Once upon a time, Iowa ranked at or near the top in student achievement. Today, some assessments rank us in the middle and falling. Iowa GOP legislators believe it is public schools and teachers who are to blame for not holding themselves and students to higher standards. If we use just a modicum of logic,…
Author: gary1164
I'm an advertising executive and former actor/producer
A New “Contract For America”
Democrats avoided what could have been a midterm bloodbath. In fact, Democrats have reasons to be pleased no matter how some remaining races are determined. Can we finally celebrate? Not so fast. State legislatures continue to be red (even though Democrats fared better than expected) by a large margin. Moreover, states trending red, doubled down…
Are Those Interest Rates In Your Pocket Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?
A survey in my most recent AARP magazine (I freely admit to it) determined the biggest issues people are concerned with going into the Midterm Elections are “Inflation” and the “Economy” in general. No surprise there as economic concerns are usually what concerns Americans the most. I am particularly worried, however, as a Democrat because we have a Democrat in the White House and…
Home Sweet Home
The weather is turning cold and my thoughts turn to those who do not have the security of a warm home. Locally, there is good news to report as thoughtful citizens have joined with the Hospitality House to open a new warming center that can give more homeless citizens some shelter from the brutal elements…
Tell Them To Eat Crow
A video was circulating showing an enraged white man threatening a police officer. The angry man screams, “You’re gonna die!” in the officer’s face and then unwinds into martial arts moves to incite violence. The officer keeps his composure and after a while the deranged man retreats. The video was captioned: What if this had…
7 Score and 18 years ago…
In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln gave an address at the dedication of the Gettysburg battlefield in order to reframe the cause of the Civil War. Of course, we all know of the eloquent 272-word Gettysburg Address that deserves its place as perhaps the most inspirational call to unite under a national purpose ever conceived. He…
Love Me Do
Last week I listened to a candidate who stated: “I believe in our Constitution and in the wisdom of our founding fathers.” A few days later I noticed a bumper sticker that said: “I support the Constitution.” This is anecdotal evidence, but it seems that the constitution is getting a lot of love lately. I wonder, though, if it’s the entire constitution being…
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
There are a couple of modern tropes that I’ve gotten very tired of: “Cancel Culture” and “Woke.” I’m tired of them because they’ve been co-opted by the right to devalue what they mean. They’ve made them into newer tropes to illustrate “how the left is ruining America.” What became known as “Cancel Culture” was a movement to boycott anyone deemed unapproachable by their opinions or behavior. Being…
America In The Age Of Rage
What a difference a century makes. 100 years ago, America was at the beginning of a decade that would become known as the Roaring 20s. The war was over, a woman’s right to vote was realized, the economy was booming and even though Prohibition was enacted, it only served to ignite American’s spirit of independence and led them to roar! Today, 100 years later, we are in…
A Mother’s Touch
I’ve celebrated my mother in this column before. At least once on Mother’s Day and on her 90th birthday (almost 5 years ago). I realize not every child has the same experience with their mother as I did, but I was lucky. Never once did I have a contentious relationship with my parents. Over the course of my life, I’ve known people who’ve had difficult relationships with one parent or the other. Some go years without speaking. I, on the other hand, was the proverbial…