Senate Majority Leader Charles Shumer calls out Republicans Friday following the Republicans blockage of the bill to establish an independent commission to investigate the attempted overthrow of our government on January 6th: (4 minutes 20 seconds)
BTW why in the world do we have a democracy where 35 votes against a measure beats 54 votes for a measure? GET RID OF THE G-D FILIBUSTER! NOW!
This is a video made to explain Memorial Day to youngsters. Some interesting info and scenes. (11.5 minutes)
Following the horror of 2020 and the world wide pandemic, I hope Americans take time to give some serious thought to the true meaning of Memorial Day.
As the videos explains, Memorial Day began as Decoration Day following the US Civil War. In the beginning, the decorations on the graves of soldiers as a way to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice was a very serious business. Over the years, especially as wars have become more like a simple part of life, the seriousness and the meaning of the holiday has become diverted into meanings that have little to do with the real somberness of the day.
Over the years the scope of Memorial Day in some instances has born expanded to include not just soldiers, but also other public figures who may have died doing their jobs for the public good. Often police and fire fighters are included. This year I would offer that we should also consider the incredible sacrifice made by health care personnel who were on the front line battling a mysterious disease for long and scary hours.
Health care personnel are still fighting the battle against Covid-19 as Americans choose to follow misinformation concerning the disease. While this is not a war in the conventional sense, the misinformation is a war aimed at toppling democracies around the world. Some 600,000 Americans have died in this war.
When I was young, May 30th was still known mostly as Decoration Day. It was still a fairly somber day since we were only a few years removed from WWII and the Korean War. Many families we knew had lost a family member to one of those wars.
Keep Monday somber. Remember those who have fought for our country – their sacrifice was great. Think of those in our society today who honor those soldiers by putting their lives on the line to keep our society functioning. All of the above are everyday heroes.
Please do not let this weekend pass without some serious reflection on the reason for the holiday.
Republican state legislators, including dozens tied to the corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), are pushing to loosen restrictions on poll watching, which has historically been aimed at preventing Black Americans from voting.
These poll watching initiatives are part of a broader movement to suppress voting in the wake of a presidential election and violent insurrection that didn’t achieve what these lawmakers wanted.
The Republican Party’s use of poll watching as an intimidation tactic has a particularly notorious history, and was essentially prohibited in 1982 when a federal judge brokered a consent decree between the Republican and Democratic national committees barring the GOP from engaging in “ballot security” and voter intimidation efforts without prior judicial approval. Before then, the RNC had hired armed, off-duty police officers to patrol majority-minority precincts wearing “National Ballot Security Task Force” armbands.
Although the RNC was alleged to have violated the decree several times over the years, it remained in place until early 2018, when the courts allowed it to expire. Donald Trump threatened to send out masses of poll watchers to minority precincts in 2020, although relatively few actually appeared.
As of April 15, state lawmakers have introduced at least 40 bills in 20 states to expand the powers of poll watchers, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. At least 80 ALEC-tied lawmakers are co-sponsors of 21 of those bills in nine states, the Center for Media and Democracy has found.
While hundreds of top companies have earned praise for publicly opposing voter suppression, corporations have long bankrolled state lawmakers who back those measures—and now the extensive involvement of politicians affiliated with ALEC shows that corporate America is still actively aiding suppression efforts.
ALEC’s involvement is notable because its pay-to-play system offers corporate lobbyists the chance to work directly with state legislators to craft model bills that advance conservative priorities.
From our inbox yesterday.
I’m Dave Muhlbauer. I’m a farmer in Iowa who raises hogs and cattle, corn, beans, and alfalfa, and I’m running for U.S. Senate. Let me tell you why:
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley has been in office for over 40 years. And throughout Grassley’s four decades in office, Iowans have endured extreme economic hardship and witnessed generational disinvestment in our communities.
You don’t have to look hard for proof: Health care is inaccessible and expensive, climate change-related disasters, like last year’s derecho, have become more frequent, and the minimum wage is wholly insufficient for a working family.
Through these periods of crisis and stagnation, Iowans have been holding tough and waiting for politicians to deliver the support we’ve desperately needed. Grassley has all but ensured that support never arrived.
I’m done waiting.
Please take a few minutes to watch my announcement video, and if you like what you hear, stick around and help me flip this battleground Senate seat.
Jen Senko’s excellent documentary The Brainwashing of my Dad about the purposeful rise of right wing media in America won a Webbie award this week. Please watch this conversation about the film. You can see Brainwashing on Prime and some other places. Go to https://www.thebrainwashingofmydad.com/. If you don’t watch, please share anyway.
We moved to the Southeast side of Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1985 to be closer to my work. My daily commute was still long and it took me past a number of churches and the Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids. I recognized the Islamic Center was different from the other religious edifices I passed, although I didn’t pay it much attention. The nearby Mother Mosque was the first mosque built in North America and Islam has a long, rich history here. In Iowa most of us are used to the valuable contributions of Muslims in the community.
That was before anti-Muslim sentiment rose to prominence in the United States, changing everything.
In her recently released book, Demystifying Shariah: What it is, How it Works, and Why it’s not Taking Over Our Country, author Sumbul Ali-Karamali writes about the recent change.
Between 9/11 and 2010, hate crimes against Muslims had actually declined in the United States. But in 2010 they spiked, for no easily discernible reason–no terrorist attacks by Muslims, no ISIS horror stories. Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center identifies two causes for the increase in hate crimes: (a) the deliberately engineered controversy about an Islamic cultural center, modeled on Jewish Community Centers, in New York, and (b) a report by lawyer and anti-Muslim propagandist David Yerushalmi and others asserting that Muslims were trying to impose shariah in American criminal courts.
Demystifying Shariah, Sumbul Ali-Karamali, pp. 189-190.
Ali-Karamali explained the “Islamophobia industry,” a network of individuals and organizations who disseminate anti-Muslim propaganda into the public discourse. At its center was claims “shariah law” was creeping into U.S. society and given time would impose Islam on hapless Americans. The phrase “shariah law” reflects a lack of understanding of what shariah is.
“Shariah itself mandates that Muslims follow the law of the land in which they live, whether the land is “Islamic” or not.
Why, then, have the last several years seen the rise of ominous new concepts like “creeping shariah: and “shariah takeover”? Amazingly enough, the current shariah scare, groundless and vituperative, is due largely to one man (David Yerushalmi).
Demystifying Shariah, Sumbul Ali-Karamali, page 189.
Demystifying Shariah covers the history of Islam from the birth of Muhammad around 570 CE to the present. For Americans who know Islam exists, yet know little about a religion with more than 1.8 billion world-wide members, it is a great way to learn more about shariah and Muslim-American communities. Knowledge is the best defense when right wingers attempt to scare us for political motivation. Ali-Karamali draws on scholarship and her degree in Islamic law to explain how shariah operates in the lives of Muslims and what it means in terms of law. As the title suggests, shariah is not taking over our country.
The book is organized into three major parts: the basics and foundations of shariah, including the birth of Islam; the story of shariah which addresses the scary stuff (like amputation and stoning) perpetuated by the Islamophobia industry; and recognizing Islamophobia and the causes of Muslim stereotypes.
Whether readers know a little or a lot about Islam or shariah, this book is worth reading. Ali-Karamali presents well-researched and useful information about the history of Islam and the rising consequences of Islamophobia in America after 2010.
A Star Trek fan, Ali-Karamali grew up in California answering questions on Islam because she was one of few Muslims in her schools and community. She’s still answering those questions. To learn more about her and her work, check out her website, https://subulalikaramali.com.
tip of the hat to http://all-hat-no-cattle.blogspot.com/
With the stolen 6 to 3 majority on the US Supreme Court, it looks like the authoritarian wing of our political spectrum is ready and willing to do all they can to take Women’s freedom of choice away from them. I have no doubt they will be blunt and brutal in their ruling. Expect them to be as thorough as they can think of to totally stop abortions in this country.
Of course that will not stop abortions as we al know. It will only drive the practice underground to the back alleys and filthy rooms where abortions took place before Roe v. Wade. Don’t pretend you don’t know what I am talking about. We all know the stories. But many who oppose abortion say women deserve such treatment because they had sex. This is their judgment.
We also all know that if you have privilege in this country, if you have money and connections that like the privileged in the 1950s you can escape the Draconian US laws and still get an abortion in a foreign country. We have all seen this movie before. We all know how it comes out.
I was reminded of this when I saw excerpts of this article posted online this week. The article by Joyce Arthur is from September 2000. At over 20 years old it is still quite relevant. The title is “The Only Moral Abortion is My Abortion.” In it Ms. Arthur discusses how those opposed o abortion justify their own abortions. Here are some short excerpts. I urge everybody to read the full article to jog the memory:
“I’ve had several cases over the years in which the anti-abortion patient had rationalized in one way or another that her case was the only exception, but the one that really made an impression was the college senior who was the president of her campus Right-to-Life organization, meaning that she had worked very hard in that organization for several years. As I was completing her procedure, I asked what she planned to do about her high office in the RTL organization. Her response was a wide-eyed, ‘You’re not going to tell them, are you!?’ When assured that I was not, she breathed a sigh of relief, explaining how important that position was to her and how she wouldn’t want this to interfere with it.” (Physician, Texas)
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“We too have seen our share of anti-choice women, ones the counselors usually grit their teeth over. Just last week a woman announced loudly enough for all to hear in the recovery room, that she thought abortion should be illegal. Amazingly, this was her second abortion within the last few months, having gotten pregnant again within a month of the first abortion. The nurse handled it by talking about all the carnage that went on before abortion was legalized and how fortunate she was to be receiving safe, professional care. However, this young woman continued to insist it was wrong and should be made illegal. Finally the nurse said, ‘Well, I guess we won’t be seeing you here again, not that you’re not welcome.’ Later on, another patient who had overheard this exchange thanked the nurse for her remarks.” (Clinic Administrator, Alberta)
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“Recently, we had a patient who had given a history of being a ‘pro-life’ activist, but who had decided to have an abortion. She was pleasant to me and our initial discussion was mutually respectful. Later, she told someone on my staff that she thought abortion is murder, that she is a murderer, and that she is murdering her baby. So before doing her procedure, I asked her if she thought abortion is murder — the answer was yes. I asked her if she thought I am a murderer, and if she thought I would be murdering her baby, and she said yes. But murder is a crime, and murderers are executed. Is this a crime? Well, it should be, she said. At that point, she became angry and hostile, and the summary of the conversation was that she regarded me as an abortion-dispensing machine, and how dare I ask her what she thinks. After explaining to her that I do not perform abortions for people who think I am a murderer or people who are angry at me, I declined to provide her with medical care. I do not know whether she found someone else to do her abortion.” (Physician, Colorado)
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Although few studies have been made of this phenomenon, a study done in 1981 (1) found that 24% of women who had abortions considered the procedure morally wrong, and 7% of women who’d had abortions disagreed with the statement, “Any woman who wants an abortion should be permitted to obtain it legally.” A 1994/95 survey (2,3) of nearly 10,000 abortion patients showed 18% of women having abortions are born-again or Evangelical Christians. Many of these women are likely anti-choice. The survey also showed that Catholic women have an abortion rate 29% higher than Protestant women. A Planned Parenthood handbook on abortion notes that nearly half of all abortions are for women who describe themselves as born-again Christian, Evangelical Christian, or Catholic. (4)
Those stories should give you a flavor and should jog your memory. Again I urge you to read the whole article.
And when the decision is handed down be aware that the children, grandchildren and other relations of those who make these decisions will still be able to have access to abortion.
United States Supreme Court, Washington, D.C.
Please enjoy Al Franken’s comments on Liz Cheney as a hero: (10 minutes):
Is there anybody in that party that can stand up to Trump? What a bunch of cowards from the local school boards to the county supervisors, state legislatures up to congress. Where are their heroes?
Speaking of heroes what is Ashley Hinson trying to do? Thursday she introduced legislation that would block Vice President Harris from using taxpayer dollars to travel internationally before seeing the border crisis firsthand. What the hell does that have to do with good jobs, infrastructure, health care, schools, the climate crisis or any of a number of things that Iowans are concerned about. Thanks for the laugh, Ashley! This was a joke wasn’t it?
BTW the Biden Administration is doing a great job of unraveling the gawd-awful mess that your Messiah, Donny, left at the border. Try to stay out of the way of those who are doing good.
Let’s go!
A) Allen Weisselberg’s name is suddenly over the news again. As a review, Weisselberg has what job that is of great interest to federal and New York State prosecutors?
B) No one was much surprised Monday when the Supreme Court said it would hear a case from Mississippi concerning what hot button issue?
C) The US and the state of Iowa both crossed new thresholds on Covid-19 deaths last week. What numbers did each reach?
D) Arizona SoS Katie Hobbs said last week that voting machines turned over to the ersatz auditors are now what?
E) Joel Greenberg, a close associate of what Florida congressman, pled guilty to charges Monday with a promise to cooperate as a witness?
F) As if the overwhelming Covid pandemic were not enough, India was hit by a what Monday?
G) President Biden went to Detroit Wednesday and while there took a spin in what Ford prototype?
H) The current suggested price of the prototype Biden drove is under what price point?
I) What right wing fast food favorite is dealing with sauce packet shortages that Trumpers are blaming on President Biden?
J) Last weekend trains derailed near what Iowa town and what town in southern Minnesota?
K) Senate Republicans plan to filibuster to stop what congressional action?
L) At the 2021 PGA Championship in South Carolina, Golfer Sebastian Munoz had a most unusual hole in one when he hit his tee shot into what?
M) What 35 year old scion of a well known New York political family got his gubernatorial campaign off to a rocky start by claiming he’s been in politics for 32 years?
N) May 24th, 1844 the first telegraph message “What hath God wrought?” was sent from the Capitol in DC to what nearby city?
O) Maryland officially dropped its state song “Maryland, My Maryland” which referred to who as a “tyrant and despot”?
P) Iowa’s 2nd district representative, Mariannette Miller-Meeks was fined $500 for her second violation of what House rule?
Q) Viola Fletcher, a 107 year old survivor of what little known racial incident testified before congress seeking justice for that incident?
R) Letitia James, AG of what state, expanded her probe of the Trump Organization to include criminal charges?
S) In the media world, AT&T will spin off Warner Media and merge with what cable staple group?
T) What famed rock formation in the Galapagos Islands collapsed last week due to erosion?
Here’s the deal: trickle-down economics has never worked.
It’s time to grow the economy from the bottom up and the middle out. – President Biden
Answers:
A) He is Donald Trump’s accountant
B) Abortion
C) The US passed 600,000 deaths and Iowa passed 6,000 deaths
D) contaminated and will not be able to be used again
E) Matt Gaetz
F) Cyclone
G) An all-electric Ford F-150 pickup truck
H) under $40,000
I) Chick-Fil_A – not sure how Biden caused the packet shortage but he’s getting blamed anyway
J) Sibley, Iowa and Albert Lea, MN.
K) setting up a commission to investigate the January 6th attack on the US capitol.
L) A trash container or trash bag
M) Andrew Giuliani
N) Baltimore, Md.
O) Abraham Lincoln
P) Wearing a mask on the floor of the House. “Rule of Law’ republican refuses to wear a mask.
Q) the Tulsa “race riot” of 1921
R) James is the AG of New York
S) Discovery
T) the Darwin Arch
Safe to say that Trump is to Kevin McCarthy what Jim Henson was to Kermit the Frog. – Jeremy Newberger
Considering that the Iowa legislature has a long-standing reputation of doing little of the work that Iowa needs done, this legislature far exceeded that reputation this year. I have tried to keep track, but it is nearly impossible. I think my brain is trying to block the awful stuff from my memory.
Fortunately there are good people who make it their business to follow and record the shenanigans of the legislature. One of the best summaries I saw for the ending of this most recent session came from Matt Sinovic and his compatriots at Progress Iowa:
48 Hours of Horror: 2021 Legislative Session Finally Adjourns
Legislators pass horrific bills to end session, Iowans will have to pay the price
Des Moines, Iowa — The Republican controlled Legislature adjourned for the session just before midnight last night, after a final 48 hours of horror, passing legislation to end the session with a complete regard to the health and wellbeing of Iowans. In response, organization leaders, elected officials, and advocates are speaking out against the reckless decision making, highlighting that Iowans will have to pay the price.
“At the end of session, Iowans should be relieved – instead they’ve awoken to a nightmare,” said Matt Sinovic, executive director of Progress Iowa. “In a matter of forty eight hours, Republican legislators managed to threaten reproductive rights, the right to protest, local services, and the ability for local communities to protect themselves against COVID-19. To make matters worse, the last minute legislation wasn’t at the request of the majority of Iowans, but truly the result of a battle for control between House and Senate leadership. Unfortunately, Iowans are the losers in this battle, having to pay the price with their rights.”
The following are excerpts of press coverage from around the state:
Iowa Legislature adjourns session that saw passage of many conservative priorities
“They’ve largely ignored the challenges that our state is facing, that our small businesses are still struggling with, and it was politics as usual from Iowa Republicans. Division over unity and partisanship over common sense.”
– Senator Zach Wahls, Senate Minority Leader
Iowa GOP Lays Groundwork To Restrict Or Ban Abortion
“Public polls tell us that overwhelmingly a majority of Iowans support abortion rights and an overwhelming majority of Iowans oppose this particular constitutional amendment… “The list of things that Iowans need from this legislature is never ending. And yet here we are in the final hours of legislative session, prioritizing, taking away a fundamental right over protecting the health and safety of Iowans.”
– Jamie Burch Elliot, Director of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood North Central States
Iowa Governor Signs Law Immediately Banning School Mask Requirements
“The kids didn’t get to say goodbye to their friends. They missed band concerts, choir concerts. There were lots of tears this week. But it’s not safe for them to be around unmasked, unvaccinated people in a building because Hans’ life is on the line. They can’t risk him. And it’s been horrible these last three days. Is that really what you want for medically vulnerable children all over Iowa?”
– Senator Sarah Trone Garriott speaking on friend’s medically vulnerable son having to leave school due to ending of mask requirement
Senate passes ‘Back the Blue’ bill that Democrats say will worsen racial disparity
“Hogg said state data shows that Blacks make up 4.1% of Iowa’s population but account for 71% of the people in prison or on probation. The legislation would in some case turn two-year sentences into five years, worsening the racial disparities, Hogg contended. When Hogg asked several GOP senators what they had done to address the disparity, none answered him directly. A few declined to take his questions on the floor.”
– Perry Beeman on Rep. Hogg’s statement
“Just because you’ve chosen to turn your back on the hard work doesn’t mean that I will.”
“I’m naïve enough to keep pushing forward. I’m so afraid to become a Drew Edwards or George Floyd moment, that I cannot conceive stopping my pursuit to help us find a more perfect union.”
– Representative Ras Smith
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Progress Iowa is a multi-issue progressive advocacy organization with a network of more than 75,000 progressives. Year-round, Progress Iowa advocates for a stronger middle class, first-class public education, and fairness for all Iowans under the law.
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Progress Iowa is a multi-issue progressive advocacy organization with a network of more than 75,000 progressives. Year-round, Progress Iowa advocates for a stronger middle class, first-class public education, and fairness for all Iowans under the law.
The short synopsis is that Republicans were focused on passing legislative priorities that advanced Republican causes (actually Trump Party causes) that had little to do with Iowa. The whole focus was to please the Trump wing of the former Republican Party for the purpose of re-election. It stinks.
And in the end, Kim Reynolds polished her bona fides by getting up in the middle of the night to end mask wearing in Iowa schools during the LAST FREAKING WEEK of school. Kick ‘em when they are down, right Kim?
Blog For Iowa 