Dear Friends,
(01:23) Iowa birthing center lawsuit advances, with Caitlin Hainley;
(22:34) Iowa Democrat’s message a recipe for permanent minority-party status;
(28:27) Why the Right hopes Biden does well in Thursday’s debate;
(29:47) US Senate Democratic candidates embrace populist themes;
(47:20) Data centers are the new water and energy hogs;
(53:21) Dairy farm wins lawsuit over cows killed by gas line, with Kathy Byrnes Fallon.
Caitlin Hainley with Ed on the set of The Fallon Forum.
Before I share my thoughts on Thursday’s debate, let’s talk about birth centers. The Iowa Legislature, at the behest of the medical-industrial complex, has made it virtually impossible for midwives to own and operate independent birth centers. That’s grossly unfair. With high-paid lobbyists and campaign donations from Big Hospital, the industry is hell-bent on strangling small, independent start-ups.
Last year, SF506 tried to fix that. The bill passed the Senate but failed to come up for a vote in the House. That’s disappointing. But here’s what’s downright shocking:
MOST OF THE OPPOSITION IN THE SENATE CAME FROM DEMOCRATS!
So here’s our call to action: Listen to my conversation with Caitlin Hainley, a certified nurse midwife and owner of Des Moines Midwife Collective. Then call your state rep and senator and tell them to support birth center legislation when it’s introduced in 2025.
About Thursday’s presidential debate … June 27, debate day, is the most important date in this election cycle. Second is Election Day. Third is August 9, when Democrats hold their national convention.
Why is June 27 so important? Because it will determine the Democratic nominee for president.
“But wait!” says you. “It’s Joe Biden, Ed. We already know this.”
Nope. You can regale me with all kinds of verbal barbs if I’m wrong, but I would be shocked to learn that the Democratic Elite (i.e., the Party’s big-money donors and a handful of elected and ex-elected officials) want Biden to do well in the debate. The Elite can read the polls. They see where this is going, and they’re rightfully concerned that Biden will not beat Donald Trump.
Here’s what I think will happen on Thursday. Trump, of course, is likely to spew all manner of lies, mutter incoherently, maybe even make up a new word or two. But that won’t matter to his base or to commentators, whose expectations on Trump’s debate performance set the bar pretty low.
Pundits and commentators will, however, rate Biden’s performance somewhere between mediocre and a total bomb. Over the course of the next two months, the Party Elites will roll out Biden’s chosen successor. (Sorry, Kamala Harris, it’s not you. My prediction: Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.) Given the apparent opening, other candidates will irresistibly, though futilely, try to throw their hat into the ring.
The August 7 Democratic Convention will be one helluva bash. Yet when the smoke clears, the Elite’s chosen candidate will emerge victorious.
Think I’m off the wall? This is by far the earliest debate in the history of presidential debates. Why is that? To allow time for the transition from Biden to the new nominee, leading up to the convention.
Perhaps the most compelling evidence of how this scenario plays out is from the radical right. Here’s Rush Limbaugh’s replacement, Clay Travis, during Hour 2 of his June 24 program:
“Don’t we want Biden to actually be just good enough to remain the nominee? I don’t feel as confident about Trump beating Michelle Obama. I don’t feel as confident about Trump winning in the Midwest against [Pennsylvania Governor] Josh Shapiro or [Michigan Governor] Gretchen Whitmer. You don’t believe me? Go look at the polling.”
I listen to a teaspoonful of radical-right radio nearly every day. It strengthens my immune system. Sure, it’s filled with all kinds of lies and half-truths. But sometimes, perhaps unintentionally, hosts share how they really feel. This is one of those times.
As Clay Travis says, “Go look at the polling.”
Thanks for reading, listening, and doing your part for a better world.
Ed Fallon
*******
In addition to our PODCAST, listen to the Fallon Forum on these affiliates:
– KHOI 89.1 FM (Ames, Iowa)
– KICI.LP 105.3 FM (Iowa City, Iowa)
– WHIV 102.3 FM (New Orleans, Louisiana)
– KPIP-LP, 94.7 FM (Fayette, Missouri)
– KCEI 90.1 FM (Taos, New Mexico)
– KRFP 90.3 FM (Moscow, Idaho)
– WGRN 94.1 FM (Columbus, Ohio)
– KKFI 90.1 FM (Kansas City, Missouri)
Please support the local businesses and non-profits who make this program possible. Click on their logos on the Fallon Forum website and in our weekly email, and visit Bold Iowa, and Birds & Bees Urban Farm. Thanks to Des Moines Irish Session for providing our bumper music, and thank you for supporting a civil alternative to the shock jocks!
Ed Fallon