I recently interviewed Joe Maxwell with the Farm Action Fund on what the organization does. Our discussion was wide-ranging, informative, and by the end of the interview I found myself grateful that they are doing the work they are doing in monitoring corporate power and government policy.

Before I could get this column finished, President Trump issued an executive order that has farmers and ranchers pushing back. According to Politico:

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Wednesday that aims to lower ground beef prices by dramatically boosting imports from other countries despite outrage from Republicans and allies in the beef industry.

Trump’s proclamation will remove tariffs from 300,000 metric tons of imported lean beef trimmings for 90 days. He said the countries supplying the beef would sell it at 25 percent below current market prices, as he first announced on Truth Social Friday.

Below you will find our video, followed by a lightly edited transcript. Yesterday Joe released a social media clip about Trump’s executive order. I provide a link to that clip below, followed by a lightly edited transcript.

As of this writing, neither Trump nor the USDA are telling the public where the beef is coming from.

Joe has an idea about the country of origin.

Me: Welcome, everybody. Thanks for joining this Zoom call. I’m speaking here with Joe Maxwell with the Farm Action Fund. Welcome, Joe. Thanks for agreeing to come on.

Joe: Yeah, Robert, thank you so much for having us. It’s great to be on.

Me: Could you give us a minute or so background on you, and then on the Farm Action Fund?

Joe: Yeah, well, I’m Joe Maxwell. I am the president of Farm Action Fund, and I am a farmer from the state of Missouri. I’m a fourth-generation farmer. I’m a former legislator here in our state and a lieutenant governor, so I’ve spent a lot of my adult life in public policy and down here on the farm in rural Missouri.

Me: Okay, and so tell us a little bit about the Farm Action Fund.

Joe: Now, Farm Action Fund- we formed Farm Action Fund because we’ve really felt strongly as farmers; it’s a farmer-led organization. It has a lens up and down the supply chain. And when we came together, we thought that there just really wasn’t an organization that was looking up and down the supply chain at the various abuse issues, monopoly power, corporate power that was strangling the farmers and short-paying us on the other side, as well as harming consumers, our smaller businesses, and our hometowns. And so, we felt there was a need to have an organization, and we formed it. It’s a watchdog over corporate abuses within those supply chains for food and agriculture, as well as we’re a watchdog of government policies and actions that sometimes empower those corporations and their extractive economic model that they take out on rural America.

Me: Okay, so I’m just sitting here thinking all the stuff that you’re having to monitor, it must…there’s just so much flying around about agriculture, agricultural policy, you know, supply issues, input costs, tariffs. I mean, that’s incredible. How do you focus?

Joe: Yeah, that’s a good point. Since the Trump administration, it clearly has become almost overwhelming. You mentioned several…you didn’t include war and the closing of a strait. So, we look at how those types of actions- tariffs, or the war, or a hurricane, a fire in a beef plant in Nebraska. When things like that happen, supply disruptions happen.

We quickly look to see if corporations, because of the heavy concentration in the market, are they taking advantage of that? Is the supply model working, or are they price gouging? Are they abusing the market? So, we look for triggers in the market, and then we take a deep dive into those triggers.

I’ll give you an instance. In 2019, there was a fire at a Tyson plant in Holcomb, Nebraska. It idled 6% of the kill capacity of cattle. So, that’s a trigger for us. What’s going on? What are the reactions of the corporations? What’s the impact on rural communities, farmers, and the consumer? Immediately, the whole industry said, we don’t need your cattle; we had a fire. Not just the one plant, but the whole industry, and they dropped cattle prices. Immediately, they said, oh, we had a fire, we don’t have any beef.

And so all the grocers had to run out and pay higher prices for beef. So, the reality… and then, therefore, consumers paid more for beef, because 6% of the cattle killed was idled. The results of our research indicated that three weeks after the fire, there was… about 5,000 cattle killed less than the three weeks before the fire.

The reality was, they were able to absorb that 6% hit, almost absorb all of it. But yet, it was a historic spread between the price a farmer is paid, or a rancher, and the price the consumer had to pay. Historic. They gouged the consumer and short-paid the farmer.

So, we look at… there’s only four companies that control 85% of the beef in the United States, right? Four companies, 85% of the beef. When I started farming in Missouri, it was about 36%. So, four companies control 85%. They no longer compete with each other. They can make more money colluding and setting prices.

You see, I didn’t mention it, but I have an ag economics degree. One of the very basics, first year, in college at the University of Missouri, you learn the fundamentals of the capitalist system, right? The laws of economics. And one of those fundamentals is competition.

Well, you see? Our system doesn’t work if there’s not competition. These companies have no one to compete with. They’re too big. We’ve allowed them to get that big, and that’s what they could do to consumers. That’s just one instance to show you what we look for, how we make the analysis, and what it is on the other end that we’re able to prove. The market doesn’t work for farmers or consumers in this economic system, because competition is lacking, and it’s lacking in almost every sector of agriculture and food.

Me: Well, and here we might want to remind some of our listeners that aren’t farmers or involved with farming that farmers and ranchers are price takers. They don’t set their prices. That’s important to know, that it’s…

Joe: Yes, it is.

Me: Yeah, could you explain that a little bit, and the implications?

Joe: Well…farmers raise various commodities. Corn, soybeans, wheat, produce, cattle, sheep, hogs, chickens, eggs. And we raise those. And most of those markets, except for those that are selling to our neighbors at farmers markets, we’re holding those goods up. We’re saying, here’s a…calf…how much will you Packers pay me for this calf this week?

Cattle are a perishable item. When they get big enough, you gotta sell them. So, that day, that week, you go into the market, and you have to take whatever it is that a packer, a meat packer, will pay you, regardless of the price of the beef the consumer’s gonna pay.

When you have a tariff that comes in, increases your input cost on machinery, repairs, whatever it might be, there’s no way to pass that on. When you have diesel fuel prices skyrocketing because of a war in Iran, or fertilizer prices skyrocketing. Because a straight… a straight is closed, then there’s nowhere to pass that on. You have to eat your additional cost as a farmer. You can’t pass it on, because you’re dependent upon the big processors, meat packers, soybean crushers, millers, the others, to tell you what the price is going to be that day or that week when you offer your commodity for sale.

Me: Okay, and so we’ve got this big, giant, you know, we’ve got these few big, giant corporations. And you know that they’re price gouging. Whenever there’s an opportunity to price gouge, they’re gonna do it. I mean, that’s just the nature of capitalism, that they’re going to do it. Most of these companies don’t care where the beef or the soybeans or wherever come from around the world, and so they’re just… they’re just gonna gouge the American farmer if you let them.

Joe: Yeah, and the consumer. And I’ll step back just a minute on one thing that you said, but you’re exactly right, and these companies are worldwide. I mean, JBS is one of the top cattle buyers in the United States, a beef producer. They’re Brazilian. They’re all over the world.

No different than Tyson, a U.S. company. It’s all over the world, with its poultry production and its other production. These companies don’t have any loyalty to the bounds of any country, border of any country. Their loyalty is to how much money they can make that day in the market.

It is not… just a subtle difference in how you would say it…the capitalist system… would not let it… if it was functioning properly, and had the rails on, and the protections that rules are needed to keep the rails on.

They couldn’t get away with it. If they went to price gouge the consumer, a competitor would step in and take up that market share. Competition is the checks and balances within that market that keeps a company from overcharging. If you’re charging too much then, then another company says, well, I can do it for less, and offer their goods up. But no one’s competing today. Four companies… two companies control all the potash, a fertilizer product, in North America.

Give you an example, USDA, was shocked here several years ago. A few years ago, avian flu hit. This is something we tracked and did push for investigations on. Avian flu hits, it kills off about 7% of the flock. It’s real.

But eggs went up about 300%. Corporate profits went up tenfold. Net profits tenfold. They used avian flu, a loss of about 7% of their flock, in order to gouge the consumers. USDA, earlier that year, said, oh, prices are above what they should be; someone will step in. This is in their report, USDA’s market report. Someone will step in.

In December of that year, the USDA said, well, we don’t understand when no one stepped in. And I’m thinking, I know why, and if your economists would just pause long enough.

There’s no competition. Why would you want…if no one’s putting pressure on you to lower your price, why would you lower your price? You’re just gonna say, if you’re one of the big four, heck, I’ll just charge the same thing. And that’s what they do. So, our system, the economic, capitalist economic model that we have… I’m a capitalist, but the fact is, it needs rules. And over the last 40 years, both Democrats and Republicans alike have taken the rules off.

And it’s driving 63 farmers a day off the farm. That’s the average. And we got families that can’t afford their food.

Me: Well, and, you know, I learned something recently, and correct me if I’m wrong, you brought up the bird flu, and the killing off, what, 7% of the flocks. The corporations didn’t have to eat that. They’re indemnified, aren’t they? Doesn’t the government pay for that?

Joe: Oh, that’s a great point.

Me: We pay for it.

Joe: Yep. We, the taxpayers. They’re indemnified, and THEN… This is something we called out. I mentioned watching government. So… President Biden… his administration, put a billion dollars into local foods purchasing for schools and food banks, and those… that billion dollars had to be used to purchase produce and other foods from local markets. So you couldn’t go and buy from the JBSs or the Dole’s or, you know, the Taylor Farms.

The billion dollars had to be spent supporting local food. And in feeding the neighbors.

Secretary Rollins met with Cal-Maine Foods, the largest egg producer in the United States. Met with them, and shortly thereafter, took that billion dollars, even though they had the indemnity program, like you talked about, took that billion dollars and gave it to the egg industry to help them with their bios… 400 million of them went to help their biosecurity. So not only were they… we also helped them pay to upgrade their systems.

And we did it by taking a billion dollars away from schools, food banks, and markets for small farmers.

Me: So I think, and you can tell me if I’m wrong again, but I think that, in many ways, these big agribusinesses are actually, in part, anti-farmer, in the sense that I have a buddy who ran a local co-op, and he told me, boy, I wish I only had to deliver anhydrous to 500 farms, rather than the 1,500 farms I went to. If only we were more consolidated, it would be a lot easier for me and my co-op to be more profitable. And so the shrinkage and the combination of fewer farms is actually in the… isn’t in the best interest of anybody, farmers, people, except for the agricultural… big agricultural corporations. They actually want fewer farmers, which to me is anti-farming. Am I right?

Joe: Yeah. Absolutely. The big, you know, God bless your co-op friend. I’m all for co-ops. But except for Dairy Farmers of America, most American co-ops are small potatoes compared to the very large agribusinesses that I’m referencing.

Nutrien is a competitor to that co-op. Nutrien is one of the very largest manufacturers of fertilizer and phosphate in the United States. They decided, they’re a Canadian firm, they decided they were going to go into the retail business, and they’re now competing against your co-op.

So it’s not just the farmers that are getting screwed, but those small co-ops, those independent agri-services are going out of business as well. The other thing that the co-ops have found that your friend needs to think about, once they’re down to 500 farmers instead of 5,000, that farmer decides it doesn’t even need a co-op; it’s gonna buy direct.

It has enough purchasing, enough needs; it now can buy a whole tractor-trailer load, or a railroad car load. And it just laughs at your local co-op, and they’re going broke.

I mean, look at our local elevators and others. You know, this idea that, yeah, I want fewer, I want consolidation because I want to deal with less. Banks like that, right? Because I can loan $10 million or $20 million, doesn’t cost the bank any more than if they had you know, took 10 farmers to do that. They’d only processed the paperwork once.

But ultimately, what happens is, is that there’s not enough farmers left in a community to have a community, right? I mean, that’s what we’ve seen, the hollowing out of rural America. The loss of farmers, the loss of tax base, our schools consolidate. Our rural hospitals close, jobs disappear when that rural co-op that you discussed ultimately goes broke against the pressure of these very large corporations

Jobs are lost, the hollowing out of America through the extractive process, economic model that we’ve allowed to occur in the United States. And that’s why Farm Action Fund has launched the Rural Independence Initiative.

And we’re looking for candidates that- this is not a Democrat or Republican problem. Both parties got us here. I could give you the history, and…but it’s going to take both parties to get us out of this, and we’ve got to look at this in an honest way, and take on these big corporations and this big money.

Me: Okay, so tell me about the initiative. Share it with us, would you please?

Joe: The Rural Independence Initiative is launched by Farm Action Fund. What we’re working towards is increasing the political capital that will help us have folks in Washington, D.C, that will stand up for people, and independent farmers, and rural communities, and not for these big ag corporations.

Folks that are willing to speak out. Help us change the laws, enforce the laws, and strip the power- this abusive power- away from these corporations that are putting 63 farmers out of business a day, and making it where families can’t feed themselves, or delivering- look at Iowa, the cancer rates, the water quality.

We want folks that’ll stand up to these corporations and to this industrial model. And, bring justice. What we see, and with the Rural Independence Initiative, is over 40 years, it’s been Democrats and Republicans alike that have brought us this type of agricultural and food system.

One that’s bankrupting us, one that has eroded competition, one that’s not responsible for the public health of the citizens. And so… and we also see that anytime there’s a farm bill or some major bill going through, there’s always somebody on both parties votes one way or the other. So the one thing we want to communicate to folks, and the reason to form it, is to begin to have a safe place.

Let’s don’t try to brand ourselves D’s and R’s. That puts us in one camp or the other, and then the big corporations laugh their butt off as we’re fighting over things that really don’t matter as much. We’re seeing our communities dry up.

Me: Okay, and so you’re trying to identify candidates that share that vision, that set of values that you just outlined?

Joe: Yeah, candidates and issues. Candidates that will support the issues, and current elected officials that will support various issues. Give you an example. This was… is bipartisan. Currently, we’re importing more and more beef. Which the president has allowed to happen.

As a matter of fact, he’s encouraged it. He’s opened the door for more beef to be imported. It’s the same… at the time when cattle producers were beginning to see profits on their ranches and their farms. The president wants to lower beef prices at the grocery store.

So he lets the JBSs and the other big international companies bring in more foreign beef. Those companies don’t have to label that beef. Consumers don’t have… can’t know where it comes from, because we have been banned from labeling it product of the USA, and to label it as born, raised, processed, and harvested. We need a mandatory country of origin label.

We have been supporting that. It’s good for transparency for the consumer; it’s good for market opportunity for America’s farmers and ranchers. We’ve been pushing for that issue, and yesterday, in, on Thursday, the 6th, the United States Senate Agriculture Committee, in a bipartisan way, adopted mandatory country of origin labeling in the text of the Farm Bill.

(The bill failed, largely because of Democratic opposition to SNAP components)

On the other side, Bayer Monsanto has been working to get a liability shield. Farmers are on the front line of using these chemicals. And Bayer has been stripping, through the Supreme Court, they have hidden behind the labels that have been approved in Washington, D.C, and don’t have to warn folks about potential harm.

So, failure-to-warn cases have been stripped from farmers and others that have used these products. They can’t seek court justice. They can’t get their day in court because of this Supreme Court decision.

Senator Booker, we’ve been pushing the…we’re not saying do away with glyphosate. I have used it around my farm, as I said here. What we’re saying is, though, if a company, a big corporation, hurts you. Harms you, you should be able to go to court and seek justice.

Me: Absolutely.

Joe: they shouldnt have the power to get the president to side with them, to do an executive order, and then turn the Department of Justice against the people, and on behalf of a German company, and protect them in our Supreme Court.

So, Senator Booker offered an amendment. Unfortunately, that amendment…was only the Democrats voted for it.

But what we know is…

Me: Cory Booker? Yeah, Senator Cory Booker. But what we know is, Democrats and Republicans alike vote for these issues. And so we’re… we’re not seeking to be a Democrat organization or a Republican organization. Both parties got us here. It’ll take both parties to get us out of here. So we’re looking for candidates’ D’s or R’s, that support our values and our issues.

Me: Okay, so this might mean identifying people to run, or identifying people that are doing a good job, making endorsements. You’re making endorsements? I saw something on that the other day.

Joe: That’s right, we…as we have an eye to the marketplace, we have an eye to the government and those that are making decisions. We also keep an eye out there in the election world during the campaigns. Candidates that are running or want to run. Looking at them, talking with their campaigns, identifying those that have the will, to have courage.

Joe: We endorsed Congressman Massey. Now, he didn’t win his primary. But he had… he showed courage. He took up, took on Bayer. He supported mandatory country of origin labeling. He took on check-off, commodity check-off reform. So, we don’t always win, but we’re going to stand with those candidates, either elected officials or new folks running that will stand with our issues and our values.

Me: and Senator Massey from, he was a Republican.

Joe: Congressman.

Me: Yeah.

Joe: Congressman Massey’s a Republican. In Iowa, we have endorsed… it’s just Democrats. We have endorsed in the U.S. Senate race, and in the first and the third, congressional races. And the reason that example was just on legislation that would strip 27% of America farmers of a market.

And that is the… called the Save Our Bacon Act that is led by Senators Ernst and Congresswoman Hinson. And the Iowa delegation has been trying to support what Smithfield, one of the largest hog producers in this country, the largest hog producers want to ban states from being able to set certain standards. In this case, it’s an animal welfare standard.

But their legislation goes much further. It would strip states of being able to set any type of agricultural standard, or any health or safety standard for their people.

So, you know, the big corporations don’t want states to have opinions. They want, because they control Washington, D.C. to a large extent, they want Washington, D.C. to be the decider. And unfortunately, in Iowa, most…the Republicans’ delegation there have been very, very supportive of the largest corporations in the world and their industrial extractive model. So we have endorsed, in the first, in the third, and in the U.S. Senate race.

Me: So, Josh Turek for Senate, Lindsay James (my error—not endorsed), and Christina Bohannon, in the Congressional Districts.

Joe: Sarah Trone, and Sarah Trone Garriott.

Me: Sarah Trone Garriott. Yeah. Okay. So, alright, very good, thank you for that correction. Okay, so…Ashley Hinson, you know, all of our Republican senators and Congressmen and women, they…are always talking about how pro-farmer they are. And…it’s hard to… if you know anything about what’s happening today, with what you’re talking about with Bayer and lawsuits, and consolidation, and just all of the things that you’ve talked about, you don’t have to dig very deeply to see that they aren’t really pro-farmer; they’re pro-big agribusiness.

Joe: That’s right. You know, they’re pro-agribusiness, they’re pro-industrial agribusiness. They’re advancing a model of agriculture and food that encourages consolidation.

It encourages 63 farmers a day to go out of business. We’ve already talked about how agribusinesses oftentimes think that’s in their best interest to have fewer farmers. They support continuing to not expand research and development as it relates to alternatives. They support the, heavily chemically-laden, industrial-based model of production row crops.

You know, I’m not trying to pit one farmer against another. That doesn’t fare very well for us farmers. There’s not enough of us. But the reality is, there are some farmers, about 10% of them, are gaining a lot of ground under the policies that the Iowa delegation, Congresswoman Hinson, and others. What they are pushing, about 10% gain, a lot.

So when they say pro-farmer, it is true there are farmers that are benefit, about 10%. They’re the ones, the chosen ones, I suppose, that ultimately, your friend at the co-op, dreamed of only having that group.

The rest of the farmers are struggling to stay on the farm. I’ll give you an example of policy that they have supported, that supports what I’m saying.

In the Big, Beautiful Bill. And in, in, a provision in the fall or winter, the year before, so, the Republican leadership and the delegation in Iowa pushed legislation that favored the largest farmers in two ways. In the big, beautiful bill, they took the caps off. So, used to be we restricted the amount of money in certain programs that a farmer could receive. They took those off so that big farmers could get more of the money.

And also, they… in distributing some of the funds, the subsidies for farmers, to bail them out of the financial crisis farmers are in. They said if you made 75% of your income off the farm, You’ve got more money than if you made 74% or less.

So the farmer’s struggling, and it was household income. So the farmer’s struggling, and their partner, spouse, whatever, goes to town and gets a job to have healthcare insurance, right? Because that’s not uncommon. Or just to pay the goddang light bill.

Suddenly, your income falls below 75%, you got less money. It only ensured those struggling would struggle further, and it only ensured those that were doing better at 75% had enough cash on hand to buy out their neighbor.

Those are the kind of policies that do help farmers. When they say pro-farmer, there are farmers, the very largest farmers, that just loved them. Because they got more money than what they ever had gotten from government subsidies before. And the rest of the farmers got less.

Me: Okay, well, I could talk with you all afternoon. I have so many questions, but we’re over half an hour, and I want to know, is there anything I didn’t know enough to ask, or anything else you’d like to share that we didn’t get to?

Joe: Well, I think that the only thing I would… in closing, one, I want to thank you and those listening. These issues are extremely important because everybody eats.

Our rural communities- Iowa is an extremely rural community, as a whole, as a whole state. And for too long, folks in Iowa and other rural areas have been… paying the price for a system that is failing us.

63 farmers a day going broke, and families can’t afford to feed the kids, and we’re in a health crisis. And we can’t afford to pay our health bills.

Rural Independence Initiative is about selecting candidates, Democrats or Republicans or independents, that believe in helping rural America thrive. And that’s what we’re about, and we appreciate the opportunity to have had this moment to talk with y’all.

Me: Well, and I’ll wrap it up right here, but I want to make sure, if there’s any way for us to help or learn more, could you tell us about those opportunities?

Joe: Yeah, we’d love for you to go to farmactionfund.us. Browse around and see our policies, see the endorsed candidates, see why we endorse them, and if you want to join us, hit the join button. We’d love to have you.

Me: Great. Well, thank you, Joe. Thanks for your time.

Joe: Thank you.

Here is the link where Joe discusses the president’s executive order. Below is a transcript. Here’s Joe:

“A lot’s being said about the 300,000 metric tons of beef being imported into this country by the president and its only the president knows where it’s coming from.

If you want to understand President Trump’s beef import plan, follow the money. Pilgrim’s Pride, controlled by Brazilians meat giant JBS, gave $5 million to the Trump’s inaugural committee, the largest contribution to that committee. A few months later, JBS finally got approval for the US stock listing, after they been trying for years to get it done.

Then JBS co-owner Joesley Batista met privately with President Trump, and reportedly they talked about beef prices, and you got it, Brazilian tariffs. Another example is the administration dramatically expanded beef access from Argentina to be imported into this country because the president said they needed our help and he liked the president of Argentina.

And now President Trump says that he’s going to let 300,000 metric tons of foreign ground beef to come into this country without the normal tariffs. Here’s the kicker, though. We still don’t know where the beef’s coming from, and will consumers actually see savings at the grocery store. Four companies control 85% of the beef, and a handful of companies control the retail grocery sector.

When you have that much concentration between the rancher and the consumer, cheaper imports don’t guarantee cheaper hamburger. It guarantees farmers and ranchers are going to be paid less. I’m not telling you there’s quid pro quo here. I’m telling you something simpler. Follow the money. Ask who benefits and demand answers.

I’m Joe Maxwell, Missouri farmer and president of Farm Action Fund. That’s my view down here on the farm.”

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p.s. If you follow Iowa politics, you will appreciate the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative podcast Iowa Down Ballot with Dave Price, Kathie Obradovich, and Laura Belin. I listen and learn every week.

My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time donation here.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

I’m also proud to announce I’m partnering with my friend Nathan Sage, former Democratic candidate for Senate in Iowa, in a new podcast/video hosted on Substack and YouTube called Sage Against the Machine. If you enjoy my political writing, you will enjoy Sage Against the Machine.

And I’m now on TikTok as a member of the Iowa Creator Corp, believe it or not. Here you go.

All photos are by Iowa Creator Corp member and one of Iowa’s best political photographers and videographer, Greg Hauenstein. Thanks, Greg!

A new generation of media has formally arrived in Iowa with the launch last week of New Day Iowa and the Iowa Creator Corp. The immediate collaborative power of this new organization was seen, heard, and felt at Curate in the East Village on Wednesday night as hundreds gathered for the launch party. It also displayed its impact over the weekend, as members of the Corps descended on the Iowa State Fairgrounds providing coverage that more traditional media didn’t.

The Iowa Creator Corp and New Day Iowa are led by Pat Rynard, founder of the Iowa Starting Line, and Liz Fleming, aka “Liz from Iowa,” one of the most powerful progressive voices on social media in the state. She has over 110,000 followers on TikTok and over eight million likes and nearly 27,000 followers on Instagram. My occasional collaborator Jason Walsmith and I profiled Liz here.

From New Day Iowa’s Facebook invite page:

New Day Iowa is empowering a new generation of social media-savvy Iowans to fight for their state and their neighbors (and training up others to better communicate online).

Our creators are leading the way to better inform Iowans through creative, always-on social media communications programs. By uplifting personal stories and key policy issues from content produced by trusted neighbors, we can connect voters with the tools they need to build a more prosperous Iowa.

Maddie Houser Webb is also an important force in the Iowa Creator Corps. Maddie, like Liz, is a powerful public intellectual for our age. As legacy media stumbles, people like Maddie, Liz, and other informed, honest, and passionate individuals, including members of the Iowa Creator Corps, are stepping in to provide truthful and timely digital news and commentary to the masses that is, at times, in direct opposition to MAGA media propaganda.

Maddie has over 141,000 followers on TikTok, over 13 million likes, and at least one of her videos has received over one million views. She also has 148,000 followers on Instagram.

Below are some photos of the announcement party. Following these photos is a discussion of what happened as several members of the Iowa Creator Corp encountered politicians running for office at the Iowa State Fair.

Here are some of the videos produced by members covering political events at the fair:

Liz with Senator Mark Kelly on water quality and home ownership. Liz on RFK Jr., Zach Lahn and MAHA. Liz asking Ashley Hinson about the Epstein files. Liz asking Zach Nunn about rural hospitals closing. Liz on the out-of-state Turning Point USA paid staff harassing Democratic candidates at the Iowa State Fair.

Maddie on the plane towing the banner saying “ASHLEY HINSON SOLD OUT IOWA TO CHINA.” Maddie addressing the hypocrisy of the GOP in trashing Pastor Sarah Trone Garriott about her faith.

Sara Booz interviews Democratic candidates Josh Turek and highlights Sarah Trone Garriott’s speech at the Register’s political Soapbox. She also argues how Zach Nunn’s support of Trump has made us all poorer.

Katie Rock, seeing the John Deere tractors at the State Fair, reminds us how Trump’s tariffs and the support of Iowa’s Republican legislators have led to layoffs at John Deere. She also juxtaposes video of Turning Point USA’s out-of-state paid staff harassing candidates with Democratic Governor candidate Rob Sand’s commentary here.

I first met Sarah McGriff, from New Sharon, at a Mahaska County Board of Supervisors meeting in Oskaloosa. Sarah was challenging the use of a racist term by a Mahaska County Supervisor. Shamefully, the supervisor who used the racial slur doubled down on its use, and the other two supervisors said nothing. Thanks to Sarah, we know that racism is acceptable by Mahaska County government leaders. I have the story here.

After visiting the fair, Sarah challenges Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn on his commitment to improving water quality in Iowa, and documents paid Turning Point USA staffers from out of state harassing Democratic candidates, and much, much more.

Tara Carpenter challenges Joe Mitchell’s lobbyist connections, as does Josh Helmick.

These are just a few of the members of the Iowa Creator Corps who went to the fair, and I would like to share more of what they have done, but you get the point.

I’d also like to point out that Zachary Oren Smith and other staff are also doing remarkable new media journalism at the Iowa Starting Line.

I don’t know exactly how many people—mostly young people- are in the Iowa Creator Corp. Maybe 50? They come from all walks of life, backgrounds, and experiences—something that rarely happens in other media.

Are they journalists? Google says a journalist is:

A professional who collects, writes, edits, and presents news and information to the public through print, broadcast, or digital media. They investigate events, interview sources, and check facts to keep people informed.

If “professional” means that they make a living at it, I doubt many in the Iowa Creative Corps do. It’s also irrelevant. These are honest, well-meaning Iowans who are doing amazing work that fits the rest of the criteria above. They are also compelled to do it, even if they don’t make money at it, which speaks to their integrity.

Look at this creaky old definition of journalist from the Cambridge English Dictionary:

A person who writes news stories or articles for a newspaper or magazine or broadcasts them on radio or television.

I don’t have to tell you that the legacy (a nice word for old) media is in decline. Reuters reports that young people have turned to fast-paced short-form videos for news over traditional sources. I didn’t have to tell you that either. You already knew it.

And here is where New Day Iowa and the Iowa Creator Corp step in. Join us.

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p.s. If you follow Iowa politics, you will appreciate the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative podcast Iowa Down Ballot with Dave Price, Kathie Obradovich, and Laura Belin. I listen and learn every week.

My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time donation here.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

I’m also proud to announce I’m partnering with my friend Nathan Sage, former Democratic candidate for Senate in Iowa, and Spencer Dirks in a new podcast/video hosted on Substack and YouTube called Sage Against the Machine. If you enjoy my political writing, you will enjoy Sage Against the Machine.

And I’m now on TikTok as a member of the Iowa Creator Corp, believe it or not. Here you go.

I had a grand time at the Des Moines Book Festival last May. The festival was organized by Beaverdale Books—one of my favorite bookstores. It featured author panels, workshops, book signings, an exhibition room, and children's activities. I was there to be on a couple of panels, including one offered by members of the Iowa Writers Collaborative, of which I’m a proud member. So in addition to participating on the panel, I got to hang out with my friends and other bookish people.

One of those bookish people I met was Jennifer Leatherby. We hit it off right away; what I learned about her in a couple of minutes was fascinating, and I knew that I—no, WE- had to know more about how she is using her art to work for social change.

I proposed that my friend and occasional collaborator, Jason Walsmith, and I do a photo essay highlighting how she views the world and her work for our occasional portraits series. Both she and Jason agreed, and this essay is the first in what we are calling our “Portraits of Iowa Creatives” series. Hopefully, there will be many more in the series.

I wrote this narrative, and both Jason and I interviewed Jennifer. Jason did all of the photos and the photo captions. This column is also posted at Jason’s Substack, The Racontourist. Please consider subscribing to The Racontourist, or even better, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Jason is also a member of the celebrated Des Moines band, the Nadas.

Let’s begin with what drew me to Jennifer in the first place—books. Jennifer is a partner in Past, Present, Future Publishing. From their website:

Past Present Future Publishing was officially launched in the summer of 2023 by longtime friends and collaborators Katy Swalwell and Jennifer Leatherby.

After working together on the Amazing Iowa book series, Jen and Katy wanted to continue creating projects for young people, their families, and educators that help celebrate the rich diversity and complex history of their community. The duo also wanted to do what they could to counter the intensifying attacks on BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ people in the state and beyond. Because they love reading, art, education, and activism… why not start a publishing company to create beautiful books that generate profits to be rolled back into youth organizing for justice? They assembled an advisory board of seven incredible Iowa-based community organizers, classroom teachers, and bookstore owners and got to work.

‍Katy Swalwell is a nationally recognized educator, author, and scholar committed to equity and justice in schools.

‍Jennifer Leatherby is a celebrated multimedia artist and educator. Both are based in Des Moines, Iowa.

Before the interview began, the three of us wandered through Jen’s house talking and looking at books, artifacts, and her art. We discussed a great many things, and I should have been recording the minute I walked through Jen’s door. But I didn’t. There was a feeling in the house that day that I rarely encounter—the feeling was that the three of us were trying to learn as much from each other as we could before life galloped away from us. To me, I felt that even though Jason and I had just met Jennifer, we had all known each other forever, and held so much in common that much went unsaid, already known.

Below is the audio followed by a lightly edited transcript. I didn’t edit much of the audio because I wanted you to hear Jennifer’s remarkable voice, our pauses, our laughter, and occasional expression of sadness or frustration. I also wanted you to hear me stumble, chasing the right words for a question or comment. I also left in some untranscribed audio at the end where we move on to other topics so you can get a feel of that wonderful day where Jason and I interviewed the remarkable creative and change-maker Jennifer Leatherby.

Please bear with us, as this email is a little long. We wanted to include as many of Jason’s photos as possible. Here we go:

ME: So in talking with you today, it appears that there are two themes that run through everything you do, in no particular order: art and advocacy. Is that correct?

Jen: Yes. Yeah, I think so. Yep.

ME: Can you tell us how they're connected, or do you want to start with one or the other? Do you see the path through them both?

Jen: I think the way that I described it earlier about how I like to find where they can intersect, right? When I can find a place where my inclination toward art and creativity can help in any social cause. Right? So, through my design work of making books about stories that maybe aren’t always told, or marginalized voices, and making sure that those stories are told, or even just creating designs for my mutual aid group to put on social media and ask for more money because we need to buy propane for the winter.

Things like that, but I also find when I paint flowers, it’s more for me, but also hoping that other people will use it to find more beauty in the world.

Because I’m always talking about these sort of maybe darker aspects of life because, in my advocacy, I’m often bringing up, you know, child hunger rates in the US or the number of people on the primary health care waiting list for emergency housing, which I think can feel very dark, right?

But I always need to remind myself that there’s a lot of beauty in the world. So I like to, in reminding myself, show other people that too and try to make beautiful things.

ME: And what’s the name of the group that you’re working with?

Jen: Oh, Des Moines Mutual Aid?

ME: Yeah, okay. Des Moines Mutual Aid.

Jen: So every week on Saturday mornings I go to the church over here, and we do a food rescue program, where we bring in a bunch of food and divvy it up into boxes, and then we’ll put it into people’s cars as they drive up. And that’s through the Trinity Church that’s like two blocks away from here, across from Moulton, where they do CFUM (Children and Family Urban Movement).

So that’s like a lot of people, I think, who live in this neighborhood go to that. And then every other week on Sundays we go out to the camps and meet with campers. So when it’s cold out, we bring propane, or we will go and collect their empty propane tanks and then go fill them and bring them back. And then in the summer, it’s like water and batteries. We always do water and batteries.

If it’s cold, we do propane as well, and then, if we have extra supplies, we’ll give those away. So we kind of take donations, and we will get sometimes extra food on Saturday morning at that giveaway. If there’s food that comes in that we think would work well to give to campers, then we’ll set that aside, throw it in our fridge, that’s at the friend’s house, and then, yeah, take that out on our routes to give away. We’ll give away like tampons and stuff like that if they’re needed.

Jason: We should do a follow-up sometime and follow her.

ME: Yeah, we should. And we’re here at your home surrounded by art and plants, and you know wonderful things, and you said that you live in the poorest and most diverse neighborhood in Des Moines. Does that inspire you? Do you learn from your neighborhood? What don’t we know about your neighborhood that you would like... that we should know?

Jen: I think that people should know that the folks who are on the street who maybe aren’t functioning as well in society as we are or don’t have access to showers or health care or houses and things like that.

A lot of those people are around here. And a lot of people, I think, are afraid of that, or they feel like they don’t want to engage with it, and it should be like put away, like those people; we don’t want to see them or acknowledge them or ask them if they’re okay, right? Or hear their story?

So I think for me, especially living here, it’s like I want people to know that they should meet those people. They should talk to them. They should hear their stories. And they should know that these aren’t people who are bad. Being in poverty or being houseless is not a result of being a bad person.

ME: No, we had a very interesting conversation if you want to go into this. I think we’re largely in agreement on—what are the circumstances that bring us, that bring humanity here in the United States, supposedly the richest country on Earth. What brings us to that situation where people don’t have, you know, even the opportunities to get what they need to survive, let alone thrive?

Jen: Capitalism.

Me: It’s inherent. Tell us more.

Jen: Is it the root of capitalism?

Me: No, tell us why it’s inherent...no, sure…wherever you want to go with it, but why is it inherent to capitalism? This kind of structure. When people, you know, to say that you’re a proud American or that you’re a patriot, you have to... it seems like capitalism is perfectly intertwined with that. They go hand in hand, yet here we are.

Jen: I think that, I mean, the propaganda machine against communism and socialism worked really well in the United States. People often will talk about communism, and what they’re referring to is fascism or authoritarianism. They’re not referring to an economic model of socialism or communism.

They don’t know that when you say capitalism is bad, that you’re not saying “I hate freedom. You know? Cuz that’s what I think that we were taught, right? Is that we live in the greatest country in the world, we are free. And you know, you get older, and you’re like, “ they kept telling us how free we were...” You don’t usually have to tell people that they’re free if they’re really free, right? You don’t have to keep reminding them.

ME: So the system is broken, and you do your bit, and you do your bit helping real people in the here and now, and you’re, I mean, you’re walking the walk not just talking the talk, you’re just doing something that matters substantively to the people around you where a lot of us can’t say that. And a lot of us probably never thought about doing that. I think a lot of us...that isn’t supposed to be part of what we do... I guess we put a lot of us pay lip service to it, but you’re doing it, and you’re using your art as central to this.

Jen: I mean those are the skills that I have that come easy to me and what I love to do. So I feel like when I am able to do both, it’s like a gift, right?

ME: So, and in this, doing this, you’ve put together a life that has a lot of different components just to put food on the table. Okay? And you’ve said that you’ve been in very difficult economic circumstances before, so you can identify with people that are in that, and you’ve managed to pull together a good life in ways that aren’t very traditional. Can you tell us what the different components of that are?

Jen: The different?

ME: The components that put bread on the table…

Jen: Well, one that I didn’t mention yet: I teach part-time at Des Moines University. A gynecology lab. It used to be a much more involved job, but then they kind of outsourced our program and cut it way, way, cut it way down, so we barely teach at all. But that’s one of the ways that I make money is teaching. I’ve done that teaching for 12 years or something. And then I also will occasionally teach, like elementary art, as a part-time job, done that. And then the publishing company....

I don’t know if you should put that in there, but it’s not very much money, but you know that’s some money, and then tattooing, and I have a Patreon that people are very nice to, nice to subscribe to, so that’s a little bit of money. I don’t…it’s kind of just ...Oh, I do like freelance graphic design for people, so I will design like a logo for somebody or, you know, freelance copy editing or publishing.

I got... Yeah, so many, so many different things going on and then, you know, occasionally I’ll sell a painting, or a fiber art piece or something, or a print at a market I go… I’ll go to markets and pop up and bring my prints and paintings and occasionally people will buy those.

Me: Very interesting, and…talk more about the publishing...what is the imprint… where can people...people can go to your website to find out about all of this, correct?

Jen: Yes, yep, so jenleatherby.com is my website, and then past, present, future publishing- no, ppf-publishing.com…. So Katie and I make books about…that are geared toward children, young adults, about Iowa. So, we like to make…we like to tell stories as we say “from the margins.” So, Katie came up in education and acknowledged that in our education about Iowa, it’s usually the stories of white men, right? That are told.

And so she said, “How can we tell the stories of all of the amazing people who maybe aren’t privileged white men whose stories get told all the time? How do we tell their stories? And then how do we give back with it, right? And not just profit off of it. Try to give, like, each book that we make is tied to a different organization that receives some of the profits from the book.

Jen: So yeah, we...

ME: And Katy Swalwell?

Jen: Katy Swawell.

ME: Jason, do you have any questions?

Jason: Nope. I’ve asked a lot of them. I’ve asked a lot of questions….Well, maybe one, yeah, I’m only I’m kind of thinking about myself again. Thinking about how many years I worked in various jobs, and tried to think of how... what I called myself, how I identified as a human, and I would say… I was a musician, I was a photographer, I was a this, I was that, and it was only recently that I started saying I’m an artist. And I wonder how you, how you describe yourself to people? Do you start a list and you start listing all those things off? Or do you say I’m an artist or I’m an advocate, or I’m just… There is no right answer here. I’m just curious.

Jen: I forget at how I worded it. I think I worded it on my, like, Instagram. It’s like artist, educator, and bookmaker or something. So it’s kind of how I most recently dwindled it down. Because I do feel like the activism and that can fall under education because a lot of times it, I do find it’s just me talking about things that I know, and it becomes advocacy because, you know, not everybody knows that 20% of children in the United States face food insecurity. Right? Like, just saying that statement, I think is it educates people, but it should activate people, right? It’s like that’s not right. We don’t want that. Why would that be the case in the richest country in the world?... We’re also free. We’re free to have starving children, I guess.

Jason: Here’s a hard question that I don’t know if that I don’t know if this will fit in or not, but even as I just dip into some of these issues that we just sort of like dip our toe in and let someone tell their story, and then we feel like we’re doing some good by letting someone else tell their story. Even as I dip in, I feel overwhelmed by how big these problems are. Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Or do you just roll up your sleeves and get to work?

Jen: I used to more than I do now. Because I think I was more liberal before, and I was trying to make the way I felt fit within the beliefs that I was told to believe, which is that capitalism can work, that it’s the best thing, right?

And then the more I learned, the more I realized almost all of these injustices can be tied to our economic model. A lot of them, right? We’re not going to fix like people’s bias against women, right? Um, with that, but you can make a lot of difference in the lives of women and children, right? By providing basic necessities and not allowing them to be left on the street.

ME: I feel overwhelmed, like Jason said, but I also feel guilty that I’m not doing enough, that I’m part of the problem sometimes, and that I could do more. And so I just flail about in my writings trying to do more, but I know it’s not enough. Is it ever enough?

Jen: Well, for an individual, no. No individual is going to fix this, right? These are problems that are going to take a long time, and it would require a lot of people to work together and to agree on a lot of things that people don’t agree on anymore, right? Or...

ME: Well, I think a lot of people would agree, except we’ve all been, you know, it’s just like most of what we were taught in American history is inaccurate. And so we don’t know. We’ve represented this as the truth. And we know once we start looking at other perspectives, there’s other angles on it.

And so we’re operating, and what I think a lot of people, you know, are operating without any information or totally biased information that we’ve been spoon-fed to be a part of and be complicit. We’ve been taught to be complicit.

Jen: And I think it’s getting worse as well, as I think the tightening of information is happening and this very... what we think of as like Chinese suppression of information, I believe, is like now very much an American thing. And I think that’s going to make that problem worse, right?

That’s why they attack education to try to stop people from knowing what socialism is or knowing that people feel that capitalism is why we’re never going to have enough houses for those people on that waiting list. Because if we do, a lot of people who make a lot of money off of housing are not going to make that money anymore.

ME: They’ll still make plenty.

Jen: Yeah, but it’s not enough for them.

ME: Okay, if this doesn’t work, I’ll take it out whenever. Let’s end on a lighter note that focuses on one of your arts. And I don’t— maybe we’ve got to know each other well enough in this brief period of time. But I’m wondering if you were designing a tattoo for me and for Jason, if you know what the basic theme would be for a tattoo for us.

Jen: Oooo…The same tattoo for both of you or individual?

ME: No, individual. Individual.

Jen: Well, his feels easy as it like a camera maybe. I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him as much as I’ve talked to you.

Jason: I am tatooless.

Jen: You don’t have any tattoos?

Jason: And my wife has. I don’t know how many- six or seven. And she’s always like, you should get a tattoo, but I’ve lived this long without one, and I think not having one is my individuality. But a long time ago I thought about it a lot, and I thought about and it was it was long enough ago that it was a film strip. You know, like a film strip on my arm with different frames…

Jen: Oh, that would be really cool…They’re super fun…

Jason: So we’re on the same wavelength there…

Jen: Yeah, um, I actually love tattooing. Okay, this is a whole thing, but I realized when I started tattooing a few years ago that there is also an intersection between my end-of-life work and tattooing. Um, what is the quote?

I think it’s a lyric that, I think it’s like Ani DeFranco’s song, but it was like, oh shoot... I might have to look it up. It’s like I had to embrace my own mortality to get my first tattoo.

And I think that’s so so real because I think that in our death-denying culture, we often think that if we stay pure, or if we do the healthy things, that, I mean, a lot of times it is really rooted in fear of dying, right? Fear of acknowledging that something is going to get us all.

And I think embracing a tattoo and saying this body isn’t forever. Like when you say, “Well, your tattoo’s forever.” It’s not forever. Cuz we’re not forever.

And so I kind of love that intersection of how tattooing can help to remind people about their mortality, because this is what we say in our death cafes is that we want to give people the opportunity to make the most of their finite lives. And I think in our death-denying culture, people don’t get that opportunity because again it comes back to capitalism too.

Because if you’re in acknowledgment and fully embracing that you’re going to die someday, all the time. The chances that you’re going to go to work and make some random guy rich is less likely, right? And then there’s the whole industry of money and healthcare, but you know. Where was I going?

ME: You were going to my tattoo...

Jen: Went off the rails. Okay, your tattoo. Gosh, I, okay, I listened to your Substack a little bit. I liked that you showed me that you like to take pictures of flowers. So, I almost feel like something, where incorporating like a floral…something, floral. You love your dog...your dog. Maybe something with your dog, and it’s obviously…

Jason: Sounds like you are going to get a full…body tattoo.

Jen: Yeah, we’re going to do a full sleeve. Yeah, I got it all planned out. We’re going to put your dog on there. We’re going to do some writing, a typewriter. Did you work on a typewriter?

ME: Oh, yeah.

Jen: That’s cool. Yeah. You’re a great writer…

ME: Thank you. I could do 80 words a minute (Fact check! I got caught up in the moment! It was only 30! 80 was frozen in my mind as the goal).

Jen: Yep, on the typewriter? Wow!

ME: High school. Yeah, my sophomore year.

Jen: Wow.

Jason: That’s like, that’s elite, right?

ME: No…(it actually is, and I didn’t come close!).

Jason: Gold Star. I don’t know.

ME: Well, thank you. Thanks for the tattoo idea. Thanks for the interview.

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p.s. If you follow Iowa politics, you will appreciate the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative podcast Iowa Down Ballot with Dave Price, Kathie Obradovich, and Laura Belin. I listen and learn every week.

Robert Leonard’s column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or make a one-time donation here.

We are proud members of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. Robert Leonard also publishes Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and his adventures on morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

Robert Leonard is now on TikTok as a member of the Iowa Creator Corp, believe it or not. Here you go.

Jason Walsmith

Jason Walsmith is based in Earlham, Iowa. He is well traveled and always looking for a new story to tell. Jason has spent the last 30 years taking pictures for publications and companies as well as touring North America in a rock and roll band.

You can find more from Jason here:

thenadas.com

jasonwalsmith.com

jasonwalsmithstoryteller.com

And hey, please consider joining us both in September at Lake Okoboji, at Julie Gammack’s wonderful Okoboji Writers and Songwriters Retreat. We would love to see you there!

During Donald Trump’s first year in office, at least 1,779 people have been detained in Iowa by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This is an increase of 272% since 2024. Recently, the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice (Iowa MMJ) has had its budget cut 40%, and over 1,000 immigrants and refugees are no longer going to be able to access the legal services they need.

It’s cruel, wrong, and betrays the promise of America. ICE is terrorizing our streets—not deporting the “worst of the worst” as promised, with devastating impacts on immigrants and refugees of all statuses—including children.

Our silence is complicity.

Elena Casillas-Hoffman with Iowa MMJ explains how our local communities are being impacted, and how we can help. The video is followed by a lightly edited transcript.

ME: Hello, everybody. Thanks for joining this Zoom call with Elena Casillas-Hoffman with the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice. So let’s just start with what the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice is.

Elena: Yeah. First off, thanks for having me. My name is Elena Casillas-Hoffman. I am the communications specialist here with the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice, or Iowa MMJ. I’ll probably keep saying that because it’s a little bit easier and shorter to use. Iowa MMJ is a statewide serving organization that serves all immigrants and refugees, and we’re unique in that we have kind of two main focuses, and that is really our legal department…walking alongside immigrants and refugees as they navigate and move through the really archaic, unjust, and complicated immigration legal system. And we also have our advocacy department, again, as in our name, is trying to build a movement for and with all immigrants and refugees throughout the state of Iowa. And so we believe that, one, migration is a human right, but we also believe that together we can and will create an Iowa that is more welcoming and inclusive for all. And we only do that when we are all united under this belief and where we all are working together.

ME: How big is your organization? How many, do you call everybody a client that you, help?

Elena: Yeah, so typically, under our legal program, we’ll use the term clients. But under our advocacy program, we will typically use the term community member. But kind of all-encompassing, we would say community members. So if we’re going to talk specifically under our legal side, in the past fiscal year, we served almost 3,000 immigrants and refugees through just our legal services alone.

And then hundreds, if not thousands, more through our advocacy services. And so our advocacy services is often kind of through direct, you know, one-on-one organizing. For us, we really believe that we build a movement by working with individuals all over the state, but individuals that are most directly impacted. So our organizers, our community organizers—We’ll have one-on-ones, a lot of house parties. They will again be building kind of movement within community, city, county, etc. And so sometimes it’s hard to gauge exact numbers. But again, hundreds, if not thousands of individuals that our team is meeting with and working with.

Every single day, every single month, every single year.

ME: And we met, uh, you and I and Erica Johnson, um, is she the CEO?

Elena: Yes, Erica Johnson. Erica Johnson is our founding executive director.

ME: …I know that you do…great work, really important in the community, throughout the state. And I was just sort of… I was flabbergasted when I learned that 40% of your funding went away. Can you tell us about that?

Elena: Thank you. Yeah, so we are going to… so the 40% is we’re going to have to reduce our legal services by 40%. So there were some pretty substantial grants that we are now losing in September. And so we wanted to be very honest and transparent with, obviously, our impacted community members, so those that got those legal services from us, but also just kind of at large. We have been and will continue to be kind of the leading experts on immigration here in Iowa, and we pride ourselves in being able to support community members that are walking through the immigration legal process.

But because of politically motivated factors, we have lost some very substantial grants or are going to lose. And those cuts are going to take into effect in September. So when we say that we’ve served almost 3,000 immigrants and refugees through our legal services, a 40% cut means that over 1,000 immigrants and refugees are no longer going to be able to access legal services through us. That also means that we’ve had to reduce the legal staff that we have by eight individuals. So eight individuals are no longer going to be employed under us through our legal department.

I think it’s important to say, though, that that doesn’t mean that we are not continuing legal services. And so, for instance, one of the grants that we got allowed us to specifically support individuals that were becoming naturalized citizens, so individuals who could apply for citizenship.

That doesn’t mean that we are cutting that service completely. It just means that the amount of individuals that we were able to support in that process is going to be dramatically reduced. Another avenue of funding that we got, especially from the federal government, was in and around supporting Ukrainians and Afghans.

And one of the things that I think I’ve kind of started to hear is individuals saying, wow, well, you know, a lot of the Afghan community here in Iowa maybe have gotten their green cards or have moved through that legal process. So the funding may or may not affect them as much.

Again, we are still going to continue to support Ukrainians and Afghans here in Iowa. But I think it’s important to understand that just because, you know, an individual might move to a quote-unquote safer or more permanent legal status does not mean, one, that they are completely safe.

We have seen across the country how individuals that have green cards can have those pulled from them. And also that it doesn’t mean that they’re not safe from ICE pulling them over and from ICE being aggressive and using aggressive tactics against them.

Including, as we’ve unfortunately seen, especially within these past two weeks, is ICE using lethal methods against community members. So just because you have moved potentially to a quote-unquote safer immigration status or a more permanent one does not mean that you are. A common thing we hear is, does that mean that fear goes away? That fear is absolutely still present.

And the other important thing I want to mention, because I think especially for our Afghan community, it bears saying, many of the men that we’ve been able to support are still looking to bring their wives and their daughters and their sons here to the United States. And so a very common theme that we will hear from Afghan men who maybe have a green card or who have moved through citizenship is they’re desperate to bring the women and their family over, and to provide them safety, and to provide them an education.

I’m thinking specifically of one Afghan father that I talked to a couple months ago, very one-on-one, who told me he is anxiously waiting every day to be able to have his daughter access education again. She’s almost three years now of not being in school, and all he wants is to bring his daughter to the United States so she can come back to school, so that she can learn, she can thrive, she can, you know, have the freedoms that are afforded to us when we have access to education.

So, again, for many, obviously moving to a status is safer and affords them different opportunities. And yes, we are happy, and we’ll continue to work with those individuals. But that does not mean that just because they have access to status that their story or their family story is over.

ME: Well, and many of these men, they’re here, and they’re being betrayed by us, by our government. They worked with our soldiers in Afghanistan; they helped us, they helped the United States, and they were promised safety and their families being…

Elena: Yes.

ME: You know, being able to come here. This was a promise that we made that was broken.

Elena: Absolutely. Absolutely, yeah. And it’s one that we shouldn’t forget, because their families haven’t forgotten. And again, I think I want to go back to this notion of, for many of the individuals that we talk to, our Afghan community, and just our immigrant and refugee community at large, the number one thing that we hear from them right now is how deeply terrified they are.

How deeply terrified they are to maintain their status, to protect their family. They are deeply terrified by the very real threat of ICE throughout Iowa. And they’re seeking safety. They’re seeking safety and opportunity and that is something I think so many of us can understand, that idea of, what would I do to protect my family? What would I do to support my family?

And how do I feel seeking safety for them when I was promised it by the government? I supported the US government for years. Sometimes we have individuals that have supported the US government for decades in Afghanistan. And I was promised safety for myself and for my family.

For my wife and for my daughter. And that promise is not being upheld. And I am waiting years and years, and for some, with no real ending in sight. And that promise is one that we made and we should uphold.

ME: And for some reason, most of the American people don’t care, or I like to think they’re ignorant about it.

Elena: I think, yeah, I think it’s when we talk about immigration, especially the immigration legal process, there’s definitely these kind of preconceived notions at times that there’s two ways to do immigration. There is the right way to do it and the wrong way to do it. And the reality is that our immigration system is wholly complex…immigration law, I talk to our lawyers, we’ll often say that immigration law is one of the hardest areas of law to study and to focus in. And right now, under the Trump administration, with over 700 policy actions on immigration alone.

That law is changing every day. Those policies and those parameters change every single day. In the first 100 days of the second Trump administration, there were over 200 policy actions. So that was two per day that our legal team was trying to constantly stay up to date.

That’s insane. That is so many policy actions. That is so many things to keep track of for so many different statuses, for so many individuals of so many different backgrounds…trying to, you know, continue to explain and then have individuals understand what this process is and how it’s impacting them.

It’s time-consuming, and it is extremely, extremely difficult. So the reality and I want individuals to really deeply understand that there is not two ways to do immigration. There’s a multitude of ways to do immigration. And our fundamental belief is that migration is a human right that all individuals deserve to seek safety for themselves and for their families, and that for many of our communities who I want to say intentionally choose Iowa. They choose it because they have heard, and they seek the safety and the calmness and the quiet kind of rural life that so many Iowans hold dear and understand intrinsically. So immigration is complex. There is. There’s not one way or two ways to do it. There is many.

And the system as it exists continues to get more complicated and more unjust for many of our community members.

ME: Well, and it’s all on purpose. They want… they want to stop it, they want to make it as difficult as possible…and so…they want to make people…they want to make it impossible to serve them…they want them to leave despite the fact that we really need workers and the skills that people provide…

And so it’s… and I was trying to get myself not to say that the policy is inherently racist; I was trying not to do that, but then all of a sudden, the images of white South Africans getting on the fast track just popped into my mind, and so it’s clear…I don’t have to try to self-censor myself on the racism accusation.

Elena: Yeah.

ME: And so, because it is, and we just need to be true, you know, to speak the truth about it. And so they want the system, and they pulled away 40% of your funding. So everything that they’re doing, throwing at your organization and at the immigrants, documented and undocumented, is…purposefully making the system not work, be too complicated, and even, having a green card doesn’t mean anything more… anymore. It’s not a promise. You know, going up and doing the right thing, and showing up for your scheduled appointments.

Elena: Yep.

ME: Which is a kind of a contract that you do this, and then, your pathway, your path is this; that’s also a broken promise. America is nothing but a bunch of broken promises.

Elena: Yep.

ME: To people coming here from all over the world to contribute, am I right?

Elena: Yeah, well, I think we saw that. What did the Trump administration campaign on? They campaigned on mass deportations. That was their campaign and their campaign promise. And we have seen that, including here in Iowa.

I want to be very real. The threat of ICE is real in Iowa. ICE is detaining people from Iowa, ICE is deporting people from Iowa, and ICE is deporting people from Iowa to third countries. So that threat is very real. And this mass deportation goal, I think originally we heard about 3,000 a day was the goal. It’s starting to somewhat become actualized. I think I saw a report recently that talked about it was around 1,500 deportations a day.

This is happening to our communities. This is what the Trump administration ran on. And they originally might have said, oh, we’re going after a certain type of immigrant. But there’s every status that is getting attacked. We have just recently, with Supreme Court decision, know that TPS holders are next kind of in line of losing their status.

So not only is it a mass deportation agenda, but it’s a mass de-legalization agenda as well. So for individuals that are moving through the immigration legal process that are, like you said, going to check-ins, are walking through the different pathways that exist.

Not every pathway, of course, leads to citizenship, but hopefully one that leads to some sense of stability and legal status. Those are being ripped out from underneath people as well. So every status is being attacked. And if individuals are not finding that their statuses are ripped out from underneath them, they’re finding that the protections and the parameters around them are absolutely being constrained.

So again, TPS is one that is being pulled out from underneath people. If we talk about the travel ban right now, that’s deeply affecting a lot of our clients. So again, going back to some fathers that are trying to be reunited with wives and with children, they’re unable to because of the travel ban being in effect and how these different policies, again, impact our community members. So these are all policies that are being put forward by the Trump administration to reach their campaign promise of mass deportations.

ME: And TPS, Temporary Protected Status.

Elena: Yes, Temporary Protected Status. And so we have individuals across Iowa. I’m thinking kind of off the top of my head. A big community, at least here in Central Iowa, is Salvadorians. Salvadorians have been in Iowa for quite some time.

But that’s because temporary protected status is for individuals who are unable to return to their countries of origin due to war, you know, conflict, natural disaster, you know, deep unsafety, and really just kind of continued economic instability.

So these, for some, some TPS holders here in Iowa have gotten married, have maybe had children, have bought houses, have really adapted to Iowa and have integrated themselves in their lives here in Iowa and are now finding that their legal status and their legal protections are being ripped out from underneath them… are now going to face the very real reality of becoming undocumented. Not because they chose to be undocumented and not because, you know, that was maybe how they came to Iowa, but because the government is effectively making them.

And once, obviously, they face that reality. Also, then the second real reality for all of our communities, but especially for those that are undocumented. Is then the threat of ICE and ICE’s deportation from Iowa. So yeah, it’s…We have many individuals in Iowa who have TPS that are terrified of what comes next.

ME: Well, when Trump started talking before he even took office, he was talking about mass deportations. And I wrote a piece for the Gazette called Document the Atrocities because I knew that there would be atrocities…And so we’ve seen the atrocities. And people have been documenting them, and that’s not because they read anything I wrote, but it’s just sort of a natural thing to do. But we have to document the atrocities. And so with an increased, and so I looked at, I did the math on what happens. You know, as you increase interactions between the community and police. Okay, and so this is just regular police, not the untrained, you know, people that are ICE, you know, agents now, many of them, the masked, untrained, Proud Boys, or whatever they are, whatever, you know, white nationalist group some of them go to, that before, just our regular police, that whenever there’s…an interaction about 2% of the time, this is the entire population, about 2% of the time, there’s either the threat of force or actual force. 2%. If you’re dealing with a minority, that can double, triple, quadruple. Okay, so the fact of the matter is, increasing ICE presence on the streets leads to more violent interactions as a function of their being there.

And so, we had to expect that it was going to happen. And the more untrained people that we have, or, you know, not trained well enough, there’s going to be more violence. The community is, we are not made safer by ICE agents on the streets.

Elena: Yep. The reality is…We can look at the news. The reality is, is that ICE kills. ICE murders people in the street.

That’s a fact. That is a fact.

We also know that our safest communities are the ones that have the most resources and not the ones that are over-policed. We know that masked ICE agents driving in unmarked cars, which is happening here in Iowa, further harms communities’ trust with local law enforcement. It further prevents individuals from reporting crimes. It further prevents individuals seeking safety from potentially abusive relationships and scenarios. All of this is long documented.

And what we’re continuing to hear now with the continued presence of masked men in the streets with weapons and unmarked cars is that it is deeply confusing to community members to tell who is local police and who is ICE. And so it becomes a point where you almost lump them all together. Who is safe for me to go to when I witness a crime? Who is safe for me to go to when I’m fleeing an abusive and a scary scenario?

If I cannot tell who is who anymore. So it is leading to a reduction in individuals reporting crime. It is leading to a reduction of community trust and safety. And that is not, again, like isolated to one community. It is what we continue to see and hear from across the state of Iowa. And it’s making all of us less safe. ICE makes all of us less safe. ICE kills people. These are facts, and we will continue to see that until real, meaningful actions are taken by elected officials.

ME: You know, one of the ways that I think people process this, that…sort of drives me nuts, and I’ve written a lot about this, is this is all seen at one level by people. These are policies. And they don’t think about the consequences of the policies. Changes in SNAP benefits are policies. They don’t see them as… in terms of the consequences, and the consequences that I like to frame this in is this is all of this. It’s not about policy.

We can’t; it’s not, we can’t reduce it just as policy differences across the parties. No, it’s structural violence, state-supported structural violence against people, against humanity.

Elena: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Yeah. Yep. Yeah.

ME: This is our government doing it, and we are accepting… if we don’t… if we don’t express our dissatisfaction, and demand that it be stopped. We are complicit.

Elena: Yeah, I mean, let’s look at Iowa’s elected leaders at the federal level. Every single one of them voted to give almost a quarter of a trillion dollars to the deportation pipeline.

That is our taxes. What are our taxes going to at a time when individuals are unable to afford groceries? We just talked about SNAP benefits; refugees no longer qualify for SNAP benefits. And so families that were trying to feed themselves are no longer able to, because our government has decided who is and is not worthy of food. Period.

These are real structural things. And the reality for all of our communities is that they know that these are not policies. These are their lived experiences. These are their lives. These are things that directly impact them. So yes, we could talk about what these policies mean, but I agree… very, very important to remember that policies are actions. They are actions, and they are decisions that our elected leaders make on our behalf of how to support or not support our communities. So when all of Iowa’s elected leaders vote in support of giving a quarter of a trillion dollars to the deportation pipeline, including the deportation pipeline here from Iowa, that is an active decision on where our money should go and how we want to lead.

Do we want to lead with cruelty, or do we want to lead with compassion? Do Iowans know what makes our community safer? Of course. We know that immigrants and refugees are fundamental to the state of Iowa. They are important for our future. They help our state thrive. The only reason our state continues to see population growth is because of immigrants and refugees.

The only reason that some rural communities are not dying off or completely going away is because of immigrants and refugees that are moving in. The reason that some schools are not consolidating but rather expanding is because of immigrant and refugee communities that are coming in.

Immigrants and refugees contribute in one year in 2023 alone, over $700 million in state and local taxes. These are all fundamental things that help our state thrive. And all of us can understand what makes our communities safer.

Masked men and unmarked cars patrolling our streets, creating fear and uncertainty and a deep level of unsafety for all of us. Masked men and guns are killing people in the streets.

ME: You know, and…given all the economics of it, and the need, and I hate to keep coming back, you know, to racism is the reason, but let’s just…but racism is the reason, because… we should, you know, denying SNAP benefits, not supporting immigrants and refugees, conservatives… well, they’re not conservatives anymore, there’s nothing conservative about MAGA, but helping…people come here…and contribute in educating them…Republicans will say, well, how are we going to pay for that? Easy. It’s an investment. It’s not a cost. It’s an investment that will yield returns over and over and over again, many, many dollars back from the investment.

Elena: Mm-hmm.

ME: So that… so that means… that means that given that they’re, they’re not wanting those economic and cultural benefits that come, means that they don’t want that investment. They’re denying it. They don’t want it. It’s not important to them. The logic doesn’t matter when the only thing in your head you have is hate.

Elena: Yeah.

ME: And racism.

Elena: Yep. Well, I also think Common Sense Institute put out a really great report, I believe it was earlier this year, that talked about the state demographics and population, but also how all of that ties to our financial future. I believe it was in one year, 4,000 college-educated young people left the state of Iowa.

Iowa is one of the worst in the country for the brain drain. We have young people fleeing, not just leaving, fleeing this state. And with it is a large investment, like you said, into Iowa’s financial future. Immigrant and refugee families are coming to communities and are helping rural Iowa thrive. They are building homes, they are buying homes, they are starting new businesses. 10% of Main Street businesses across Iowa, especially in rural communities, are started and founded by immigrants and refugees. They are putting their kids in schools. Iowa prides ourselves in our long history of good education. It’s hopefully something we could return to, to be prideful of…All of this contributes to, obviously, we can talk about economic, you know, one in four physicians in Iowa is an immigrant. These are all things that, yes, the financial reality of immigrant refugee communities are essential to Iowa, but also the cultural.

Our immigrant refugee community families are coming to Iowa and are staying here for generations. They are intentionally moving to the state to build full and vibrant lives for themselves, for their children, and for their children’s children.

That’s important at a time when we know that so many young people are fleeing Iowa. And the reality is, is that the history of Iowa is one of immigration. And many people that I talk to talk about this beautiful history of immigration in Iowa.

And specifically thinking about under Governor Ray, this idea that what did it look like when bipartisan support here in Iowa meant for welcoming immigrants and refugees? What did that mean for the state? We saw how immigrants and refugees contributed to the state of Iowa.

That’s not a new thing. That’s an important integral part of who Iowa is. And so if we want to be very real about what the future of Iowa is, if we want to be very real about who is moving to Iowa and who’s helping the long-term sustainable future of Iowa, it is immigrants and refugees. And that, at this point, should be a… that is a fact, and we need our politicians to jump onto that fact.

ME: Well, and to help make your point. I remember a couple of years ago I was looking at the top merit scholars, the kids that did the very best, and looking at the and the Register had a story on them, and looking at that, you know, seven or eight of the kids, based upon their names, I concluded that their parents were recent immigrants. I mean, it was from a variety of different countries. And so that just makes the point that they’ll do this.

Here I need to back up just a little bit and say, I’m not saying every Republican is racist.

Elena: Yeah.

ME: I’m saying that the policies of the Trump administration are racist, and all I have to do is look to his main advisor, Stephen Miller, to know his racism. So I’m not calling every Republican, and I’m also saying that they’re fundamentally misled by MAGA media.

Elena: Yeah.

ME: They’re fundamentally…I listen to WHO radio every day, I listen to, I watch Fox News every day, and much to my surprise, I’m forgetting who it was, but you’ll remember the terrible deportations, although most of us have forgotten those terrible deportations to the El Salvadorian prisons…

Elena: Mm-hmm, mm.

ME: by people that weren’t there, and do you remember the name of the president of El Salvador?

Elena: Bukele, I believe.

ME: Well, yeah, he’s just a horrible, horrible man. And on WHO radio, the main radio station in Des Moines, they were celebrating him as a hero. And so there, so our conserve… our MAGA friends, whatever, they’re consuming these lies, they’re consuming this propaganda that makes them hate, when that isn’t their natural state. I don’t believe that for a second.

Elena: Well, I really do believe that the Trump administration and potentially, you know, MAGA as a whole…offered individuals somebody to blame. And it’s not a new trope to blame immigrants. That’s not unique to right now or, quite frankly, even the history of the United States, let alone the history of many countries and governments.

But at a time when a widening gap between the working class and the richest of the rich and all of the billionaires, one of my favorite terms at times is calling them the broligarchs.

Because it is, it’s just this really insane kind of brotherhood of rich billionaires that are putting forward their influence into our politics.

Who do we blame? Individuals that are continuing to consolidate their power and their wealth at the top 1% of 1% of the billionaire class.

Or is it immigrants and refugees who are coming to this country seeking safety and opportunity, and for many truly starting over and at times starting over with little to nothing? Who do we blame for your inability to pay for your groceries?

Who do we blame for your inability to buy a house in your 20s for your new family? Who do we blame for, you know, rising prices in our healthcare and our most basic needs?

Is it immigrants and refugees who understand and who face those very same challenges that you do, or is it this consolidated group of power that is overwhelmingly showing a vast influence into our policies?

I do also want to add, because I think it’s important to say, that here in Iowa, what we continue to see is some of the most anti-immigrant bills and legislation being pushed forward with bipartisan support.

So we are here in Iowa; we are not seeing one party standing up for our most vulnerable communities right now. We are seeing both parties push forward some of the most anti-immigrant policies and bills and actions. I’m thinking specifically of SF 2340, for those of you who may not know SF. 2340, the ACLU of Iowa labeled it as the most anti-immigrant legislation that Iowa has ever seen, that was passed with bipartisan support, including bipartisan support of individuals that are running for some high office here in the state of Iowa right now. We, with our lovely lawyers at the ACLU of Iowa and also the American Immigration Council, have currently enjoined that, and we will continue to fight that legislation. So it is not taken into effect because of our lawsuit. Again, this is passed with bipartisan support here in Iowa, and I think it’s important to mention that.

Because what does it mean when our politicians do not stand up for our most vulnerable communities? What does it mean when it is potentially not quote-unquote politically advantageous for them to stand up for individuals who are deeply suffering right now? And we can go back to, again, like we talked about…who are the financial and cultural and sustainable future of Iowa, of course. But what does it mean when bipartisan support is directly attacking our most vulnerable communities?

Who else is vulnerable right now? And to what means do we think that the current administration is going to stop at denying refugees SNAP benefits? Do we think that they’re going to stop there, or do we think they’re going to start expanding and blocking other individuals’ access to SNAP benefits? So I think it says a lot about those in an elected office when they kind of sign on and support for these anti-immigrant bills and policies, because to me it signals—if you are not able to stand up for the most directly impacted and the most vulnerable communities right now, why would I think that you would stand up for me as well?

ME: Wow, great point. I just want to say a couple of things, mainly about…a different kind of violence that people don’t think about as violence, and then also about history.

Elena: Yep.

ME: Every border, when it’s put in place, is an act of violence. It separates people. Every border. Every border. In the Middle East, here, when the southern border was just dropped down on New Mexico, California, Arizona, and Texas, when that was dropped down, that separated families. That has generational effects. If you look at, well, when there used to be phone books, you could look at the phone book and Santa Fe (New Mexico) and Ascensión in Mexico, and you’d see the same names.

Elena: Yep. I do want to say you’re dating yourself a bit with the phone book reference.

ME: Phone books, that’s all right. Everything I do dates myself. But so we need to think about them as acts of violence all around the world. Historically. Now they (borders) seem like they were there forever. No, and there’s generational trauma and consequences economically, whatever.

Elena: A hundred percent. Yeah.

ME: The other thing is, those…people don’t want to accept responsibility for history, and I sort of understand it, but we need to recognize it. No, I don’t understand it; just admit it. It’s just like Western civilizations marched around the world extracting resources under a capitalist system with little or no concern for the natural environment or the humans that were there. There’s no consideration. They milked those places dry with no consideration of human or environmental consequences. They marched on, and they called it progress and civilization, and in its wake.

Elena: Yep.

ME: Are countries that their resources had been taken away. The people that used to be able to, you know, farm and, you know, live their lives, they’re just, you know…the whole economies were destroyed. And yet we act like we — and now with climate refugees, I mean, what are there? A couple of million climate refugees? And while the Western countries…

Elena: Yep. Huge.

ME: You know, built on coal and oil and the resources of those other nations, there are consequences, and they’re coming home to roost now.

Elena: Yeah. Okay.

ME: …and we need to recognize that those people coming over, looking for safety and sanctuary and a good life, may well be only doing that because of the damage…our country has done to those other countries.

Elena: Absolutely, absolutely. No, I think it’s, it’s, no, I absolutely agree because I think we talk to so many…

ME: Yeah, so share your thoughts.

Elena: I’m thinking of a sticker that we have that says migration is an act of love that we pass out at certain events. It is an act of love. You know, seeking migration is often for safety and opportunity for, again, for an individual and their family.

But the act of migration is often, because of compounding factors that are pushing people from their communities. So many of us, you know, like staying in the community you were born in is becoming a more and more rare thing.

So many of us moved from where we were originally born. Maybe we’ve moved here in the United States, moved from state to state. I’ve moved from state to state, from community to community, and even within a state. Maybe you lived in the eastern part of Iowa, and now you live in the western, or maybe you lived kind of in a rural part of Iowa, and now you’re here in Polk County or in Des Moines at whole. A lot of us kind of can some way understand this idea of moving, and moving for what?

Moving for opportunity, moving for a new adventure or whatnot. The reality for many of our immigrants, or what many of our immigrant refugees know, is that they are pushed out of their communities. They are pushed out of their countries. And, like you said, it is sometimes it is a kind of recent thing. I think sometimes we look at climate refugees as a maybe more newer concept, a burgeoning population, of course, but that’s a kind of newer form of migration for some. But it is often not something that just happens quickly, like war and unrest is usually we can trace a whole history. We can trace back to colonization. I’m thinking for some of our Congolese community members.

That is not just, oh, in the past couple years, things have become unsafe for me. It is compounding. Ten, you know, decades, hundreds of years plus of deep instability in safety concerns for themselves and their families. So yes, individuals are migrating, are moving here to Iowa, here to the United States as a whole. But for many, that is because they’ve been left with little to no other choice.

They are fleeing violence and unrest that is often compounded into a whole history that is pushing them out from their communities. Immigration is hard, like, starting over in a new community, in a new language, in a new culture, in a new land, you know, I think here in Iowa, with all of the cornfields, like, that’s a whole new thing for some individuals who maybe came from more mountainous regions, or came from close to the coast of their country. It is very difficult, and it is not a decision that people make lightly.

It takes a hell of a lot of…strength. Physical, mental, and emotional to immigrate and to migrate, to start over for yourself and for your family, and it is not one that people take lightly. And so, yes, I agree with everything you said, and I think it is… it is…I think also why it is imperative that we have such understanding and compassion.

Because what would we do if a war broke out here in Iowa?

What would we have to do for ourselves and for the safety of our family? If a natural disaster completely ransacked our state and made it uninhabitable, like, what would we do then for ourselves and for our family? And yes, you know, sometimes it takes putting ourselves in people’s shoes to have that empathy, but I also don’t think we always should have to put ourselves in other people’s shoes to have empathy. We should just know that migration is a deeply, is a deep and complicated choice that many people are making, and often one born out of fear, and for individuals that are, again seeking safety and refuge.

ME: Thank you. Is there anything we can do to help?

Elena: Yeah, I think at this moment, we’ve gotten that question a lot of times. And maybe I’m just thinking because it is an election season. And I was just kind of reading what some candidates were saying recently. We’ve talked about how policies are real lived experiences for people. This is a moment while individuals are on the campaign trail and are running to represent us and represent all Iowans.

To ask individuals running for office, what is your stance on immigration? What is your stance on ICE being in our community? You know, for individuals that have maybe held office, that have voted in support of a quarter of a trillion dollars to the deportation pipeline.

Why did you do that? How is that making my ability to afford my groceries, to afford putting gas in my car any easier? I’m thinking for other individuals maybe who don’t currently hold office, and kind of one of these things I’ve started to hear a bit more of this talking point is, promising, you know, if I were to be elected, I would put real, kind of, parameters around ICE.

ICE killing people is not new. ICE, you know, harming communities is not new, and it’s not new to Iowa. Iowa has had ICE for well before the second Trump administration; ICE has been ransacking and ripping apart families here in Iowa. What are the real steps that you’re going to put into place if you were to hold elected office and represent me and my community? To protect the future of Iowa, to protect all individuals that call Iowa home.

We also just recently put out a report. You can find that on our website that talks about what ICE looks like here in Iowa, and specifically kind of looking at within the first year of the Trump administration, the second term, and pulling what some of that data shows. And the data shows really concretely that ICE is often going after a specific type of individual predominantly. The average age is 34, Latino man, and that seems to be this really kind of large, largest group when it comes to what ICE detainment here in Iowa looks like, and also what the report has found that ICE is able to be effective here in Iowa through local collaboration. So eight county jails are currently detaining for ICE for over 72 hours. Talk to your local sheriff, talk to your local police department, use our report and use the data set before you to ask questions about how is ICE able to be as effective as it is here in Iowa.

And what are the ways that our community can help protect all individuals and protect all of our communities that are seeking safety and really just, you know, the freedom to thrive here in Iowa? I’ll also mention, you know, Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice is a nonprofit. We are always looking for allies to be united with us in this cause. If you’re wanting to volunteer, if you’re wanting to donate, if you’re wanting to really kind of concretely get involved, go to our website. We have links for everything.

And really remember that, I think, again, as I said before, how we stand up and speak for our most vulnerable communities right now is absolutely a reflection of us and our values. And how do we want to lead? Do we want to accept what has been happening? Or do we want to start leading with compassion and understanding as opposed to cruelty? These policies and its impact in our communities are absolutely a reflection of us as Iowans, of us as Americans.

And do… and do we accept that, or do we not accept that? And how do we want to be remembered in this moment? By… by standing for our most vulnerable communities, or by accepting the continued attacks against them?

ME: Well, with that, we’ll close. Thank you so much for your important work.

Elena: Yes, thank you for the time to chat, and I appreciate your questions, and I appreciate your support for our communities right now. It is conversations like this that we hope sheds light to what all of our communities are facing.

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p.s. If you follow Iowa politics, you will appreciate the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative podcast Iowa Down Ballot with Dave Price, Kathie Obradovich, and Laura Belin. I listen and learn every week.

My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time donation here.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

I’m also proud to announce I’m partnering with my friend Nathan Sage, former Democratic candidate for Senate in Iowa, and Spencer Dirks in a new podcast/video hosted on Substack and YouTube called Sage Against the Machine. If you enjoy my political writing, you will enjoy Sage Against the Machine.

And I’m now on TikTok as a member of the Iowa Creator Corp, believe it or not. Here you go.

Note: Iowa Democratic Chair Rita Hart is scheduled to be on former Democratic candidate for Senate Nathan Sage’s podcast “Sage Against the Machine” later today, August 4. It will post at 5:00 pm CT. I’m part of the podcast team, and I sent a draft of this column to Rita, and I have no doubt that we will discuss this issue. Please subscribe, share, like, and comment.

Preface: I understand and appreciate the perspectives of Iowa Democrats who believe that the caucuses are flawed, and that we shouldn’t hold them. The best argument I have seen against the caucuses has been in a column and the associated comments that Iowa City Democrat John Deeth wrote and published by Laura Belin’s Bleeding Heartland and shared to the website’s Facebook page.

Regardless, Iowa Democrats are contemplating going “rogue” in an effort to retain our historic role in the election process. According to the Des Moines Register, the penalties for going rogue are:

“Under the rules the committee approved, the DNC would not seat any of a rogue state’s delegates to the national convention and impose a $270,000 fine.

It would also block candidates campaigning in unauthorized states from appearing in DNC-approved debates and prevent them from earning delegates from any early state, not just the one in which they campaigned.”

I don’t know if the fine matters to the IDP, or if the DNC would actually prevent candidates who come to Iowa from appearing in debates, or in seating delegates from any early state.

In an earlier episode of Sage Against the Machine, I suggested that going rogue was a bad idea. Now I’m not so sure. Below are my thoughts on the issue now.

On July 24, the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the DNC proposed six early states for the Democratic Presidential nominating calendar. The DNC will make its final decision this month. Despite the historic role Iowa has played in the electoral process, our bid was rejected. The early states and proposed dates are:

• South Carolina, January 22, 2028

• Nevada, February 1, 2028

• New Hampshire, February 8, 2028

• New Mexico, February 15, 2028

• Michigan, February 22, 2028

• Virginia, February 29, 2028

Twelve states applied to be on the early primary calendar.

West: Nevada and New Mexico

South: Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia

Midwest: Illinois, Iowa and Michigan

East: New Hampshire and Delaware

This list suggests that the Rules and Bylaws Committee is more interested in geography and representation than in taking back the House, Senate and ultimately the presidency. I understand and appreciate the committee’s desire for diverse states to be represented, but what’s more important? Representation, or victory?

I suggest the primary criteria should be what will help Democrats win. If winning is the goal, putting the primaries in states that are now competitive and/or in traditional swing states makes sense. There are also ways to win that increase minority representation.

Consider the above NY Times maps of competitive races in the House and Senate last updated this July 16.

In 2024, the swing states were widely considered to be Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

A primary in any one of these states is a good choice. Yet, only Nevada and Michigan made the primary list. Looking at the maps above, Michigan in particular is a great choice for a primary, especially given the four competitive House and one Senate seat.

New Mexico and Nevada were chosen in part to give Hispanic voices more power. However, if that and winning were the goals, Nevada works and New Mexico, as a reliably blue state, doesn’t. To give Hispanic voices more power and help Democrats win, the competitive states of Arizona and Texas (I know they and other states I’ll mention didn’t apply or have circumstances that would preclude them from holding primaries, but work with me in the abstract) would do both. Democratic candidates for House and Senate would be boosted, as would the governor races and statehouse races. Arizona has two contested House races, while Texas has three competitive House races and a Senate seat.

Instead, the DNC plans to burn millions of dollars and countless hours of staff and candidate time in New Mexico. Even increasingly flippable Florida with its three competitive House races would have been a better choice.

South Carolina will lead it all off. The state played a historic role in Biden’s victory in 2020. Yet, if history mattered, Iowa and New Hampshire would be holding the first-in-the-nation caucus and primary, respectively, in 2028, and Iowa isn’t.

South Carolina was selected, in part, to give Black voices more power. If giving Black voices more power AND winning were the only goal, either North Carolina and/or Georgia would have primaries, not South Carolina. North Carolina has two competitive House races as well as a Senate seat in play. Georgia has a Senate seat (I recognize that there are constraints that might preclude a primary in Georgia).

Georgia’s population is 32.34% Black; North Carolina is 21.59%, and South Carolina is 25.24%.

If representation AND winning matter, South Carolina isn’t the best choice. Go with Georgia and/or North Carolina.

Like New Mexico, millions of dollars and candidate time will be burned in South Carolina with little influence on the outcome.

Is the DNC interested in winning?

Of the final two proposed primary states I haven’t yet discussed, New Hampshire has one Senate seat in play, and Virginia has two House seats.

At least they have seats in play.

But if this were a presidential election year, and the only goal were to win the presidency, the House, the Senate, and gain representation in state legislatures, look at the maps above, and tell me where you would hold primaries?

Look at Pennsylvania, a swing state. Four House seats in play. Pennsylvania should be an early primary state. Also consider Ohio with two House seats and a Senate seat in play.

And look at Iowa—the state that launched Barack Obama. We have three House seats and a Senate seat that are competitive. We also have a tight Governor’s race.

Iowa lost it’s first in the nation caucuses in part because we are considered too white, because the DNC shoved an untested app down our throats that didn’t work in 2020, and because Joe Biden didn’t like that he finished fourth here during the caucuses.

If they want to win, the DNC needs to throw out the criteria it used to select these states. The primary criterion should be winning. Iowa should be in the mix. And probably Ohio, Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, and Georgia.

The Rules and Bylaws committee only got two states, Michigan and Nevada, right, out of the six states they picked. Maybe three, with Virginia. Start over, and forget geography. All that matters is winning.

Ironically, the DNC is tossing out Iowa when we may be needed most.

And I ask you, DNC, do you think the people of New Mexico and South Carolina would rather have a primary that doesn’t help Democrats win, or victories that gain control of the Senate, House, and the Presidency?

As noted, Iowa may go “rogue” and reject the recommendation. Also, if the Democratic Party of Iowa goes “rogue,” it isn’t just an attempt to save our historic role in the process; it’s much more than that. Iowa going “rogue” may be the only way for us to retake the Senate and House, and ultimately, the presidency.

Also, if the DNC doesn’t allow Democratic Presidential candidates to come to Iowa, or any other state that goes “rogue,” they will guarantee a landscape where Trump and other surrogates flood the state to rally their base while nationally prominent Democrats are banned from coming to support Democratic candidates in our highly competitive races.

Not only is this likely unconstitutional, it’s also another gift to Republicans.

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart called the decision a “slap in the face” to Iowa and Midwesterners, and she said the committee “lied” to Iowa when it promised an open process.

It’s not only a slap in the face to Iowans and Midwesterners—having a nominating process that risks our chances of victory is an affront to Democrats everywhere.

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p.s. If you follow Iowa politics, you will appreciate the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative podcast Iowa Down Ballot with Dave Price, Kathie Obradovich, and Laura Belin. I listen and learn every week.

p.p.s. I’d love to see you at the Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ Retreat in September. It’s a life-changing event, and there’s still time to register!

My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time donation here.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

I’m also proud to announce I’m partnering with my friend Nathan Sage, former Democratic candidate for Senate in Iowa, and Spencer Dirks in a new podcast/video hosted on Substack and YouTube called Sage Against the Machine. If you enjoy my political writing, you will enjoy Sage Against the Machine.

And I’m now on TikTok as a member of the Iowa Creator Corp, believe it or not. Here you go.

Background:

I was teaching at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and moonlighting as a nighttime cab driver whenever I could to help make ends meet. Annie was teaching continuing ed computer classes at the university while pregnant with our son Asa in 2001, and started fainting at work. She wasn’t salaried, and had no benefits, so I needed a second job. What seemed at the time to be a “crisis” became a wonderful episode in my life that still resonates with me today. Out of that experience came a book of short stories and poetry called, uninspiringly, Yellow Cab (paperback or ebook available for order at your local bookstore). It was staged as a play in Albuquerque and had 12 sold-out performances. Ann Wilkinson turned it into a play called “Dead Man’s Curve” at Central College in Pella, and it also played in Des Moines.

Even more significantly, in what I later called a “giant yellow confessional,” I entered a different world most people don’t know about to which I still feel like I belong.

I heard on the radio the other day that Rod Stewart was coming to the Iowa State Fair in August, which made me think of the following story, which is very important to me, but I’ve never told it before. I hope you enjoy it.

I jumped on the call to the DoubleTree in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was late July in 2004. As I pulled in under the canopy, four young women in their 20’s or 30’s waved at me and piled into my Yellow cab. Three sat in the back, and one sat next to me. They told me that they wanted to go to the ABQ Journal Pavilion, an outdoor amphitheater south of town where concerts were held, to go listen to country music star Tim McGraw (these were back in the days when newspapers were profitable enough to put their names on concert venues—it’s called the First Financial Credit Union Amphitheater now).

Bingo, I thought. If I remember correctly, it was about a 50-dollar run, which was a lot of money then and still is.

The women talked all of the way about music and artists they knew. The way they talked with each other made me think that they hadn’t known each other long. They talked about music in ways that I didn’t understand and marvelled at. When they started talking about artists they had played for in the past, I was so, so curious about them; I waited for a lull in their conversation to ask for more details about who they were and why they were in town.

They told me their names that I have since forgotten, and that they were part of Rod Stewart’s band who was going to play at the Pavilion in a couple of days. They told me that they wanted to check out the venue, and that they wanted to learn more about Tim McGraw and his music, on the chance they might be on the stage playing with him someday. My main takeaway was that they were there to learn from McGraw.

As we pulled into the entrance to the Pavilion, the woman sitting next to me asked if I would come back and get them, which would be another 50 bucks, which would be great. I told her I would, but only if they would only get into my cab and not get into another if one was available. When another cab driver steals our fare, we call it “waterhauling,” and say we were “waterhauled" if it happens. The worst name one cab driver could call another was “waterhauler.” We considered “waterhaulers” thieves. I was told the term comes from fishermen, who throw out their nets, haul them in, and find no fish. If you find no fish, you are hauling water.

I explained waterhauling to her, and she promised they would wait. I could tell from her face she was telling me the truth, so I gave her my cell number.

Sure enough, a few hours later she called me, and I picked them up. All the way back to the Doubletree, they talked about the concert in analytical ways I didn’t understand and never will.

As the woman who sat beside me on the way there and back was paying me, she asked if I wanted tickets to the Rod Stewart concert, and that if I did, she would leave two tickets for me at the will-call window.

“Sure,” I said.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Mike Trujillo,” I said.

Mike Trujillo was probably my best fellow cab driver friend. I’m not sure why I said his name, but I knew that I couldn’t go to the concert because I had to be driving my cab to make money. And his name just popped into my head. It turns out he wanted to go.

A couple of days after the concert, I saw Mike about three in the morning in the predictable lull that happens after the bars close and before airport runs start. We parked our cars close together where we could talk to each other through our driver’s side windows and still listen to and answer our radios. I asked him if he had enjoyed the concert, and if they were good seats. Mike said something like:

“The concert was fantastic, the seats were in the second row so we could see everything, and I took my ex-wife, and you don’t know this, Bob, but we lost a baby years ago, which is probably part of the reason she’s my ex-wife, and our song ever since the baby died is “Forever Young,” and so when Rod sang it, we held hands and cried so thank you.

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And here’s Rod singing “Forever Young,” and if you listen, the words will take on new meaning, maybe.

p.s. If you follow Iowa politics, you will appreciate the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative podcast Iowa Down Ballot with Dave Price, Kathie Obradovich, and Laura Belin. I listen and learn every week.

p.p.s. I’d love to see you at the Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ Retreat in September. It’s a life-changing event, and there’s still time to register!

My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time donation here.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

I’m also proud to announce I’m partnering with my friend Nathan Sage, former Democratic candidate for Senate in Iowa, and Spencer Dirks in a new podcast/video hosted on Substack and YouTube called Sage Against the Machine. If you enjoy my political writing, you will enjoy Sage Against the Machine.

And I’m now on TikTok as a member of the Iowa Creator Corp, believe it or not. Here you go.

I saw the men on the roof in Lawrence, Kansas, on Saturday. I looked at the weather app on my phone: 92 degrees and no wind speed. The heat was brutal. So was the pitch of the roof.

I’m an old carpenter who has roofed—I don’t know how many roofs when I worked with my Dad as a kid. The men were working on what looked to be a 10-pitch roof.

“Roof pitch (or slope) is the steepness of a roof, usually expressed as a ratio of vertical rise to horizontal run. For example, a 4/12 pitch means the roof rises 4 inches vertically for every 12 inches it extends horizontally.”

Most roofs today (except for the McMansions) are only a 4-pitch, and are easy to work on. 6-pitches are a little harder, but for the most part, it can be done safely. 8-pitches are difficult, and 10-pitches are extremely difficult, and as you can see, working on them is dangerous. If you have never done it, you won’t know how working on these kinds of roofs punishes your whole body, but especially your ankles. If the roof is any steeper, harnesses are needed.

We were helping a family member move from Iowa City to Lawrence, and it turned out that her duplex is getting a new roof.

We parked near the duplex, got out of our vehicles, and the other family members who were helping her walked toward it, while I lagged behind. Two young roofers, maybe in their 20s, walked past me to climb up the ladders. Both nodded at me.

Me: I used to do that, I said, looking at the roof.

First Man, smiling: Come on up and help if you want.

Me: My roofing days are over, I think...

Second man to the first: He’s done his time…

I don’t remember how young I was when I first started working construction for my Dad. He built houses. I was on the jobsite for years, but my first real paycheck was when I was 15. I worked for him many summers and one full winter when I wasn’t in school until I went off for grad school in Seattle in my early 20s.

Just like these men, we worked in the heat and cold. It didn’t matter how hot it was, and if you haven’t worked outside, day in and day out, for weeks, months, years on end, you have no idea how hard it is to do in extreme weather. It beats on you, it wears on you, and yet you continue because it’s a job, and because of the pride you take in your work. I remember telling myself that if I ever had an inside job, where I only had to walk between my car and work, or home, or the store, whatever, I would never complain about the weather. And this is me not complaining about the weather.

Eventually, most people on the laborer side of construction take other jobs, because it isn’t a job for old men. Except sometimes.

An older man went to his truck, and then came back to observe the younger men still working on the roof. I walked up to him and said something like, “you guys are tough. It’s 92 degrees…” He nodded, took the compliment, and smiled. We spoke for a couple of minutes when he said some things that stuck with me, and he agreed to let me record a brief interview.

His name is Luc Vandebuerie.

Below is a recording of our conversation, followed by a lightly edited transcript. As always, please listen to the recording if you can—there is nothing like the human voice.

Me: Okay, so how long have you been doing this?

Luc: About 53 years.

Me: Started when you were 15.

Luc: 15, yep. I’m ‘71 now, yeah.

Me: And you’ve gone through some health challenges.

Luc: Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah. Six heart attacks, colon cancer. But still going at it.

Me: Tell me why.

Luc: I have to; due to my life decisions I made in the past, I’m not able to retire. I have to keep working.

Me: There’s a lot of us like that.

Luc: Yeah.

Me: Yeah.

Luc: Yeah.

Me: And you don’t mind me publishing any of this.

Luc: No, I don’t have any problem with that...

Me: Okay. And so what’s your company? How can people reach you, or do you have enough business?

Luc: Well, we got quite a bit of biz, but we’d always use more, you know. So my company name is DACA Roofing, D A C A Roofing, and we’re based in Baldwin City, Kansas.

Me: And you’re doing this in Lawrence.

Luc: Well, we’re doing- we’re traveling also, if we have to.

Me: Okay. And do you have a phone number you want to share for your business?

Luc: Sure. My cell phone is 404-391-3187.

Me: Well, tell me about these young guys that are working for you. They’re working real hard.

Luc: Oh yeah. These are good... This… got a very, very good crew. They’re all good guys, hard-working, and trustworthy. And that is kind of unusual these days to find.

Me: Yeah, they didn’t slow down. They just kept working…and it’s…

Luc: No, they just keep going.

Me: And it’s 92 degrees.

Luc: Yep.

Me: All right.

Luc: Yeah, working early in the morning if we can and then until it gets really too hot, and then we’ll just call it a day.

Me: Great. Well, thank you for your time.

Luc: Well, thank you. Appreciate it.

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p.s. If you follow Iowa politics, you will appreciate the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative podcast Iowa Down Ballot with Dave Price, Kathie Obradovich, and Laura Belin. I listen and learn every week.

p.p.s. I’d love to see you at the Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ Retreat in September. It’s a life-changing event, and there’s still time to register!

My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time donation here.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

I’m also proud to announce I’m partnering with my friend Nathan Sage, former Democratic candidate for Senate in Iowa, and Spencer Dirks in a new podcast/video hosted on Substack and YouTube called Sage Against the Machine. If you enjoy my political writing, you will enjoy Sage Against the Machine.

And I’m now on TikTok as a member of the Iowa Creator Corp, believe it or not. Here you go.

I interviewed Lindsey Graham at the VFW in Knoxville in 2015 when he was running for President, where he met with a group of maybe 30 people, which isn’t a bad crowd. I was working for KNIA/KRLS radio in Knoxville and Pella at the time. This was back in the day when Republicans had ideas worth discussing, before dehumanizing people was at the center of every conversation, and before nearly every utterance coming from their mouths was misdirection, a partial truth, or a lie.

Those were the good old days before Trump came into office.

I don’t remember much of what Graham and I talked about, and the internet isn’t helping me. It gobbled up and disappeared our 15-minute or so interview, as well as the photos and video I took, sending it who knows where. I tried the Wayback Machine, with no success, which I attribute to user error.

I only remember two things about that interview. First, after he was introduced and started talking, he told us that during his time being driven to Knoxville, he spent most of that time on the phone with Bibi Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel. Barack Obama was president at the time, and all I could think of was how Graham was likely undermining Obama’s foreign policy.

The second thing I remember is that it was a very hot summer day, the VFW had no air conditioning, and that as we sat, side by side, in metal chairs, and as I held the mic between us, sweat dripped from his upper lip onto the floor beneath us.

Drip, drip, drip.

When the interview was over, there was a small puddle of sweat on the floor beneath him.

I have read numerous articles about Graham’s death where they discussed his life and legacy; one of the best is this overview in the New York Times. In the reporting immediately after his death, most coverage was respectful. As time passed, reporting was still respectful, but laid out the complexity of his years serving his country. I have seen few reports critical of his legacy. Many reports have highlighted his early criticism of Trump, and his later conversion to being a Trump supporter/advisor (suck up). Most praised his success in getting Trump to support Ukraine.

There is a much darker side to Graham’s legacy than is being reported, which I will get to below. But first, here is Minnesota’s Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar’s eulogy to Graham:

It was a shock this morning to find out that my friend Lindsey Graham has died. He was a man who loved his work, his country, and his family. He didn’t have an easy life growing up and to me that explained a lot about him as well as his devotion to his remaining family members including his sister. It also explained his almost kid-like exuberance about his job and the responsibilities he was given (even in his sixties he would get off a plane in a foreign land with a twinkle in his eye and look at me as if to say, can you believe we are actually here and doing this?).

Lindsey was loyal to friends and causes. He was willing to work on gnarly issues and take on (at times) political risks for the right reasons. It is fitting that he died shortly after visiting Ukraine, one of those causes he would stand up for through thick and thin.

Much will be said in the coming days about his relationships with others—President Trump and John McCain for instance—but what can’t be forgotten is the reason why so many people he worked with—from senators to staff—will mourn his loss: Lindsey had a zest for life and the Senate that made you want to get to work on a bill with him or at least debate him. He brought joy to his job.

Lindsey Graham was the one who was willing to work with me (when so few would) on helping the Afghan refugees. I remember standing outside of a little phone booth in the Republican cloakroom last year as he spoke with the Vice President, holding up a sign that said “Save the Afghans” and he put the phone on hold and said “OK OK I will go on your bill even if it gets me in trouble.” Or his early willingness to lead on big tech bills, including repealing the provision that protects them from consumer suits.

But mostly my fond memories of spending time with Lindsey (and we travelled the world with John McCain) was not about the ups and downs of his policy positions. It was about his love for the world, his loyalty to hard causes and his friends, and the pure joy he brought to life. I will miss him.

Klobuchar’s eulogy is whitewashing, the act of deliberately concealing or minimizing someone’s moral failings to make them appear virtuous.

Klobuchar, in just four paragraphs, has helped normalize the damage the Trump administration, with the support of Graham and other Republicans, has done. Let’s begin with the cuts to USAID (costs in 2024 were a mere 0.3% of the federal budget) that led to hundreds of thousands, and eventually will lead to millions of deaths.

Most of these deaths are of children.

And Klobuchar says Graham brought “joy to his job,” and that he had a “zest for life?”

Does she not see the horror? The “zest” for whose life?

She’s not alone. This part of Graham’s legacy goes unsaid in all eulogies and media reporting of his death that I have seen.

And there’s more. Include the rise of right wing “Christian” nationalism, the DOGE cuts that dismantled important parts of government and gave access to all of our data to Elon Musk, the crushing of much of the legacy media, the crippling tariffs, the war with Iran, the SNAP cuts, the pardoning of January 6 insurrectionists, the attack on civil rights, on voting rights, on history, on immigrants, on our educational system, on scientific research, the Trump family grift, and enabling the rise of an authoritarian state ran by a madman in decline.

Lindsey Graham supported and/or enabled it all.

And in her eulogy, Klobuchar whitewashes it and, in so doing, dishonors the victims. As does much of the news media.

Michael Fanone, a D.C. Metro police officer present during the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, had a different take.

Fanone was “assaulted by rioters, dragged down the Capitol steps, beaten with pipes, stunned with a Taser, sprayed with chemical irritants, and threatened with his own gun after overt verbal abuse and physical assault from many attendees. Fanone suffered burns, a heart attack, a concussion, a traumatic brain injury, and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the attack.”

Chuck Todd, on his podcast the other day, said that he felt that Graham flipped to support Trump and that he had worked to contain Trump’s worst tendencies. I’m sure that many Republicans in Congress justify their support for Trump internally because they feel they can do the same.

I talked with my son Asa the other day about this. Asa is as informed about national and international politics as anyone I know.

He disagrees. He says Trump originally was an isolationist who promised no more “forever wars.” It didn’t work out that way. Since Trump returned to office, we have been involved in nearly a dozen conflicts around the world, including the war with Iran and the horrors of Gaza. Graham, a well-known war hawk, has been an important advisor to Trump on foreign affairs.

Politico, in a column titled “How Lindsey Graham got Trump to yes on Iran,” reports that Graham continuously urged Trump to directly engage the regime, famously advising him, "Mr. President, you want to have your fingerprints on this".

If justice is ever served to the Trump administration, most Congressional Republicans will say they were only following orders. Graham helped draft the orders.

Asa believes that if Trump had ignored Lindsey Graham, our foreign policy would be much less hawkish, and that Trump’s policies would have been more aligned with what most Americans want.

Republicans would also have been in a much more powerful position coming into the midterms.

Maybe Klobuchar and much of the media didn’t recognize that whitewashing Graham’s legacy opens the door to whitewashing the entire legacy of MAGA.

I think it’s more simple than that. I think she likely didn’t want to speak ill of the dead and didn’t understand the consequences of not doing so.

When I was about 20, I read Theodore Dreiser’s great novel, “An American Tragedy.” It was published in 1925. I read it because someone told me that I should read as many great novels as I could before I was 25 because I would be a better person because of it. So I did. The protagonist of “An American Tragedy” is a young man who, when confronted with life’s challenges, makes decisions of which several have terrible consequences. As he moves through life, the reader understands why the protagonist made every decision he did, even if we don’t necessarily agree with it. Regardless, by the end of the book, we realize that he has become a terrible person, and by association, intellectually, so has the reader.

I don’t think Lindsey Graham was an evil man. Because of the consequences of the decisions he made, however, his legacy is monstrous.

I understand the desire not to speak ill of the dead. But we must speak the truth about the legacy of their lives. If not, we dishonor their victims.

The truth is that there is blood on the hands of Lindsey Graham. And Donald Trump. And Congressional Republicans.

Buckets of blood. Swimming pools of blood. Lakes of blood.

When I lie sleepless in bed at night with my window open, I hear the screams of their victims, mostly children, in the wind.

Does Amy Klobuchar?

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p.s. If you follow Iowa politics, you will appreciate the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative podcast Iowa Down Ballot with Dave Price, Kathie Obradovich, and Laura Belin. I listen and learn every week.

p.p.s. I’d love to see you at the Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ Retreat in September. It’s a life-changing event, and there’s still time to register!

My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time donation here.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

I’m also proud to announce I’m partnering with my friend Nathan Sage, former Democratic candidate for Senate in Iowa, and Spencer Dirks in a new podcast/video hosted on Substack and YouTube called Sage Against the Machine. If you enjoy my political writing, you will enjoy Sage Against the Machine.

And I’m now on TikTok as a member of the Iowa Creator Corp, believe it or not. Here you go.

I seldom write stories about events where other good reporters are there. I figure, why bother when there are other reporters around who will probably do a better job covering the event than I will and probably do it faster. Besides, life is too short to be redundant.

And, I was right. Doug Burns with the Iowa Mercury, Laura Belin with Bleeding Heartland, Kay Henderson with Radio Iowa, Maya Marchel Hoff with the Des Moines Register, Isabella Luu with Iowa Public Radio, Dave Price and Isabella Warren with Gray Media, Erin Murphy with the Gazette, Kadin Luhmann with the Iowa Capital Dispatch, Skyler Stamps with WHO-13, Pepper Purpura with KCCI-TV, and Skylar Tallal with Iowa News Now all offered excellent coverage. Sorry, I’m sure I missed someone.

I was also there, in part, to join my friends and colleagues with the Iowa Creator Corp to help empower progressive voices on social media.

Even though I didn’t plan to write a story, I was lucky enough that one found me.

Things were starting to get underway, and I found myself just inside a doorway to the ballroom as we started to say the Pledge of Allegiance where I was tucked in a pocket of people. Since our eyes were focused on the front of the room, I didn’t see who was around me, or if I knew them. But we were so close, I could feel the warmth of their bodies.

I was still holding my hand to my chest when the pledge was coming to an end, and from across the ballroom, as we repeated, “with liberty and justice,” I heard someone or more than one person emphasize the “FOR ALL” at the end of the pledge.

A voice immediately to my left quietly repeated, “for all,” adding a “hmmm” at the end. I turned my head to see that person was Adam Peters, Democratic candidate for Iowa House District 97, including what I see on the map, eastern and central Davenport in Scott County. Google tells me the district is blue, and the Iowa Secretary of State website says Adam is running unopposed.

I believe that I first met Adam before the primaries last fall at the Iowa Capitol. My first impression was that he is confident, curious, smart, and kind. I also thought that he would be an important voice in the legislature. I still do.

Adam is also gay.

I quietly whispered/told Adam that I had some background on why the person(s) on the other side of the room emphasised: “FOR ALL.”

In October of 2019, 100 days before the Iowa Caucuses, then Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi was in Des Moines to speak with the Polk County Dems. I had no plans to attend, but our friend Sean Bagniewski had some extra tickets, so I went. Sean represents Iowa House District 35 in Beaverdale.

So I had a nice dinner with some people I knew and some I didn’t. I planned to remember everyone I sat with, but since my brain is leaky, I forgot.

One thing I haven’t forgotten is that at the end of us reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, at the end, a voice, maybe two or three at a table nearby, said, “with liberty and justice FOR ALL.”

I asked Sean about it, and he said Polk County resident Cate Guthrie Scanes was behind encouraging people to say the FOR ALL part loudly.

I met with Cate and she explained to me that she wanted to emphasize that “liberty and justice” was FOR ALL, because not everyone is receiving it, in particular various minority groups. If we are going to pledge that liberty and justice is FOR ALL, we should follow through; otherwise the pledge rings hollow.

It was during this time that San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was blackballed from the NFL for taking a knee during the National Anthem in protest of police brutality and racial inequality. This was his First Amendment right.

Of course, that didn’t matter to President Trump as he weighed in.

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’”

I loved Cate’s highlighting “FOR ALL," and so did my friend Derek Donovan, opinion editor at the Kansas City Star. So I wrote about it here (perhaps paywalled) in July of 2018.

Given the wrecking ball that has been Trump’s second term, Kaepernick’s protest, Trump’s response, and Cate’s FOR ALL protest and affirmation might not seem significant now.

But it does. Any act of resistance that affirms our core values is powerful.

In maybe 20-30 seconds, I gave a little of this background to Adam, and if I remember correctly, we briefly exchanged the names of groups that were not receiving what our pledge promises.

Adam understood intuitively. Of course he did. From his campaign website:

“Freedom means nothing if it doesn’t include every Iowan. Protecting civil rights means guaranteeing that all of us—women, LGBTQ+ Iowans, people of color, workers, and every community—can live freely and with dignity.”

Adam wanted to know more about the FOR ALL moment, and fortunately I was standing beside him, and I knew some of what was behind it. I suspect that many of the hundreds of people at the Democratic Party’s Liberty and Justice Celebration also wondered about it. Now many more will know, and hopefully embrace FOR ALL every time they say the pledge in the future.

And if they do, we have Cate Guthrie Scanes to thank for her leadership.

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p.s. If you follow Iowa politics, you will appreciate the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative podcast Iowa Down Ballot with Dave Price, Kathie Obradovich, and Laura Belin. I listen and learn every week.

p.p.s. I’d love to see you at the Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ Retreat in September. It’s a life-changing event, and there’s still time to register!

My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time donation here.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

I’m also proud to announce I’m partnering with my friend Nathan Sage, former Democratic candidate for Senate in Iowa, and Spencer Dirks in a new podcast/video hosted on Substack and YouTube called Sage Against the Machine. If you enjoy my political writing, you will enjoy Sage Against the Machine.

And I’m now on TikTok as a member of the Iowa Creator Corp, believe it or not. Here you go.

By Julia Rendon, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement member.

Julia Rendon is a retired minister in the United Church of Christ. With Iowa CCI, she has shamed businesses into paying their workers back wages, shone a light on predatory lending practices, and pressured the governor to reinstate the summer food program for kids. As a Christian, she believes that every person matters and everybody should have a voice in our life together, which is why she is working for free and fair elections in November.

The June primaries have come and gone. Voting went off mostly without a hitch. Voters cast ballots. Their votes were counted and logged. And, now, we have a final slate of candidates for the general elections.

We can’t, however, count on a repeat of the primaries in November. There are no guarantees things will go smoothly.

Our democracy faces threats unlike anything we have ever seen before. And, as Bob Leonard noted in his May column, Iowa is at the epicenter. We could ultimately decide who controls Congress, and our currently red state and its leaders are eager to placate President Trump and retain their positions, putting a large red target on our backs.

We need to be ready, because threats to our elections are no longer a “what if.” They are already happening. We have seen states adopt stricter voter ID laws, limits to mail-in voting, shorter early voting periods, and the purging of voter rolls and reduced polling hours.

Iowa lawmakers in 2025 adopted a law giving partisan state-level officials control over the election process. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, who is in charge of our elections, recently handed over Iowa’s voter database–including Social Security and driver’s license numbers–to federal officials at President Trump’s request.

Leonard rightly says the time to prepare is now. We at Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action couldn’t agree more. There’s too much at stake.

Our efforts this election cycle include equipping eligible voters with the information they need to successfully cast their ballots, while working with partner organizations and county auditors across Iowa to get the lay of the land and identify any vulnerabilities that might exist.

We’ve also reached out to Pate’s office for a meeting. Pate has refused to sign an agreement with the Trump administration promising to cancel the voter registration of Iowans deemed ineligible by federal officials, because it conflicts with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. That act trumps all else when deciding on voter registration issues, Pate said.

Pate has publicly pledged that when Iowans cast their vote in November, it will be “counted fairly, accurately and securely.” He doubled down on his confidence in free and democratic elections and the state’s election security, while alerting voters to stay vigilant against election misinformation.

Pate has done some things to instill confidence. But will that hold up come Election Day?

I believe most elected officials are working hard to ensure Iowans’ voices are heard at the ballot box. But we also have a lawless President.

Pate’s office says our elections are secure. He, however, has failed to address the potential for President Trump and his administration to deploy the National Guard or Immigration Enforcement Agents to polling places on Election Day.

It’s a citizen’s right and responsibility to vote, so having these public officials address our questions and concerns is helpful. But I still have many unanswered questions. What if ICE shows up at any polling location? What if voter safety is a problem?

I believe our elections in Iowa are free and democratic, but I don’t assume they always will be with this movement to inhibit our ability to legitimately vote. In the current environment, we need to know our elected officials are up to the new challenges facing our democracy and voting system this year.

Below is a statement from Sheena Dooley, Director of Communications for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement:

The determination, resiliency, and courage of the American people, including Iowans, to defend free and democratic elections is being tested–and that’s why we are not backing down. Iowa CCI is built for moments like this. It’s imperative we lead the charge and show up in our communities and dispel widely spread misinformation. Because our democracy requires us to collectively raise our voice in its defense. A threat to one is a threat to all.

Thanks to Julia Rendon and Shena Dooley for their contributions here and their important work with Iowa CCI. Please consider joining/donating to help the cause.

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My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time donation here.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

I’m also proud to announce I’m partnering with my friend Nathan Sage, former Democratic candidate for Senate in Iowa, and Spencer Dirks in a new podcast/video hosted on Substack and YouTube called Sage Against the Machine. If you enjoy my political writing, you will enjoy Sage Against the Machine.

And I’m now on TikTok as a member of the Iowa Creator Corp, believe it or not. Here you go.

Violet the Dog and I were running late this morning when I pulled into a Casey’s in Knoxville to get a quick breakfast before heading to Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County for our morning walk (I write about what we see at Cedar Bluffs here. Violet the Dog and I are volunteer park stewards).

I had hoped to get there before sunrise to take some photos, but at 5:10 am I was running a little late.

I pushed open the door and walked in. Below is an approximation of the conversation I had with two middle-aged women who were running the store. I see them regularly and know their names, but I’m going to call them Lady Number One and Lady Number Two. I was the only customer at the time.

Lady Number One: Morning, how are you?

Me: Good, you?

Lady Number One: Good…

I grabbed a breakfast burrito, a hash brown, and a Propel, which helps keep me hydrated on our sometimes two-hour walk.

Me: Thanks for having hash browns. You aren’t the closest Casey’s to my house, but they almost never have hash browns anymore, so I came here. Lady Number One smiled, her eyes lighting up, and Lady Number Two came out from the kitchen to join the conversation. She had a big smile on her face, as she almost always does. It’s a mischievous smile which makes me wonder what she knows that I don’t.

Lady Number One asked me which Casey’s (we have four) and I told her. The three of us talked a bit about that store, hash browns, and other important stuff while I paid. I grabbed my food and started out the door.

Me: Thanks so much for the food, especially the hash browns!

Lady Number One (with a happy look on her face: Thanks for coming to our store. It means a lot to us.

Lady Number Two (with her big smile): We’ll always be here for you, hon!

The burrito and hash brown sat warm on the dash of my old truck as I pulled out of the parking lot onto Highway 14, and then a minute later onto Highway 92 eastbound. I don’t know what Violet the Dog was thinking about as we drove into the sunrise, but I was feeling good about the two ladies at Casey’s who had just made my day.

By simply being proud of their work and their store and by being kind to a man on a hunt for a hash brown.

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My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time donation here.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

I’m also proud to announce I’m partnering with my friend Nathan Sage, former Democratic candidate for Senate in Iowa, and Spencer Dirks in a new podcast/video hosted on Substack and YouTube called Sage Against the Machine. If you enjoy my political writing, you will enjoy Sage Against the Machine.

And I’m now on TikTok as a member of the Iowa Creator Corp, believe it or not. Here you go.

This column is also posted at Jason Walsmith’s Substack, The Racontourist. Please consider subscribing to The Racontourist. Jason is a member of the celebrated Des Moines band, the Nadas. He’s also a professional photographer. If you value his photos and can afford it, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to The Racontourist or buying him a cup of coffee here.

With “Portraits of Democracy in Action,” Jason and I continue our collaboration, highlighting Iowans from different walks of life.

Jason and I attended the Iowa State Democratic Convention in Des Moines on Saturday, June 13, where we spoke with attendees and Jason shot photographs. We began our series “Portraits of Democracy in Action” with interviews and photographs of three members of the Iowa Creator Corps.

Our first interview was with Liz Fleming, aka “Liz from Iowa,” and can be found here. The second interview, with Maddie Houser Webb, is here. The third interview with Jen Geigley can be found here.

Moving on to candidates, our fourth interview was with Chris Jones, a former University of Iowa water quality researcher and chemist who is running as a Democrat to be Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture. You can find it here. We then interviewed Cynthia Paschen, candidate for the Iowa House, here.

Yesterday we posted a photo essay with candidates Ryan Peterman, who is running for Iowa Secretary of State, Rob Sand, Iowa State Auditor, and Democratic candidate for Governor, and Josh Manske, a farmer, farm manager, and farm realtor near Algona who writes The Corn Belt Newsletter.

After all of our interviews, I wrote the narrative, and Jason did the photography and photo captions.

This column is the final in our series, “Portraits of Democracy in Action.” When Jason and I saw Fannette Elliott (L) and Karen Fulford (R) walking down the hall having a good time, we knew who we were going to talk with for our final interview of the day. We are glad we did. Please listen to their voices and feel their friendship, patriotism, and energy. A lightly edited transcript follows.

Me: If you could be a little bit closer together.

Karen: Okay.

Fannette: Sure. We are friends.

Karen: We are friends. I worked on her campaign for her.

Fannette: Yes, yeah. She helped me get elected with all of her efforts.

Me: And elected to what?

Fannette: I was just recently elected to the West Des Moines City Council. But previously I’ve been twice elected to the West Des Moines School Board.

Me: Wow, you’ve got a bunch of stories, I bet.

Fannette: Oh, yes, I do. laughter…

Me: And so you helped with the campaign?

Karen: I did. I met Fannette at the Capitol Building in January when Senator Renee Hardman got sworn into office. That’s when we first saw each other. And then we started talking to each other. And we were born on the same year two days apart. She’s like almost my birthday twin.

Fannette: Yes. Yes. Yes. laughter…

Jason: You guys look like twins… laughter…

Fannette: Of course we do!

Karen: Don’t we look like twins?

Fannette: Okay, so what are you going to ask us…

Me: Are you this much fun all the time?

Fannette and Karen: crosstalk—Of course. Of course we are. Of course.

Me: Okay. Well, so I’ve really got a pretty quick question for you. We’re coming up on the 250th anniversary of America. Would you share your thoughts about that anniversary and what it means to you?

Fannette: That’s kind of difficult because in celebrating the 250 years of the United States of America, our history is being taken away. My people didn’t come here on Plymouth Rock, so to speak. My people came here on slave ships. I still am a proud American, but if we don’t remember our history, we will repeat it. And we’re living in those days now. We’re living in those days. My grandparents would be so amazed at where we are as a country and as a state. They fought to be able to vote. That’s why democracy is so important to me, and it should be for everyone, but especially African-Americans because there was a time when my grandparents could not vote. There was a time where people was lynched.

That is part of the ugly part of American history, but it’s an important part that people need to know. Not to say you owe me X, Y and Z, but you do owe me respect. Our people should have respect.

Me: And the history is being erased.

Fannette: The history is being erased.

Me: And we’re letting it happen.

Fannette: And we’re letting it happen. We’re letting it happen. I understand that people are concerned. We’re all struggling. We’re all struggling, day in, day out just to survive. But what happened to the part of America where we looked out for each other? I don’t see it. I don’t see it, and that’s sad.

Me: And Karen, what are your thoughts?

Karen: I agree with Fannette about our history being erased. It concerns me because, you know, history will repeat itself. So, we can’t erase it. It means it’s going to happen. For me personally, this 250 logo thing seems to be more of a Republican thing. My husband and I were at McDonald’s this morning before we came here. We had to be here at 7:00 this morning for the credentials committee.

There was a lady that had a big 250 shirt on her, and her husband walked in, and she looked at me, and she goes, “Do I know you?” And I said, “I don’t think so.” And she said, “Are you going to the Republican convention?” And I said, “No, we’re Democrats and we’re going to the Democratic one, and we’re on the credentials committee, so we have to be here at 7:00 this morning.

And she was very nice, and she said, um, ah, you know, have a great day at your convention. And we wished, you know, her and her husband the same. But, I just see that artists are pulling out of the televised celebrations and all that, and I just feel like the Republicans think that it’s their celebration and it’s not everyone’s celebration.

So, that just bothers me.

Me: So, any thoughts on what we can do, regular people?

Fannette: Regular people will have to show their voice. Regular people have got to speak up. Regular people should be concerned about their fellow neighbors. Regular people, if regular people don’t speak up, who’s going to speak up? If regular people don’t speak up, it’ll be the Trumpsters that speak out.

Karen: I agree. Our power is in our voice. Our power is in the people who came here today that are banding together to help people get elected that are going to change the course of Iowa and make things better. I mean, we’re number one growing in cancer rates; our water quality is horrible. We used to be number one in the nation for schools.

The Iowa Basic Schools test was number one in the nation that started in Iowa. Now we heard this morning that we’re at the bottom of the 50 states. That’s just unacceptable. It’s just unacceptable.

Me: Any question you wish that I would have asked you? Anything I don’t, didn’t know to ask, I didn’t think of to ask.

Fannette: No, um, oh, maybe ask us what does it feel to be an American?

Me: What does it feel to be an American?

Fannette: I’m proud. I’m very proud to say I’m an American. I’m just as patriotic as the next person. Democrats are just as patriotic as Republicans. They can’t steal that away and own it. We’re all patriotic.

Karen: Amen to that. I feel like the Republicans think they took they they took the flag away from us, you know? They have their Trump flag; they have their own version of the flag; they have their… and that’s just not right. We’re all Americans, no matter, you know, what political side we’re on or if we’re not on a side, if people are independent or no party, you know, the government should act for all people.

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My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time donation here.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

I’m also proud to announce I’m partnering with my friend Nathan Sage, former Democratic candidate for Senate in Iowa, and Spencer Dirks in a new podcast/video hosted on Substack and YouTube called Sage Against the Machine. If you enjoy my political writing, you will enjoy Sage Against the Machine.

Please subscribe and share. Our first interview will be with Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek, and it will drop at 5:00 pm Thursday.

And I’m now on TikTok as a member of the Iowa Creator Corp, believe it or not. Here you go.

This column is also posted at Jason Walsmith’s Substack, The Racontourist. Please consider subscribing to The Racontourist. Jason is a member of the celebrated Des Moines band, the Nadas. He’s also a professional photographer. If you value his photos and can afford it, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to The Racontourist or buying him a cup of coffee here.

With “Portraits of Democracy in Action,” Jason and I continue our collaboration, highlighting Iowans from different walks of life.

Jason and I attended the Iowa State Democratic Convention in Des Moines on Saturday, June 13, where we spoke with attendees and Jason shot photographs. We began our series “Portraits of Democracy in Action” with interviews and photographs of three members of the Iowa Creator Corps.

Our first interview was with Liz Fleming, aka “Liz from Iowa,” and can be found here. The second interview, with Maddie Houser Webb, is here. The third interview with Jen Geigley can be found here.

Moving on to candidates, our fourth interview was with Chris Jones, a former University of Iowa water quality researcher and chemist who is running as a Democrat to be Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture. You can find it here. We then interviewed Cynthia Paschen, candidate for the Iowa House, here.

In all of our interviews, I wrote the narrative, and Jason did the photography and photo captions.

Today we post three interviews from the meeting. In the order we present them, first is Ryan Peterman, who is running for Iowa Secretary of State. Ryan attended the U.S. Naval Academy and became a helicopter pilot who flew missions around the world. Later, he served on Capitol Hill as a Defense Fellow in the U.S. Senate, where he worked on national security issues.

Josh Manske is a farmer, farm manager, and farm realtor near Algona who provides up-to-date information on the happenings in the farmland and agricultural markets and writes The Corn Belt Newsletter. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2024, and serves on the Board of the Iowa Farmers Union. He was also a professional golfer.

Finally, I do a brief interview with Rob Sand, Iowa State Auditor, and Democratic candidate for Governor. Rob is serving as the 33rd State Auditor of Iowa. He was the Assistant Attorney General of Iowa from 2010 to 2017.

I was in college during the bicentennial in 1976, and I remember it well. If memory serves, most of us were joyful and proud to be an American at that time. Fifty years later, and under the Trump administration, not so much. As I did in all but one of the earlier interviews in this series, I asked all three what the upcoming 250th celebration of the birth of our country meant to them.

Each brief interview is followed by a lightly edited transcript. As always, listen if you have a chance.

Me: So Ryan, I’ve got a simple question for you. We’re coming up on America’s 250th anniversary. What are your thoughts?

Peterman: Thoughts on of America’s 250th anniversary… You know, we’ve seen a lot of ups and downs throughout our history, right? And it’s been a hard fought battle to make America what it is today.

I’m constantly reminded of the fact that for us to continue to endure for another 250 years, it takes good people stepping up in their communities, stepping up to run for office at every level from county offices, city offices, up through state-level offices, and federal offices. I think if we do want to see ourselves making another 250 years, we need to be sending good people to all of these offices. Folks that are focused on public service, folks that are focused on solving problems and making life better for everyone here in Iowa.

Me: And how will you make life better for all of us in Iowa if you’re elected?

Peterman: Yeah, so I think the way that we do that, right, none of us write laws as citizens as voters. So we’re reliant upon the people that we send to state legislatures that we send to the Governor’s Mansion to county offices, to represent us. And unfortunately right now I think we’ve seen far too many people that are showing us they’re not there to serve, they’re not there to solve problems, they’re not there to make life better. Our voice, our avenue for making that kind of change is the ballot box.

And the Secretary of State in Iowa, like in a lot of other states, is the person responsible for protecting our access to the ballot box. Right now I don’t think we’re seeing enough emphasis on that accessibility piece. As Secretary of State, I want to make sure that no matter what your circumstances are, if you are a voter in Iowa you can make your voice heard at the ballot box and it’s not a burdensome process.

Me: So Josh, we’re coming up on the 250th anniversary of America. Share your thoughts.

Josh: What a special time to be alive. My…what have been my great-grandmother, had a pillow that she knitted together on the day of the 200th, July 4th, 1976.

So we still have those pillows, and my mother, on July 4th of 2026, is going to be knitting together that same pillow with the date July 4th, 2026, and there’s the 250th. So, kind of a small little memento, and we think of 250 years as a country; it’s like that’s a long milestone, and in reality that’s an awfully young country. So, our general thoughts are it’s a time for us to be able to come together as a country as Americans.

I think, you know, with the polarization, to realize that you know, e pluribus unum, out of many one. I think that’s really an important point, especially with the contentiousness in the country and, I guess, the hyperpolarization that people are under.

Me: So Rob, we’re coming up on the 250th anniversary of our nation. Share your thoughts about that.

Rob: You know, I’m incredibly proud to be an American. I think that this is the greatest country. I always remember for those who are feeling frustrated or despondent about the direction of things, there’s a great Mark Twain quote. “Patriotism is loving your country all the time and your government when it deserves it.”

We have a broken two-choice political system; it’s two private clubs beating up on each other. We, the people, ought to do better than that.

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My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time donation here.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

I’m also proud to announce I’m partnering with my friend Nathan Sage, former Democratic candidate for Senate in Iowa, and Spencer Dirks in a new podcast/video hosted on Substack and YouTube called Sage Against the Machine. If you enjoy my political writing, you will enjoy Sage Against the Machine.

Please subscribe and share. Our first interview will be with Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek, and it will drop at 5:00 pm Thursday.

And I’m now on TikTok as a member of the Iowa Creator Corp, believe it or not. Here you go.

And hey, please consider joining Jason and me in September at Lake Okoboji, at Julie Gammack’s wonderful Okoboji Writers and Songwriters Retreat. We’d love to see you there!

I see a lot in the above photograph of Cynthia and Liz. Maybe you do too. I don’t know how long I’ve known Cynthia, but it’s been several years. I meet so many people in so many places that I often don’t remember where or when we first met. Maybe it was at an Iowa Farmers’ Union meeting, or at a Progress Iowa or Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement event. Or maybe I have seen her at protests, or rallies of some sort. I remember seeing her often at the Capitol during the legislative session, where she was always lobbying for this cause, that, or the other, always trying to make Iowa a better place for us all. No matter where I am, I am never surprised to see Cynthia.

Cynthia is a journalist, librarian, hospice volunteer, and a powerful communicator. She’s smart, enthusiastic, and a leader. You can see some of that in the photo above. Liz’s smile is similar to the one I often feel myself when talking with Cynthia—I’m always impressed, and feel that I am with kin. As Iowa statehouse Republicans have done generational damage to our economy, our safety net, health care, educational system, led us into a huge budget deficit, deprived some Iowans and immigrants of their rights and more, we need more Democrats like Cynthia in the statehouse.

You can learn more about Cynthia here.

Below is my interview with Cynthia, followed by a lightly edited transcript. Please listen to the audio if you can.

Me: Cynthia, what district are you running for?

Cynthia: I’m running for an open seat. It’s District 55 for the House of Representatives. It was held by Shannon Latham of Franklin County, and she’s leaving, so it’s an open seat.

We had a three-way Republican primary, and the winner of that primary is a 21-year-old guy (Beau Klaver) who just graduated from Iowa State, and I met him for the very first time at the Scandinavian Day parade. He would not look me in the eye. He would not shake my hand, and he refused to be in a photograph with me. That’s how much he thought of me. So, I got my work cut out for me.

I have a young first-time candidate opponent. This is my fourth time running, and I’ve had some success. I was telling Liz (Liz Fleming, aka Liz from Iowa above), two years ago I got 300 and some votes in the primary. This time I got three times that many votes in a district that’s two counties smaller than the seat I ran for two years ago. So, I’m thinking people are fired up.

They’re ready to get to work, and I’m excited.

Me: Well, thank you for running and keeping it up…

Cynthia: Absolutely….Absolutely.

Me: And we’re coming up on the 250th anniversary of the founding of America. Share your thoughts, please.

Cynthia: I was a 16-year-old girl during our Bicentennial. So I remember the joy of that, and just celebrating what makes this country wonderful.

I was just a kid, but we had a float in the Ames 4th of July parade, and a bunch of us kids got together. It was like Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, you know, let’s put on a show, and we built this float, and we had a ball in the parade. We dressed up in antique costumes and big hats, and I would love to feel that joy again for the 250th. You know, this is our country. We’re proud of it.

We love it, and I’m not feeling it right now. I think we’ve got a lot of work to do to get that joy back.

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Leave a comment

My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time donation here.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

I’m also proud to announce I’m partnering with my friend Nathan Sage, former Democratic candidate for Senate in Iowa, and Spencer Dirks in a new podcast/video hosted on Substack and YouTube called Sage Against the Machine. If you enjoy my political writing, you will enjoy Sage Against the Machine.

Please subscribe and share. Our first interview will be with Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek, and it will drop at 5:00 pm Thursday.

And I’m now on TikTok as a member of the Iowa Creator Corp, believe it or not. Here you go.

And hey, please consider joining Jason and me in September at Lake Okoboji, at Julie Gammack’s wonderful Okoboji Writers and Songwriters Retreat. We’d love to see you there!

This column is also posted at Jason Walsmith’s Substack, The Racontourist. Please consider subscribing to The Racontourist. Jason is a member of the celebrated Des Moines band, the Nadas. He’s also a professional photographer. If you value his photos and can afford it, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to The Racontourist or buying him a cup of coffee here.

With “Portraits of Democracy in Action,” Jason and I continue our collaboration, highlighting Iowans from different walks of life.

Jason and I attended the Iowa State Democratic Convention in Des Moines on Saturday, June 13, where we spoke with attendees and Jason shot photographs. We began our series “Portraits of Democracy in Action” with interviews and photographs of three members of the Iowa Creator Corps, and today we will continue with the first of several candidates for office and other people at the convention.

Our first interview was with Liz Fleming, aka “Liz from Iowa,” and can be found here. The second interview, with Maddie Houser Webb, is here. The third interview with Jen Geigley can be found here.

Today’s interview is with Chris Jones, a former University of Iowa water quality researcher and chemist who is running as a Democrat to be Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture. His opponent is Republican incumbent and former Monsanto lobbyist Mike Naig.

I wrote the narrative, and Jason did the photography and photo captions.

The brief audio is followed by a lightly edited transcript. Please consider listening if possible. I can sense Chris’ frustration with the status quo. Perhaps you can too.

Me: Okay, Chris, I want you to paint two scenarios for me. The first scenario is, let’s say, 20-30 years from now. We go the same route we’re going now with Iowa and our crop production system. Everything that we’re doing now, we just keep on that path. Now, if you’re elected the Secretary of Agriculture and you can turn the ship, it’s going to take a lot of people to turn the ship. If we turn the ship, what does Iowa look like 20 or 30 years from now?

Chris: Well, let’s talk about the second thing first. What I want to do is to help Iowa agriculture diversify its farming systems. And so we need a greater assemblage of crops. We can’t get the water quality or the environmental outcomes that we want when we only have two species of plants on the landscape.

So we need a diversity of crops, things like vegetables and fruits, but also oats, forage crops for cattle like clovers and alfalfa. We should make Iowa the top state in the country for local foods. Let’s do that. We hear how Iowa agriculture talks about “we feed the world.” Well, we don’t even feed Polk County. And so let’s feed Iowa. You can’t feed the world until you feed Iowa.

So I want to make Iowa the number one state for local foods. And so that’s my vision for Iowa agriculture. Now, people will tell me, well, that’s going backward, right? And I would say, well, maybe, but what’s going forward look like from this system?

And I would say that to me it looks pretty bad, because to me it looks like robots farming 10,000 acres of flat Iowa farmland in northern Iowa, or someone sitting with a laptop in Mumbai, India, farming that land from India that’s owned by oligarchs and hedge funds. And so, is that what we want for rural Iowa?

Is that what we want for Iowa agriculture? I would suggest that it is not. And so, we need to diversify Iowa agriculture. With that, I think we’ll rekindle economic activity in small-town Iowa. We can start keeping our young people in small-town Iowa. I think that’s a much better vision than what going forward from this system looks like.

Me: Is there the potential for the collapse of the ethanol economy?

Chris: Well, I mean, would anybody be surprised if Donald Trump woke up tomorrow morning and said we’re not doing ethanol anymore? I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised. He’s certainly done some crazier stuff than that. And so I would say there is a potential for it to collapse, but what we need to talk about is a strategic retreat from ethanol. And so we know that 30 years ago, coal was dead. We knew that.

But we look at West Virginia; they clung to coal to the bitter end. What happened to the state? They lost a third of their population. They are the poorest state in the country. So we need to think about the potential negative consequences that might come from clinging to ethanol to the bitter, bitter end. And so let’s talk about some other alternatives. We have 70% of our corn going to ethanol.

What else can we do with those acres that would make farmers more prosperous and deliver better environmental outcomes for Iowa citizens?

This is me again:

Iowa’s poor water quality and high cancer rates are central to the political stage as we approach the midterms. Most Iowans are now aware of these problems and want something done.

A mix of factors has led to increased awareness that may well impact the election and Iowa’s future. Generations of individuals and environmental and other progressive organizations have laid the groundwork. So have conservationists, sportsmen and women, and remarkable environmental groups and the press.

I’m not going to name organizations or provide a long list of individuals who helped because I will leave out too many people and organizations that deserve to be recognized, and because I don’t know enough.

I will say, however, that I believe that without Chris’ relentless pressure on both political parties—driven by his powerful writing, speaking, and the truths he lays out in his book, The Swine Republic: Struggles with the Truth about Agriculture and Water Quality and his Substack The Swine Republic, I’m not sure water quality, agriculture, and cancer would be at the center of political debate today.

Chris’ decision to run for Secretary of Agriculture (his campaign website is here) successfully forced these critical issues into every contested race, demanding a discussion of values and policy from the top of the ticket on down.

We Iowans should vote like our lives depend on it, because they do. Our children’s and grandchildren’s lives do too.

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My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time donation here.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

And I’m now on TikTok as a member of the Iowa Creator Corp, believe it or not. Here you go.

And hey, please consider joining Jason and me in September at Lake Okoboji, at Julie Gammack’s wonderful Okoboji Writers and Songwriters Retreat. We’d love to see you there!

This column is also posted at Jason Walsmith’s Substack, The Racontourist. Please consider subscribing to The Racontourist. Jason is a member of the celebrated Des Moines band, the Nadas. He’s also a professional photographer. If you value his photos and can afford it, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to The Racontourist or buying him a cup of coffee here.

With “Portraits of Democracy in Action,” Jason and I continue our collaboration, highlighting Iowans from different walks of life.

Jason and I attended the Iowa State Democratic Convention in Des Moines on Saturday, June 13, where we spoke with attendees, and Jason shot photographs. We began our series with interviews and photographs of three members of the Iowa Creator Corp, a new organization, and then we will continue with a few Democrats running for office, and other people at the convention.

Our first interview was with Liz Fleming, aka “Liz from Iowa,” and can be found here. The second interview, with Maddie Houser Webb, is here. This interview with Jen Geigley is the third in the series.

I wrote the narrative, and Jason did the photography and photo captions.

Jen Geigley is a member of the Iowa Creator Corp and was at the convention to interview candidates and other attendees.

As legacy media stumbles, people like Maddie, Liz, Jen, and other informed, honest, and passionate individuals, including members of the Iowa Creator Corps, are stepping in to provide truthful and timely digital news and progressive commentary to the masses.

Like Maddie and Liz, Jen is a public intellectual who uses digital media to meet people where they are—especially young people. Below is a screenshot of some of the videos she created based on interviews with candidates, as well as some of her policy and lifestyle commentary.

From her website, we learn that Jen also knits, writes, designs knitting patterns, creates graphics, and teaches knitting classes. Her designs have been published in Vogue Knitting, Knit Simple Magazine, Noro Magazine, Knitsy Magazine, and more. She has written six knitting books and created patterns for numerous companies.

Jen teaches knitting to students in several schools in Des Moines. She also teaches a class called Art Spectrums at the Des Moines Art Center. The class is a free program for children and teens on the autism spectrum.

Below is the audio of our interview, followed by a lightly edited transcript. Please listen to the audio if possible to get a better sense of Jen.

Me: Well, Jen, what are you doing here today?

Jen: I’m here with the Iowa Creator Corps, and I just wanted to be part of this election season because I think it matters more than ever. This Iowa election season is very exciting. It’s exciting to be an Iowan right now. And we are sharing stories and interviews through social media, which is where a lot of people get their news, and it’s a way to reach a lot of people these days. And so I’m just happy to be a part of it.

Me: And we’re coming up on America’s 250th anniversary. Your thoughts on that?

Jen: Yikes. (laughter) The marketing, the paper plates, yeah, the whole vibe behind it, I just can’t quite get behind it, honestly.

Me: Tell me more.

Jen: I’m just not feeling super patriotic in that way, or like celebrating right now. I think our country has a lot of change that needs to happen, and yeah, I’m not excited about that celebration.

Me: We should all be troubled about how it’s been appropriated.

Jen: Absolutely.

Me: It should be bipartisan and something for all of…

Jen: For everyone.

Me: Yeah, and it’s…

Jen: Right. It doesn’t feel that way at all. It feels very divided and very one-sided, and doesn’t feel like a togetherness celebration of who we are as a country.

Me: And I see you’re knitting.

Jen: Yeah.

Me: Tell me about that.

Jen: Today is Knit in Public Day, and you’re supposed to knit in public. Some people have gatherings. I used to have a gathering downtown at the Sculpture Park, and we would all knit together. You just kind of take your knitting wherever you are. So, I’m knitting today at the Iowa Democratic Convention, and then I’ll be knitting later this afternoon at Pride.

Me: Well, and a lot of people don’t know, is that knitting in particular and other fiber arts, mainly done by women, not exclusively, but through history mainly done by women, created by women, designed by women, has been an act of resistance.

Jen: Yes!

Me: Tell us about that.

Jen: Okay. Knitting is resistance, and AOC is a knitter, and she has given this sentiment in recent interviews. Knitting has been part of politics for many, many, many generations. It was part of wartime efforts where women would knit for the troops, but they would also act as spies and knit code into their hats and their garments, and pass them on to soldiers, and messages were relayed in that way.

And so, there’s so many different stories about how knitting is resistance and how this little craft is much, much more. So, I collaborated with RAYGUN, which is a local t-shirt company, and we made a t-shirt for a fundraiser for our Knitathon called Knit for Food. And the t-shirt says “knitting is resistance.” And from the Knitathon itself and sales from the t-shirts, we raised half a million dollars to feed Americans.

And all of the funds were divided between Feeding America, No Kid Hungry, Meals on Wheels, and World Central Kitchen. And so, knitting can make a big difference. Just one knitter gathering with other knitters and knitting all together, we can do a lot of things.

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My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time donation here.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

And I’m now on TikTok as a member of the Iowa Creator Corp, believe it or not. Here you go.

And hey, please consider joining Jason and I in September at Lake Okoboji, at Julie Gammack’s wonderful Okoboji Writers and Songwriters Retreat. We’d love to see you there!

This column is also posted at Jason Walsmith’s Substack, The Racontourist. Please consider subscribing to The Racontourist. Jason is a member of the celebrated Des Moines band, the Nadas. He’s also a professional photographer. If you value his photos and can afford it, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to The Racontourist or buying him a cup of coffee here.

With “Portraits of Democracy in Action,” Jason and I continue our collaboration, highlighting Iowans from different walks of life.

Jason and I attended the Iowa State Democratic Convention in Des Moines on Saturday, June 13, where we spoke with attendees, and Jason shot photographs. We began our series with interviews and photographs of three members of the Iowa Creator Corp, a new organization, and then we will continue with a few Democrats running for office, and other people at the convention.

Our first interview was with Liz Fleming, aka “Liz from Iowa,” and can be found here. This is the second in the series, and is with Maddie Houser Webb.

I wrote the narrative, and Jason did the photography and photo captions.

Maddie tells us: she is an Iowa-based content creator and storyteller whose content blends advocacy with the everyday moments of her life. From sharing relatable experiences and family travel adventures to interviewing local leaders and highlighting issues that matter, she aims to create content that informs and sparks conversation. She is a member of the Iowa Creator Corps and a Community Change-ChangeWire Fellow.

Maddie, like Liz, is a powerful public intellectual for our age. As legacy media stumbles, people like Maddie, Liz, and other informed, honest, and passionate individuals, including members of the Iowa Creator Corps, are stepping in to provide truthful and timely digital news and commentary to the masses that is, at times, in direct opposition to MAGA media propaganda.

Maddie has over 141,000 followers on TikTok, over 13 million likes, and at least one of her videos has received over one million views. She also has 148,000 followers on Instagram. Does any other public intellectual in Iowa have her reach?

Below is a screenshot of her TikTok page on June 23 to get a sense of her coverage.

As always, please consider listening to the recorded interview below if you can to get a deeper sense of who Maddie is. There is nothing more powerful than the human voice, and there are some beautiful subtleties as to how Maddie speaks that carry meaning well beyond what the mere written word can reflect. The recording is followed by a lightly edited transcript.

Maddie: Interview? Ok, cool.

Me: This is a voice interview.

Maddie: I was like, let me get cute…oh, it’s my voice, dang it…

Jason: You can do that anyway because I’m going to take pictures…

Maddie: Okay. I’m ready.

Jason: I’m going to concentrate on that curl (notice the curl in the photo above. That’s the angle Jason was seeing).

Maddie: Oh, okay, cool. Let’s see if I’m like sweating.

Jason: You’re good.

Me: I’m going to leave that in.

Maddie: Oh. Uh-oh. Everyone, buckle up. It’s about to be a weird interview.

Me: It’s not going to be a weird interview.

Maddie: (looking at Jason) It’s not his fault. It’s me. The weird is me. Bob’s cool.

Me: Thank you. We’re coming up on America’s 250th anniversary celebration.

Maddie: Yeah. Yeah.

Me: What are your thoughts on that?

Maddie: I think it’s mixed feelings. As a Black woman in America, it’s like, “Yay, we’ve been here for 250 years, but what would my life have looked like 250 years ago?” You know? So, it’s kind of a weird… I don’t even know, is it a bittersweet kind of celebration, I think, for me as a Black woman?

I think it’s...I’m so excited to live here, and I love Iowa, and I love this country, but at the same time, it’s weird to celebrate 250 years when, I don’t know, how many of that 180 of it was a little rough for people who look like me. So, I think that’s how I feel about that. I mean, does that answer your question?

Me: Yeah, it answers my question.

Maddie: I’m not used to being on the other side of the interviews.

Me: Well, and it’s also during a time when the contributions of Black Americans, other minorities, the marginalized in any way. It’s their history being erased and…

Maddie: Yeah.

Me: Their rights are being trampled upon.

Maddie: Yeah, I think that’s, it’s hard to celebrate when those two things are happening at the same time, right? So it’s like, it’s kind of that same mentality of…anyway, right now is like, do you focus on the negative things? Do you focus on the positive things? Because if we don’t focus on anything positive, then it’s really hard to exist, right?

But, recognizing things for what they are, and the struggle that I think is that balance to find between celebrating and seeing what’s currently happening to the Black community and what happened back then, but also recognizing that I’m glad that we’ve come so far, but I don’t want to go back, right? I don’t want to go backwards. So, all of those things mixed together…

Me: I’m going… I was going to ask you what gives you hope, but I’m going to say that you on TikTok, Maddie Houser Webb, when I view your TikToks, especially those with your family, you give me hope.

Maddie: Stop. You’re so sweet.

Jason: Great question, Bob. Great question.

Maddie: That is a wonderful question. Stop. That makes me really, really happy. And people like you give me hope because I think in general if someone were to... don’t take this offensively, but if someone were to just meet you, right? They wouldn’t really know where you stand. But the minute you start talking, and you see your work, it’s like, oh, this guy’s on the good side. This guy’s like, you know, not on the dark side. So, it’s, I just think you give me hope by being who you are, right? People like you normally don’t have that same mental process of looking at things and looking at life and the empathy that you have. So I think that’s a win, which they can’t see, but I’m clapping for him. I’m saying amazing.

Me: Well, thank you. I do fit in well at Trump rallies. They don’t question me…

Maddie: You’re not sticking out. That’s what I’m saying. And so that gives me hope, when people like you start to have the beliefs that you have and the outlook on life that you have, I think then that’s giving everyone hope, right? Because we need everybody to feel that way. So…

Me: Thank you.

Maddie: Yeah, of course.

Jason, referring to Maddie’s curl at the beginning of the interview and his saying that he was going to concentrate on it, made me think about the deeper meaning of that curl. So I looked into it.

“Forehead curls…are vital to Black culture because they serve as a medium for artistic expression, honor a century of historical resilience, and directly challenge Eurocentric beauty standards.” From: A Sacred Legacy: On Black Hair And The Revolutionary Power of Self-Expression.

Maddie tells us, “I absolutely love my curls now as an adult, but growing up here in Iowa, I just wanted my hair to be thin and straight like everyone else’s. It was in my adulthood that I realized the beauty and history in my curls…but for me, being a Black woman in a white world, learning to love my hair was a huge part of learning to love myself.”

Maddie’s simple curl is a profound symbol of history, resistance, and love.

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My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time donation here.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

And I’m now on TikTok as a member of the Iowa Creator Corp, believe it or not. Here you go.

And hey, please consider joining me in September at Lake Okoboji, at Julie Gammack’s wonderful Okoboji Writers and Songwriters Retreat. I’d love to see you there!

This column is also posted at Jason Walsmith’s Substack, The Racontourist. Please consider subscribing to The Racontourist. Jason is a member of the celebrated Des Moines band, the Nadas. He’s also a professional photographer. If you value his photos and can afford it, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to The Racontourist or buying him a cup of coffee here.

With “Portraits of Democracy in Action,” Jason and I continue our collaboration highlighting Iowans from different walks of life.

We did a series of “Portraits of Hunger in Iowa” (you can find the first in that series here). We also did “Portraits of Formerly Incarcerated Women” (you can find the first in the series here) and “Portraits of Nurses Building Power” here.

Jason and I attended the Iowa State Democratic Convention in Des Moines on Saturday, June 13, where we spoke with attendees and Jason shot photographs. We begin our series with interviews and photographs of three members of the Iowa Creator Corp, a new organization, and then we will continue with a few Democrats running for office, and other people at the convention.

I wrote the narrative, and Jason did the photography and photo captions.

The following brief interview with the amazing Liz Fleming, aka Liz from Iowa, is the first in this series. Our friend Jay Stahl, then with the Des Moines Register and now with USA Today, had a feature story on Liz in December of 2023 titled: Liz from Iowa is a liberal lightning rod with millions of views on TikTok. Who is she?

Liz says she “is a content creator and advocate who covers Iowa politics, public policy, and civic engagement, helping Iowans stay informed about issues affecting their communities.”

She has over 110,000 followers on TikTok and over eight million likes and nearly 27,000 followers on Instagram. As always, please consider listening to the recorded interview below if you can to get a deeper sense of who Liz is. The recording is followed by a lightly edited transcript.

Me: Liz, you’re the famous Liz from Iowa.

Liz laughs

Liz: Am I?

Me: Yes, you do wonderful work on TikTok and social media in general.

Liz: Okay, well, I’m glad that we’re recording audio cuz I’m going to blush.

Me: What drives you? What makes you you?

Liz: What drives me? What makes me me? My people, my family, my friends, my fellow Iowans, all the people who grew up here and live here and want to live good lives here.

I have a really empathetic heart, and I don’t like injustice. So, anything of the sort, I feel like it’s my duty as someone who can speak and reach people to do so, to speak and reach people, to show people that we deserve a lot better here than we’re being given by our state legislature and our federal government, honestly, but I just want people to know that we deserve better and we can do better if we act collectively.

Me: We’re coming upon the 250th anniversary of America. Tell us your thoughts on that.

Liz: 250 years is a long time. Most empires fall around this time, don’t they? I think it’s a shame that Donald Trump is in office during this momentous occasion. It’s a shame that somebody who really perverts the themes of patriotism and what it means to be American. It’s a shame that he’s in office at this time because there is a lot to celebrate in this country. There’s a lot of really wonderful communities and really wonderful people who are proud to be Americans, but the person in office right now does not reflect our values or who we truly are. So as we approach the 250th, it’s mixed feelings, right? I’m proud of who I am and the people I know here, but as a whole, I know the American brand is tainted.

Liz is being modest when she describes herself as a “content creator and advocate.” She’s also a powerful public intellectual. Historically, the concept of “public intellectual” has most often been associated with those few in the academy who address a broad segment of the public via traditional modes of communication (e.g., books, articles, documentaries) about key concerns. Precious few in the academy today are public-facing in part because their reward system doesn’t value it. I argue here that academics in the social sciences, in particular, have failed for the most part at being public intellectuals, and the rise of anti-intellectual and anti-higher-education movements in the early 21st century is, in part, a response to this failure.

TikTok, Instagram, Substack, and other platforms have freed informed and passionate intellectuals from all walks of life from academic publishing constraints and have democratized commentary (there is, of course, a dark side to this that’s beyond the scope of this essay, e.g., pseudo-intellectual racist, sexist, MAGA manosphere crap).

At the same time, the struggles of our local newspapers and other legacy media have resulted in less news coverage and commentary by them. Larger legacy media have, for the most part (e.g., CBS, The Washington Post, and soon CNN), been captured by corporate control, often working against the good of the people to enrich the wealthy and further Trump’s authoritarian impulses, either explicitly or in fearful compliance.

As the old media stumbles, into this void step stars of the new digital media like Liz.

The above screenshot was taken of her TikTok page on June 20th. Look at the political coverage! Liz also does commentary on life in general. In her commentary and analysis, she runs the gamut of emotions from joy to anger in a way very few in legacy media can do or are allowed to do if they can. Liz is clever, smart, and witty, and her TikToks are also visually engaging and reach an audience that legacy media doesn’t always reach—young people where they are! Get that Democratic leadership?

Liz reaches YOUNG PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE!!!!

I believe something historic happened, media-wise, at the state convention that might have gone unnoticed. While it’s common for there to be a candidate press gaggle at events like the Democratic State Convention, for the first time in my many years of “gaggling,” there was also a press room where candidates came to be interviewed by Iowa social media mavens.

These mavens do not replace the press—they are a different kind of press. They supplement it with different perspectives, life experiences, questions, and audiences. They are also free from corporate control (which is also true of the majority of members of the Iowa Writers Collaborative).

Merriam-Webster defines a maven as “a trusted expert, connoisseur, or someone dazzlingly skilled in a specific field”…synonyms are guru, master, virtuoso, expert, and ace.

Like we say, there’s a colony of ants, a pack of dogs, a school of fish; and since I can’t find another descriptor on Google, I’m going to define a group of social media mavens as a “Miracle of Mavens!”

The Miracle of Mavens interviewing candidates was orchestrated by the Iowa Creator Corp.

The Iowa Creator Corps is a new initiative to empower aspiring, Iowa-based social media creators in their efforts to build a more progressive and prosperous Iowa. We look to provide tools, resources, training, and a sense of community to local creators to help them build their own brands and produce more fact-based, pro-democracy content that will spread across Iowa social media.

The Iowa Creator Corp is run by Pat Rynard and Liz (with funding by Swing Left, 31st St, and incubated under Project Bullhorn). Pat has worked for over two decades in Iowa politics and journalism, founding Iowa Starting Line in 2015 after working a decade on Iowa Democratic campaigns. Check out their website—there are some remarkable people participating (mostly young people; I’m the only geezer involved), and their success in elevating Iowa stories is remarkable.

One more thing about our friend Liz Fleming—she really pisses off MAGA men—largely because they are uncomfortable with the truths she shares in her posts, but also because she’s a woman who’s much smarter, more knowledgeable, and talented than they are.

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My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time donation here.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

And I’m now on TikTok as a member of the Iowa Creator Corp, believe it or not. Here you go.

Capital City Pride is an extravaganza of fun, food, and flesh. And lessons. I talked with so many people and took so many photos; I can’t post them all here because of space limitations. Everyone was so helpful! Even though I wasn’t wearing any kind of Pride gear to show my affiliation with LGBTQ+ people, they all recognized our shared humanity and welcomed me to take photos and sometimes record a brief interview.

Codye Leisure is a sterling silver jewelry designer with Hot Puppy Shop, and her friend Wendy Taylor is starting a new business called “Girlfriend Hooked Me Up.” They were all in on having fun and talking to customers.

I stopped by to speak with the people representing Plymouth Church in Des Moines, where “all are welcome.” I was pleased to see that several other “lefty” churches had booths welcoming Pride participants. Given that so many right-wing “Christian” churches vilify our LGBTQ+ friends, family, and neighbors, their support was reassuring. As I see it, while right-wing “Christian” leaders loudly capture the attention of the public and the media as they preach and legislate hatred and division, “lefty” churches do the real work that I learned long ago in Sunday School, like love thy neighbor, welcome the stranger, feed the hungry, etc.

The young women on the right stopped by to talk with the Plymouth people and told us they were from England. I wanted to know more about why they were here, but they were more interested in talking with the folks from Plymouth than me, so I shuffled off.

Liv’s Creations had all kinds of pride gear and more. Much of the work is handcrafted. I spoke with Shadonna Head, center above, about the business. Below is the audio, followed by a lightly edited transcript. Like I always say, please try to listen to the audio, and you will feel like you are there with me.

Me: Tell me about Liv’s Creations.

Shaddona: Liv’s Creations is a company that I started to help me feel a little bit better about myself because I was diagnosed with lupus in 2018, and this keeps me calm. I like to be able to help other people by creating great items to make them happy. So, that’s how it came about, turning my creativity into a positive.

Me: Wow. That’s just lovely.

Us: Thank you, thank you.

When I saw Denise’s shirt, I had to ask her about it. Below is our conversation, lightly edited.

Me: Tell us about your shirt.

Denise: So, I got it kind of as a catch-all, cuz things are so ugly right now. It seems like nobody is kind to each other. So it was important to me to kind of capture just being kind and not being transphobic, racist, and ableist. You know, all those things.

Me: It seems to be pretty easy to do, right?

Denise: You would think so, but unfortunately, folks need the reminder every once in a while.

I saw this man sitting on the curb. His name is Donald, which he found ironic, given his “FUCK DONALD TRUMP” sticker.

I found a twenty-dollar bill and handed it to him. People tell me that I shouldn’t give cash to the homeless because I might enable their addiction if they have one, discourage them from seeking state assistance, and that instead I should donate to established organizations that help the homeless, whatever.

I really don’t care what they say. The system is broken, and I’m going to help whoever I can when I can.

While I was talking with Donald, I felt warmth over my right shoulder. A woman had stepped up behind me and moved to my side, handed Donald some cash, and said, “Love your ‘Fuck Donald Trump’ sticker.”

Then two people swooped in from my left and gave Donald a drink and some food.

He looked up, smiled, said “thank you,” and ate and drank with gusto.

Denise’s shirt above is a call to action, and it includes Donald. We need to love the stranger, feed the hungry, heal the sick, and more. It’s a statement of values that most Democrats and independents share. The power of pride is unity. That despite our differences, we are aligned. Where Republicans divide us and pit us against each other to gain power, Democrats can gain power by finding common ground and standing together.

Estimates are that 70,000 people came to Capital City Pride this year. They were of diverse backgrounds, and the majority were people who MAGA seeks to marginalize or even disappear. Some of them—trans and non-binary people—have had their civil rights taken away by Republicans in the Iowa Legislature. Iowa Republicans also want to take away marriage equality. MAGA is erasing the contributions of minority groups from history, letting Americans go hungry and without health care. Hundreds of thousands of people overseas—most of them children—have died since Donald Trump and Elon Musk killed USAID.

And I could go on.

Here, and with respect to Capital City Pride, despite MAGA attacks, the LGBTQ+ community and their allies are fighting back—as powerful warriors against injustice, leading the way.

As our friend Matt Russell reminds us, for Democrats to gain power, values must come first, and policy should follow. The values displayed at Capital City Pride are our way forward.

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My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to paid if you can afford it.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

And I’m now on TikTok, believe it or not. Here you go.

Unity Point nurses, Teamsters, and supporters marched from the Iowa Capitol to Iowa Methodist Hospital on Monday to draw attention to their efforts to unionize (my fellow Iowa Writers Collaborative member and friend Jason Walsmith and I covered the Unity Point nurses a few days before the December unionization vote here).

Natalie Krebs with Iowa Public Radio has the story:

Nurses voted in early December, but they’re still waiting on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to review the validity of ballots that were challenged by Teamsters Local 90. The initial vote was 871 to 666 in favor of forming the union, but it doesn’t include the 251 ballots that are under review…

Dozens of nurses marched from the Iowa Capitol to UnityPoint’s Methodist Hospital. They claim UnityPoint executives are intentionally delaying finalizing the results of the election by filing objections with the NLRB…

Nurses said ongoing workplace concerns with pay and staffing are driving the need for a union.

UnityPoint filed an objection over concerns about how the election was run.

Amie Rivers with the Iowa Starting Line reports that UnityPoint spent $2.14 million in union-busting efforts in 2025. Doug Burns with The Iowa Mercury reports that nurses and union organizers estimate that over $6 million may have been spent fighting unionization.

Below is the audio of the brief interview I did with the Hennings, followed by a lightly edited transcript. As an old radio guy, I always appreciate it if you can listen to the audio to get a sense of the moment.

ME: So, why are you here today?

Amy: We are both critical care nurses at UnityPoint, and we have been organizing to create a union and got the Teamsters involved back in 2024. We organized for about a year and voted after the government delay back in December of 2025. The nurses won the vote by over a margin of over 200. The vote was approximately 871 yes votes and 666 no votes. Despite the over 200 margin, UnityPoint is continuing to employ delay tactics that are classic anti-union busting tactics, including they filed objections against the NLRB themselves. So as a government agency, they have to go through those objections in the process of those, but it is now June, and we’ve been waiting and waiting.

And we want to get to the bargaining table to get what we deserve, and our patients deserve, especially for patient safety.

Deb: We’re just demanding that UnityPoint recognize us. Nurses deserve better from our employer. Our patients deserve better in relation to that through better staffing. Us being able to give more time, pay more attention to each patient, make sure they’re safe.

And our personal safety is on the line too. We have very violent patients, and we supposedly have a zero-tolerance policy at UnityPoint, but our employer really doesn’t help us enforce that. Nurses are injured in the line of duty on a regular basis.

Amy: And then Unity Point asks what could you have done differently to prevent yourself from being hurt. Not what they could have done to help us.

ME: So it’s your fault.

Amy and Deb: Always. Exactly. Of course.

I did a short interview with nurse Alex Wilken, above left.

ME: How did the march go?

Alex: It was good. Lots of energy. We marched through the East Village downtown and then along Grand through downtown proper. When we are marching on the east side over there, there’s lots of people in their apartments out on their balconies cheering us on. We got lots of cars, you know, people sticking their fists out the window. So definitely feeling that community support, which is awesome.

ME: And what do you want?

Alex: We want Unity Point to drop the objections to the election so that we can be certified and begin negotiations so we can take better care of our patients.

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My column will always be free, but please consider upgrading to paid if you can afford it.

I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our recent work here. I also publish Cedar Creek Nature Notes, about Violet the Dog and my adventures on our morning walks at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area in Mahaska County, Iowa.

And I’m now on TikTok, believe it or not. Here you go.