Tag Archives: Jamie Fitzgerald

Can a serious talk show start with weed and wrap up with beer?

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Sure, it’s a rhetorical question: “Can a serious talk show start with weed and wrap up with beer?”

WEED. The answer is “yes.” This week Colin Hogan with Iowa Stage Theater Company discusses the Company’s production of Reefer Madness.

We also discuss how public opinion and marijuana laws have evolved over the years.

Charles shares concern about the dramatically increased strength of marijuana and how that’s leading to addiction and a wide range of health problems.

ELECTION. I’m feeling increasingly confident that the November 3 election will remain fair and secure. It’s still a crap shoot, what with the many tactics being employed by the Trump administration to corrupt the results. But my phone call last week with Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald convinced me that election officials across the country are well prepared to address all types of corruptive influences. Continue Reading →

Defending our right to vote

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A whole lot of political observers and journalists, including me, have been regaling you with warnings about how President Trump is trying to steal the November election. All of it’s true, and of grave concern.

But we have reasons to be hopeful. Certainly, the recent US Supreme Court ruling on absentee ballots is a huge blow to Trump’s effort to corrupt mail-in voting.

My phone call with Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald yesterday was also very encouraging. Like county auditors and local officials across the country, Jamie and his staff have been tracking every potential threat to election integrity, and making plans to respond.

I asked Fitzgerald what the local response would be if the Trump administration sends ICE agents to polling sites in Polk County. He said he’s been working with the county attorney and county sheriff to make sure that section 49.104 of the Iowa Code is upheld.

That code section lists the specific people allowed inside and near polling places during an election. Federal agents are not on that list. Continue Reading →