The Progressive Midwesterner

TRIGGER WARNING: This blog post contains content including profanity and referencing an act of sexual assault that did not occur in real-life. Reader discretion is advised.

In recent years, the 5K (i.e, five-kilometer) run, has become an important part of American culture. Typically, 5K runs, which are typically held on public roads or pathways instead of on purpose-built running tracks, are not serious athletic contests like, for example, high-profile marathons like the Boston Marathon that is held annually in Massachusetts, but are often organized as charity or awareness events for a particular cause. Often, 5K runs are organized for clearly non-political causes (such as fundraising for charitable causes), although empowering women in politics has officially become a 5K-worthy cause. A week or so ago, a group called Courage to Run held a 5K run in Washington, D.C. as an officially nonpartisan effort to raise awareness about women who are politically and civically active in this great country, and some participants in the Courage to Run 5K completed their runs in other parts of the country. Organizers of the Courage to Run plan to hold another 5K even...

TRIGGER WARNING: An alleged act of sexual assault committed by a nominee for a U.S. Supreme Court seat is referenced in this blog post. Reader discretion is strongly advised.

Eric Greitens, the former Missouri Governor who resigned from office in disgrace after being caught threatening to blackmail a woman who he had an extramarital affair with, is reportedly considering running for his old job in the 2020 gubernatorial election in Missouri, even if meant running in a Republican primary against incumbent Gov. Mike Parson (R-MO): Former Gov. Greitens has called at least one donor to test the waters re: a 2020 gubernatorial primary. — Jeff Smith (@JeffSmithMO) September 16, 2018 The fact that someone like Greitens is even considering a political comeback proves that Greitens has no sense of shame or decency.

Brady Mallory, a news reporter for Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based CBS affiliate KELO-TV, interviewed President Donald Trump following a rally for South Dakota Republican gubernatorial candidate Kristi Noem, a far-right Trump loyalist. During the interview, Trump insulted farmers whose livelihoods have been negatively impacted by the Trump trade war: You heard that correctly. President Trump said that farmers whose lives have been negatively impacted by the Trump trade war would have lost their farms anyways. That kind of rhetoric is insulting and hateful to farmers and people who live in communities where agriculture is a vital industry to their community. Furthermore, America has a lot of arable land that is used for many different forms of agriculture, and many states, especially in the South, the Midwest, and some of the western states, have large agricultural industries that have seen loss of export markets due to the Trump trade war. As someone who is probably more of a pro...

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) has resorted to desperate measures in his re-election bid in Wisconsin. Actually, that's a major understatement. In a desperate attempt to smear Wisconsin State Superintendent and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Tony Evers, Walker has resorted to airing ads on Wisconsin television stations that come very close to being child pornography: Three months ago, Gov. Scott Walker called his opponent "pathetic" for using the word "goddamn" in a speech to supporters. But now, the Republican incumbent is airing an ad that flashes the partially blurred words "blow job" and zooms in on a young girl's breasts. https://t.co/ze2cgd7Tte — Patrick Marley (@patrickdmarley) September 7, 2018 Make no mistake about it, Scott Walker is resorting to broadcasting sexually explicit content on Wisconsin television stations, without regard to either what programs the stations are airing at any given time or any standard of human decency. I ...