Posted June 30, 2021in Political Mercury
An obsession with balance can obscure the truth. In his brilliantly performed new audio book “The Bomber Mafia,” Malcolm Gladwell, using expert reporting, inviting prose and riveting sound effects, including actual audio recordings of the sources quoted, raises a historical question that indeed does enter the “both sides” structure. Should the United
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Posted May 24, 2021in Political Mercury
Manilla Democrat plans to spotlight farming, education, infrastructure and health care. Former Crawford County Supervisor Dave Muhlbauer, a Manilla farmer and cattleman with deep family roots in rural Iowa politics, this morning announced his bid for U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley’s seat. Muhlbauer, who describes himself as an “old-school farming-labor Democrat,” is
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Posted May 05, 2021in Political Mercury
In an age of scarcity (for many) and excess (for the few), the language and policies of diversity become zero-sum. What another gets, you lose. So goes the polarized thinking that has turned our public square into a fever swamp of resentments and recriminations. For too many rural Americans, the term “diversity”
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Posted March 31, 2021in Political Mercury
The mother of a 7-year-old Iowan said she’s used the recently launched and increasingly popular public-minded Twitter account Iowa Vaccine Alerts as a real-life and contemporary example of what the iconic children’s television host Mr. Rogers used to advise kids in need. “When I was a boy and I would
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Posted March 03, 2021in Political Mercury
At age 87, U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, first elected to office during the Eisenhower administration, smiled broadly when pressed by audience members about a potential re-election campaign next year in a town hall at Landus Cooperative in Jefferson recently. “I can do 20 right now,” Grassley said, referring to push-ups.
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Posted February 03, 2021in Political Mercury
In incoming U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Iowa has not just an experienced hand leading a federal agency vital to the Hawkeye State’s economy, but he is a close adviser and friend of President Biden. We saw the genuine connection and affection between the Bidens and Vilsacks as they
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Posted January 06, 2021in Political Mercury
Fresh from freshman orientation in Washington, D.C., Congressman-elect Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, says he’s encouraged at prospects for bipartisan work in the capitol on agriculture. Having a fellow Iowan — former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack — in the top job at the U.S. Department of Agriculture would be a big boost
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Posted December 02, 2020in Political Mercury
He knew them by their eyes. That’s about all Wiltsie Cretsinger of Coon Rapids could see of the physicians and nurses who shepherded him through a brutal, 21-day, take-his-breath-away fight with COVID-19 at St. Anthony Regional Hospital in Carroll. The medical professionals there were all “gowned up” with two sets
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Posted November 04, 2020in Political Mercury
Our coverage of the 2024 presidential election started — for me, at least — on Oct. 1, 2020 — well over a month before the Nov. 3 election. U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, a Harvard-educated Arkansan, campaigned in Carroll and elsewhere in Iowa for Sen. Joni Ernst. But was he really,
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Posted September 30, 2020in Political Mercury
One of the last questions I asked President Barack Obama during an interview in his second term was this: Would he consider locating his presidential library and museum in Iowa? It’s not a silly or throwaway question, and the president answered it with great seriousness, because it is in our
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