Election analysis — what next?
Dear Friends, In a year of firsts, this week’s Fallon Forum was conducted over Zoom. In a free-flowing conversation for a full hour of election analysis, I’m joined by Kathy Byrnes, Rekha Continue Reading →
My election prediction
Dear Friends, By the end of the day on Tuesday, I hope you will have voted. Additionally, I hope you’ll beg and chide family, friends, and neighbors to vote. Everyone’s Continue Reading →
Sojourner Truth Radio post-debate panel
On October 22, 2020, Ed Fallon joined panelists from across the country to debrief the final debate between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden on Sojourner Truth Radio with Continue Reading →
Meet the next next president of the United States
If Joe Biden wins next week — and really, even if he doesn’t — the smart money says his running mate, Kamala Harris, has the inside track on being the Democratic Party’s next nominee, and quite possibly the next next president. While Harris wasn’t my first, second, or even third choice in the Iowa Caucuses, I’m cautiously comfortable considering her as president. Continue Reading →
Is the risk of fascism overblown?
The good Goldmans and I dig into the history of fascism and discuss whether concerns about America going full-out fascist are overblown, election-year, scare-the-voter hype. The short answer is no, such concerns are not overblown. The risk is real, and the parallels to 1930s Germany are too striking to ignore. The bottom line is this: Vote as if your life and our democracy depend on it! Continue Reading →
I won’t do what Biden told me to do
You might recall that, in a video captured by Kathy Byrnes at a campaign rally last January, Joe Biden told me, “Go vote for someone else.” Well, I’m not going to do that. I’m voting for Joe Biden because, even though climate leaders may disagree with Biden on specifics, we can work with him. The best I can hope from climate denier Donald Trump is to get thrown out of his rallies. Continue Reading →
At the polls or by mail — VOTE!
My column last week created some confusion, sorry. The title was Don’t Vote by Mail!, and if that’s as far as you got, you might have thought I was telling people either to vote at the polls or not at all. Never! Going forward, I’ll try to be more diligent in my selection of titles, remembering that’s are as far as some readers get. Beyond that, thanks to conversations with election officials last week, I’m now more confident that when Iowans cast their votes by mail or at the county auditor’s office, they will be counted. Continue Reading →
Don’t vote by mail!
Ditch your mail-in ballot and show up at the polls on November 3. Put on a mask, a shield, even rubber gloves. If it’s cold, wear your winter gear in case you have to stand in line outside. If you exercise appropriate social-distancing precautions, voting at the polls is probably less risky than going to the grocery store. Continue Reading →
Grassley seals his legacy
“You’ll be remembered as just another career politician who buried his conscience deep in the back forty while succumbing to the flagrant partisanship of ambitious, self-serving men like Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell — men who never had an ounce of integrity to start with. You, Senator, have become a hypocrite.” Continue Reading →
Are you checked in or checked out?
Perhaps the strongest voice for civic engagement is … Erik Hagerman himself. In that Times story, Hagerman says, “I had been paying attention to the news for decades and I never did anything with it.” Well, that’s your first problem, Erik. You should’ve done something.
Because as my friend Miriam Kashia likes to say, “Action is the antidote to despair.” Continue Reading →