THE LIST: 'Turn the thermostat down'

What an absolutely wonderful 2024 Adair County Fair! Congratulations to all who put it on and put so much hard work into it being possible. It really was a sense of normalcy for a summer that has been anything but normal around here.

There are signs all over throughout a county fair that remind me that it truly takes a village. So many moving parts of our community are intertwined at the fair. It’s always fun to watch!

I came home from the fair Saturday and Sunday drenched in sweat, as I think we all did. There’s that saying that it would be much worse with the breeze, but even with a breeze, it was dang hot. Water, sunscreen and deodorant were essentials, but I know you all are right there with me. It was fun, nonetheless.

While I wanted to turn the temperature down in Iowa this weekend, it was Saturday when we all learned former president Donald Trump escaped what appears to have been an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania.

I don’t get into politics much on this page, and I don’t think we know a motive yet, but whether you love him or you hate him, it’s really sad to see this happen and that we have to talk about it, especially if political preference is a motive. As a country, we should be able to settle our differences without even coming close to this.

A result of the ordeal is that even President Joe Biden, who will fiercely debate Trump on about every issue, is calling for the political thermostat to be turned down a notch, and I hope it does.

To lesser extents, we’ve experienced the polarization right here in Adair County. I will note that it’s rarely because of our own people, though. It is usually others who come in and ruin it.

One example of the polarization has been when at former presidential candidate Ron DeSantis’ visit to the Freedom Rock, no one could hear anything because of loud protesters. Another was when I and another reporter got whisked away to an upstairs vacant room at Hotel Greenfield because protesters interrupted our interview with Senator Chuck Grassley after a town hall meeting there.

I get that I’m a member of the press and will likely see things the general public doesn’t get to see. Again, like him or not, I got to cover when Biden visited Menlo and saw a level of security I had never seen before. That was fascinating. I can take protestors and understand that’s part of the job, but being able to peacefully protest and state our case in that way should always be the goal. When it gets in the way, becomes the story itself and becomes a threat in any way, that’s when I begin to have a problem.

Trump raised a fist in the air after Secret Service agents recovered him from the ground once the scene was clear. He was seen mouthing “Fight!” to the crowd. I love a fighter, as many people do. Many people here in Adair County will vote for him. That being said, I also hope the general political temperature does go down a notch. One would hope that it will, but time will be the teller.