Month: October 2026

Is your city prepared to fight federal crime on Election Day? Mine appears to be sleep-walking.

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On Monday, I addressed the Des Moines City Council. I wanted their assurance that they’re prepared to fight federal crime if President Trump sends armed agents to polling sites, as he has repeatedly threatened to do. (Click the image to hear my brief remarks.)

Wherever you live, you have a right to know that your city and county are prepared to respond to crimes committed by armed federal agents at polling places. Again, Trump and other administration officials have threatened to do so. Repeatedly, That would be unprecedented and emphatically illegal.

I’ve spoken one-on-one with three Des Moines City Council members about this. While I respect and appreciate the work of each of these elected officials, I’m completely unsatisfied with the City’s preparedness given Trump’s threats to subvert our election.

I hope Des Moines officials will prove me wrong. But as of today, I’ve heard nothing from the Council in response to the concerns I raised on Monday and previously.

As far as I can tell, Des Moines is sleep-walking into Election Day. So I’ll ask again, and encourage you to ask your local officials: If armed federal agents show up at the polls and a poll worker calls 911, can we count on local law enforcement to respond? Continue Reading →

Public execution seeks to normalize violence

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I have strong feelings about the death penalty. It’s always appalled me that a government which claims to be compassionate and rational can justify a practice that is neither.

As a state lawmaker in 1995, and again in 1997, I helped lead successful efforts to stop Governor Branstad from reinstating the death penalty. My contributions included speaking on the floor of the House, staging a week-long fast, and participating in rallies and vigils.

Last week, as Pete Hegseth announced his intention to live-stream a public execution, I thought about our successful campaigns to stop the death penalty in Iowa.

Just as in 1995 and 1997, when our anti-death-penalty coalition found unexpected allies among conservative Republican legislators, Americans opposed to capital punishment again found an unexpected ally.

President Donald Trump. It doesn’t happen often, but Trump’s decision to cancel the live-stream execution of Nidal Malik Hasan was welcomed, and surprising. The President’s reasoning was that “many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die.” Continue Reading →

Iowans oughta vote “No” on Amendment 1

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This election, Iowa voters will find Amendment 1 on the ballot. I can’t say this on my FCC-regulated radio program, but I’ll say it here: VOTE NO!

If the amendment passes, any income tax increase would need a super majority of the state legislature to pass. As my guest, Ed Tibbetts (check out Ed’s regular column, Along the Mississippi), points out, Amendment 1 “would let just 17 state senators, or 11.3% of the 150 lawmakers in Des Moines, reject the will of the majority.”

How’s that for democracy?

Independent, non-partisan research shows that recent changes to Iowa’s tax laws have shifted more of the burden to low- and middle-income people, disproportionally benefiting Iowa’s upper crust.

Amendment 1 would make income disparity even worse. If you want to do your small part to stop Iowa’s widening income-equality gap, vote “NO” on Amendment 1. Continue Reading →

Tom Harkin and the Vietnam War’s horrific “tiger cages”

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If you’ve never heard former US Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) recount how he exposed torture in Vietnam, this week’s Fallon Forum is a must-listen.

In 1970, President Richard Nixon assured the press and the public that the Vietnam War was going well. Troops were being withdrawn. There was real progress toward peace.

It’s probably no surprise that Nixon was lying. In April of 1970, he actually expanded the war into neighboring Cambodia. 

(Imagine that. A US president lying about a war. Who ever heard of such a thing?)

Also in 1970, Tom Harkin worked as an aide to Congressman Neal Smith (D-Iowa). That summer, Tom joined a bi-partisan House delegation on a fact-finding mission to Vietnam.

At one point, Tom managed to break away from the official, sanitized tour to chase a rumor about “tiger cages,” where he’d heard that prisoners were being tortured.

What Tom discovered was truly horrific. Continue Reading →