Getting Off the Bench
Given all that, I figured I had better get off the bench, too. In this moment, America can't afford to have anybody on the bench.
I was in Ohio this week, partly to meet up with an old friend and to visit the Fairfield County Fair, but also to raise a little money for Amy Acton, who's in a tight race for governor.
After working as a journalist and author for lo, these many years, my public endorsement of Dr. Acton is the first I've made. It's a somewhat uncomfortable position to be in, because I have long prided myself on feeling free to yell at anybody. To maintain that freedom, I thought it was important to keep my voting to myself. I am still registered as an independent.
I changed my mind for two reasons. First, the country I love is in a crisis, or, rather multiple crises. We are in a crisis of corruption with Trump and his aligned cronies and sycophants stealing the nation's wealth, doing each other favors in return for cash, double dealing, rank nepotism. Today's New York Times story about the insider battle to cash in on Trump's takeover of Venezuela is only the most recent, if one of the most egregious, examples.
Second, we are in a crisis of creeping fascism. Trump is trying to be a new Mussolini. Americans have been murdered in the streets for the "crime" of protesting a militarized police force disguised as immigration enforcement. The free press has been attacked over and over with lawsuits and threats. Trump is building monuments to himself in the nation's capital. He is unilaterally deciding what we can name places. And he is – and I mean this literally – crazy, and most members of his own party refuse to do anything about that.
Third, we are in a crisis of incompetence. The Trump administration is trying to be fascist, but unlike Mussolini they can't make the trains run on time. The Secretary of Treasury has run a botched intervention in the bond market. The Secretary of State has alienated America's allies, and while he talks about a silly restoration of western civilization (without understanding what that means), he sent a wildly corrupt and unqualified ambassador to Greece, the cradle of western civilization. The Secretary of Defense...well, what can you even say about the Secretary of Defense? Not only has he single-handedly wrecked the reputation of the American military, botched a war with Iran that should never have been started in the first place, and behaved like the most annoying gym bro you've ever encountered, he's not very bright. Livestreaming an execution? Aside from the immoral barbarity of that, he took no account of the possible blowback.
This is far, far, from a complete list of crimes and stupidity under Trump and Trumpkins.
The second reason I am standing up for Amy Acton, is that I have become slightly acquainted with her, and her husband, Eric. They are both two of the most genuine people I know, and Amy is certainly the most genuine person I've encountered in the realm of Big Time Politics. She's spent her life trying to help people, and Ohio, the state that birthed me, needs the help. After almost two generations of GOP control, Ohio ranks near the bottom for outcomes of health and life expectancy, poverty, affordability, educational achievement, and near the top in rankings of depression, and drug overdose deaths – the deaths of despair. The corruption in Ohio has been staggering.
When Amy first told me she was considering a run for governor, any such campaign looked like a longshot. Today, she is ahead in the polls, and while I am skeptical of polls, and while she is not nearly ahead enough for my liking, the fact that she has stood up to a billionaire's money, and the cash from other billionaires like Elon Musk, tells me that Buckeyes are ready for change.
That was the message I heard over and over in Lancaster, my hometown, when I spoke to people at three different venues. Lancaster and Fairfield County voted for Trump twice, by large margins. But Lancasterians are angry. They're angry about data centers (subsidized by the state's Republicans), they're angry about resources, they're angry about prices and the Iran war, and they are very angry about the corruption.
They see some positive changes in their town and so did I. In the decade since my book about Lancaster, Glass House, came out, the city seems like a brighter place. The problems are still there, but, slowly, and with the help of some new blood in town, and the sheer force of the expansion of the Columbus area that is bringing real estate refugees southeast into Lancaster in search of more affordable homes, some good change is happening. Lots of people seem to want to keep that momentum going and they regard the MAGA phenomenon as antithetical to it.
I spoke to a candidate for the state legislature, a single mother who used to work at Anchor Hocking, the glass company in Glass House. She was enthusiastic, determined, and realistic. Such people are running for things. They are getting off the bench to take their country back.
My friend, journalist and author (and fellow native Buckeye) Beth Macy, is another one. She's running for Congress in Virginia, and another pal, author Andrea Pitzer, has a good summary of why Beth is making it a close race there. (Andrea is much better at this newsletter thing than I am.) I encourage you to follow the link and read about Beth.
Given all that, I figured I had better get off the bench, too. In this moment, America can't afford to have anybody on the bench.
P.S. The county fair was fun. I did not win a goldfish, but I saw some beautiful cows, cute alpacas, a lot of earnest kids showing and caring for their animals, and the biggest turkey I've ever seen.
A few local news stories I ran across this week:
Comments ()