Commentary
Scientists move to protect gorillas, Iowa’s bonobos from COVID-19
Ever since I visited Rwanda’s mountain gorillas in 2009 and started following a bonobo research center in Des Moines, I’ve cringed any time there is a coronvirus outbreak. And not just because it’s a health threat to people all over the globe. Great apes are susceptible to human respiratory illnesses, whether they are mountain gorillas […]
More COVID-19 testing should not change our behavior. But it probably would.
What would you do if you received a positive diagnosis of coronavirus? This is the essential question behind the public policy argument over who should be tested for COVID-19. There are loud and persistent voices in the news media, on social media and in elected office insisting that we can’t possibly respond appropriately to this […]
Grassley: Iowans should embrace ‘pioneer spirit’ during COVID-19 crisis
This week, I scheduled a dozen county meetings in keeping with my annual tour across the state to keep in touch with Iowans. Like many events, my meetings are postponed. The coronavirus outbreak is disrupting society and everyday life. From canceled sporting events to school closings, travel restrictions and nixed St. Patrick’s Day parades, Iowans […]
I have to avoid all viruses, not just COVID-19. Social distancing helps keep me safe.
When news of the COVID-19 contagion broke, I saw two distinct responses: zombie apocalypse-level panic and dismissal of the virus as a mild cold or flu. While the former is a bit unnerving, the latter was far more horrifying. You see, I’m one of those people with an underlying medical condition, who the CDC refers […]
The lurid legacy of coronavirus: fear of humanity
Do you remember thriving downtowns, even in rural areas, with cafes, diners, restaurants and maybe even lunch wagons; hardware, clothes, book and department stores (some with lunch counters); TV-, car- and shoe-repair shacks; smoke, pet, barber, beauty, music and antique shops? Then the mall opened. Maybe a Walmart superstore, and slowly several of those hometown […]
GOP ‘tough on crime’ messaging misses the point of voting restoration
“If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.” Republicans in the Iowa Statehouse have been channeling Robert Blake of the 1970s TV cop show, “Baretta,” every time a Democrat raises concerns about the inequities in their approach to voting-rights restoration for people who have served their sentences for felony charges. “Behind every felony, […]
COVID-19 outbreak: We’re in a crisis. Let’s not waste it.
Shortly after President Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009, you might remember, then White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel got into a bit of hot water when he observed to an interviewer, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” A decade-and-a-half ago, America was in the throes of The Great Recession, and […]
Three tickets? Super Tuesday offers clues to Iowa caucuses’ relevance
After a month of hand-wringing over the delayed results of the Iowa Caucuses, you may not want to hear this. But we are still months away from knowing the caucuses’ full impact on the presidential race. This isn’t about the future of the caucuses or the glitches, errors and snafus that have put that future […]
Easy ethics, hard choices
Few things in life come with clear, concise and reliable instructions. Babies do not; they arrive without warning, and you need a library to raise them. Instructions change with each generation. All self-help genres — how to marry, divorce, get well, get rich, get smart, eat better, stay fit — require new editions. That is […]
This is no way to run a democracy
The results of Iowas first-in-the-nation presidential caucus are not yet in. The Nevada caucus results are not clear two days after. It doesn’t really matter. Iowa’s tiny number of national delegates and who gets them will make a difference only if the vote is close at the national convention and no one has a majority. […]
Reynolds will have to fight GOP for sales tax plan
The centerpiece of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ 2020 legislative agenda — a water-quality and mental-health funding scheme and income tax cut driven by a 1-cent sales tax increase — seems to be bogged down in the GOP-controlled House and Senate. The question is: How hard is the governor willing to fight for her plan? Differences […]
Iowa, please make it easier for college students to vote
As Vote Everywhere Ambassadors with The Andrew Goodman Foundation, we work regularly with students at Simpson College in Indianola to make the ballot more accessible. To live the legacy of Andrew Goodman, a young civil rights worker who was murdered registering black Americans to vote during 1964’s Freedom Summer, we do everything from conducting voter […]