By Rogene "Jeannie" McPherson
Once upon a time, 1861 and 1867, two large areas in America, were given statehood and became a recognized state as part of the United States. Kansas is the 34th state and Nebraska the 37th. Both were controversial as Kansas being a border state was harassed and expected to support the southern states’ cry for slavery. Proof of this exists at the Marais des Cygnes Massacre site along the Missouri border northeast of Pleasanton.
The issue in Congress regarding Nebraska was that President Johnson, Lincoln’s successor, reluctantly signed for statehood as the area had been proclaimed a territory 13 years before. Both states were primarily rural with booming small towns coming to life over much of the geographical areas.
Both have land-grant universities signed into act by President Lincoln early in his presidential years. Kansas State University in Manhattan represents Kansas and the University of Nebraska in Lincoln is also a land-grant institution. Becoming such an institution is significant for many services, but one that quickly comes to mind are the state-wide County Extension Offices. If you or your children were in 4-H, then you are beneficiaries of this federal program.
I was given a book, mostly of photographs, illustrating the beauty of Nebraska taken while in an airplane zooming across the countryside. I think the title may have been Fly-Overs Across Nebraska. Being proud of my home states, Nebraska and Kansas, I celebrate their blessings, preferably up-close.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I, as the beholder, enjoy seeing hay bales scattered over the prairie; cornfields with their long leaves blowing in the wind; combines running side by side when harvesting grain; deer, buffalo, and antelope loping across the plains; bluffs along major rivers; and the peach-colored sunsets, to name just a few examples. Our presidents must not behold the same beauty that I do other than from the air when flying from Washington D.C. to California.
Presidents of the United States rarely visit states like ours in person. Because of our lower population counts, we provide few electoral votes. If a candidate carries Kansas, for example, we add 6 electoral votes to his/her count. Nebraska gives 5. New York provides 28 electoral votes. Why wouldn’t a candidate campaign more vigorously in a state with more potential electoral votes?
I get it why candidates only fly-over during an electoral season, but why do we put up with not seeing them in person in our state(s) during the four years he/she is in office? We don’t expect them to wear overalls or even blue jeans on their travels to our cities and towns. I would be happy if Trump wore his usual baseball cap and Harris donned sports shoes. We do want respect for the geography and values Midwesterners bring to the Union. We vote, send young men and women into battle, and we pay our proportional income tax. We should expect to be seen and heard, up-close.
We have expectations for our government, disappointments and joys just as significant as those in the metropolitan areas of the East, West, South, and North of the U.S.A. My goal once the inauguration in January is over, is to write our Kansas representatives and senators to invite the 47th president of the United States to visit working farms, pivot irrigation manufacturers, ethanol processing plants, forest management projects and other places of employment that instill the Midwest values of integrity, work ethic, family and community, modesty and humbleness.
My motto: Don’t complain unless you tell the ones who can make a difference. Come January, send an invitation to Washington D.C.
Rogene "Jeannie" McPherson is a Centerville based author and a regular contributor to the Linn County Journal.
Commentaires