Before we discuss Senator Chuck Grassley’s interview on Iowa Press on September 15, 2023, I should note that Grassley has been in the news lately because he is engaging in a bi-partisan effort with Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. They have been investigating Credit Suisse bank’s historical ties to Nazi accounts.  This caused me to ask my BFIA colleague Dave Bradley, what is up with Chuck?  In his usual insightful way, Dave replied,  “It is often like there are two Chuck Grassleys- one who is a real senator and the other the party first guy. ”

It seems like we’ve seen little of the real senator –  that some say never existed – since before the Obama administration. In his interview with the Iowa Press panel, Grassley displayed both partisan ranting as well as his senatorial side. Is he starting to contemplate his legacy? Does he know Trump and the Rs are in deep doo-doo and he wants nothing to do with his fellow Rs who are being stupid (he called them that – don’t believe me, just watch the program). Is he worried his name will come up during the DOJ investigation of Trump and the plan to steal the election from Joe Biden? No idea. No one on the program asked him these questions.

Anyway, I thought I should post this video where Grassley and Whitehouse explain their investigation because we rarely have an opportunity to say much positive about what Republicans are doing.  So here’s Senator Grassley doing his best work and while I don’t necessarily trust his motives, nevertheless it’s a good thing so if you haven’t seen it, here is an extremely rare display of… wait for it… bipartisanship! Working across the aisle!  On behalf of the American people!  What is going on?  Will democracy be saved?

Moving on to the Iowa Press Grassley interview.  Strangely, I rather enjoyed this episode of Iowa Press notwithstanding certain moments of crazy Republican stuff (watch and judge for yourself).  There were some bright spots where the panelists asked some good questions and Kay Henderson and Erin Murphy each followed up a time or two.

I was at first wary of the very first question which was this from Erin Murphy:  “Do you expect President Biden to be impeached?” Really?  That Republican fake sh*t show designed to divert attention away from the Trump real sh*t show is your first question that you think is the most important thing that Iowans need to know about? No wonder no one watches this program but me. But it went somewhere I wasn’t expecting.

Speaking of cognitive decline (or is it blatant partisan gibberish, it is so hard to tell the difference sometimes), Grassley’s answer to Erin Murphy’s question made no sense. Grassley ended up blaming Nancy Pelosi for the House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry shenanigans. Uh Chuck, I think the question was directed to you and your party. Whenever Republicans are forced to acknowledge any level of accountability on their part they inevitably explain how what they did was the Democrats’ fault.  Watch and you will see Grassley relied on this practice heavily during the program.

After blaming Pelosi Grassley added, “But I’m not in a position to tell the House of Representatives what to do or make a judgment until they get done with their inquiry.” So I was shocked when Kay Henderson interjected, “Well, you kind of are. You’re a United States senator. You can tell the House what you think, right?”

Wow! Well done, Kay!

Grassley glumly replied that they wouldn’t listen to him anyway.

So Mr. Senior member of the U.S. Senate, when the age question came up you said you decided to run again despite your age because you are in a position to accomplish things for the people of Iowa as senior member of the senate.  So which is it?  You are extremely powerful or you can’t do anything because no one listens to you? And sadly, no one asked him what it is that he hopes to accomplish for the people of Iowa during his current term. I would like to have heard the senator articulate that.

Mitch McConnell’s health came up. Grassley was ready to defend McConnell and did so.

Question about Nikki Hailey calling for competency tests for elected officials. Grassley: “In a democracy like ours you rely on the voters. That’s the competency test.” Or words to that effect. I’m good with that. I personally have defended Grassley from Twitter liberals who  say he’s too old, because I feel he should not be criticized for his age. He should be criticized for his voting record, words and actions.

Ukraine – Yes. Grassley said he will continue to support Ukraine. “Russia signed an agreement to respect the sovereignty of Ukraine.”  Erin Murphy: “Iowa Republicans are against aid for Ukraine….” Grassley: “We’re spending billions but miniscule of what we would be spending if we let Putin go into Ukraine.”  If you’re wondering, that was real Senator Grassley.

Question about Tuberville’s hold on military appointments: Grassley blamed Democrat Chuck Schumer for not stopping Tuberville.  This response was from party first Grassley. It’s somewhat amusing to go through and pick out which Chuck Grassley is doing the talking.

You can also tell when Grassley is being disingenuous because his voice raises way up high.

There was a question about his fellow Republicans wanting to defund the FBI. Grassley the senator: “Anybody that takes that position is stupid for saying it. We’ve got to have an FBI.” Then Grassley the party first guy tried to say it was just like Democrats wanting to defund the police, but sorry Chuck,  it wasn’t most of the Democratic party that supported that. It was basically young grassroots activists who have grown sick and tired of their peers of color being shot and killed and brutalized by the police. And the idea was not to abolish police, like the Republican party wants the FBI abolished. It is my understanding the idea was to shift funding to more community service style law enforcement.  Grassley wouldn’t be Grassley and he wouldn’t be a Republican if he didn’t engage in false equivalencies when nailed.

One last observation, I thought Grassley’s smile was a little too much, a little over the top, like someone who is having a bad day and is forced to smile for the camera.

So there you have it. Watch the show. There was more of interest I didn’t mention.

Happy Monday!