Steve King votes against recognizing slave contribution

King said "I opposed yet another bill to erect another monument to slavery because it was used as a bargaining chip to allow for the actual depiction of 'In God We Trust' in the Congressional Visitor Center."

I figure he'd want 'In God We Trust' in the visitor center, even if he had to compromise by placing a marker there that recognized the work of slave labor to build the capital building. That's called compromise, it's what politics is all about. As a Christian, I appreciate his desire to honor God, yet I also think it's a little ironic and hypocritical for us to try to put on airs about being such a pious, religious people yet deny our collective sin of slavery.

Republican Teddy Roosevelt opposed having 'In God We Trust' inscribed on our money because he thought it was a blasphemous insult to God.

I'm glad I went to the work of finding out King's reasons and I actually appreciate that he thinks he's standing on principle. But I still disagree with him.

Even if he was trying to defend God (who doens't need defending) it came off looking to the rest of the country like the one congressman who doesn't want to commemorate the contribution of slave is from Iowa- Not Mississippi, Alabama, or South Carolina, not some member of the White Citizen's Council, not a Confederate flag waving Southerner, but our very own Steve King.

It like Congressman King frequently says thing and makes decisions that confound and quite frankly embarrass me. He really does have a reputation for being very congenial personally, however outlandish his ... Read Morebehavior on CSPAN. Whenever I post stuff like this or lampoon him in political cartoons (and back when I used to write about him in my column) I hope that you understand that I'm reacting to a political public figure and not deliberately attacking any of you readers or your personal friend.

His positions and statements frequently offend me, but that doesn't mean I'm deliberately trying to hurt or offend any of you.

He does have a reputation for being a great guy one-on-one. He also has a way of trying to explain his way out of every vote or press conference or policy which appears to the majority of people to be grossly insensitive or potentially racist.

Barry Goldwater said that he advocated "States Rights" because of a stricter interpretation of the Constitution but plenty of Southerners loved it because it was a non-racist code for denying voting rights, civil rights, and continuing segregation and discrimination.

Out of the 435 members of Congress and 199 fellow Republicans, many of whom are surely members of the religious right, he's the ONLY one who thought he should vote against this because it was just a "bargaining chip" to get what he wants anyway? What a martyr.

Walks like a duck, talks like a duck.

Happy 4th of July

My Dad by his plane. USMC Sgt. Merle Mallory was Crew Chief for a Hell Cat reconnaissance plane on a carrier stationed out of Guantanamo Bay during the Korean Conflict in the 1950's. I'm proud of his service. This Independence Day, say a prayer for all the men and women currently serving in harms way, as well as for their families. And tell them "Thank you" for all their hard work and sacrifice, even if you disagree with the Administration policies that put them in danger.

Your Republican frontrunner for 2012!!!

No jokes, no comments, no criticisms...
I'm just reporting, you decide-

"As for that VP talk all the time, I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?" --Sarah Palin, in an interview with CNBC's "Kudlow & Co."

"As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where– where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border." --Sarah Palin, explaining why Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience

"I'm the mayor, I can do whatever I want until the courts tell me I can't.'" --Sarah Palin, as quoted by former City Council Member Nick Carney, after he raised objections about the $50,000 she spent renovating the mayor's office without approval of the city council

"[T]hey're in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom." --Sarah Palin, getting the vice president's constitutional role wrong after being asked by a third grader what the vice president does, interview with NBC affiliate KUSA in Colorado, Oct. 21, 2008

"I'm very, very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing ... any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that." --Sarah Palin, after an Alaska legislative report found she had broken the state's ethics law and abused her power in the Troopergate scandal, conference call with Alaska reporters, Oct. 12, 2008

"All of 'em, any of 'em that have been in front of me over all these years." --Sarah Palin, unable to name a single newspaper or magazine she reads, interview with Katie Couric, CBS News, Oct. 1, 2008

"I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you." --Sarah Palin, asked by Katie Couric to cite specific examples of how John McCain has pushed for more regulation in his 26 years in the Senate, CBS News interview, Sept. 24, 2008

Katie Couric: "What other Supreme Court decisions do you disagree with?"
Sarah Palin: "Well, let's see. There's --of course --in the great history of America rulings there have been rulings, there's never going to be absolute consensus by every American. And there are -- those issues, again, like Roe v Wade where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So you know -- going through the history of America, there would be others but--"
Couric: "Can you think of any?"
Palin: "Well, I could think of -- of any again, that could be best dealt with on a more local level. Maybe I would take issue with. But you know, as mayor, and then as governor and even as a Vice President, if I'm so privileged to serve, wouldn't be in a position of changing those things but in supporting the law of the land as it reads today." --unable to name any Supreme Court decisions other than Roe v. Wade, CBS News interview, Oct. 1, 2008


"Oil and coal? Of course, it's a fungible commodity and they don't flag, you know, the molecules, where it's going and where it's not. But in the sense of the Congress today, they know that there are very, very hungry domestic markets that need that oil first. So, I believe that what Congress is going to do, also, is not to allow the export bans to such a degree that it's Americans that get stuck to holding the bag without the energy source that is produced here, pumped here. It's got to flow into our domestic markets first." --Sarah Palin, billed by John McCain as the nation's foremost expert on energy, clumsily answering a question while speaking off the cuff at a town hall meeting, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sept. 17, 2008

"The fact is that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers." --Sarah Palin, on the two companies which are in fact private entities, Colorado Springs, CO, Sept. 13, 2008

"They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska." --Sarah Palin, on her foreign policy insights into Russia, ABC News interview, Sept. 11, 2008

"Perhaps so." --Sarah Palin, when asked if we may need to go to war with Russia because of the Georgia crisis, ABC News interview, Sept. 11, 2008

"I have not, and I think if you go back in history and if you ask that question of many vice presidents, they may have the same answer that I just gave you." --Sarah Palin, after being asked if she had never met a foreign head of state, despite the fact that every vice president in the last 32 years had met a foreign head of state prior to taking office, ABC News interview, Sept. 11, 2008

"Let me speak specifically about a credential that I do bring to this table, Charlie, and that's with the energy independence that I've been working on for these years as the governor of this state that produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy." --Sarah Palin, misstating the actual amount of energy produced by Alaska, which is only 3.5 percent, Sept. 11, 2008

Happy Fourth

I've had a few people ask about the old column in the last few days. Sorry to say I'm still on indefinite hiatus. May never get back to it. Who knows.

I will only say this much more about that:

"Laws alone cannot secure freedom of expression; in order that every man present his views without penalty, there must be a spirit of tolerance in the entire population." ~Einstein

But, if you actually miss my column, and/or you love the Fourth of July as much as I do, Click here to re-read some of my old columns about Independence Day and/or the Declaration of Independence.

Have a safe and sane holiday weekend.

Flutter-byes

Deep Blue

Free Speech

"Laws alone cannot secure freedom of expression; in order that every man present his views without penalty, there must be a spirit of tolerance in the entire population." ~Albert Einstein

Mid Summer Eve

This summer is a little less than half over. If you don't stop and smell the flowers, they'll be gone before you know it. So, here's another chance to soak in some of the beauty of the season.

Charter Oak Achievement Days Ads

Local friends and business owners,

We're putting together our annual Charter Oak Achievement Days edition which will be published on July 23.
I will be making phone calls to area businesses and regular supporters of the Achievement Days edition this week. So don't be surprised if you hear from me.

Our sizes include:
3x3 $84.50
2x2 $52
Sig $27

I hope you'll consider showing your support for the 4-H/FFA Achievement Days again this year. Please let me know as soon as you can.

Give me a call at the PRESS office at 712-881-1101


Thank you,!

Why we have to put up with FOX NEWS

"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it."
- Thomas Jefferson

Our Hometown

Charter Oak will be featured in the "Our Hometown" segment of the KTIV evening news broadcast at 10 p.m. on June 14th and again on the morning show between 5-7 a.m.on June 15th. Citizens taking part were Don and Nadine Friedrichs, Ernie Poggensee, Janice Throckmorton, Nancy Rosburg, Chris Dale and Allen Staley.

If you miss it, next week (after June 14th) you can check out www.KTIV.com

and click on Hometown tab for a replay of the presentation regarding Charter Oak. It will be short, but always interesting to see what the TV people choose to use or edit out. The promo segments have been great - the arboretum was at the top of its glory.

BOOK REPORT

Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
That was fun. All the existential angst of Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance, but none of the tedious Buddhist calm or the superior Hippie moralizing. This was fast, fun, absurdist, apocalyptic romp.



The "King of New York" (island of death), who happens to be the last President of the United States regales us with his tales of the decline and fall of Western civilization, the technological and spiritual transcendence of the Chinese, and the development of the "Church of Jesus Christ, Kidnapped."



Now back to the gentle pace of Zen and Motorcycles.


View all my reviews.