Posted December 05, 2018in Political Mercury
Abortion questions elicit extraordinary responses. Back in 2002, Doug Gross smiled widely as he fielded the question. “Your reputation proceeds you,” the Republican candidate for governor said in my office. I’d asked Gross a question I regularly pose to pro-life candidates: If your position on abortion prevails and the procedure
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Posted October 31, 2018in Political Mercury
Enduring some disquieting treatment in President Trump’s Council Bluffs media pen On this night in Council Bluffs, there would be the stage antics, the stand-up routine from the president, the hand-waving, the impersonations from behind the official seal. I’d surely report some zingers from our commander in chief — his
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Posted October 03, 2018in Political Mercury
It feels, sounds and smells like surrender of the basic, motivating values of more than 40 years for me. And it will to most of you, too. The facts, though, are not on our side. They are quite possibly with a man who sounds an awful lot like a canary
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Posted September 05, 2018in Political Mercury
A universal basic income is best response as capitalism turns on ‘normal people,’ Democratic candidate for president says. Andrew Yang is seeking to shake the very foundation of how Iowans see themselves, how they measure their lives with an expected sense of fairness in day-to-day commerce, a belief that hard
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Posted August 01, 2018in Political Mercury
Ray’s genius was coalition building; Trump’s is the surgical precision of his division seeding. Jordan vs. LeBron. Magic or Kobe? In beer-and-burger debates at bars around the nation, in ferocious online forums, the GOAT question (Greatest Of All Time) runs into a challenge: How can you compare athletes from different
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Posted July 04, 2018in Political Mercury
Grassley says Republicans’ economic-class-based strategy against Hubbell is “a problem.” Back in 1976, we gathered as kids around the console TV for what amounted to national viewings of primetime movies, big events, like John Travolta’s “Boy In The Bubble.” It seemed an awful, isolated life for this plastic-protected kid, born
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Posted June 06, 2018in Political Mercury
Protecting the unborn. In answering a wide-open question about what he’d most like to see associated with his re-election campaign, U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron, didn’t hesitate in spotlighting the anti-abortion beliefs that motivated the now eight-term congressman to enter politics more than two decades ago. “I think people know
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Posted May 02, 2018in Political Mercury
Younger gamers have different demands and expectations. Wild Rose Casino and Resort in Jefferson posted a record month, week and day in March, casino President and Chief Operating Officer Tom Timmons reported at the recent Grow Greene County Gaming Corp. awards banquet. The success of the casino served as a catalyst for the game-changing referendum
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Posted April 04, 2018in Political Mercury
Political fight will have implications for two of the more vital figures in Iowa’s economy — the price of corn and soybeans. Some of the nation’s top renewable-fuels and corn and soybean advocates, backed by hundreds of farmers and ag businesspeople, rallied outside of Nevada, Iowa, one recent Saturday afternoon
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Posted February 28, 2018in Political Mercury
And he doesn’t speak Spanish Never in the annals of human history has a gay man so brilliantly wooed a straight woman. Apple CEO Tim Cook and other forces at the tech Goliath, the latest apps and wizardry in hand, seduced our governor with the siren song of Siri, boosting
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