Tag Archives: FAIR

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 →

COP27: Success, failure, or mixed bag?

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Was COP27 a success, a failure, or a mixed bag? Sad to say, it was mostly a flop.

At the conclusion of COP27, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, “Our planet is still in the emergency room. We need to drastically reduce emissions now — and this is an issue this COP did not address. The world still needs a giant leap on climate ambition.”

The bottom line is the summit didn’t deliver on what the scientific consensus says is most desperately needed and long overdue: a global commitment to drastically slash greenhouse-gas emissions. Continue Reading →

Don’t let them treat our soil like dirt

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Big-Ag and Big-Oil are behind these CO2 pipelines, and they’re making the same empty promises made by DAPL. This time, a lot more farmers and landowners aren’t falling for it.

Regarding this week’s Fallon Forum, thanks to all the listeners who called in. If you want to join us next week, we livestream the program on Monday at 4:00 p.m. CT. Here’s the flow of our conversation, with time stamps:

(1:29) MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. Some Republicans like to quote King to imply he’d be against teaching about racism in the schools. Yet you never hear the same apologists use more provocative quotes from King. Leonard Pitts has an excellent column about this, and I reference it extensively in our discussion. Continue Reading →