Ohio, pulled in two directions (Columbus: incomes, suburb, areas)

[robertbrianbush]

Originally Posted by SilkHammer

It may seem extreme to those on the far left. I'm extremely pleased that my state has been a bastion of sanity in a country where sanity is in short supply.

Ohio is far from a bastion of sanity.

[robertbrianbush]

Originally Posted by jbcmh81

Yep. We see too many people act like it's just simple policy disagreement that is causing divide. No, it's extremism. Most Dems in office are milquetoast moderates while an increasing number of GOP leaders/candidates are suggesting women shouldn't be allowed to vote, supporting national abortion bans, trashing immigrants and attacking democracy. I *really* wish we could have normal conversations about policy instead of all this.

Yes, the Republican nominee is actually referring to immigrants as terrorists. Given that, I know a ton of terrorists...they actually seem like hardworking people who care about the same things most people do...kids, family, etc.

[robertbrianbush]

Originally Posted by Karl Lagos

Always follow the $$$. Drawing the line at mutilating minor children should at the bare minimum a felony worthy of life in prison. The lawsuits 5 years from now are going to be wild.

There is solid science behind this, and solid and years long processes involving counseling that are in place to make sure the decision isn't taken lightly. There is a high suicide rate among kids in this population that don't get the procedure. If the GOP truly is about freedom and getting government out of people's lives, why don't they just leave this to the families, the individuals, the doctors, and the mental health professionals?

Felony worthy of life in prison? Seriously? Have you even spent a couple of hours learning the basics of the science involved and the stories of some of the relevant kids?

[robertbrianbush]

Originally Posted by mshultz

This is a popular belief, especially in this Ohio forum. However, Republicans in the 2022 Ohio general election won all of the statewide offices, along with issues 1 & 2, which were supported by Republicans. This cannot be blamed on gerrymandering. Ohio has become a red state.

The gerrymandering can be blamed for an awful lot of it. The heavily red tilt of Congressional delegation and their supermajority in the legislature are the product of gerrymandering.
Another factor is the large number of conservative families who came to Ohio from Kentucky, West Virginia, etc, to work factory jobs in the Twentieth Century, bringing their cultural values with them, and their descendants...who tend to share those values. This voting block constitutes hundreds of thousands of voters and is heavily, heavily conservative.

[robertbrianbush]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

I have a problem calling something a vaccine though that doesn't prevent a person from actually GETTING the disease. For instance, I was vaccinated repeatedly and still got COVID. it was mild but I also know many unvaccinated people who got mild cases of COVID. In fact, the only person I knew personally who died of COVID was vaccinated five different times and STILL died of COVID. I only know two people who had the flu this year - both people were vaccinated against the flu. I am just sick of constantly getting vaccinated and yet I still get whatever I was vaccinated for. Ugh. So no thank you when it comes to pneumonia (the only person I know who got pneumonia was already vaccinated against it supposedly), RSV, shingles, you name it.

I am not anti vaccine. In fact, I am pro vaccine. I just want us to call preventive shots, PREVENTIVE SHOTS. not vaccines.

Most people are aware that vaccines are preventive shots. The problem with anecdotal accounts in nothing is one hundred percent in medicine. There is plenty of data to establish that areas where higher percentages of the population was vaccinated had much lower mortality rates. Both in the US and globally.

[robertbrianbush]

Originally Posted by schmave

All of this. So many people are acting like Ohio is some kind of hellscape just because it has become a decidedly red state with a handful of blue islands.
It's old and tired.
We are flourishing as much as I can remember. Intel is coming. The new Honda plant is coming. My home area of Columbus is growing by leaps and bounds, far more than I could have imagined 30 years ago when I was a teenager and we constantly were regarded as being a step or two behind Cincinnati and Cleveland. There is some place for literally everyone in this state, red or blue, straight or gay, white or black, etc.
Anyone can make themselves a victim if they try hard enough.
Having lived in and visited many other parts of the country, there is nowhere I'd rather live than Ohio. It's my home. I love it here, and there is some place and something for everyone.

I agree with you, I just wish there was gerrymandering and that the state would actually implement the results of voter referendums.
Our politicians are a major embarrassment on the world stage.

[robertbrianbush]

Originally Posted by drinkthekoolaid

I'm sorry to see you've bought into this lie. You probably still trust the science on covid too.


Puberty for most kids is stressful and anxiety inducing. These institutions are preying upon adolescent insecurities to push quack theories that you can change genders. Social media algorithms further push this and the transgender community gladly welcomes and encourages these vulnerable kids to permanently mutilate themselves.

How did you determine that they are quack theories?

[tribecavsbrowns]

Originally Posted by robertbrianbush

There is solid science behind this, and solid and years long processes involving counseling that are in place to make sure the decision isn't taken lightly. There is a high suicide rate among kids in this population that don't get the procedure. If the GOP truly is about freedom and getting government out of people's lives, why don't they just leave this to the families, the individuals, the doctors, and the mental health professionals?

Felony worthy of life in prison? Seriously? Have you even spent a couple of hours learning the basics of the science involved and the stories of some of the relevant kids?

Is there a low suicide rate among kids that do get the procedure?

"The kids will kill themselves unless we force doctors to let them play out their cross-gender fantasies" sounds like a more aggressive version of the same "think of the children" fallacy which has been used before to push terrible ideas. My working assumption is that it's a horses*** political talking point. Always open to be proven wrong, although I must also say I think there are much more important societal concerns that would be a better use of our time.

Apparently, you know better than us in Ohio, though. You happen to be a self-taught expert on transgenderism, the immigrant experience, and vaccines, to hear you tell it. I guess we're supposed to overlook the fact that those just happen to be three major Democrat talking points...

[ohio_peasant]

Originally Posted by robertbrianbush

Another factor is the large number of conservative families who came to Ohio from Kentucky, West Virginia, etc, to work factory jobs in the Twentieth Century, bringing their cultural values with them, and their descendants...who tend to share those values. This voting block constitutes hundreds of thousands of voters and is heavily, heavily conservative.

Yes, very much this. Such folks may have voted Democratic out of socio-economic interest, in an era when the Democratic party identified with organized labor, while the Republicans were the party of New England bankers (to coarsely generalize). Now that Democrats are primarily a white collar party - the party of software programmers, engineers, insurance agents, realtors, attorneys, teachers and so on - the lunch pale set (again to coarsely generalize) have switched allegiances. This has happened nationwide, but Ohio's demographics particularly reflect this.

[jpdivola]

Not in the short term, but it seems like the politics will swing back somewhat in Ohio. As Columbus grows and some of the rural areas decline, it seems the Dems will be a bit better positioned. Maybe not in the legislature, but at least in the state wide races. Moderate Dems should be able to at least win a governors election.