Dear Senator Joni Ernst,
Stand your ground...
When you first declared that you were going to run for Senate, in my job as a small-town Iowa radio reporter I asked a friend from Pella who was an officer in the Iowa National Guard if you would be a good Senator. He paused, thought about it, looked me in the eye, and said “Joni Ernst is a hell of a leader.”
Shortly after January 6, 2020, you were in Indianola, and I asked you about the insurrection, you told me and other reporters that there should be consequences for everyone involved.
“I was in the Senate chamber, and it was horrifying. It was horrifying, and I need to stress that everybody that thinks oh well that was okay they were just a little exuberant. No, this was anarchy. When you have people that lose their lives. When you have destruction of our great seat of democracy, the United States Capitol, I am not only saddened and heartbroken but it makes me angry. That I had to grab two terrified girls that were serving as pages, and escort them out on the safety route. They need to know what they were doing, they were terrorizing old men and young girls.”
You said there should be thorough investigations and if it led to Donald Trump, so be it, and you stood your ground.
At a public event in Pella in February this year, you told the audience that America needs to stand strong behind Ukraine and that the bipartisan border bill that Donald Trump killed had probably been the best opportunity to address the border problem that would come in our lifetimes. You said the same thing in Boone, blaming Donald Trump for its failure.
“Ernst was visibly angry about the process, raising her voice as she decried the missed opportunity.
“Even my own colleagues were out there knowingly putting out misinformation about the bill because they wanted to tank it,” she said. “Why? Because we had a former president that even before the bill was written said, 'It's garbage. You don't need it. I have all the authority I need to shut down the border when I become president.'”
You didn’t mention Donald Trump’s name, but you were angry that he killed it. You stood your ground
And now Donald Trump has nominated Fox News personality Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense. The decorated combat veteran has never run any large organization, and you know he is not prepared to run the most complex organization in the history of the planet and be in charge of our nation’s security. He has been accused of sexual assault, and you have been courageous in sharing your own story of sexual assault. He is a white “Christian” nationalist, and I know from our many interactions that you respect all of us regardless of our race or religion. That’s not you and that’s not Iowa.
With your service in the Senate, and particularly your service on the Senate Armed Services Committee, you know that Hegseth isn’t qualified to be Secretary of Defense. You know that you, and dozens, probably thousands, of others are more qualified.
You are a combat veteran, and Hegseth says women shouldn’t be allowed in combat, which is a slap in the face of you and all of the other women who have served honorably in combat roles for our nation, making us all safer.
I know of no Iowan, regardless of party, who would rather have Hegseth as the Secretary of Defense than you. Trump prefers Fox News personalities and someone to do his bidding that will appeal to his base over competence.
Iowa needs you to stand your ground. Our nation needs you to reject Hegseth, and any other Trump nominees that you and other members of the Senate see as unfit for cabinet positions. We are counting on you.
Lead the Senate and let it do its constitutionally mandated role to advise and consent, and you can still support Trump’s policies you agree with.
If you do, you will show the world what my friend told me—that you are a hell of a leader.
Stand your ground.
I’m starting a subscriber chat were we can share ideas. I suspect some of those chats will generate ideas that become a column. Some of the chats will be free and others will be for paid subscribers only. We’ll see how it works out. While all of my posts will continue to be free, some of the chats will be for paid subscribers only to thank them for their support. I’m reluctant to put anything behind a paywall because when I was growing up I was blown away by the 1965 Simon and Garfunkle song “The Song of Silence” where they sang “The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls,” and I don’t want to stop anyone from reading my work. With my mood right now, I prefer the version by Disturbed. Check it out. It’s a powerful anthem.
Since like many of you I’ve lived paycheck to paycheck most of my entire life. If you can’t afford a paid subscription but would like to participate, email me at rdwleonard@gmail.com and I’ll comp you a paid subscription. I know my paid subscribers won’t mind.
My friend Zachary Oren Smith (also a member of the Iowa Writers’s Collaborative) and Amie Rivers with the Iowa Starting Line have a new political podcast called “Cornhole Champions.” I listened to the first two episodes yesterday and not only enjoyed it, some parts were so interesting I used the rewind icon (is that what we call it?) to listen to those parts twice. After only two episodes they have proven to me that they are one of the best political podcasts in the state. These two are smart, knowledgeable, and veterans of the Iowa political trenches. Please take a listen.
Note: there will be no Office Lounge this week because of Thanksgiving.
I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our work here. Subscribe! Become a paid subscriber if you can afford it. Please and thank you. We need you. Thanks for being part of the team! Want to buy me lunch or a cup of coffee? Venmo @Robert-Leonard-238. My friend Spencer Dirks and I have a podcast titled the Iowa Revolution. Check it out! We can get ornery. And have fun! I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.
We are going to have a holiday party for paid subscribers!
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When: December 13, 5-8 p.m.
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I will be printing this out and mailing it to Senator Ernst's Des Moines office. Letting her and her staff know that I agree with every word.
Just watched the video of Disturbed and you're correct; it IS a powerful statement of where we are. Seeing Disturbed walking with his guitar over his shoulder, reminded me of my fellow 'Okie', Woody Guthrie, who wrote on his guitar 'This Machine Kills Fascists'. He's well known for writing 'This Land is Your Land' but how many know the sixth verse was deleted from the recordings? It follows: “One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple,
by the relief office I saw my people.
As they stood hungry,
I stood there wondering if God blessed America for me.”
Check out his song from the '50s--'Old Man Trump'.
I was born in Oklahoma, as was my Dad and after serving during WWII he planned to settle there. After I came along, though, both my folks decided that this wasn't where they wanted to raise a family, and began a short series of moves, taking them from El Reo to West Plains, Missouri, thence to Springfield, Missouri. My Dad made a delivery to Des Mo9ines. Iowa where he made the acquaintance of John Ruan, who hired him on the spot after seeing how well kept his truck was. Iowa then WAS a "Place to Grow" and our entire family thrived. In my opinion, Iowa began a slide towards mediocrity following Governor Ray's retirement and has since accelerated. At 76, I no longer recognize the Iowa I was raised in and I'm NOT going to leave because it would be to a different place with the same self-destructive (selfish?) attitude of it's leaders.