(By Connie Schultz who is an American writer, journalist, and educator. Schultz has been a columnist for several publications. She is the wife of Sherrod Campbell Brown, an American politician who is the senior United States senator from Ohio, a seat which he has held since 2007 and a Democrat candidate.) Hello from the campaign trail. I’m writing from the backseat of our campaign car, typing on my laptop which is perched on a lap desk I bought at Target during Sherrod’s 2006 Senate campaign. Back then, I used it to keep the cumbersome computer from setting my legs on fire. Now it’s just a nice prop for my featherweight keyboard. Yet another reminder that change is inevitable, and often for the better. (Perhaps I’m the only one who needs that mini peptalk.) Earlier this week, I was on the road in Ohio with historian Heather Cox Richardson. I will be writing more about that glorious experience in a separate post. Right now, I want to share this beautiful piece of artwork by M.B. Hopkins. In the photo, above, it is propped against the seatback of campaign staffer Blake Hesch, who keeps Sherrod safe and me sane during this campaign. THE PHOTO DOES NOT POST. IT'S A PICTURE OF A YELLOW CANARY IN A BIRDCAGE. M.B. handed a print of her artwork to me after one of the joint events with Heather. She knows that, for more than 20 years, Sherrod has worn on his lapel a pin depicting a canary in cage. There’s a story behind that pin. The original one was a gift from Dominic Cataldo, a member of Local 1104 of the United Steelworkers of America. Sherrod had just delivered a speech at a Workers’ Memorial Day event in April 2000 when Dominic walked up and placed the canary pin in his hand. I wrote about their exchange in my memoir about Sherrod’s 2006 Senate race, …and His Lovely Wife: Cataldo reminded Sherrod that coal miners used to carry canaries down into the mines to alert them to the presence of dangerous gases. “It was the only gas meter they had,” he told Sherrod. “They didn’t have a union or anyone else looking out for them.” Sherrod immediately pinned the canary to his lapel, to the delight of the steelworkers in the room. Ever since, he has worn a version of the pin on whatever jacket or sweater he pulls out of the closet. Every campaign year, we purchase a new batch of union-made canary pins. Campaign staffers always carry a few of them in their pockets because Sherrod constantly gives away his to supporters. n 2006, so many people were pointing to his pin and asking for an explanation that Sherrod designed a four-by-nine-inch card telling the story of the canary and what it represented for workers. Whenever someone asked about the pin, he handed them this card. In the last year or so, I’ve received an uptick in requests to explain the pin, usually after I share a photo of Sherrod showing the small glint of gold on his lapel. So, I’m sharing the explanation he wrote on that card in 2006: The canary represents the struggle for economic and social justice in our nation. *In the early days of the 20th century, more than 2,000 American workers were killed in coal mines every year. Miners took a canary into the mines to warn them of toxic gases; if the canary died, they knew they had to escape quickly. Miners were forced to provide for their own protection. No mine safety laws. No trade unions able to help. No real support from their government. *A baby born in 1900 had a life expectancy of 47 years. Today, thanks to progressive government and an aggressive labor movement, Americans can expect to live, [on average], three decades longer. It has been a 100-year battle between the privileged and the rest of us. *We took on the oil and chemical companies to enact clean air and safe drinking water laws. *We overcame industry opposition to pass auto safety rules. *We beat back insurance and medical interests to establish Medicare and Medicaid for senior citizens and poor children. *We fought off Wall Street bankers to create Social Security. *We battled entrenched business interests to enact women’s rights and civil rights, protections for the disabled, and prohibitions on child labor. *We fought for all of it. Every bit of progress made in in the struggle for economic and social justice came over the opposition of society’s most privileged and most powerful. Remarkably, it was ordinary working families who won so many of these battles against he most entrenched, well-heeled interests. *The canary signifies that the struggle continues today, and that all of us must be ever vigilant against the powerful interest groups which too often control government. By the time I met Sherrod, he’d already been wearing the pin for three years. A few months after we started dating, in early 2003, I met Dominic for the first time. What a kind and generous man, and so committed to workers’ rights. Every time I see him, I ask him again to describe the moment when he gave Sherrod his first canary pin. Every time, he indulges me. Earlier this month, we saw Dominic at the Labor Day rally in Lorain. As you can see, he still wears a canary pin. This time, he didn’t wait for me to ask. “It was April 2000,” he said, holding my hand. “Sherrod had just finished his speech to workers….” You know the rest of the story. Jean Totten
Conservative Giant George Will & 17 Reagan Staffers Endorse Harris In a stunning political shift, conservative icon George Will has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for President. Will's sharp words left no ambiguity: “The restoration of normal politics will require two things: The removal of Donald Trump — that Krakatau of volcanic, incoherent, fact-free bombast — from public life. And the rekindling of an irrepressible conflict.” Will continues: “It is between progressivism, of which Kamala Harris is full to overflowing, and actual conservatism, about which Trump is contemptuous.” But George Will is not alone. Seventeen former staff members of the late Republican President Ronald Reagan have also thrown their support behind Harris. In a joint statement they argue Reagan himself, if alive today, would side with Harris: "President Ronald Reagan famously spoke about a 'Time for Choosing.' While he is not here to experience the current moment, we who worked for him in the White House, in the administration, in campaigns and on his personal staff, know he would join us in supporting the Harris-Walz ticket," they declare. "The time for choosing we face today is a choice between integrity and demagoguery, and the choice must be Harris-Walz. Our votes in this election are less about supporting the Democratic Party and more about our resounding support for democracy." The endorsement from Reagan’s former staff is echoed by over 230 former officials who served under Republican presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, along with campaign staffers for GOP presidential nominees John McCain and Mitt Romney. Harris’s GOP backing mirrors a similar wave of conservative endorsements Joe Biden received in his 2020 campaign against Trump. Notable Reagan-era supporters include Ken Adelman, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and U.S. arms control director, and B. Jay Cooper, former special assistant and deputy press secretary. Also on the list is Pete Souza, Reagan’s former chief White House photographer, who also served under President Obama. The group is pushing to rally more former Reagan staffers to back Harris and her running mate Tim Walz, calling it "the only path forward toward an America that is strong and viable for our children and grandchildren for years to come." Jean Totten
#2 attempt Crazy liberals will eventually get their wish and kill Trump. What a bunch of sick people. https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1835411324601299005 https://x.com/EndWokeness/status/1835400453414371754
