Category: Living in Society

Social media space is getting flooded with posts designed to distract us from what really matters in the life of a society. Project 2025 is the latest example. We should exercise caution before promoting this conservative governing agenda to have the right people, policies, and playbook in place and ready to go during the next conservative administration. Promoting it through our complaints and drama serves only to strengthen the Heritage Foundation initiative.

The conservative initiative to implement their agenda is well underway. It started as a reaction to the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and picked up steam after the election of Ronald Reagan as president. They accomplished much under the Trump administration yet it was such a clown show they missed more than they gained. In 2024, conservatives are gaining the skills, resources, and traction needed to accomplish their goals. Project 2025 is an example of something that in the past went unspoken, yet is emboldened by the growth of conservative populism.

Look no further than the U.S. Supreme Court which under John Roberts is already dismantling what they consider to be infringement upon personal freedom. There are many examples, the most recent is overturning Chevron vs. Natural Resources Defense Council about which I posted last week. My Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks succinctly stated what to a lot of us is obvious about the conservative approach regarding checking the power of the federal government.

The Supreme Court recently overturned the 1984 ruling in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, which had allowed federal agencies to interpret laws not explicitly addressed by Congress. The decision is one of the most crucial checks on the power of the executive branch and unelected bureaucrats that the U.S. has seen in decades and marks a significant victory for the country and “the little guy”. (Miller-Meeks Constituent Newsletter, July 7, 2024).

Decision after decision of the Roberts Court is chipping away at gains in making American society a more fair and equitable place. They came after voting rights, Roe vs. Wade, race conscious university admissions policies, affirmative action, and more. Already there are court cases in the works to overturn Obergefell vs. Hodges in which the court held that the Fourteenth Amendment requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriage. The Roberts court seems likely to overturn the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution should they find a fulcrum strong enough. My point is that putting a name on Project 2025 distracts us from the broader conservative initiative that has been in place with vigor since the Reagan Administration.

Well-known Iowa political activist Amber Gustafson posted the following on Threads, “How many people can you tell about Project 2025 this week? Your hairstylist. Your dog walker. Your neighbor. A coworker. A college friend. Someone under 30. Your Uber driver. Anyone. Everyone. WE MUST TELL THEM.” Sure. Spread the word about Project 2025 if it will motivate people to activate in Democratic political campaigns. My issue is people are simply not tuned in the way political activists are, and threats of a potential conservative dismantling of society belie the fact it has been going on at least since 1981. The knowledge Democrats are fighting for what is right for everyone is a more powerful motivator than scare tactics about anything. They overturned Roe vs. Wade two years ago. If that isn’t a motivator, I don’t know what is.

Going forward I won’t be mentioning Project 2025. There are already too many “takes” about it. Instead I will be working to elect Democrats from president to township trustee. That’s where the real work of the 2024 political campaign lies and where we can best protect what freedoms we have left..

Governor Reynolds called me out on my Breaker Boys post. Well, that may not be accurate. I doubt she read it. In an open letter to Iowans she said, “What to most Iowans looks like a sensible option for kids is being treated as a sinister plot to force children back into the sweatshops, mines, and factories of the late 1800s.” If I’m charged with that, I plead guilty. Reynolds said, and I agree, let’s “take a deep breath, draw on some common-sense, and look at the facts.” Okay, I will.

I entered the workplace in the seventh grade at age 14 to deliver newspapers for the Des Moines Register in Davenport. From talking to peers, I understood we could earn money as a paper boy, maybe a couple of dollars a week. Mother called around and the Register had a route near home available. The preferred route was with the Times-Democrat but those were all filled. The Register didn’t have many Davenport subscribers in 1965 so I rode my bicycle between houses to speed up the delivery process. I didn’t think of much except the inherent freedom of work delivering newspapers in my home town and what I would do with each week’s dollar or two. There was no mention of the government.

The same held true when someone moved on to high school and a Times-Democrat route became available. I took it. Once I started high school, I, too, had to give up my paper route. At age 16, I began work in a department store where after our shift, we often went out for food at a nearby fast food restaurant. We never worried about how late we were out and honestly, no one cared. I suppose there were government rules about all this, but I did not know of them at the time. I did realize on my first paycheck that part of my wages went to Social Security and other taxes. I was shocked, even after my employer explained it to me. Social Security seemed like a good deal at the time. I ended up drawing my pension when I reached retirement age, so the promise held over the years.

We can’t miss the finer point here. While my 1960s experiences as a child in the labor force may no longer be possible, we do not need the government to develop “sensible options” for child labor. What the governor wants is much worse than child labor that resulted in federal law to protect children in the workplace. She wants government to tell us how to live. That is the point of Republican governance in 2024. What freedom-loving person needs another government program or government telling us how we should live?

The incident with the North Liberty restaurant fined by the Labor Department after following the governor’s new rules was preventable. As the Cedar Rapids Gazette pointed out, “it’s past time for state and federal officials to meet and work out a potential solution to the impasse. Set aside election year politics. Keep kids safe and keep hardworking restaurants in business.” The restaurant owner was quoted in the article as follows:

“This is not a train wreck that we started,” owner Chad Simmons said. “We are innocent bystanders in a fight someone else created.”

He blames state leaders and the Iowa Restaurant Association for adopting “a policy to purposely antagonize the federal government and the Department of Labor.”

I would say it this way: Governor Reynolds should adopt something other than an in your face approach to meeting Iowa’s labor needs. All of us, including our children, would be better off with less government intrusion in our lives.

Dr. James Zogby is a regular presence in Iowa and a devoted Democrat. His organization sent an email describing what to do for Palestinian rights in conjunction with the Democratic and Republican national conventions this summer. He is offering an action plan. Here is his unedited email with the links for donations removed. If you want to donate to the Arab American Institute to help with this project, click here.

While this is my 11th presidential convention, in many ways, it is the most challenging. Because both parties will be formally nominating the candidates while a horrifying genocide is unfolding in Gaza and Israel is threatening a full-scale war on Lebanon. 

What’s especially upsetting is that these critical issues, and both parties’ complicity in them, won’t be discussed at either the Republican or Democratic conventions – unless we do something about it. I really need your help to ensure that our voices are heard.  

That’s why AAI was created – to bring our concerns to the centers of power and challenge them to respond.   

If I’ve learned anything over four decades it’s that these gatherings provide opportunities to have issues heard, be covered in the media, and make a difference. There is one time, every four years, when party leaders, government officials, and 10,000 members of the media are together in one place, and this is it.  

AAI has never walked away when our community, or the values and beliefs we hold dear, are under attack, and this year will be no different.  

Inside the convention hall, the delegates won’t hear about the genocide in Gaza, the violence escalating in Lebanon, or the role of dark money and congressional efforts in silencing debate. But outside of the conventions, AAI, along with our allies, is organizing programming with policy experts and activists to educate and challenge party delegates. Together we’ll let them know that Arab Americans will not be silenced, and Gaza and Lebanon will not, and cannot be, forgotten. They will hear us when we declare self-determination for the Palestinian people is a MUST. 

Since 1988, the Arab American Institute has led events voicing our community’s concerns at every major party convention. This year cannot be an exception. Too much is at stake, and we cannot be silent.    

Here is our plan so far.  

– AAI will conduct a poll of U.S. voters to be released during the RNC Convention in Milwaukee. This poll will drive home the importance of Palestinian rights in the November election. While programming for Milwaukee remains in progress, plans for the DNC Convention in Chicago, August 19-22, are more developed. 

– In July AAI will launch a national petition drive asking the Conventions to hear directly from Palestinian voices from Gaza and to provide a time during the Convention for alternative voices to be heard regarding the direction of U.S. policy on Palestinian rights.   

  – During the Democratic Convention, building on AAI’s Emergency Summit for Gaza held earlier this year, we will host three days of programming together with Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and Progressive Democrats.

Topics include:

Day One: Silencing Debate on Palestine:    
– silencing our students;   
– repressive legislation equating criticism of Israel with antisemitism;  
– the role of “dark money” smearing progressive voices and policies.   
   
Day Two: Palestinian and Arab Voices Must be Heard:   
– a film depicting the devastation Israel has inflicted on Palestinians;  
– a panel of Palestinian voices from Gaza and the West Bank;   
– the critical importance of UNWRA and the damage Congress has done to its ability to provide needed support to starving Palestinians in Gaza;  
– the role of the “Uncommitted Movement” in elevating our concerns with the genocide in Gaza.   
   
Day Three: A critical examination of the 2024 Democratic Party Platform with a panel of experts from past platform debates.    
– a panel of Democratic Party leaders and activists who will discuss how the party’s progressive wing is reshaping the future of the party.                               

To make all this happen, we will need your support. After reviewing all the pieces – the film, the poll, the program venues, printed materials and signs, and travel and housing for invited speakers – AAI needs to raise critical funds to ensure that your concerns about Palestinian rights and the safety of the Lebanese are heard at the conventions.   
     
Please commit to joining us in challenging American leaders on Gaza, U.S. policy, and Palestinian rights. Your gift today can make all the difference.   

Thank you, Jim Zogby

President Joe Biden isn’t going anywhere. In a speech in Madison, Wisconsin this afternoon he made clear he will not be pushed aside and is not only in the race for reelection, he will beat Donald Trump. That is that. He has the skills and experience to win this election and build on the legacy he started during his first term. Here is his speech affirming his commitment to win in November.

The sense of presidential déjà vu is palpable. With the Democratic National Convention scheduled to begin on August 19 in Chicago, we have a president who must address a loss of confidence less than, yet similar to that Lyndon Johnson faced in 1968. I suggested on July 1, “Biden has not changed during the last week. He needs space to see where his campaign is heading after the debate, one in which he admits he did not do well.” He has been given space by many of us, yet the time for a decision is upon us. At most, he has the next week to address the nation and clear the air. No, his July 3 fundraising email titled, “I’m running,” was not persuasive. Nor was his July 3 “vow” to his political supporters to stay in the race.

The 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago did not turn out well. Hubert Humphrey was nominated from smoke-filled rooms of the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Chicago while protesters chanted “The whole world is watching.” Humphrey lost the general election to Richard Nixon with third party candidate George Wallace peeling off 46 electoral votes. It was an election I felt at the time Humphrey should have handily won. It broke my teenage belief that Democrats has brought the country together after John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Nixon? Would history have been different if he had the immunity granted to a president by the U.S. Supreme Court this week?

Joe Biden is a decent man, one who can’t make everyone happy. Biden and Johnson stand apart from their peers in the amount of legislation passed during their first full term. Biden’s legislative accomplishments are highlighted by bringing the country out of the coronavirus pandemic, yet much more than that. At the same time, the Israel-Hamas War and Biden’s response to it broke faith with generations of American people born after 1980. The race to defeat Trumpism in November will be hard-fought no matter who Democrats pick as their nominee. Biden is the presumptive nominee as he has the delegates. So was LBJ. An air of uncertainty hangs over July, and is something Biden must address and soon.

Whatever Joe Biden does to clear the air will be welcome. It doesn’t change how hard we must work to elect Democrats in November. Everyone I know is willing to do the work.

In Trump vs. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court decided 6-3 the president has some immunity from prosecution for breaking the law. This ruptures the notion that no one is above the law in this country. I plan to take my time to understand the high court decision. I went outside for a shift in the garden.

After watching a bee covered in pollen (so much it couldn’t fly until after shaking some off), planting eggplant and lettuce in the covered row, and harvesting greens for vegetable broth and enough zucchini to choke a neighborhood, here is how it will roll. I will lurk to let pundits, analysts, content creators, & social media weirdos weigh in on the immunity decision before opening my mouth. Couple weeks, maybe. Also, I ask the question, “What else does this Roberts Court have in store for us next year?”

We survived the announcement. From here on I advise having a listen to Marilyn Sellars rendition of One Day at a Time then work to elect Democrats.

The final week of June must have come directly from hell. There was substantial action at the state and federal level — none of it good — and despite that, the presidential debate pushed everything aside leaving a landscape littered with the broken dreams of sensible people. It is difficult to comprehend just what happened. What did happen? What should be our focus going forward?

First things first. The Iowa Supreme Court decision to lift the injunction against the so-called heartbeat bill turned out to be anti-climactic. The law bans abortions once fetal cardiac activity is detected, typically at six weeks of pregnancy before many women know they are pregnant. Despite a thoughtful dissenting opinion by Chief Justice Susan Christensen, scattered protests by political activists around the state, and 60 percent of Iowans supporting access to an abortion, this decision was a sleeper. Can reproductive freedom impact the 2024 and 2026 elections? Yes it can, as I previously wrote. The event of Friday’s Iowa Supreme Court decision release neither helped nor hindered that possibility.

Let’s discuss the presidential debate on Thursday, June 27. I had no interest in watching it live, or afterward, nor did I. I see what you people are saying in your posts. Give it a rest. If it’s time for Joe Biden to withdraw from the race for president and retire, he will. As Biden said on Friday, “When you get knocked down, you get back up.” I sense there will soon be a speech about his campaign.

On Friday, Julie Gammack of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative quoted former Senator Tom Harkin as saying, “Last night was a disaster from which Biden cannot recover.” I love the senator, yet not so fast!

Biden has not changed during the last week. He needs space to see where his campaign is heading after the debate, one in which he admits he did not do well. I see polls taken since the debate flipped from slightly favoring Trump to slightly favoring Biden. Polls are brief snapshots in time and we shouldn’t make much of them. I land the same place Bill McKibben does regarding the post-debate environment.

…the tectonic plates shifted. And in ways that open up the possibility not just of decisively defeating Trumpism, but of pulling the country out of the polarized death spiral we’ve fallen into. But it’s going to take a while to play out, I think—time that we should grant Joe Biden, who’s at one of those hard, interesting, decisive points that come in the course of a life and of a nation. (Bill McKibben from The Crucial Years, June 29, 2024).

Recommend reading McKibben’s entire post here.

I would like to have been a fly on the wall at Camp David over the weekend when three generations of Bidens informally gathered. Those who know Biden recognize any change in course on the path to a nomination (for which he already has the pledged delegates) will be decided by Joe and Jill Biden. If he is considering retirement now, there is no public indication of it.

Overshadowing the presidential debate and parochial issues in Iowa was the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Loper Bright Enterprises, et.al. vs.Raimondo and Relentless, Inc., Department of Commerce, et.al. which overturned Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council.

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had something to say about this in the following excerpt from her press release after the decision was announced.

June 28, 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) released the statement below following the Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce, which overturned Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council,  the long-standing precedent that courts provide deference to an agency’s interpretation of ambiguous federal statutes.

“This is a seismic shift. Congress passes laws and then federal agencies use their deep knowledge and expertise to implement them. In overturning decades of settled law, this extreme Court has given itself the power to second guess even the most complex regulatory decisions. This decision will result in chaos and undermine our ability to protect the health and safety of all Americans.”

As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Klobuchar has emphasized the importance of the Chevron doctrine, and specifically asked each of Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominees, all of whom joined today’s decision to overturn the landmark decision, if they would respect Chevron as precedent.

In 2017, during Justice Neil Gorsuch’s Senate confirmation hearing, Klobuchar pressed Gorsuch on his view, articulated as a lower court judge, that Chevron should be overturned. His views on Chevron were part of the reason Klobuchar did not vote to confirm Gorsuch. 

In 2018, during Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation hearing, Klobuchar questioned Kavanaugh on his views, wherein he stated that “Chevron serves good purposes… [AND] courts should not be unduly second-guessing agencies.”

In 2020, during Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation process, in response to written questions submitted by Klobuchar, Barrett affirmed that Chevron was “a precedent of the Supreme Court entitled to respect under the doctrine of stare decisis.”

Obviously, stare decisis has flown out the window with this and other laws decided by a radical Supreme Court. It is a big deal. For more details, read Senator Klobuchar’s entire statement here.

Like many Iowa Democrats, I was not enthusiastic about Joe Biden during any of the three times he sought support in the Iowa caucuses. The fact is, his administration has performed reasonably well on issues that matter to progressives… and to everyone. He’s not perfect. What president has been? If he continues to run, and he said he will, we must do everything possible to elect him. Our work doesn’t change no matter who is the nominee.

We are all aware of the ticking clock to the November election. After a week from hell, we need to take a moment to collect ourselves, and then get back to work electing Democrats. The consequences of doing otherwise could be worse than hell.