You will know the Republican effort to control our behavior has reached you when at a meeting someone says, “Can we not talk about politics?” My answer to such suppression of free will is usually “I don’t think that is possible.”

Politics is the lifeblood of much of society. The effort to suppress its discussion is distinctly Republican. They would pretend we should all be above such plebeian concerns. The last thing they want is for Iowans to discuss how we can improve our collective lives through better politics. The Republican way is they want to be the boss of us and just tell us what we should do. You have feelings and thoughts? Well too bad!

My father’s side of the family came down from the mountains of Appalachia where every discussion included politics. I recall making phone calls into Southwestern Virginia supporting a friend who was running for lieutenant governor. Not only did folks take my call, they wanted to ask who else I was supporting and cut some kind of deal: if they would vote for my guy, would I vote for theirs? Even though I was calling from Iowa, these folks I did not know seemed like family and if things go further south in Iowa, I could see moving there. Don’t be talking politics in group meetings here, though.

I forget what I even said. It was something about working to replace my Republican state senator and representative in the Iowa legislature. Apparently, I crossed a line. I had known everyone on the video call for more than 50 years. It never occurred to me discussion of politics was taboo, nor should it be in normal society. I remember wearing my Elizabeth Warren for president t-shirt on one of the calls. It was not intended although it was easy to see who was like-minded.

I was on the board of a local non-profit supporting the elderly. People would help out and we were glad for the help. Some made it very clear they didn’t want to get into discussions about politics as they knew some of us were Democrats who often wrote letters to the editor to the newspaper. We were able to do some good things with that group and we didn’t really suffer by holding off on political talk. I mean, have you been on social media lately? Who needs meaningless political chatter when there is actual work to be done?

What really sticks in my craw is when Governor Reynolds talks about policies that result in telling us how to do things. The recent six-week abortion ban serves as an example. Iowa women do not need the government involved with a discussion that should be between them and their doctor. State Auditor Rob Sand said recently in an email, the administration is just getting started in telling us how to live our lives:

That’s truly chilling, Paul.

Taking away reproductive freedom is bad enough, but they aren’t done yet.

They’re coming for fertility treatments, surrogacy, and contraception next.

If these partisans cared at all about their duty to serve the people of Iowa, they wouldn’t be pushing this dangerous agenda, because more than 60% of Iowans support reproductive rights.

But nope, they’re putting their own stakeholders and partisan agendas ahead of the people, which is a cardinal sin in public service. (Email from Rob Sand, July 8, 2024).

I doubt any of them, Kim Reynolds, Brenna Bird and their ilk will admit publicly they are sinners, yet here we are. The troubling aspect of this is their culture penetrates almost everything we do in public or with others. It begins with the simple request, “Can we not talk about politics?” My point is recognize it for what it is: Republicans trying to tell us how to live. Then, just say no, there is another way.