Hard Choices (Well, Really, They're Easy Choices Now)

I know that not everyone who reads my blog cares for Hillary Clinton. However, given the craziness of the campaigns thus far and some of the outrageous politics I have seen lately, I cannot keep from offering my two cents.

I very recently finished reading Clinton's book, entitled Hard Choices, which mostly documents her time as Secretary of State. There is little doubt that she wrote this as a prelude to entering the race for the Democratic nomination for President, and I know that not all book reviewers have judged it to be a perfect book. Nevertheless, I found it very interesting, and a worthwhile read. One of my strongest reactions to it occurred on nearly every page as I read. That was simply that I could not imagine Donald Trump even coming close to understanding what was involved in each of the often delicate State Department and international political negotiations that she discussed. Clinton knows the world's players and she understands the personalities, the factions, the tradeoffs, and the strategies that must make up the handling of any situation in which our nation becomes involved. Trump would have none of this ability, and his vociferous, negative, prejudiced, hostile attitudes make him an exceedingly dangerous person. I tremble at the thought of nuclear codes being in his hands. I sincerely hope that each of you will consider these matters as you make your voting decisions going forward.

I am a Democrat and quite liberal, I guess, but I do try hard to stay informed and to read opinions coming from both the right and the left. One of the conservative writers I most admire is David Brooks, who is published in the New York Times. He recently wrote an editorial you can find by clicking here that speaks volumes to me about what the Trump and Sanders campaigns and phenomena mean for our country and our future. Brooks says, "This election — not only the Trump phenomenon but the rise of Bernie Sanders, also — has reminded us how much pain there is in this country." He goes on to invite us to think about a new national story and for each of us to become involved in embracing our fellow citizens, all of our fellow citizens, and to engage with them. Brooks says, "Trump will have his gruesome moment. The time [our time] is best spent elsewhere, meeting the neighbors who have become strangers, and listening to what they have to say."


And as long as I'm venting and spouting off, let me urge all my fellow Iowans to unseat Senator Charles Grassley this year. I have said that I am a Democrat, but there were years, many years ago, not recently, when I happily voted for Grassley, who used to truly represent Iowa and who stood against vested interests in Washington in favor of doing what I thought of as the right thing. He is no longer that person. Today, he seems to be a pawn of the right and to simply reiterate and defend stands taken by the Republican party and other conservative elements. I suspect big money interests are buying his vote. I have written to him, and to Senator Ernst as well, about matters that trouble me--out of control gun rights, unwise subsidies, and most recently the blocking of the Supreme Court nomination, just to name a few. What I always get back are canned positions and deflections to other issues. It is past time for Iowa to elect someone new to hold that seat. At the moment, I think State Senator Rob Hogg would be an excellent choice (click here for more information). I knew Senator Hogg's father, Bob Hogg, who was an extraordinary Professor of Statistics at the University of Iowa. Indeed, I studied statistics under him. If Rob Hogg is half the man his father was, he will be a strong and ethical leader going forward.