Brookingslib, aka Jeff, is the co-founder and co-writer of On The Fence Voters. He was a lifelong blue collar worker who retired in 2016. After a long journey he earned a Bachelors degree of Specialized Studies in 2013 from Ohio University. He spent most of his life in Northeast Ohio but moved west in 2004. He now resides in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, surrounded by the ocean, big trees, and mountain vistas. Through it all, he has remained a steadfast and dedicated progressive, who comes to this endeavor with an open mind and the hope of making a difference in a crazy mixed up world. Besides politics, his other passions are golf, tennis, fishing, and his chronically underachieving Northeast Ohio sports teams(and Ohio State of course). Go Bucks, Cavs, Indians, and Browns!
——————————————————-
Hello! I’m OhioRealist and my first name is Greg.
I’m a truck driver in Ohio and approximately 3 years away from retirement. I was motivated to start this blog by the anger I felt after the mass shooting in Parkland Florida on February 14, 2018. I telephoned my friend of 27 years and asked him if he would be interested in writing a blog with me that (among other things) would speak out against our gun insanity here in the United States. I told him I felt that I was sitting on my hands and needed to do something – anything – to help stop the gun-madness in our country. Jeff listened until I was finished with my rant and then said ‘Yes, let’s do it!!” My friend is BrookingsLib on this site, and my co-founder and co-writer.
About me specifically…
I’m a realist. I simply can’t be anything else. I have no use for anything which doesn’t prove to be true or which can’t survive scrutiny… especially scientific scrutiny (which is evidence-based & peer-reviewed.) I’m a realist to the point where I’m agnostic. Agnosticism (for me) simply means that I don’t know about life’s ultimate questions and I can’t pretend that I do.
If you’re a religious person, please don’t be alarmed at this. I just don’t know about things, ‘God’ or gods included, and I view life as a incredible journey of discovery. My hope is that if I’m wrong and I one day do meet God, I hope he’s a pretty cool dude. I go through life with the belief he would appreciate that I try to use the wonderful brain he gave me.
Why do I tell you this?
Because my agnosticism is responsible for my political beliefs, and On The Fence Voters is a political blog.
My Avatar is from a painting by artist Ralph McQuarrie which was used on the cover of Robot Visions, a collection of stories and essays by the late Isaac Asimov. I used this cover art both to show both my respect for Asimov and the way I view myself in the world… a thinking man who’s uninfluenced by faith or superstition.
I love my country but detest excess patriotism. Simply waving our flag and patting our backs for being American doesn’t cut it for me, and I view such shows with great skepticism. I believe that to be responsible citizens, we sometimes must be critical of the USA in order to keep it on the right track.
I don’t like Donald Trump, his ideas, morals, principles, policies, motivations or his entire administration… let me just end it there let our blog say the rest.
Thanks for reading! I wish you peace, happiness and change in your life!
OhioRealist
On The Fence Voters 