BOYCOTTING MIDTERMS

This is the time of year when cow-calf producers wean their calves and take them to the sale barn to be sold to folks who will buy those stockers and carry them until they're sold to feedlots for finishing.

                  But nobody is selling.  Normally this time of year, especially during a drought like we're in, the sale barn is crammed to the gills with calves as farmers try to get rid of mouths to feed going into winter.  Guess what?  Farmers are boycotting the sale barn. 

                  Since President Trump's Executive Order bringing in 300,000 metric tons of un-tariffed and subsidized lean trim from South America, the price has dropped about 10 percent.  That means a $1,500 calf is suddenly only $1,350; that means a farmer with 40 calves is out $6,000.    A farmer with 100 calves is out $15,000.  That's a big deal.

                  And farmers are furious.  Since our Virginia governor declared a state of emergency for hay, farmers would rather take out state-sponsored low-interest loans to buy some feed than take this kind of hit on their calves.  And it's a way to strike back at Trump for kicking profitability out from under them right when prices offered some financial relief.

                  The fact that farmers, as a group, have responded this fast and aggressively to Trump's shenanigans does not bode well for the midterms.  Rural folks and anyone who has ties to anyone with cattle, are getting an earful from disgusted farmers.  And rural folks like their cows, in spite of whatever urban academic geeks say about them.  Even lots of rural Democrats have cows. 

                  So what does this have to do with midterms?  This sale boycott is what I think rural America is going to do these midterms.  Rural red versus urban blue is a fact; look at any voter color map and it's obvious.  The ballot box civil war in America right now is a country vs. city war. 

                  Red cannot and will not vote blue.  The disagreements are far too deep for cross over voting, except for the handful of folks who don't have any deep beliefs.  So how does red show its disfavor?  "I'm staying home."  Boycotting the mid-terms is the most realistic and active way to vote displeasure with the system without joining the Devil.  That's the mentality here in rural America, and I think it will be devastating for Republicans in the midterms.

                  I was toying with this idea, but when I found out our local conservative died-in-the-wool farmers are boycotting the sale barn, putting off their own income even when it hurts, indicates the depth of the disillusionment.  The only people inspired to vote are the Democratic Socialists who see an America burn down as a wonderful way to celebrate 250 years of a Republic that has turned into Empire, bully, and tyrant.  They're energized and enthusiastic.  Not so in my dirt road neighborhood. 

                  Rural red America is disenfranchised and disheartened.  Boycotting the voting booth is what discouraged people do.  Boycotting the sale barn is what discouraged and disrespected cattle farmers do.  Get ready, America; we're in interesting times.

                  If you're red, would you consider voting blue?