The View from Rural Missouri by Jess Piper

I didn’t have the most stable home growing up. I guess I could call my childhood chaotic to save the feelings of those who raised me. Throughout the chaos of dozens of moves and almost as many new schools and a revolving door of step-parents, I had one method to deal with the upheaval…I always wrote letters to god. So many letters that I wrote and placed in the highest point in my bedroom — the top of my closet. I left the letters open and face up so god could see them and read them easily.

I crisscrossed the state a few times last week to speak to rural Democrats, and I don’t remember where I was when I looked up to see a huge electronic billboard on the interstate proclaiming, “Vote Yes on Amendment 3. Ban transition surgeries on minors.” If I were not so involved in Missouri politics, I might have been confused about the sign. Amendment 3 is a ballot question about abortion rights — it has nothing to do with “gender transition” surgeries.

The boots you lick will stomp you too… I can’t give credit for the quote because it has been around for a while, and it is used on everything from t-shirts to mugs to signs to billboards. I’ve seen it at protests and rallies. I’ve heard it from both folks on the Left and the Right. I think about the quote a few times a week these days… I was a Literature teacher for years and basically a professional reader my entire life.

The funny thing about the Heritage Foundation is that they have always been upfront about their plans. They write hundreds of pages of plans for the dystopian future they envision, and they don’t hide the plans. They publish them online for the world to see…remember Project 2025?

“The liberal world by definition is literate.” ~Marshall McLuhan I consume a lot of words every day. I work with words every day. I have been trying to read more books than I have in the last few years, but I still always end up reading dozens of articles on current issues every single day. I start with AP and Reuters on my phone. I move on to the Missouri Independent and the KC Star and then scroll on social media to see if I missed anything newsworthy from other states or outlets.

I just found out that I live in one of the worst ranked states in the country. Well, I already knew that instinctively, but my thoughts were confirmed when I came across a CNBC study of the worst ranked states in the country.

I am not a political consultant. I am not a political insider. I am a progressive grassroots organizer living and working with the very people the Democrats purport to need to win elections nationwide. So many consultants are ignoring the people who actually know the issues to win in rural America, and candidates are paying for that mistake. I live in a GOP-dominated state in a very rural area, and I know my neighbors and understand rural spaces.

*Some names and details have been changed to protect identities. Jennifer was in her early 30s when she and her husband divorced. She had two little girls and worked as a nurse. She started thinking about dating about a year after her divorce. She was introduced to a paramedic working a few towns over, and they hit it off. They started dating exclusively within weeks. Jennifer’s new boyfriend seemed to be in love with her and asked her for selfies often — she usually sent one over.

The picture was taken by photographer, Jacob Moscovitch at a St Louis rally for abortion rights eight long years ago. The woman in the photo with me is Veronica…I just stood next to her at a town hall for local representatives a few weeks ago. You’ll notice the sign I am carrying says, “Governor Parson, SHAME on YOU.” The fight for abortion access in Missouri has been going on so long that Governor Parson termed out and has been replaced by Governor Kehoe.

I’ve written about Progressives winning in political races across the country, and it excites me. I think we are seeing the future of the Democratic Party evolving before our eyes, and I am watching with bated breath as candidates with big ideas, and no apologies for these ideas, keep winning. I am also watching this play out across the country while in a state with a near authoritarian-type legislature. Missouri has been under the boot of a GOP supermajority for over two decades.