There is an assemblage of words that our silent six take to heart. Unsaid words to live by. A way of operating in their collective. That being: All is fair in love and war.
It’s the same thing to them. Lying, cheating, deceiving, and they do it with smiles or contempt. good christians all.
Excellent question, Bob. Every good, humane, conscientious Iowan is repelled and sickened by this unnecessary war. What does election to federal office DO to people to cause them to morph into unfeeling zombies who won't even use their power to protest an unnecessary war that is killing school children, destroying a country's infrastructure, and pushing the entire globe closer to world war? -
This mornings weekly news from Grassley: nothing about Iran, zip on Epstein, no words on farm crisis, things must be good as not an inkling about prices and cost of living. Delusional times
I wrote to Grassley, Ernst and Miller-Meeks on Easter after Trump's "open the fuckin' strait" tweet.
I got a reply a couple of days later from Miller-Meeks, which was a cut-and-paste template referring to the beginning of the war, Nothing to do with my message, really. This is typical of my responses from her. Her staff is pretty feeble.
Grassley and Ernst's software sends form replies saying they would get back to me. So far, nothing from either. Grassley's staff is usually pretty good about actually replying to my missives, even if the replies aren't what I want to hear. Ernst has been spotty.
But as I say, so far, nothing. They're keeping their heads down throughout this. Cowardly.
That is from the playbook. I get the same type of responses. Just words on the screen.
My state representative sends the same type of responses and her email updates too are nothing sandwiches that make it look like she’s a hard charger when in reality she’s just a stamp on the party line.
Someone told me that Ernst and Grassley EACH have more than 70 staff members. WHAT DO THOSE PEOPLE ALL DO besides send out faux responses? WHAT DO GRASSLEY AND ERNST DO? I would like to see a 24-hr tail on EACH and EVERY person we select to Congress. We deserve to know how they're frittering away our money.
Paid or volunteer or a combo? If paid and if it’s the sole means of support for feeding one’s children and keeping them housed etc, then some serious introspection is called for…food and shelter for the kids vs one’s soul. Maybe a tough call in a tough job market. I don’t know.
But…..If volunteer, well, good Lord, people. Walk away. Quickly. And don’t look back. Easy choice there. Save yourself.
Indeed. I know the people in their offices here in central Iowa, but I haven't seen them in years. If I do, I will ask them how they live with themselves. I think we all should if we encounter them. I've seen some young women on TikTok call their offices and put their staff on the spot. It's uncomfortable, but an important thing to do as an act of resistance. India May does it well.
“Duel use,” is the regimes’ standard lexicon for nearly everything. Destroy public education to thwart nonsensical claims of indoctrination of students. Reject federal funding for feeding children because they may purchase a soda or candy bar and become obese. Take away women’s healthcare choices because the government knows what’s best for them. Suppress voter registration efforts and accessibility because people are cheating, or may try (it’s been proven they aren’t).
This canard has naturally been extended to foreign policy and justification for actions that are CLEARLY ILLEGAL, and war crimes against humanity. The suggestion you make must be a clear and consistent topic at every campaign event or forum ( although evidence suggests they will attack the question, or questioner, rather than answer the query). Still, we must not accept this obfuscation like the media typically does (essentially a wholly owned subsidiary of the regime).
As you stated earlier Robert, they are complicit and we must hold them accountable. That means indictments, prosecutions, and real punishment. Jail time. It’s past time we show them what they’re doing has real life consequences.
Our Federal delegation sins by silence. Speaking out is like a vaccination for freedom in a democracy, but I think our federal delegation has been against many vaccines, medical and political. I am concerned they and others run for and stay in office for the wrong reasons. No wonder the electorate is angry--when time and money is spent on wars, ballroom remodeling, and renaming the Gulf--but Iowans can't afford health care or housing. What occupies the time of our officials, if not policy? Fundraising demands, media incentives, and partisan primaries reward attention and messaging over policy work. Power is now centralized in leadership, if not the Presidency, giving rank-and-file members fewer chances to shape legislation. Visibility-not policy work, not speaking out on things like going to war-- can also open doors to media or lobbying careers. On war powers, avoiding tough votes carries less political risk than asserting authority—so Congress often defaults to commentary instead of accountability.
Israel demonstrated the how to regarding civilian death and infrastructure destruction. The war in Gaza was a blueprint for suffering and death. How any politician can support or ignore this is beyond my ability to understand.
Husband, Jim and I —we see them as "an open corral of butt heads" coming and going as they please while caring little for anything other than their own politically corrupt welfare.
There is an assemblage of words that our silent six take to heart. Unsaid words to live by. A way of operating in their collective. That being: All is fair in love and war.
It’s the same thing to them. Lying, cheating, deceiving, and they do it with smiles or contempt. good christians all.
Excellent question, Bob. Every good, humane, conscientious Iowan is repelled and sickened by this unnecessary war. What does election to federal office DO to people to cause them to morph into unfeeling zombies who won't even use their power to protest an unnecessary war that is killing school children, destroying a country's infrastructure, and pushing the entire globe closer to world war? -
I couldn’t do it. You couldn’t do it. Most of us couldn’t. We are electing the very worst of us. Thanks!
Thanks for asking them.
This mornings weekly news from Grassley: nothing about Iran, zip on Epstein, no words on farm crisis, things must be good as not an inkling about prices and cost of living. Delusional times
I wrote to Grassley, Ernst and Miller-Meeks on Easter after Trump's "open the fuckin' strait" tweet.
I got a reply a couple of days later from Miller-Meeks, which was a cut-and-paste template referring to the beginning of the war, Nothing to do with my message, really. This is typical of my responses from her. Her staff is pretty feeble.
Grassley and Ernst's software sends form replies saying they would get back to me. So far, nothing from either. Grassley's staff is usually pretty good about actually replying to my missives, even if the replies aren't what I want to hear. Ernst has been spotty.
But as I say, so far, nothing. They're keeping their heads down throughout this. Cowardly.
That is from the playbook. I get the same type of responses. Just words on the screen.
My state representative sends the same type of responses and her email updates too are nothing sandwiches that make it look like she’s a hard charger when in reality she’s just a stamp on the party line.
Someone told me that Ernst and Grassley EACH have more than 70 staff members. WHAT DO THOSE PEOPLE ALL DO besides send out faux responses? WHAT DO GRASSLEY AND ERNST DO? I would like to see a 24-hr tail on EACH and EVERY person we select to Congress. We deserve to know how they're frittering away our money.
“They” say much of Ernst’s doings are X rated.
Paid or volunteer or a combo? If paid and if it’s the sole means of support for feeding one’s children and keeping them housed etc, then some serious introspection is called for…food and shelter for the kids vs one’s soul. Maybe a tough call in a tough job market. I don’t know.
But…..If volunteer, well, good Lord, people. Walk away. Quickly. And don’t look back. Easy choice there. Save yourself.
Paid, but all I know have other opportunities. They aren’t bad people—they are just making very bad decisions to be close to power.
Indeed. I know the people in their offices here in central Iowa, but I haven't seen them in years. If I do, I will ask them how they live with themselves. I think we all should if we encounter them. I've seen some young women on TikTok call their offices and put their staff on the spot. It's uncomfortable, but an important thing to do as an act of resistance. India May does it well.
Frankly, I view their staff as complicit.
“Duel use,” is the regimes’ standard lexicon for nearly everything. Destroy public education to thwart nonsensical claims of indoctrination of students. Reject federal funding for feeding children because they may purchase a soda or candy bar and become obese. Take away women’s healthcare choices because the government knows what’s best for them. Suppress voter registration efforts and accessibility because people are cheating, or may try (it’s been proven they aren’t).
This canard has naturally been extended to foreign policy and justification for actions that are CLEARLY ILLEGAL, and war crimes against humanity. The suggestion you make must be a clear and consistent topic at every campaign event or forum ( although evidence suggests they will attack the question, or questioner, rather than answer the query). Still, we must not accept this obfuscation like the media typically does (essentially a wholly owned subsidiary of the regime).
As you stated earlier Robert, they are complicit and we must hold them accountable. That means indictments, prosecutions, and real punishment. Jail time. It’s past time we show them what they’re doing has real life consequences.
Our Federal delegation sins by silence. Speaking out is like a vaccination for freedom in a democracy, but I think our federal delegation has been against many vaccines, medical and political. I am concerned they and others run for and stay in office for the wrong reasons. No wonder the electorate is angry--when time and money is spent on wars, ballroom remodeling, and renaming the Gulf--but Iowans can't afford health care or housing. What occupies the time of our officials, if not policy? Fundraising demands, media incentives, and partisan primaries reward attention and messaging over policy work. Power is now centralized in leadership, if not the Presidency, giving rank-and-file members fewer chances to shape legislation. Visibility-not policy work, not speaking out on things like going to war-- can also open doors to media or lobbying careers. On war powers, avoiding tough votes carries less political risk than asserting authority—so Congress often defaults to commentary instead of accountability.
Israel demonstrated the how to regarding civilian death and infrastructure destruction. The war in Gaza was a blueprint for suffering and death. How any politician can support or ignore this is beyond my ability to understand.
So, so true. I was going to mention Gaza too, but it was too much for me to handle.
Questions about war crimes should be as blunt and intense as Republicans have been in committing them. Robert Leonard models how to do it.
Agree. Now is not the time for Iowa nice. War crimes are not nice.
Thank you for following up with Wahls to get a definitive “yes” from him.
Husband, Jim and I —we see them as "an open corral of butt heads" coming and going as they please while caring little for anything other than their own politically corrupt welfare.
Throw them all out!
Exactly Robert. Thank you for saying so.
Correct assessment, we have complicit crickets. Edit, Turek not Turok in the third to last paragraph. Thanks Bob.