Winners

It's about time. Marsha Ternus, the newly appointed chief justice of Iowa's Supreme Court, announced a new initiative, "One Judge, One Family," which is designed to streamline the judicial process in domestic cases involving children and families. The idea is to get one judge to handle all of the court hearings involving a particular family, rather than subjecting the family to many different judges during the course of its legal proceedings. The new set-up will allow judges to act more quickly on sensitive issues involving families. Each year, Iowa's judges decide thousands of cases that determine parental custody rights, terminations and financial support, and often, these cases take months or years to untangle, leaving children in unstable situations. Hopefully Ternus will be able to see the idea through to fruition.

It's a weird world we live in. Political operatives can run strange, twisted attack ads with all the subtlety of a National Enquirer cover story about aliens abducting JonBenet Ramsey, and we're forced to watch the carnage because it keeps popping up during key reruns of "Everybody Loves Raymond." But hark, is that the voice of reason we hear rising in southern Iowa? Lo, it's Kevin Wiskus of Centerville, a Republican challenging Democrat incumbent Kurt Swaim for the seat in House District 94. After the Republican Party circulated a childishly negative mailer designed to discredit Swaim, Wiskus decided he couldn't abide the crap and switched his affiliation to "no party." In that simple act, Wiskus has since given hope to scores of idealistic Iowans who had all but given up on the idea of a free democracy based on an honest debate of the actual issues.

Losers

Sen. Charles Grassley pooh-poohed Republicans who've split from President Bush in the last few months. At a Republican Party function this weekend, Grassley warned that GOP unity would be the only way to win the midterm elections this November. According to Radio Iowa, the always-entertaining Rep. Steve King was also on hand to diss Mexicans and advertise his idea of building an electrified fence along the Mexican-American border. According to Radio Iowa, King said, "They don't respect our Constitution. They don't respect our rule of law," referring to those who participate in pro-immigration protests. We think Grassley should be more fearful of Republicans who align themselves with the likes of Steve King than those who, echoing a majority of the public, are beginning to criticize Bush over issues like the Iraq war, detainee abuse, immigration and energy policies.

Although he has apologized profusely, we can't help but name Pope Benedict XVI a loser for his remarks on Islam. The pontiff cited a medieval text that made reference to teachings of Muhammad being "evil and inhuman," which angered many in the Muslim community. The Pope issued statements to clarify that the emperorâs words did not reflect his opinion. Even the Pope has to learn some things the hard way.

Iowa businesses are going to have an even tougher time finding employees, as the unemployment rate dropped again. The rate for August is at 3.6 percent, leaving most of those without jobs doing so by choice. CV

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