None Of This Is Sensible Governance

Time was, I could tolerate the Iowa flavor of Republicans They were tight with a buck, occasionally given to preachy moral lectures and insisted on debating bringing back the death penalty whenever they could, but they were, at their core, sensible. I think sensible politics is written into Iowa's DNA. At our core, we're all farmers. We want 'steady as she goes' not Conan the Barbarian I desperately want to believe that this state will only tolerate so much of the latter before yanking the politicians firmly back to the former and getting back to solid, sensible governance.

But none of this is sensible governance. Instead, we get this:


As attractive as this may be to many Republicans in the State, it's not sensible governance. It's not even good government. It's well, fucking insane is what it is. I mean, fine- the changes to the collective bargaining law were probably inevitable. They've got the trifecta. They've got the bad blood. Let's screw some Democratic constituencies. I'm not naive, that's just how politics works in this country these days. But they followed it up with a never ending parade of fucking awful. Let's review:

Not satisfied with gutting collective bargaining, Republicans went after worker's compensation claims as well. So if you get injured on the job, you get less money. Awesome!

The Grocers having waited 'their whole lives' for this moment are gunning hard for The Bottle Bill. So, YAY, litter!

And we're getting a Voter ID law passed. Because, you know, at this point why not? (I'm not against the notion in principle, but in practice, I very much am. In practice, it's been used to disenfranchise poor people and minorities and might as well be a poll tax or a literacy test at this rate.)

This gigantic birthday cake of suck needed some candles on top, so who steps up to the plate? Oh that's right, Iowa's 4th District Congressman Steve King. King, who is a massive embarrassment to this state and who makes me wish I had more of a British accent, so I could use the 'c-word' as a comma decided to tweet this:
Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies.
The 'Wilders' King is referring to is, of course, right wing Dutch Politician Geert Wilders, who, despite recent attempts by American conservatives to normalize folks like him and Marine Le Pen is a far right xenophobe. I don't know what's going on with the Republican Party these days, but 'Far Right' in this country might seem like a 'pretty awesome person to hang out with' for a lot of Republicans, but in other countries, it's like a step and a half away from being David Fucking Duke. (Who, by the way, LOVED King's Tweet, because, of course he did.)

King did some lame-ass damage control and Iowa's GOP Leaders did their usual condemnation song and dance- though both Our Glorious and Eternal Governor The Moustache and His Chief Henchwoman weren't exactly blistering about their condemnations. It was more of a "well, what did you expect, he's batshit crazy" kind of a shrug of a condemnation. Despite the general awfulness of King's Tweet, that didn't stop various shitheels on the internet from attempting to mount a defense of him. Consider exhibit A:
The first is the most obvious: as racism. The ideas that babies from abroad cannot be civilized to Western values- that "somebody else's babies" are unfit for assimilation- is racist. if that's what King said and meant, he should immediately be censured by his Republican colleagues on the floor of Congress, and we should all pray that he loses his Congressional seat.
Had the writer stopped there, I would have been so fine with this article. But he didn't. There's nothing to be said after that paragraph right there. This was't about multiculturalism. This wasn't about assimilation. This was about non-whites being unworthy of assimilation into our country. King should be censured and good Republicans should stand up and drag his happy ass through primary after primary until they take him down. He's a disgrace to their party. Democrats should throw money into this seat until they can take him down. He's a disgrace to the Congress of the United States of America. And if that's wasn't enough, let me embed this tweet, because I'll be damned if I'm going to embed King's racist, white nationalistic drivel:
And he keeps that flag on his desk.

Look, I get that there's a slowdown in the farm economy right now that's impacting state revenues. I get that the days of wine and roses are probably over and we can't spend like drunken frat boys at Panama City on Spring Break right now. I get all that. And in general, I appreciate fiscal discipline in our politicians. I like that. But what I don't like is when that fiscal discipline benefits corporations and the rich over regular folks like me. People get screwed last, not first, in situations like this. But so far, there hasn't been much sign that State Republicans really care what people think.

And maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the Conservatives are right and this will put state finances in better shape for the long term. Maybe this is sensible governance and I'm just mad because it's probably going to screw me somehow and nobody likes to get screwed even a little bit by the government if they can possible avoid it. But then I look at the Medicare Privatization Debacle. And the Vet's Hiring Program that seems to be more style than actual substance and I realize that the track record of the Republicans in Des Moines is mixed at best.

None of this is sensible governance.

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