Ohio, pulled in two directions (Cleveland, Republic: credit, house, neighborhood)

[Cida]

Investigative writer Jane Mayer - who is a great writer - is thinking about state legislatures generally, but using Ohio as an example.


Longtime Ohio politicians have been shocked by the state’s transformation into a center of extremist legislation, not just on abortion but on such divisive issues as guns and transgender rights.
“The legislature is as barbaric, primitive, and Neanderthal as any in the country. It’s really troubling.”
He has watched the reputation of Ohio’s public-school system slide as Republicans have siphoned off public funding to support failing, politically connected charter schools. In 2010, Education Week ranked the state’s schooling as the fifth best in the country; in 2021, U.S. News & World Report ranked it thirty-first.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...hing-democracy

[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.

[Cleverfield]

Ohio has always been a working class state, and its politics follow where the blue-collar workers are leaning. It's sad, but unfortunately the Democrats left the working class behind in favor of coastal elites, and the Republican swooped in to fill the void with a lying demagogue who made all kinds of false promises to the working class, while actually doing little to help them, and instead mostly just directing their anger at immigrants and "Democrat" cities that they cast as hell-holes. If Democrats want to win back these voters, we need more of them to start acting like Tim Ryan and Sherrod Brown, who focus less on the culture war issues and more on supporting blue-collar workers.

[216facts]

Originally Posted by Cleverfield

Ohio has always been a working class state, and its politics follow where the blue-collar workers are leaning. It's sad, but unfortunately the Democrats left the working class behind in favor of coastal elites, and the Republican swooped in to fill the void with a lying demagogue who made all kinds of false promises to the working class, while actually doing little to help them, and instead mostly just directing their anger at immigrants and "Democrat" cities that they cast as hell-holes. If Democrats want to win back these voters, we need more of them to start acting like Tim Ryan and Sherrod Brown, who focus less on the culture war issues and more on supporting blue-collar workers.

Totally agree. Perhaps Tim Ryan will demonstrate the path forward for other democrats.

[tribecavsbrowns]

Originally Posted by Cida

Investigative writer Jane Mayer - who is a great writer - is thinking about state legislatures generally, but using Ohio as an example.


Longtime Ohio politicians have been shocked by the state’s transformation into a center of extremist legislation, not just on abortion but on such divisive issues as guns and transgender rights.
“The legislature is as barbaric, primitive, and Neanderthal as any in the country. It’s really troubling.”
He has watched the reputation of Ohio’s public-school system slide as Republicans have siphoned off public funding to support failing, politically connected charter schools. In 2010, Education Week ranked the state’s schooling as the fifth best in the country; in 2021, U.S. News & World Report ranked it thirty-first.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...hing-democracy

I went to public school in Ohio and graduated from a public university in Ohio, and I know the bolded sentence is a blatant case of cherry picking.

I also know that certain voices will be shouting this rhetoric as long as Republicans are in power in Ohio, regardless of what the actual educational outcomes in Ohio are. You could have every objective metric showing that Ohio has the best public schools in the nation, and Democrats would still argue that the schools are terrible -- because they're not in power and thus, can't take credit for it.

[Cida]

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.

Did you read the article? That might clarify for you what people find extreme.

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by Cida

Investigative writer Jane Mayer - who is a great writer - is thinking about state legislatures generally, but using Ohio as an example.


Longtime Ohio politicians have been shocked by the state’s transformation into a center of extremist legislation, not just on abortion but on such divisive issues as guns and transgender rights.
“The legislature is as barbaric, primitive, and Neanderthal as any in the country. It’s troubling.”
He has watched the reputation of Ohio’s public school system slide as Republicans have siphoned off public funding to support failing, politically connected charter schools. In 2010, Education Week ranked the state’s schooling as the fifth best in the country; in 2021, U.S. News & World Report ranked it thirty-first.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...hing-democracy

I am a transplant from the NYC metro area, to Ohio. We moved from NY, for a more affordable lifestyle, yet had moderate politics, respect for education, superior health care, and vibrant cities with arts, culture, and professional sports. (That last requirement was my husband's)

We are not Southerners. The Bible Belt would not work for us. We are not conservatives by any stretch of the imagination. We enjoy the outdoors and eating out. We are not fans of fast food, we prefer sophisticated food, whether international, ethnic and fine dining. We are socially progressive, and we have Gay friends.

Both of us are saddened by the path that Ohio has taken. It's disturbing.

We live in Trumbull County, but we go to Cleveland many weekends. We have made more like-minded friends there. Cleveland still feels chill and interesting. We were still interested in selling our house and relocating to Cleveland. Now, we are unsure.

On the way home Sunday, on 422 we had a discussion. It's always a little sad to return leave Cleveland but this time we noticed a proliferation of Right Wing billboards, and lawn signs, more numerous than ever before. More of them, and more extreme, angry, and hateful. Especially towards the current president. We also took notice of all of the fundamentalist churches. It seems that every other month, there's a new Mega Church upstart. I've never seen more Pentecostal, Nazarene, and Baptist churches - except in the Carolinas.

We didn't want to move to the Bible Belt, but it seems the Bible Belt has moved to us.

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by Cida

Did you read the article? That might clarify for you what people find extreme.

I do not think that many people did. The "Both Sides of the Holocaust" bill is terribly disturbing and extreme. I am ashamed that my friends who live out of state have begun to ask how I can tolerate living in a state that will not provide a termination of pregnancy procedure to a ten-year-old child who is a victim of rape.

We just watched "The US and the Holocaust" produced by Ken Burnes. We both think that MORE should be taught in public schools about the Holocaust - not less, and especially more about American complicity.
It was a good documentary. It didn't contain anything I did not already know, but it presented it in a way that made me fear the future of any place that does not recognize that there are NOT two sides to every story, and if we do not learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it.

[TheProf]

Originally Posted by sheena12

I am a transplant from the NYC metro area, to Ohio. We moved from NY, for a more affordable lifestyle, yet had moderate politics, respect for education, superior health care, and vibrant cities with arts, culture, and professional sports. (That last requirement was my husband's)

We are not Southerners. The Bible Belt would not work for us. We are not conservatives by any stretch of the imagination. We enjoy the outdoors and eating out. We are not fans of fast food, we prefer sophisticated food, whether international, ethnic and fine dining. We are socially progressive, and we have Gay friends.

Both of us are saddened by the path that Ohio has taken. It's disturbing.

We live in Trumbull County, but we go to Cleveland many weekends. We have made more like-minded friends there. Cleveland still feels chill and interesting. We were still interested in selling our house and relocating to Cleveland. Now, we are unsure.

On the way home Sunday, on 422 we had a discussion. It's always a little sad to return leave Cleveland but this time we noticed a proliferation of Right Wing billboards, and lawn signs, more numerous than ever before. More of them, and more extreme, angry, and hateful. Especially towards the current president. We also took notice of all of the fundamentalist churches. It seems that every other month, there's a new Mega Church upstart. I've never seen more Pentecostal, Nazarene, and Baptist churches - except in the Carolinas.

We didn't want to move to the Bible Belt, but it seems the Bible Belt has moved to us.

Sheena, you seem like a cool person. Sorry to hear about your recent negative impressions in Greater Cleveland. Were there specific areas you can point to?

[bjimmy24]

I think it's important to not judge people by what they put in front of their house. I actually wouldn't be too upset if lawn signs were banned, it makes it too easy to be hostile to people you don't know at all. I get along with the people in my neighborhood with both the "Let's Go Brandon" sign and the pride flag. Perhaps I'm alone, but I actually find it kinda encouraging that these types of people can coexist in such close proximity.