Regardless of party, irresponsible is still irresponsible
3/11/2024Like many people who call this state home, I have long taken an interest in the careers and achievements of people who have gotten their start in Iowa. As a kid, I was fascinated to walk through that two-room cottage in West Branch, knowing a president of the United States, Herbert Hoover, was born there.
Having grown up at the start of the Space Age, I have marveled at the achievements of Peggy Whitson, whose record-breaking space career was “launched” in Beaconsfield and the public schools of Mount Ayr.
And more recently, I have been amazed by the talents of Caitlin Clark, the University of Iowa basketball wizard who has drawn attention from fans around the globe.
All of this may help explain why I have paid more than passing attention to Democrat Katie Porter, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California — and why I was greatly disappointed by her outlandish, baseless comments after she lost the recent California primary election for an open U.S. Senate seat.
Porter’s roots run back to the soil of southern Iowa, a few counties west of where I came from. Now 50, she grew up on a farm outside of Creston during the farm crisis of the 1980s. Her father, Dan, was a farmer and banker. Her mother, Liz, is the Porter of “Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting” magazine and public television fame.
Along the way, she also wrote a best-selling book called, “I Swear: Politics Is Messier than My Minivan.” (That van bears the license plate OVRSITE.)
Porter has many fans. Actress Whoopi Goldberg wrote on the dust jacket of the book, “When Representative Katie Porter speaks, I know she knows what she’s talking about and gives it to you straight up.”
Porter could have thanked voters who supported her. She could have expressed her appreciation to voters in her House district had chosen her to represent them for the past six years. She could have congratulated Schiff and wished him well in the November election, when he faces Republican Steve Garvey, a former Major League Baseball player.
She could have accepted her defeat with grace and gone home to rest and reflect on what she wants to do in the next chapter of her life, the way farmers in Iowa reflect on low crop prices or lousy weather.
But using words like “rigged” and “dishonest” is wrong in so many ways, as anyone who has been listening for the past four years understands. A Harvard-educated lawyer with southern Iowa common sense should understand that.
Porter should realize her rash comments made without evidence only help to further undermine public confidence in our election system. The comments have seriously eroded her reputation as an important voice in American politics and have added to the unhealthy rhetoric that saturates our nation.
Too often, we Americans are quick to point out the flaws and mistakes by politicians we oppose but are too blind to similar flaws and mistakes by politicians we support. Katie Porter’s embarrassing display after this month’s election should not be defended by her fellow Democrats any more than Trump’s post-election nonsense should be defended by his fellow Republicans.
Irresponsible is still irresponsible, regardless of the party affiliation of the person making such wild accusations. ♦
Randy Evans can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com.