, of DuBois, he said… Out of Clearfield the next day, we stopped at a truck stop in Milesburg, PA, where I passed out campaign cards to people getting out of mini-tour buses on their way to Penn State’s Homecoming. I also approached a car load of students from Slippery Rock College. Two of the females were college hockey players and there was a male student from Minnesota with them as well. I said one of our campaign promises is to replace the Statue of Liberty with a (that’s right): Viking. “With a #4 jersey,” I added. He smiled and said I had his vote. Note: A front page story in USA Today said municipalities were starting to rely on citizens for some patrolling and investigative work in the midst of budget shortfalls. Several years ago, we researched a Citizens Patrol group in Indio, California. These volunteer citizens got squad cars, patrolled, but carried no guns and couldn’t make arrests. However, they would call in suspicious activity, etc. Like with the Clinic of DuBois, maybe it’s time we all stepped up more.
Anyone remember Ozzie and Harriet?
Keystone State 2 Tour cont… In Grove City, we got together with the Whitaker family. Parents Dan and Kathy take a refreshingly hands on approach to parenting. The family regularly prays together, they home school and they had their television turned off four years ago. Most of the stuff on cable/network television was getting too corrosive, said Dan (a former Catholic youth minister). The Whitakers do allow their children to watch an occasional “safe” movie or old time television episode, like: Ozzie and Harriet. (Ah, if it was only that kind of television again, or that kind of society again for that matter.) …I was told Wednesday was the annual international “Walk to School Day.”” That is, for youth who were able, it was encouraged (but not mandatory) that they, well, walk to school. This day I ended up in a conversation with a woman who appeared to be in her early 80s, and in great shape for that age. She laughed when she heard about an international “Walk to School Day.” She said as a youth in the late 1930s and early 40s, all the kids in the family walked some two miles to, and from, school each day in Boyer, Pennsylvania, rain, snow, whatever. What’s more, for the younger children who couldn’t make the whole walk? “We’d take turns carrying them on our backs,” she smiled. Boy , have times changed. And not necessarily for the better… Pulling out of Grove City, we stopped at Maxwell Motor Garage for some air. Owner Fred Maxwell scoffed when I offered to pay for the air. You heard right. There’s actually a place in America that still has free air! When Liz tried to start the other campaign vehicle, the battery was dead. Fred came out and helped us jump it, again for free. After getting a new battery — with a whole lot more cranking amps — at Auto Zone, we headed on. Next stops: Clarion and Dubois. Note: I read yesterday that President Obama has ok’d putting solar panels on the roof of the White House. That is, indeed, a step in the right direction, as is the Obama small organic garden. As president, I’d add a small wind turbine to the roof, turn off the air conditioning and significantly dial back the thermostat in the winter. In the face of what appears to be quickly advancing climate change, Liz and I want to do everything possible to ensure our children have a world to grow up in. I mean, what concerned parent wouldn’t want that?
…I should have thought of that.
Keystone State Tour Part 2… We traveled east on Rte. 80, stopping in Grove City, Pennsylvania. On Monday morning, we did laundry at a local laundromat, put up a flier on the bulletin board there and passed out campaign cards to some of the patrons. After hearing I was running for president, David Redfoot smiled and said he was “…thinking about doing the same thing.” He said his strategy would be to start a Face book page, say he was running for president and “…see what happens.” Maybe I should have thought of that. This campaign traveling (100,000 miles, and counting) is getting, oh, a little long. …I passed out more campaign cards at Burger King as our kids played in the Play-land there. One woman said: “It’s cool someone is doing this.” I think so too… In downtown Grove City, there was a barber shop (old-fashion revolving barber pole, the whole thing) with a Pittsburgh Steelers “terrible towel” in the window. Undaunted, I boldly walked in, announced I was a Cleveland Browns fan (“We don’t pander to anyone.”) and passed out some campaign cards… Note: Once during a talk in Cleveland, I said when I get to D.C. one of the first things I’ll do is lobby to get the Capitol Dome painted orange and brown (Brown’s colors) and have a big face mask put around it. Ok, so I do ‘pander’ occasionally. Note 2: Saw a big yellow sign on Rte. 80 that read: BUCKLE UP NEXT ONE MILLION MILES.
Life Chain
In Warren, Ohio, yesterday, we went to the streets to stand in solidarity with a group of people who formed a part of the nationwide Life Chain abortion protest. (Earlier in the day, I had given a pro-life talk at Holy Rosary Church in Vienna, Ohio. During the talk, I said it was imperative for pro-life people to go to the streets like this day in and day out in order to create a climate similar to what was created in the South to end Segregation.) Toward the end of the Life Chain event, I passed out campaign cards to some of those protesting. Some supporters of Ohio Republican Rob Portman, who is running for U.S. Senate, were passing out campaign literature as well. The woman who gave me the literature, said: “We have to take our country back.” I asked her exactly what that meant? She said, for instance, that there should be less taxes overall, and less taxes going to government social service safety net programs. It is, after all, the church’s responsibility to take care of the poor, she said. I responded that that, currently, would be kind of hard to trust — considering figures indicate Christians, for instance, currently average tithing only 3% of their income. Note: We have just moved across the border into Pennsylvania. An AP report out of Harrisburg PA noted that Pennsylvania is one of the “main sources” of guns used in crimes in other states. I also just read in Time Magazine that some 100,000 people are now killed, or injured, by guns in the U.S. every year. I mean, we lost some 5,000 American soldiers in Iraq over five years. Common sense would indicate America has turned into this major war zone, but we’re in tremendous denial about it.
town “brain trust”
Last night as we were leaving Mosquito Lake Park, a man approached and complimented us on our new (yet tremendously “vintage”) 1978 Dodge Beaver Motor Home. (We got it in Colorado several months ago and it only had 79,000 miles on it. Not bad for a 32-year-old vehicle. And it’s being fixed up in a really retro way, turquoise walls, black and white tile floor…) Anyway, Liz gave the man a tour and afterward he told us that he had just retired after forty years at the GM Plant here… This morning at McDonald’s, I approached a group of guys who meet there every day (the town “brain trust,” I always joke) and passed out some campaign cards. One man, who was wearing a GM hat, said if he were president he’d try to stop the outsourcing of jobs. I said in the wake of NAFTA, for instance, that might be hard. That is, the guy we talked to last night retired making some $35 an hour. While someone working in a similar plant in a border town of Mexico, is making approximately $4, a shift. What’s more, common sense says that it’s the American consumer who is driving the demand for cheaper and cheaper products coming out of these foreign factories. And until we address this, well…