Tag: letter to the editor

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Living in Society

No, We’re Not In An ‘Ideological War’

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There is little to say about the death by gun violence of Charlie Kirk. Too many U.S. citizens die of gun violence and the Congress can, and should do something to prevent more death and destruction. On the other hand, Republicans, including gubernatorial candidate Brad Sherman, find things to say,

In a Sept. 16, “Letter to the People of Iowa,” published at The Iowa Standard, Sherman wrote in response to the shooting, “…many are waking up to the uncomfortable reality that the United States of America has been and is engaged in a long ideological war that is threatening to break out into all-out chaos.”

I’m calling malarkey.

There will only be chaos for as long as conservatives like Sherman persist in framing our lives in society that way.

When I go to the grocer, the convenience store, the hair stylist, or the hardware store there is no war going on. People are trying to live their complicated lives. For war to exist, there have to be at least two sides, and I just don’t see it in the people among whom I live. We don’t need Republican agitators like Sherman. We are better without them.

Kirk is dead. We should pay appropriate respects. Put down your inflammatory words Mr. Sherman. Any ideological war, if there ever was one, is over.

Let’s get on with making Iowa a better place to live.

~ First published as a letter to the editor on Sept. 18, 2025 at Little Village Magazine

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Living in Society

Support Our Veterans

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I respect Republican Senator Joni Ernst for her service as the commanding officer of a transportation company during the Iraq War. I also don’t know how an accomplished military officer got tangled up with the DOGE caucus yet she did. She has been a cheerleader, saying, “DOGE will sweep over this city (Washington, D.C.) and forever alter the way it operates.” Indeed, the task force is attempting to do that and the Veterans Administration is not exempt.

When the 2022 PACT Act passed, Ernst was on board. “Our veterans, who have sacrificed so much and continue to pay the price for their service, deserve the life-saving benefits in this bill,” she said. “The PACT Act works to fulfill our duty to care for those who put on the uniform in the name of protecting our freedom, both past and present.”

President Biden staffed the VA to accommodate the new law by hiring some 83,000 new workers. DOGE now seeks to return staffing to 2019 levels, according to Military.com. What happens to the PACT Act if the VA cuts employees hired to fulfill its commitments? Ernst must decide. Support our veterans or support DOGE.

The good things Senator Ernst may have done are undermined by her declaration in support of DOGE. In the meanwhile, veterans may be left untreated while a diminished VA tries to care for their special needs with significantly reduced staff.

Senator Ernst should support the VA or find another line of work.

~ Published as a letter to the editor in the April 27, 2025 Cedar Rapids Gazette.

Categories
Living in Society

The War is Over

American flag.

A Confederate flag is on display near where I live. These flags are sprinkled around the state like confetti from a party with too few guests. I have this to say.

I served in the U.S. Army and protected the right to free speech. Flyers of these flags can go on. I protected their right to do so. That doesn’t protect them from criticism.

I understand fascination with the Civil War. My great, great grandfather served in the Confederate Army. The Confederate flag was part of my family history. As a child, I bought one and hung it in my bedroom.

The Civil War was fought over property rights: the right to enslave human beings as chattel. Catholic nuns taught us about Robert E. Lee in grade school. They said what a great military tactician he was. They omitted the fact he enslaved human beings: he owned them, rented them out, and inherited them as property on his plantations. I set their lesson about Lee aside, and took down my flag.

Nuns also taught 1 Corinthians 13:11, which is:

When I was a child, I spake as a child,
I understood as a child, I thought as a child:
but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

Confederate flag flyers should become adults, revere Iowans who fought for the Union in the Civil War, and join the rest of humanity, including the descendants of slaves. The war is over, take down the flag.

~ Published in the Cedar Rapids Gazette on Nov. 28, 2024.

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Writing

50 Years of Letters

Writing desk circa 1980.

I wrote my first letter to the editor of a newspaper in 1974, so I’m approaching my 50th anniversary of letter writing. What do I make of this?

I appreciate the editors of the Cedar Rapids Gazette for publishing a daily letters section. Fewer daily papers do that in 2024, if they even remained in business.

Before social media rose to fill our every need to chat, the Gazette rose to become a dominant Iowa newspaper by circulation. To a letter writer, that means a reach of more than 30,000 subscribers. Social media can’t compare to that for everyday folk like me.

The Gazette’s readers are engaged. I get feedback about my letters from community members in person, via email, and on social media posts. Over the years I had my share of anonymous hate mail based on something I wrote. A letter writer seeks such engagement if nothing else.

Finally, the opinion page editors will reject a letter that is poorly worded, or overcome by events. They exercise a gentle editor’s hand which improves my original composition. I rarely complain about editors and usually accept their edits as reasonable.

Who knows how long I will continue to write? I’m sure some have had enough of my opinions. In a society that is increasingly complex, where more people are having opinions, letters to the editor remain an important part of public dialogue.

I wrote 50 years worth. Now it’s your turn.

~ Published in the March 29, 2024 edition of the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

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Writing

Writing in Public

My writing desk, December 1979.

My first letter to the editor of a newspaper appeared in the Quad-City Times on Dec. 30, 1974. I had just returned to my home town from Europe after college graduation. I did not like the culture I experienced in Davenport. The letter was a way to express my opinion in public and garner feedback from other members of the community. It worked to a fashion before the time of social media. It would not be my last letter to a newspaper complaining about living in society.

There are risks when writing in public. When I wrote letters to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, in response, I received anonymous threatening letters in the mail. It was a form of intimidation for having an opinion with which someone disagreed. Because the letters were anonymous, and didn’t threaten me physically, I discarded them and wrote more letters to the newspaper. I’m not certain I’ll write any more letters to the editor, yet I won’t let intimidation be the reason to slow me down.

In Iowa, we are considering the incident of a prominent meteorologist named Chris Gloninger who received a death threat after educating his viewers about climate change. Repeated email harassment over his weather reports led to a case of PTSD, after which he resigned his position. I seldom watch television weather reports, so I likely don’t understand the situation. Harassing a T.V. meteorologist via email is a lazy person’s way of “sticking it to the man.” How infantile!

In his upcoming book, The Hidden History of American Democracy: Rediscovering Humanity’s Ancient Way of Living, author Thom Hartmann closes with the following:

You may think your voice is but a faint whisper in the wilderness, but there are ways you can amplify it at no cost other than a bit of effort. Write letters to the editor of your local newspapers. Become active on social media. Volunteer with the dozens of great good-government groups and organizations devoted to saving our environment, our democracy, and our world.

The Hidden History of American Democracy: Rediscovering Humanity’s Ancient Way of Living by Thom Hartmann.

Hartmann reiterates one of the best remedies for feeling impotent or down is to take action. We can’t let the inevitable naysayers get to us when we do.

Good luck Mr. Gloninger. May your future be bright.

Categories
Writing

Listening is Important

Woman Writing Letter

The first funnel of the Iowa legislature is March 3, so it’s time to look at what our representatives Dawn Driscoll (SD46) and Brad Sherman (HD91) have been up to.

No doubt they won the 2022 midterm election, despite failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s warning about election integrity during a recent trip to Iowa. They won fair and square.

If I don’t agree with them in many cases, they each have explained some of their votes in their newsletters. Reading them helps me understand their point of view. I won’t convert from being a Democrat to Republican, yet listening to legislators with whom I disagree is important. It’s a way to improve civility that has been lacking in our politics.

Republicans hold legislative majorities, and the governor is pushing for major changes. Because proposed changes are substantial, it is difficult to get a grip on the reorganization of state government and education. Legislators should take time to consider the bills in public forums.

My hope for the rest of session is that Republicans listen to Democrats when they have something important to say, pay attention to details of what they propose, and do right by all Iowans. These are reasonable things to ask.

~ First published by the Marengo Pioneer Republican on Feb. 14, 2023.

Categories
Living in Society

Super PAC Hammering Bohannan

Woman Writing Letter

The election will be here before we know it and voters are forming into camps. I encourage anyone eligible to vote to do so. We should participate in our country’s governance because we can.

What I can’t abide is the money in politics. It is like the wind yet what you hear is the sound of money changing hands as the wealthy try to buy the election.

Christina Bohannan is getting hammered by false ads paid for by a group called Congressional Leadership Fund Super PAC which is approved by Republican leadership in the Congress. They reported more than $109 million income this election cycle and spent more than $774,000 against Bohannan thus far, according to OpenSecrets.org. They are only one PAC.

What makes this Super PAC despicable is dark money groups, that don’t have to disclose donors, raise funds then contribute to this Super PAC that does. One might call it dark money laundering except they don’t come clean.

Super PACs shouldn’t be able to feed lies into our political discourse with impunity. A vote for Democrat Christina Bohannan for Congress is a vote for sensible campaign contribution reform, a vote for hard-working Iowans’ values.

~Published online in the Newton Daily News on Oct. 11, 2022

Categories
Living in Society

Single-issue Politics are Bad for Iowa

Woman Writing Letter

In Iowa there is more to living in society than any single issue or election. Unlike members of the Congress, we aren’t in a constant state of campaigning. We view those with whom we interact as people first, which makes life more tolerable. There are cultural nuances where we chose to live.

Some voters I know pick politicians based on their position regarding abortion. A significant part of the electorate finds that to be sufficient qualification to earn a vote and serve in elected office.

In Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the U.S. Supreme Court created a political mess with real-life consequences by upending established precedent in Roe v. Wade. Straightening the resulting mess will be part of the work of the 118th Congress.

Several years ago, I volunteered with a group that served the needs of older citizens. Almost everyone from the community volunteered to help in some way. The topic of politics almost never came up in conversation among volunteers. It was avoided. Such restraint was a form of glue that held the organization together enough to accomplish good work.

A focus on abortion alone does injustice to everything else we value. Where is the role in our politics for addressing environmental issues? What about economic issues? What about corruption? What about access to health care? Regardless of election outcomes, our work on these issues and more will continue.

Our values persist beyond a single issue or election cycle.

~ First published on Oct. 5, 2022 in The Little Village. A version also appeared in the Quad-City Times on Oct. 7, 2022.

Categories
Living in Society

Iowans Need a Voice not a Parrot

Woman Writing Letter

It’s time to elect a Democrat in the First Congressional District, one that will listen to voters after arriving in Washington. That person is Democrat Christina Bohannan.

With the close election of Nov. 3, 2020, decided April 1, 2021 when Rita Hart withdrew her contest from the House Committee on Administration, Mariannette Miller-Meeks had a choice. Either address the concerns of a divided electorate much as Representatives Jim Leach and Dave Loebsack did before her or do something else. What she did was unexpected and unwelcome.

Almost immediately the congresswoman became a parrot for Republican talking points, adopting an “all of the above” energy strategy developed by the oil, coal and gas industries. Society must stop using fossil fuels. This policy is bad for her constituents.

NOAA recently noted carbon dioxide pollution in the atmosphere hit 421 ppm and continues to increase — more than 50 percent higher than pre-industrial times, a level not seen since millions of years ago.

Miller-Meeks’ junket to COP 26 with the Republican Climate Caucus resulted in her parroting the “all of the above” energy strategy including development of more fossil fuel capacity. Since Russian fuel exports were sanctioned in its war with Ukraine, Miller-Meeks doubled down on this misguided policy.

Voters need a voice in Washington, not a parrot of right-wing talking points. Miller-Meeks works for us, not the fossil fuel industry. She had her chance. It’s time to elect Christina Bohannan on Nov. 8.

~ First published in The Little Village on June 7, 2022.

Categories
Living in Society

They Forgot Education is About Educating Children

Woman Writing Letter

The Republican elected officials who represent me have forgotten the most important thing about education: its purpose is to educate children.

On Nov. 9, 2021, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks introduced the CHOICE Act (HR 5959) which is a bill that takes federal money from public schools for private schools in states like Iowa. This bill is going nowhere if Democrats hold the majority.

I asked a group of parents and educators whether they had heard of the CHOICE Act. They had not. It is a distraction from the main goal of educating our children. What is the congresswoman up to?

Miller-Meeks seeks to acquire some more Iowa Republican extremism in education to garner a few votes in the midterm election.

Iowa Republicans support discrimination against a class of young children (HF 2416), seek to lock up teachers who don’t do what they want (SF 2198), and play three-card monte with childcare by doing nothing except raising the number of children each provider can serve (SF 2268).

No public dollars should go to private schools. We should focus on educating children, not playing political games with their future.

~ Published by the Cedar Rapids Gazette on Feb. 24, 2022