Posted March 09, 2016in Political Mercury
Being hanged or drawn and quartered. Surely not relaxed ways to expire. What about being burned alive? I interviewed a man with Lou Gehrig’s disease for a newspaper series a few years ago. The descent from able-bodied human to a hostage of one’s own failing motor skills is no smooth, wine-and-cheese-evening
Read More →
Posted March 02, 2016in Political Mercury
Whether followed tweet by tweet, or consumed in more middle-aged fashion on cable TV loops, the Republican free-for-all is showing kids exactly how to fight a bully. Don’t run to the authorities (the GOP party boss or the principal as it were). Don’t complain or lament the loss of higher ground, the
Read More →
Posted February 24, 2016in Political Mercury
Wanting to hear a debate over abortion or gay marriage? You won’t get any participation from Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett and his fledgling think tank, Engage Iowa, a conservative-leaning organization focused on taxes and the environment. It’s serving as a possible pre-gubernatorial campaign launch vehicle for Corbett, a former
Read More →
Posted February 10, 2016in Political Mercury
Iowa, the center of the political universe for the presidential parties’ nominating contests, should be pivotal in the November general election, too, not only as a swing state, but as home to two strong potential vice presidential candidates. Political Mercury has used this space to advance the position that Tom Vilsack
Read More →
Posted February 03, 2016in Political Mercury
National radio commentator, writer, public speaker and author Jim Hightower, 73, of Austin, Texas, one of America’s most well-known populist voices, has spent four decades battling what he calls the “Powers That Be” on behalf of the “Powers That Ought To Be” — consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses and just plain
Read More →
Posted January 27, 2016in Political Mercury
Jamie Lee Curtis, a Golden Globe-winning actress, said that had she been nominated for this year’s Academy Awards she’d attend rather than joining the boycott of some in the film industry protesting the total absence (whiteout) of minorities in acting categories. “Of course I would,” she tells us. “It is not a
Read More →
Posted January 20, 2016in Political Mercury
The Iowa caucuses give the rural Midwest — not just Iowa, but a sweep of the Northern Plains — leverage. And unlike oil-slicked Texans, we are up front with how we use it. We don’t seek to bury sweetheart deals in the catacombs of the tax code or 500-page legislative packages. We know having
Read More →
Posted January 13, 2016in Political Mercury
Dr. Allen “Duke” Anneberg has showed up at dozens of events for Gov. Terry Branstad around Carroll County over the past four decades. The retired Carroll physician often registers his fervent support of Iowa’s Republican governor with the ringing of a cowbell. At a recent Ted Cruz presidential campaign event, Anneberg shook
Read More →
Posted January 06, 2016in Political Mercury
Bernie Sanders rolled his Navy-suit-covered forearm and extended it. The Democratic presidential candidate paused, looked at the right arm and summoned a searing childhood memory. Members of Sanders’ family — on his Polish immigrant father’s side — died in the Holocaust. “In the neighborhood I grew up in, there were
Read More →
Posted December 23, 2015in Political Mercury
Somewhere between the western Iowa town of Kiron and Washington, D.C., Steve King lost his way. And he apparently woke in Texas, with barbeque sauce smeared on his cheeks, the twang of two-steppin’ tunes ringing in his ears, and oil, black gold, Texas tea, rushing through his veins to the heart
Read More →
