A candidate for Congress who shows up

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I’ve been involved with politics since 1988. Every election, someone (often someone on the ballot) tells us this particular election is the most important one ever.

This time it’s actually true.

With President Trump rapidly consolidating power and moving America toward a full-blown authoritarian oligarchy, the survival of democracy is indeed on the ballot.

I’m registered “No Party” and almost never vote a straight ticket. But this time, it’s really important to vote for Democrats.

Especially for the Democrat running for US Congress. I never say this, but this time, even vote for a crappy Democrat over a Republican. A Democratic Congress will at least put a roadblock in front of the corporate-financed bulldozer America’s Grifter in Chief is using to demolish our democracy.

For those of us living in Iowa, we fortunately have three Democrats running for Congress that are anything but crappy.

In Iowa’s third congressional district, we’re particularly blessed with a candidate of the charisma and integrity of Sarah Trone Garriott. I don’t say this lightly, but Sarah is the first Democrat running in the third district in the past 18 years I’ve had any enthusiasm for. Continue Reading →

Establishment Democrats back Republican congressman

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“Pretend I’m on the ballot,“ says Donald Trump.

Ok, I can do that. More than anything, this election is about the damage Trump has done to our country, and the additional damage he threatens to do if Americans continue to give him a compliant US Congress.

That’s crystal clear to me. It’s clear to most voters I talk with.

Sadly, it’s not clear to two of Des Moines city council members — Mike Simonson and Joe Gatto. Both are registered Democrats. Both support Republican Zach Nunn. Both even went so far as to endorse Nunn in a recent ad. Continue Reading →

Is your city prepared to fight federal crime on Election Day? Mine appears to be sleep-walking.

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On Monday, I addressed the Des Moines City Council. I wanted their assurance that they’re prepared to fight federal crime if President Trump sends armed agents to polling sites, as he has repeatedly threatened to do. (Click the image to hear my brief remarks.)

Wherever you live, you have a right to know that your city and county are prepared to respond to crimes committed by armed federal agents at polling places. Again, Trump and other administration officials have threatened to do so. Repeatedly, That would be unprecedented and emphatically illegal.

I’ve spoken one-on-one with three Des Moines City Council members about this. While I respect and appreciate the work of each of these elected officials, I’m completely unsatisfied with the City’s preparedness given Trump’s threats to subvert our election.

I hope Des Moines officials will prove me wrong. But as of today, I’ve heard nothing from the Council in response to the concerns I raised on Monday and previously.

As far as I can tell, Des Moines is sleep-walking into Election Day. So I’ll ask again, and encourage you to ask your local officials: If armed federal agents show up at the polls and a poll worker calls 911, can we count on local law enforcement to respond? Continue Reading →

Public execution seeks to normalize violence

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I have strong feelings about the death penalty. It’s always appalled me that a government which claims to be compassionate and rational can justify a practice that is neither.

As a state lawmaker in 1995, and again in 1997, I helped lead successful efforts to stop Governor Branstad from reinstating the death penalty. My contributions included speaking on the floor of the House, staging a week-long fast, and participating in rallies and vigils.

Last week, as Pete Hegseth announced his intention to live-stream a public execution, I thought about our successful campaigns to stop the death penalty in Iowa.

Just as in 1995 and 1997, when our anti-death-penalty coalition found unexpected allies among conservative Republican legislators, Americans opposed to capital punishment again found an unexpected ally.

President Donald Trump. It doesn’t happen often, but Trump’s decision to cancel the live-stream execution of Nidal Malik Hasan was welcomed, and surprising. The President’s reasoning was that “many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die.” Continue Reading →

Iowans oughta vote “No” on Amendment 1

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This election, Iowa voters will find Amendment 1 on the ballot. I can’t say this on my FCC-regulated radio program, but I’ll say it here: VOTE NO!

If the amendment passes, any income tax increase would need a super majority of the state legislature to pass. As my guest, Ed Tibbetts (check out Ed’s regular column, Along the Mississippi), points out, Amendment 1 “would let just 17 state senators, or 11.3% of the 150 lawmakers in Des Moines, reject the will of the majority.”

How’s that for democracy?

Independent, non-partisan research shows that recent changes to Iowa’s tax laws have shifted more of the burden to low- and middle-income people, disproportionally benefiting Iowa’s upper crust.

Amendment 1 would make income disparity even worse. If you want to do your small part to stop Iowa’s widening income-equality gap, vote “NO” on Amendment 1. Continue Reading →

Tom Harkin and the Vietnam War’s horrific “tiger cages”

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If you’ve never heard former US Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) recount how he exposed torture in Vietnam, this week’s Fallon Forum is a must-listen.

In 1970, President Richard Nixon assured the press and the public that the Vietnam War was going well. Troops were being withdrawn. There was real progress toward peace.

It’s probably no surprise that Nixon was lying. In April of 1970, he actually expanded the war into neighboring Cambodia. 

(Imagine that. A US president lying about a war. Who ever heard of such a thing?)

Also in 1970, Tom Harkin worked as an aide to Congressman Neal Smith (D-Iowa). That summer, Tom joined a bi-partisan House delegation on a fact-finding mission to Vietnam.

At one point, Tom managed to break away from the official, sanitized tour to chase a rumor about “tiger cages,” where he’d heard that prisoners were being tortured.

What Tom discovered was truly horrific. Continue Reading →

Can a serious talk show start with weed and wrap up with beer?

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Sure, it’s a rhetorical question: “Can a serious talk show start with weed and wrap up with beer?”

WEED. The answer is “yes.” This week Colin Hogan with Iowa Stage Theater Company discusses the Company’s production of Reefer Madness.

We also discuss how public opinion and marijuana laws have evolved over the years.

Charles shares concern about the dramatically increased strength of marijuana and how that’s leading to addiction and a wide range of health problems.

ELECTION. I’m feeling increasingly confident that the November 3 election will remain fair and secure. It’s still a crap shoot, what with the many tactics being employed by the Trump administration to corrupt the results. But my phone call last week with Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald convinced me that election officials across the country are well prepared to address all types of corruptive influences. Continue Reading →

Defending our right to vote

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A whole lot of political observers and journalists, including me, have been regaling you with warnings about how President Trump is trying to steal the November election. All of it’s true, and of grave concern.

But we have reasons to be hopeful. Certainly, the recent US Supreme Court ruling on absentee ballots is a huge blow to Trump’s effort to corrupt mail-in voting.

My phone call with Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald yesterday was also very encouraging. Like county auditors and local officials across the country, Jamie and his staff have been tracking every potential threat to election integrity, and making plans to respond.

I asked Fitzgerald what the local response would be if the Trump administration sends ICE agents to polling sites in Polk County. He said he’s been working with the county attorney and county sheriff to make sure that section 49.104 of the Iowa Code is upheld.

That code section lists the specific people allowed inside and near polling places during an election. Federal agents are not on that list. Continue Reading →

Good madman, bad madman

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I once met a very nice madman, at a monastery in Ireland. I was 21 and living on my uncle’s farm. I needed a break, so I left for a week-long retreat at a Trappist monastery in County Tipperary.

There, I met Jerry, also on retreat. Jerry was an intense but harmless madman. His madness stemmed from a believe that he’d been ordained by God to bring peace to Northern Ireland.

Fair enough. A noble goal. Harmless enough — even after Jerry’s behavior turned bizarre.

Quite bizarre, actually. One evening, we went to a nearby pub. In walked a man wearing a trench coat, handing out copies of the IRA newspaper. Jerry lost it, yelled at the man, called him an infidel, and dragged him to the door intending to throw him out.

The attempt failed. Instead, Jerry and I were grabbed, picked up, and tossed out of the pub. That was how I discovered both flight and the unforgiving firmness of pavement.

Next morning, Jerry amped up his madness. He interrupted the monks’ prayer by donning a robe and prostrating himself at the altar. That convinced the Abbot to ask Jerry if he’d voluntarily commit himself to a psyche ward in Dublin. Jerry agreed, and I was commissioned to escort him there.

That’s the abridged story of my friend, Jerry. A madman, yes. But a benign, well-intentioned madman.

Alas, not all madmen are warm and fuzzy. Given enough power, a madman can be incredibly dangerous — existentially dangerous, as history has shown too many times.

I won’t recount the Who’s Who of history’s most deadly madmen, because you know where this is going.

Donald Trump. If he wasn’t a madman during his first term, he is clearly now off the rails. Continue Reading →

Opposition to AI data centers goes global

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Our August 24 program focuses on a conversation with Kirthi Jayakumar. Kirthi lives in Chennai, India, and holds a degree in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution from the University for Peace in Costa Rica. She has also earned a masters degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from the Centre for Trust, Peace, and Security.

A lot of Kirthi’s work is focused on helping survivors of gender-based violence, including authoring Frankly Speaking, a play that channels the voices of eight young women from conflict zones in different parts of the world, interspersed with passages from The Diary of Anne Frank.

Kirthi and I discuss the impact that climate change has had on India this year.

We also discuss how the ascendant Cockroach Party is impacting the entrenched government of Narendra Modi, and how the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi’s nonviolence plays into the conflict.

Finally, we discuss how opposition to AI data centers is becoming a mass movement not just in the US but across India and much of the rest of the world. Continue Reading →