A fella who showed up at one one of my favorite watering holes perhaps summed it up best on St. Patrick's Day 2020. when the COVID doors slammed down on everything as I tried to finish my traditional corned beef and cabbage ( nicely packaged in a to go box of course).
He said, "I don't care much about politics, but I like to watch Trump tell off reporters."
Some folks voted to be entertained, not have someone run the government, because well, after all, the government's always gonna be there and it's boring.
And to your point about trans folks: All those TV political ads during ball games the weekend before the election of a Richard Kiel look-alike playing basketball with little girls was probably the equivalent of the Willie Horton hit ads on Michael Dukakis in 1988 or LBJ's atom-bomb ad against Barry Goldwater in 1964. Even the prez himself acknowledged those ads had some impact. When in doubt rely on outrageous hypebole to drive home the message.
Still waiting for the big guy to adopt Hulk Hogan's "Real American" entrance music. Or the fanfare from "Jesus Christ Superstar" to go with his papal duds.
And a neighbor two blocks down the street has a flag with our president depicted as John Rambo -- while Deere last year reportedly finished work on its new tractor cab assembly operation in Ramos, Mexico. The 1,000 Deere Waterloo workers on layoff sure didn't like that change.
This fear is 180 degree turn from who we used to be. In 1868 Alexander Clark successfully sued to desegregate schools in 1868 and we've been on the high road ever since--until now. If you want to straighten out our state, attack the LGBTQiA community--but remember, huge swaths of that population are our innovators. But if you're going to kill education, poison our land to enrich chemical companies--what do we need innovators for?
You write "Iowans don't like change." I wonder, how much will they like it when cuts are made to Medicaid, and hospitals in rural areas have to close? Or when elderly people are discharged from nursing homes because the government aid on which they rely is no longer there? Trump and his younger chainsaw-wielding accomplice are attempting drastic cuts - for what? For big reductions in taxes for themselves and their friends in the top 1%. Is that something that sits well with Iowans?
The very things you are mentioning have been quietly happening for the last 20 years or so , but not in one fell swoop! Folks have not paid attention (except a few tv ads around the week before election )so now our representative democracy is in real danger, in my opinion.
It’s been over forty years since politicians could offer a voter anything positive for their lives. If I can’t put a chicken in your pot or a Dodge in your Garage, all I can do is convince you that someone wants to take your chicken or your ride. Fear.
When we get jaded with fear, they resort to distraction. They got us to try to out produce the last seasons even though your net result is less that you received when you didn’t produce as much.
Chasing one’s tail is a personal choice. Destroying our soil and poisoning our water resources shouldn’t be. When the production was lower , the product had more value. Stewardship of soil and water was the goal to make next season better. And we didn’t have to go to town to get a side job to keep the lights on. A Bank was a place to store the value of your labor beyond the cost to operate the farm. An insurance company was when you paid for the state mandated right to drive your pickup to town. They were not partners in each crop.
We are being distracted to not notice that our sustenance was attached to our tails so that we would just chase it faster and faster. Our non farming partners and those middlemen who marked up our products did well and we suffered while we destroyed our most important resources . FDR said we have nothing to fear but fear itself. We have lost sight of farming. Read Grapes of Wrath when the Joads are loading up to leave and the Company Caterpillar discs up the fences and buildings. This is what our Vice President has in mind for our family farms if we divert our attention to things that have nothing to do with what we live in Iowa for.
Thank you, Art. As a child I remember migrants coming to our small farm between North English and Kinross. My dad and my uncle had a tomato farm that had a contract with Heinz for delivering the tomatoes to make ketchup. Every summer they sent a single truckload of migrants to help pick the tomatoes and get them ready to ship off to Heinz. Those people were so important to us. My brothers and I played with the children while their parents worked. My point is these wonderful people and their families have always been such an important part of what we have been able to accomplish as a country.
Something I've enjoyed lately, besides Art Cullen's Notebook, is a subscription to "The Contrarian," founded by JENNIFER RUBIN (an outstanding writer, previously with The Washington Post), Norm Eisen and others. They send videos of themselves discussing what's happening right now; this morning Jen noted, with a big smile on her face, "Trumpism has inspired a "Blue Wave" elsewhere in the world, in places like Canada and Australia." While protesting the horror-show in Washington, they usually manage to end their commentary on a positive note. Also Jen has mentioned that any profits "The Contrarian" makes go towards fighting injustice.
It starts and doesn't stop with CAFOS and polluted rivers. Four packing houses world-wide, two hog operations, Tyson in charge of chickens. Yet, that's the song and dance Reynolds likes to play...to the detriment of so many. "Dodge County, Incorporated: Big Ag and the Undoing of Rural America" hits the nail on the head. That smell of corporate money? Right up to the White House door.
Draining the proverbial “swamp” means term limits, we are dealing with a dictatorial system of good ole boys (republican and democrat) parties running everything since the reign of Reagan.
A fella who showed up at one one of my favorite watering holes perhaps summed it up best on St. Patrick's Day 2020. when the COVID doors slammed down on everything as I tried to finish my traditional corned beef and cabbage ( nicely packaged in a to go box of course).
He said, "I don't care much about politics, but I like to watch Trump tell off reporters."
Some folks voted to be entertained, not have someone run the government, because well, after all, the government's always gonna be there and it's boring.
And to your point about trans folks: All those TV political ads during ball games the weekend before the election of a Richard Kiel look-alike playing basketball with little girls was probably the equivalent of the Willie Horton hit ads on Michael Dukakis in 1988 or LBJ's atom-bomb ad against Barry Goldwater in 1964. Even the prez himself acknowledged those ads had some impact. When in doubt rely on outrageous hypebole to drive home the message.
Still waiting for the big guy to adopt Hulk Hogan's "Real American" entrance music. Or the fanfare from "Jesus Christ Superstar" to go with his papal duds.
And a neighbor two blocks down the street has a flag with our president depicted as John Rambo -- while Deere last year reportedly finished work on its new tractor cab assembly operation in Ramos, Mexico. The 1,000 Deere Waterloo workers on layoff sure didn't like that change.
Thanks, Art. You always say what needs to be said.
This fear is 180 degree turn from who we used to be. In 1868 Alexander Clark successfully sued to desegregate schools in 1868 and we've been on the high road ever since--until now. If you want to straighten out our state, attack the LGBTQiA community--but remember, huge swaths of that population are our innovators. But if you're going to kill education, poison our land to enrich chemical companies--what do we need innovators for?
You write "Iowans don't like change." I wonder, how much will they like it when cuts are made to Medicaid, and hospitals in rural areas have to close? Or when elderly people are discharged from nursing homes because the government aid on which they rely is no longer there? Trump and his younger chainsaw-wielding accomplice are attempting drastic cuts - for what? For big reductions in taxes for themselves and their friends in the top 1%. Is that something that sits well with Iowans?
The very things you are mentioning have been quietly happening for the last 20 years or so , but not in one fell swoop! Folks have not paid attention (except a few tv ads around the week before election )so now our representative democracy is in real danger, in my opinion.
Warning. Austerity ahead. The MAGA folks will soon reap what they have sowed. We tried to warn them....
It’s been over forty years since politicians could offer a voter anything positive for their lives. If I can’t put a chicken in your pot or a Dodge in your Garage, all I can do is convince you that someone wants to take your chicken or your ride. Fear.
When we get jaded with fear, they resort to distraction. They got us to try to out produce the last seasons even though your net result is less that you received when you didn’t produce as much.
Chasing one’s tail is a personal choice. Destroying our soil and poisoning our water resources shouldn’t be. When the production was lower , the product had more value. Stewardship of soil and water was the goal to make next season better. And we didn’t have to go to town to get a side job to keep the lights on. A Bank was a place to store the value of your labor beyond the cost to operate the farm. An insurance company was when you paid for the state mandated right to drive your pickup to town. They were not partners in each crop.
We are being distracted to not notice that our sustenance was attached to our tails so that we would just chase it faster and faster. Our non farming partners and those middlemen who marked up our products did well and we suffered while we destroyed our most important resources . FDR said we have nothing to fear but fear itself. We have lost sight of farming. Read Grapes of Wrath when the Joads are loading up to leave and the Company Caterpillar discs up the fences and buildings. This is what our Vice President has in mind for our family farms if we divert our attention to things that have nothing to do with what we live in Iowa for.
faster and faster.
Absolutely correct on everything!
We need leaders who talk about this history. We need to vote smarter.
Thank you, Art. As a child I remember migrants coming to our small farm between North English and Kinross. My dad and my uncle had a tomato farm that had a contract with Heinz for delivering the tomatoes to make ketchup. Every summer they sent a single truckload of migrants to help pick the tomatoes and get them ready to ship off to Heinz. Those people were so important to us. My brothers and I played with the children while their parents worked. My point is these wonderful people and their families have always been such an important part of what we have been able to accomplish as a country.
Something I've enjoyed lately, besides Art Cullen's Notebook, is a subscription to "The Contrarian," founded by JENNIFER RUBIN (an outstanding writer, previously with The Washington Post), Norm Eisen and others. They send videos of themselves discussing what's happening right now; this morning Jen noted, with a big smile on her face, "Trumpism has inspired a "Blue Wave" elsewhere in the world, in places like Canada and Australia." While protesting the horror-show in Washington, they usually manage to end their commentary on a positive note. Also Jen has mentioned that any profits "The Contrarian" makes go towards fighting injustice.
Fantastic writing. Smart. Funny. Unnerving.
Thank you, as always for a thoughtful editorial. We need voices of reason!
#Truth
Here's a great article on corporate farming from Chris Jones that I read this morning.
https://open.substack.com/pub/riverraccoon/p/money-laundering-in-the-big-ag-ecosystem?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1wbr1r
It starts and doesn't stop with CAFOS and polluted rivers. Four packing houses world-wide, two hog operations, Tyson in charge of chickens. Yet, that's the song and dance Reynolds likes to play...to the detriment of so many. "Dodge County, Incorporated: Big Ag and the Undoing of Rural America" hits the nail on the head. That smell of corporate money? Right up to the White House door.
Draining the proverbial “swamp” means term limits, we are dealing with a dictatorial system of good ole boys (republican and democrat) parties running everything since the reign of Reagan.
Thank you, as always for a thoughtful editorial. We need voices of reason!