In today’s posts from Ohio Capital Journal they had a beautiful op-ed from Doug Oplinger who previously worked for Akron Beacon Journal for many years. In his article he talks about Ohio being an omen. What is it an omen of? Well, we often have the marketing slogan in this state that Ohio is the heart of it all. To pull a particular quote from the article, I’ll note that Oplinger wrote in pertinent part:

But first, let’s back up. What’s a bellwether? It’s the predictor. From 1896 to 2016, the majority of Ohioans voted for the presidential winner on all but two occasions. Thus, the old saying was, “As Ohio goes, so goes the nation.”

The streak broke in 2020 when the state went for Trump instead of Biden. The op-ed continues to talk about the anxiety and despair happening here in the Buckeye State. I’ve mentioned previously that The Washington Post has a syndicated article out there talking about how much of a disaster Ashtabula County is in terms of its economy and the health of its residents. The whole state is in bad shape but Ashtabula County more resembled a Third World area compared to its neighboring communities which is why it caught the attention of the folks at the Post.

Ohio is a huge part of the engine that fuels the insurrectionists and continuing heartbeat of the MAGA movement. Ohioans make up far more of the J6 insurrectionists than should be expected. We have militia groups training here and plotting actions. We have Christian nationalists building power bases here. Far too many Ohioans are okay with tyranny and retribution as they think they are being somehow oppressed and need to fight back. They feel that no help is coming and that they have nothing to lose.

You know it is a bad situation when I am too afraid to write a letter to the editor locally. When I looked at this week’s edition of The (Jefferson, Ohio) Gazette there were only letters from rabid MAGA partisans. Frankly I’m worried about having my house burned down if people get upset at something I wrote. The number of MAGA people and MAGA-adjacent people acting out has been slowly increasing.

What a mess. There’s no ripcord to pull, really. We don’t need another cult on the order of the Millerites facing another Great Disappointment this November. That way can only lead to instability.