As I was distracted by work and the events leading up to today—which I’d hate to admit that. Yet here we were as a nation, as a world distracted by spoiled rich men, and their self-advertisements. A recent talk with one of my former superiors in the military mentioned, “We’d be better off having the world ruled by women.” I never expected that remark from them. And I’d never stated such. So, to hear it from a conservative Christian, blew my mind.
Today, I’m thinking they were correct, but when will “We the People” ever learn that women should be taking leadership roles for us? I can envision a spark, but not the light at the end of the tunnel for the American people. Truly, even my most conservatist friends have been stating things like, “Why can’t we have an election where two women are vying for the presidency, like in Mexico?” Yeppers. Two of the most conservative people I’ve known, who’d voted only republican up until this last election stated such. My thoughts arrived at, ‘if those two people can envision such, then the rest of us should not be taking such an issue with having to elect a female leader.
However, I digress. This country of ours, sigh. A percentage of us couldn’t handle having a man of color as POTUS for eight years. That’s a sad commentary. Those who opposed that and lied for their convenience, admittedly so.1 As it was proven, the birther narrative spread in 2011 was false. And had been stated by a man who’d become president and the lie was repeated by his hand-picked media, mostly of white men.2 As they did so, thinking white men should only have power and that we are to remain as is—in our fake stodged glory. Which in turn is to get left behind as a nation in our stubbornness to thwart progress.
The country of Theodore Roosevelt’s who consider themselves the bravest and most exploring have begun to douse the beacon of light that we could be in a country’s progress. Unsettling as it may seem to some or hopefully to most Americans, there were over thirty-six percent of us who didn’t care to vote and thirty-two percent of us who only seemed to care only about the price of eggs and colorful people arriving through our borders, As many thinking that they arrived to take the jobs most of us never wanted to do at any price—let alone the below poverty wages for the labor that would be offered to newly entering immigrants. There’s quite a bit of ignorance and racism behind all that thinking, doing or the lack thereof.
Fast forward to Wednesday, June 4th as I drove the 551 miles from New Jersey to an Ohio hotel. I’d been to that hotel just shy of a year now. The place seemed less awkward for me.
1 https://www.pbs.org/wnet/firing-line/video/bill-oreilly-wtkwfn/
2 https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2016/09/16/speaking-on-birther-issue-fox-newss-bill-oreilly-wont-second-guess-trump-strategy/
The Mexican restaurant still existed. The town bustled with all sorts of markets and eateries to one side and to the other side were quiet, flat, well-groomed residential single-family homes and a church that spread for miles. Those roads appeared lightly traveled. It all was its own little bubble. Noone, coming in the way that I had would’ve known about the pollution in the air that was merely a few miles away. Yes, burning smokestacks, and what appeared were homes and people existing at the poverty line or below, which sits at about five percent or so of the town of two refineries.3 As the median income sits per household and family at $45K to $57K.4 Too as I drove, I’ve tried to understand the relationship of each state to the country economically. Such as who provides what care and why.5 Sometimes it’s hidden, until I go for a run, or to an eatery or usually both in one town before I head off to the next town on my drive across the United States. I talk to the people in the places I eat at, run through and such.
The Ohioan town is a happening place. And if you run a few miles away from the refineries and along the quiet, wide residential streets in a heavy rain there is no pollution to be found. The rain is their blessing, and I could for run miles in it which I had. The Mexican restaurant has a killer Carne Asada meal. I think I’m addicted to it, along with the service and the music that’s played. Although to me, it reminds me of another home, a boxing gym in the town of Dumont, New Jersey—where there were times when I’d been there hearing Columbian and Central American music that gives you the feel of a good grind and clashing of leather for the soul.---Jody-Lynn Reicher
3 https://policymattersohio.org/news/2025/01/31/ohio-receives-more-from-federal-dollars-than-we-pay-in-federal-taxes/
4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon,_Ohio
5 https://www.axios.com/2025/02/12/states-money-federal-government
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