Biden will lose if he fails to stop the genocide in Gaza

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Given the Israeli military’s atrocities against a civilian population and the mounting presence of widespread starvation, why won’t President Biden freeze military aid to Gaza? Great question. Let’s dig into it.

First, just how bad are things? Dr. Fozia Alvi, a Canadian physician who’s treated Palestinian children in southern Gaza, said, “This is not a normal war. The war in Ukraine has killed 500 kids in two years and the war in Gaza has killed over 10,000 in less than five months. We have seen wars before but this is something that is a dark stain on our shared humanity.”

On March 18, an Oxfam official reported that “the catastrophic levels of hunger and starvation in Gaza are the highest ever recorded in terms of number of people and percentage of the population.”

These horrifying truths make the words of Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI) even more appalling: “We shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid. It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick.” Continue Reading →

Repealing hard-earned rights: How far will Republicans go?

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It’s heart-wrenching to see the governor and Republican lawmakers target the LGBTQ community with a barrage of hurtful legislative proposals — some blatantly biased, others more subtle. It’s encouraging to see most Democrats, some Republicans, and a lot of rank-and-file Iowans speak out against these proposals.

One such bill just signed by Governor Reynolds is the so-called “Religious Freedom Restoration Act.” Really? Show me where there’s been a loss of religious freedom in America. I’m waiting. Tap, tap, tap.

So, what’s this bill really about?

As Heather Matson (D-Ankeny) points out, the bill “weaponizes religious beliefs to justify discrimination.”

No doubt. My deeper concern is that this bill, and others of its ilk, are part of an effort to establish a theocracy in America. Nothing could be more antithetical to the founding principles of our country than a government of, by, and for “the church” — meaning the narrowest, most biased interpretation of what it means to be Christian.
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Republican hypocrisy on local control

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One blatant lie that has persisted for decades is that Republicans support local control. Even a casual glance at the track record makes it clear Republicans only support local control when it aligns with their big-business/Christian-nationalist agenda.

That’s why, in the 1990s, when Iowa City required lawn care companies to inform neighboring properties in advance of a chemical application, Republicans rushed to defend the chemical industry by passing a bill taking away this right.

That’s why, also in the 1990s, when big national mobile home companies complained about cities requiring parks to build a storm shelter, Republicans passed a bill stopping them — immediately after a tornado killed eleven people in a mobile home park in Oklahoma City.

Maybe an Iowa county or city wants to ban plastic bags, as over 500 cities across the US have done? Too bad. In 2017, then-governor Branstad signed legislation outlawing it.

That same year, after four Iowa counties enacted living wage ordinances, Republican lawmakers came to the aid of big business and took away a city or county’s authority to do so.

Managing erosion from construction sites. Siting of hog confinements. Use of traffic cameras. Where fireworks can be sold. How libraries are funded. These are just a few of the many, many local government functions that Iowa Republican lawmakers have struck down or proposed to strike down. Continue Reading →

Why I got thrown out of an Irish pub

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About being tossed out of a pub … It was 1979, and I was living with my uncle on our family’s farm in County Roscommon. I needed a break from haymaking and cutting turf, so I hitch-hiked to Roscrea in County Tipperary to spend some time at Mount Saint Joseph Abbey.

There, I met two lads from the North — Jerry Ward and Jerry McGurk. McGurk was a survivor of the horrific Ulster Volunteer Force’s bombing of his family’s pub, which killed his mother, sister, and thirteen others.

The other Jerry was, well, a bit unstable. Ward saw himself as one called to reunite the Protestant and Catholic communities in the war-torn North — a noble goal, but one accompanied by delusional tactics.

The three of us had many a great talk during our time at the Abbey. Toward the end of my stay, we decided a trip to one of Roscrea’s pubs was in order. There, we enjoyed a rollicking, boisterous time chatting it up with other lads in the back of the pub. Continue Reading →

Honey, I froze the kids!

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Regarding our conversation at the 20:50 mark, Charles says: In light of the Alabama Supreme Court decision regarding frozen embryos as “extra-uterine children,” commentators at publications such as the Washington Examiner, Epoch Times, and National Review rushed to flatly state that “life begins at conception.”

In the recent Alabama Supreme Court endorsement of fetal personhood, we were treated to a treatise on the topic based on those well-known scientific tomes: the Old and New testaments. Even though Republicans are quickly abandoning efforts to ban in vitro fertilization (IVF) in an election year, undoubtedly they’ll be back at their misogynistic program once they’re past this November’s voting. Let’s take a look at what fetal personhood would look like when it’s revisited in the near future. Continue Reading →

UN: Israel’s Gaza assault is genocide

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On a trip last week to visit family, Kathy and I walked through the New England Holocaust Memorial — a poignant reminder of the horrors committed against Jews during WW II.

What astounds and saddens me deeply is that descendants of a people who were the victims of perhaps the most heinous attempted genocide in human history are now engaged in genocide against the Palestinians.

I do not use the word “genocide” lightly, and it is increasingly clear that Israel’s destruction of Gaza qualifies as such.
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Are Americans mean?

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But let’s talk about mean people. On this week’s program, Charles and I discuss David Brooks’ column, “How America Became Mean.” It’s an extensive, thoughtful ramble — over 6,500 words — and appeared in The Atlantic last September.

Brooks points out various contributors to America’s plague of meanness. Social media. Personal isolation. Shifting demographics. Economic inequality.

But that’s not the main cause, he insists: “We inhabit a society in which people are no longer trained in how to treat others with kindness and consideration. Our society has become one in which people feel licensed to give their selfishness free rein.”

He adds, “For roughly 150 years after the founding, Americans were obsessed with moral education.”

Really? Obsessed to the point of justifying slavery? Slaughtering the Native population? Irradiating the land and water of South Pacific island nations with nuclear testing? Subjugating entire small countries to serve the economic interests of US corporations? Creating a domestic workforce of “consumers” beholden to the rich and powerful? Continue Reading →

A new angle on stopping eminent domain abuse

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This year, advocates are pursuing a different approach. HF 2522 (formerly HSB 608) would allow 21 state representatives or 11 senators to stop the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) from moving forward with a request to use eminent domain for a private corporation.

The IUB could resume its deliberation only after legislators conduct an independent inquiry into the proposal and 60% of House and Senate members concur that using eminent domain is appropriate.

I would go further. Since 78% of Iowans polled feel eminent domain should not be used to build CO2 pipelines, set the legislative threshold at that level. Still, 60% is a high and reasonable bar. This week, the House Judiciary Committee voted 19 – 1 to advance the bill to the House.
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Republicans refuse to address crisis in long-term care

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I was introduced to the rampant negligence in our elder care “industry” in the early 1990s, during my first term as a State Representative. On walks home from the State Capitol, I’d make unannounced visits to one of the nursing homes in my legislative district. Some of the conditions I observed were nothing short of appalling.

Sadly, things have only gotten worse. The for-profit nursing home industry has a powerful lobby, and it plays hardball through generous campaign contributions to key lawmakers, almost exclusively Republican.

A December 22, 2023 Iowa Capital Dispatch story by Clark Kaufmann lays out the nursing home money problem: The political action committee that represents Iowa’s nursing home industry had donated $30,000 to Reynolds’ 2022 reelection effort. David Chensvold, nursing home consultant and president of HealthCARE of Iowa, gave $20,000. Ted LeNeave, CEO of Accura Healthcare, gave $10,000, as did Lisa Toti, president of Accura Healthcare. Richard Allbee, CEO of the ABCM nursing home chain, gave $5,000, as did Douglas Johnson, CEO of Blue Stone Therapy.

Not every issue is this cut and dried. But when you follow the money, it’s clear that key Republican leaders are all kinds of cozy with the nursing home industry. Continue Reading →