Dexter Iowa Community Site

Consider this quote from Abe Lincoln

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

When running for political office, one should remember that in these days when everyone carries around a cell phone with a camera on it, you should watch what you say. Unfortunately we have a climate in this country where political candidates can’t seem to just be themselves and speak the honest truth regardless of who they are speaking to.

Fortunately in the senatorial race to decide who will replace Tom Harkin, there is one Democratic candidate who showed his true colors. Representative Bruce Braley, who is a trial lawyer by trade, spoke to a bunch of fellow lawyers in Texas on a fundraising trip when he made the following comments: “If you help me win this race, you may have someone with your background, your experience, your voice- someone who’s been literally fighting tort reform for 30 years in a visible and public way on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Or you might have a farmer from Iowa who never went to law school, never practiced law, serving as the next chair of the Senate Judiciary. Because if Democrats loose the majority, chuck Grassley will be the next chair of the Senate Judiciary.”

Well Kudos to you Mr. Braley for having the steel cohunes to speak the truth and show your true colors. If I wasn’t offended by the fact that he feels that only lawyers can and should be elected to political office, I’m equally appalled at the fact that he somehow feels like farmers are second class citizens. I sure hope he made his comments before the meal at that fundraiser for fear that some “farmer who never went to law school” grew the food that was consumed.

What disturbs me even more is the fact that he was fundraising and building an alliance in a room of Texas lawyers. Now I’m just a simple farm boy who never went to law school either, but I’m an Iowan and when my Iowa sensibility kicks in I’m smart enough to see who exactly Mr. Braley is courting here. It’s like going to another school to find a prom date because you can’t gain the respect of the girls at your own school. Mr. Braley who is running for one of two senate seats held exclusively by IOWANS is seeking money and support from Texans? Does anyone else see an issue here?

The founding fathers of this nation set up two houses in congress, the House of Representatives which was to be a representative body of the people based on population. The thought was it was a body of the regular Joe, much like the House of Commons. One didn’t need to be a Lord or hold a title to be elected to serve. The other was the Senate which was to be equally divided by each state where the “hotheadedness of bills from the House” could be tempered by the much longer serving Senators. Senators were to be elder statesmen, who because they were serving a much larger constituency, were meant to be accountable to a larger group of people. In lay man’s terms that means they serve everyone in this state, not just a small select group of people, and I for one want my Senator to serve the interest of Iowans and not the interests of a group of lawyers in Texas.

I hope that the voters of this state will think long and hard come ballot time about who they want to represent them in Congress, and I for one will be voting for someone who wants to represent me as an Iowan, even if that person is a simple farmer who has never studied law.

See you next week. Remember, we’re all in this together.