Shorter post as I am writing this Sunday night from eastern Ohio, where I am going to my father-in-law’s funeral Monday. Hence why I am writing this evening.

First, about my father-in-law, who was kind of an old-school conservative, ex-military guy who wasn’t much for Trump. We didn’t talk too much about politics because we knew we didn’t agree with each other’s views, so we rarely talked about it. We did talk a lot about baseball, mainly the Pittsburgh Pirates, so outside of several years last decade, mainly consisted of commiserating about terrible baseball. He was deeply involved in his church and as part of that, service to others. So, he was someone with a big heart. We need more of those these days, and I’ll miss him.

So, due to this great loss for our family, we’re here in a very conservative area. I myself live in a very conservative area outside of the island of bleeding-heart libs known as State College, PA (read: college town) so it’s not a big adjustment, in fact, it’s rather familiar.

Like many conservative areas, there is a Giant Right-Wing Statement displayed rather prominently along the road, in this case at one of the main intersections. If you don’t know what I mean, think of a large sign or some other obnoxious display. In this case, it’s a huge TRUMP sign. And now, there’s an added part of the sign that says LET’S GO BRANDON, which as many reading this know, is an obscene reference to President Biden.

Because they have mean, nasty brains and the sense of humor of a cold sore, they think this is HILARIOUS. I will give the creator of this “legitimate political discourse” credit, however. It’s not as violent as some I’ve seen, including one in my home area.

Along a main road leading up to a state park, there was a pickup truck parked along the road with a giant TRUMP sign. But that’s not all. Along with the sign, the back of the pickup had a mannequin that is supposed to be Hillary Clinton in a cage. But that’s not all! In front of the cage, there’s another mannequin, this one dressed as a good ol’ country boy, manning a mounted machine gun.

At least that’s how it looked in 2016. Exposure to central Pennsylvania elements has basically worn down the display to the point where it’s now a partial mannequin manning a machine gun, an empty cage, and the TRUMP is worn to the point where it is unreadable. I guess the statement wasn’t worth the upkeep given it now looks like some sort of sad piece of modern art.

If you live in a conservative area, you probably have your own wingnut display, whether it’s a big sign or something more creative like Hillary-in-a-cage. Whatever, they can do what they want, freedom of speech and all that. It’s just rather alarming that these folks constantly demonstrate how unhinged they are, and they are not the far fringe of the party. Instead, they are the base.

Somehow, despite this, they are not hurt politically by it, and that’s not a good look, America.

Given I am about 45 minutes from Kent State, in Oh-Hi-O, the last word goes to Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young: