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Author: Paul Deaton
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Too Early for Politics
BIG GROVE TOWNSHIP— Labor Day is the official kickoff of the fall election campaign, but there seems to be a lot of campaign stuff going on now.
The biggest news was the video of Rep. Bruce Braley commenting about the kind of chair of the Judiciary Committee U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley might make should Republicans regain control of the upper chamber.
The video was released by a group called Priorities for Iowa, another 501 (c) 4 funded by what is becoming common parlance, “dark money.” The release was timed to coincide with the unveiling of the Norman Borlaug statue in the U.S. Capitol, which replaced that of former U.S. Senator and abolitionist James Harlan, which had been there since before Borlaug was born. By any standard, Borlaug was a farmer and the front page of the Quad City Times, which visually associated Braley’s comments with Borlaug, is something Braley should frame and put in his office as a reminder that he needs to do better in his campaign for U.S. Senator. If one listens to the video, it is neither disparaging toward Grassley nor to farmers generally. That won’t stop the right wingers from saying it is so.
Speaking of right wingers, something else I have been following is the development of guns, gays and abortion legislation in this session of the Iowa legislature. Yesterday was bad news for progressive politicos, as none of them gained traction during floor debate.
There was a curious change in the House Floor Action ticker regarding abortion and guns. As I watched the live posts, the following was made:
“Motion by Shaw to invoke Rule 60 in order to withdraw HF 138 from the Judiciary Committee and place it on the House Calendar– Out of Order.”
When I went in to double check the ticker for this post, the entry had been changed to this:
“Motion by Shaw to invoke Rule 60 in order to withdraw HF 2284 from the Judiciary Committee and place it on the House Calendar – Out of Order.”
I am certain a change was made because I had to look up HF 138 to see what it was after the original post, and last night, I searched the ticker for HF 2284 and couldn’t find it.
Here is the House Journal record:
“Shaw of Pocahontas moved to invoke Rule 60, to immediately withdraw House File 2284 from committee on Judiciary and place it on the calendar.
The Speaker ruled the motion not in order.”
Maybe it was a typo, and maybe not, but HF 138 is the personhood bill, and HF 2284 is the so called “Constitutional Carry” bill, both of which I expected to be called up from judiciary yesterday using Rule 60.
The reason this is bad news is that House Republicans are showing a modicum of decorum and consistency by following their own rules on these two bills. That is something they did not do in 2011 just after the TEA party rebellion of the 2010 midterms. What is worse news for progressives is that definition of marriage did not make it onto the House legislative radar screen at all this session.
Nothing has changed in the Republican caucus, except they are doing a much better job of hiding the extremism of the right wing of their party. Since most people don’t follow politics very closely, it matters to advancing a progressive agenda if Republicans are perceived as not that bad.
With the late spring and a winter backlog of projects, it seems way too early for politics. Nonetheless, how can one not be engaged in things that matter in our lives on the Iowa prairie.
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Finding A Way
LAKE MACBRIDE— Snapping a photo with my handheld device reduces automobile search time. When I learned about willing suspension of disbelief in high school, I took it to heart, and applied the concept to much of what I do in public. So much so, I forget where the car is parked after an event… more often than I would like. A photo helps.
This morning the moon was a yellow crescent, refracted by the atmosphere on the horizon. I was taking the recycling bin to the curb. From above, ancient starlight fell on me through the darkness. It was cold, the cold and starlight and crescent moon were invigorating on a groggy morning.
Two months in, my jobs as newspaper correspondent and warehouse worker seem to have taken. That’s good news. A stable financial platform is important to sustaining this errant life of writing. While the two don’t produce a living wage, they get me closer than I was last year— a footing upon which to leverage aspiration’s ascent.
I understand ranges: of potential pay for each part time job; and of the time investment required to produce it. I’m entering into the period we called stability operations in the military. Settling in, and working toward other important goals.
In the news stream of images, articles and recordings that is social media, I came upon a list of the 20 most popular TED talks. After watching a few of them, it occurred to me that a very small percentage of my time has been spent answering the question why? I’m not talking about the lengthy intellectual excursions taken during my undergraduate dalliance with western philosophy. Rather, what motivates me to eschew the six figure job I left for doing what I love? There are three things.
My outlook on life in society was formed after being an altar boy at our local convent. Rising early, I walked to our elementary school, where the nuns lived on the top floor, and assisted the priest with morning Mass. It was in Latin. After Mass, I had an hour or so at home before returning to school for classes. I read pulp magazines bought at the corner drug store. An epiphany that morning was the nature of intellect and language.
We are separate from language, and everything else perceived by the senses. Language is a medium for communication, and our faith is that there is another reality outside sensory perceptions to perceive us, and if we are lucky, to communicate with us. Just as the starlight traveled for years to illuminate my morning walk from the curb, so too is everything our senses perceive: light, not stars. This epiphany remains with me, grounded in experience, not in the ideas of others.
Secondly, money is a means to an end. Founded on a life of sensory perceptions, in which we know not the existence or motivation of others, life becomes a quest for truth and meaning. Such a quest is to rid our consciousness of utter alone-ness. Accumulation of wealth is simply not that important. While raising our daughter, we were able to get through it all financially: buying a house, securing food and clothing, transportation, and formal education. While I made some progress over a 25 year career in transportation, other than addressing an occasional abstraction about needing more money, we used money to live as best we could.
The final point: the necessity of self-realization. The signs that I needed to leave my long career were everywhere. The conventional wisdom was to continue working as I had until reaching full retirement at age 68. What I also knew was life expectancy was such that if healthy, I would have another 20 years to work. It became a compelling enterprise to shift away from work I felt was unsustainable to something that would see me through the years 60-80. Something less reliant upon a single source of income. Once I realized this and accepted it, my days as a transportation worker were numbered, leading me here.
The photo of the parking ramp was taken last week. It was a brief step toward finding a way. Now that I’m on a path, it is proving much easier to follow it.
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To the Hardware Store
CEDAR RAPIDS— Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids is closing at the end of March. The 72 acres will be re-purposed, retaining two of the anchor stores, J.C. Penney and Younkers (which remain open), and replacing the mall with housing, and recreational and commercial endeavors. Many of us believed malls were a bad idea when this one was built. We had a longer view of social progress than others, yet there is no feeling of vindication as stores and jobs go away.
The stores I visited at Westdale were the picture framer, J. C. Penney, Montgomery Wards, and one or two of the jewelers. Probably others, but memory is a fickle master. Shopping has never been important to me, and the similarities between retail establishments outweighed the differences. There are other places to shop.
After taking this photo, I stopped at the nearby hardware store. That is, a hardware store equivalent. During the post-Walmart era every large box store has groceries, sundries and some amount of plumbing, heating and home maintenance goods. Menards is a hardware store because they sell lumber and a greater inventory of home improvement items. Too, contractors frequent Menards, and it is a home base for many small businesses. They may sell red Solo cups here, and run advertisements featuring American made goods, but their inventory comes from all over the world.
It was the first trip to Menards in a long time, a harbinger of spring work. I spent $124.73. There was a globe to replace the one knocked loose when the roofer’s hammering made one fall and break; a tank lever to fix a toilet; a bag of charcoal to remove a tree stump; two bags of grass seed to re-plant the ditch where the drought burned off last year’s planting; new gloves for the garage in deerskin, goatskin, PVC and cloth; two new seedling trays; two bags of seed starting soil; some two-cycle oil for a chainsaw project; a bag of zip ties; and a packet of organic beefsteak tomato seeds. All representing spring projects. I put up the light globe and fixed the toilet yesterday.
Visiting a hardware store is not necessarily a guy thing, as I know plenty of women who frequent what are now called home improvement centers. Yet, as a guy, there is nothing quite like returning home and emptying the vehicle of tangible evidence of the work to be done to sustain our lives on the Iowa prairie. It is a kind of hope yesterday’s spring snowfall could not hold back.
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Waiting for Spring in Snowfall
CEDAR RAPIDS– A light snow is falling and Iowa DOT trucks are spraying a saline solution to make the Lincoln Highway passable. Not that it is really needed. Spring is here, and the snow will provide needed moisture as it melts soon. Any sensible driver will reduce speed and avoid a collision in this hiccup of precipitation– not that there are a lot of those out there.
I’ve been challenged to get seedlings to start. The germination rate has been good, averaging 90 percent with all but one batch of seeds. The problem was getting good light on the trays before I set up the table near the south facing window. Plenty of time to re-plant this season, and if even light is the problem, that can be worked through.
Another difference was the first batch of soil mix was too dense. With batch two I added some vermiculite from a bag I found in the garage. These trays seem to be doing better and the tomato seedlings look pretty good. Time is on my side, for now.
As I write, I’m waiting for the dealership to replace the driver-side seat belt under the Subaru lifetime seat belt warranty. A couple of guys are talking about deer meat, canned salsa, tequila, home bars, sports, California, Hawaii, the ocean, seafood, fresh produce and other idle topics. It’s a “waiting room,” where I’m thankful for the fresh coffee, if not for the loud voices.
A neighbor burned his brush pile last night, reminding me how ready I am to be working outside. I keep telling myself, “it won’t be long.”
LAKE MACBRIDE— During the second session of the 85th Iowa General Assembly, it appears legislators have been getting along swimmingly. The budget number was agreed behind closed doors, in what seems like record time. And if supplemental state aid for our schools wasn’t agreed within 30 days of the governor’s budget proposal, as required by state law… well, the school districts are getting used to that and it was a minor bump on the road to the 2014 midterms.
There were a few blips on the radar. There was the failed telemedicine bill, which passed the House, but from the beginning had no chance in the Iowa Senate. There was HF 2381, the gun suppression bill, that also passed the House with some progressive legislators, notably Rep. Mary Wolfe of Clinton, voting for it. It’s hope ended when Senator Rob Hogg, chair of the judiciary committee, said he didn’t plan to take up any gun legislation this session. In a bicameral legislature, where the consent of both chambers is required, any citizen who was taught the basics of our government should have known these bills were going nowhere, even if they piqued some interest in the media and among the uneducated. A basic lack of understanding of how government works could explain why these bills moved at all.
Is hope for the right wingers lost?
To get an answer, I went to Google and came up with an Iowa Gun Owners alert dated March 13 calling for gun owners to contact their state representative and ask for a vote on House File 2284, which, according to their web site is the “Constitutional Carry” bill that would make firearms permits optional in the state of Iowa. “The Speaker of the House Kraig Paulsen. He, above all the rest, can move bills at his leisure,” the author wrote. “Let him know that you’re tired of the excuses, the rhetoric, and the inaction. Tell him now is the time to move this legislation forward,” he added.
If the bill missed the second funnel, can it still move? The answer is yes by invoking House Rule 60 which under certain conditions, including a super majority of 60 House members in favor, could suspend the rules for a vote.
If we go into the wayback machine, it is a short trip to 2010 when Republicans wanted to recruit seven Democrats to vote with them to invoke Rule 60 and advance a bill that would allow the people of Iowa to vote on an amendment to the state’s constitution that would define marriage as the union between one man and one woman. The measure failed.
Fast forward to 2011, when former Representative Kim Pearson mounted an attempt to force a vote by using Rule 60, to give fetuses the full rights of U.S. citizens. She was unable to muster her own caucus around the failed effort.
So what is the point of this Republican madness? Don’t ask me. I am a progressive. It may have something to do with the low regard the Republican House leadership holds for moving on supplemental state aid for our schools.
In any case, have we heard the last of guns, gays and abortion as the 85th Iowa General Assembly fades into the history books? I don’t know that either, but rest assured, it is not too late for them to appear on the radar. If they do, one hopes the people of Iowa realize that elections matter, and are willing to roll up their sleeves and clean out the clown car that the Iowa House of Representatives will have become under Speaker Paulsen.
Elections matter. However, what matters more is the results produced for all of the people of Iowa. The special interest legislation mentioned above represents the nadir of social progress, something that matters to each of us, regardless of political party. We can all do better.
~ Written for Blog for Iowa
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Living in the Body Politic
LAKE MACBRIDE— This week has been nonstop action from Monday morning until Friday night. I was worn out from all the engagement— so weary, I bumped into a parked car in a parking lot before heading home last night. Sour end to an otherwise positive week.
It is hard to count exact numbers, but I engaged with more than 50 people, not including my sales work at the warehouse. The human contact was welcome, and I dove in.
There were the chores. A township trustee meeting, transfer of the financial records to the new treasurer of my veterans group, writing two press releases for coming speeches, work at the newspaper, the warehouse and the farm— all part and parcel of a week’s work. Groceries were bought, seedlings planted, laundry done and a host of small errands run that together make up the logistics of a life. There was more.
In politics, I met with each of the three people running for state representative in my district. The incumbent, and two challengers who will face each other in a primary. Don’t try to read the tea leaves, as I’m not saying here who I’ll support during the campaign. They are all good men— a bit disappointing they all are men.
I took a friend who is running for county supervisor around my area to introduce him on Friday. We ended up at a local eatery, where we met a few more people. We had a great couple of hours while I carried the clipboard, watching and listening to him work the rooms. He too faces a primary with two others vying for a total of two seats on the board.
If the weeks ahead are like the one just past, before I know it, I will have passed through the this stage of life into the infirmity old age. One resists swimming in the body politic. Partly because we cling to the present— not wanting to let go of what we know and have. Yet we are compelled to engage— to let go of what we hold dear, and enter in with our fellow travelers.
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Juke Box: My List
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Today’s New Path
LAKE MACBRIDE— A colleague at work is from Tanzania— in Iowa to attend the university. Until we met, I didn’t know much about his country, but in bits and pieces, I am learning.
“People think the Maasai are poor, but they are rich,” he said, describing the wealth found in their cattle herds. He also talked about how society is changing for the semi-nomadic people. They are becoming sedentary, he said. No longer do they leave their dead for predators to consume. When they arrive in town they consume whiskey by the bottle, he added. We also talked about the difficulty of taking a census of Maasai. Census taking is a western notion, so it may be a futile effort.
I tried to preserve his emphasis, his words here. It is difficult, nearly impossible given my western outlook.
It is work to listen… even more work to hear. It’s a characteristic of people with a driving social style. This personality trait has gotten me where I am in life, but one wonders what has been missed while focusing on a task, goal or objective. My conversations about Tanzania remind me to work toward hearing what people say, which is much different than listening through a filter of cultural biases.
I look forward to continuing the conversation.
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Letter to the Editor
To the editor,
It is ironic that Gary Wattnem, a career ophthalmic instrument salesman, can’t see clearly enough to support Senator Rob Hogg and Representative Bobby Kaufmann in their opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline, based on eminent domain concerns. In his recent letter to the editor, Wattnem signed as a U.S. Army officer, reminding us that old soldiers never die, but in his case, should consider taking Douglas MacArthur’s example and just fade away.
Under the Obama administration, there has been a resurgence of domestic oil production. “For the first time in nearly two decades, we produce more oil here in the United States than we buy from the rest of the world,” said President Obama on Jan. 16.
According to former oil man T. Boone Pickens on a recent episode of Iowa Press, the U.S. exports three million barrels of light sweet crude each day because of development in the Bakken and Eagle Ford formations, and West Texas. If refineries would retool to process light sweet, said Pickens, the oil could be used domestically. If foreign oil were a national security issue, that’s what we’d do.
Keystone is about getting tar sands oil to the global market, not about U.S. national security. Condemning U.S. property to serve the interests of a Calgary, Alberta based company would be plain wrong.
By throwing his uniform around the issue, Wattnem tarnished the rest of us who served.
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