Posted November 21, 2022in Stray Thoughts
It won’t be long before empty parking spaces near the Iowa Capitol will be as hard to find as a compromise between Democrats and Republicans. The Legislature returns to Des Moines on Jan. 9, more firmly in Republican control than it was on May 24, when this year’s session ended.
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Posted November 08, 2022in Stray Thoughts
Mamie Till came along at the right time in American history. During the 1950s, in an era when many Americans were blind to the grotesque toll of racial hatred, this courageous Illinois mother stepped forward and opened America’s eyes. What people saw outraged them — the mutilated body of her 14-year-old
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Posted November 02, 2022in Stray Thoughts
It is safe to assume Kirk Ferentz has not enjoyed the glorious autumn in Iowa the way he would prefer.He has feverishly worked his Bubble Yum during the Hawkeyes’ games this season. He has been worked over during his post-game press conferences and again at his weekly meetings with the media
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Posted October 24, 2022in Stray Thoughts
I try to stay atop the day’s news. But I must have dozed off last week — because I missed the response from Iowa Republican leaders to the Biden administration’s announcement of $1.3 billion in debt relief to 36,000 farmers who have fallen behind on their farm loan payments. In
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Posted October 03, 2022in Stray Thoughts
“Reasonable” is a word that is used often in Iowa’s laws. Reasonable fees. Reasonable rules. Reasonable efforts. Reasonable force. But events in recent weeks show government officials are not always following what many Iowans would think the term means. And when government officials deviate from “reasonable,” they should not be
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Posted September 26, 2022in Stray Thoughts
There was a news update over the weekend about two elderly Iowans who wandered away from different care centers last winter and froze to death. There is no question the deaths were horrible tragedies. There is no question they resulted from carelessness and a needless lack of attention by employees
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Posted September 20, 2022in Stray Thoughts
Growing up in Bloomfield in the 1950s and 1960s, I remember seeing empty coffee cans next to the cash registers in places like Ollie O’Briant’s drug store, Bill Tews’ coffee shop and Isham Pottorff’s gas station. The cans had handwritten signs taped to the side — a common
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Posted September 14, 2022in Stray Thoughts
Televisions are getting larger, but that does not make it easier to decipher the political ads that are as common these days as gnats at a picnic. There is one thing we should understand about these ads: Their purpose is not to educate voters or inform them about the finer
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Posted September 06, 2022in Stray Thoughts
These days, I stand in front of audiences and engage in what is politely called “public speaking” more often than even Mr. Gentry ever imagined when I showed up at his office door 55 years ago with a bug-eyed expression of concern. Mr. Gentry was the guidance counselor at Davis
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Posted August 29, 2022in Stray Thoughts
President Joe Biden’s decision to cancel up to $10,000 in federal student loans for many borrowers is fair game for vigorous debate — and disagreement.Americans have been debating and disagreeing for 246 years. What jumps out in this latest dispute is how some politicians are blind to the inconsistencies in
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