Very good observations, my friend. Perhaps, a good case can be made for term limits? I recall from the political science and government cases I took back in the day (late 1960s/early 1970s) that term limits were a bad thing. Limiting time in office could inhibit the ability of a particular elected official to learn the office and his or her role were some of the arguments/propositions. Institutional knowledge would be lost. Perhaps ,when Thomas Jefferson discussed the concept of refreshing the tree of liberty, he was not so much thinking so much in terms of a revolution and bloodshed, but more so with a concept of an individual representative's "blood" being lost in an election or as a result of an end to the fixed amount of time to serve in elected office.
Sign me up for term limits, George. They encourage new blood, fresh ideas and less cowardice. I am not a young man and Grassley has been in elected office since I was three years old.
Chuck Grassley was in office (Elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in 1959); I was in kindergarten—think about that! Nothing personal with Mr. Grassley – but let's put a cap on serving!
If the presidents limit is 8 years, why not term limits for congress? I would think 24 years for a Senator and 18 years for a House representative. Time for them to learn the ropes, but not enough of rope to hang us American’s out to dry – LOL.
As the grandmother of a female graduate of the US Naval Academy I wrote to both of our Senators. I received a reply from Grassley (think AI may have been used in the response) but have yet to hear from Joni.
I used to write to Joni, too - but gave it up when I never received even an acknowledgment. And as you noted - Grassley's 'responses' appear to be composed by interns or by AI.
Just as many or your readers and other Substack writers have predicted, she will fold under MAGA pressure, lest she become Citizen Ernst. Perhaps instead of a background check, can senators and prospective cabinet members be required to take a CT scan to confirm that they have a spine? If Joni indeed votes to confirm Hegseth, it's one of the most nauseating cases of political hypocrisy I've witnessed. Nothing matters to them but fealty to Trump.
Lot of common sense there Dave. on term limits, Iowa's own Senator Grassely tried to get a bill through once for term limits> Couldn't get anyone to co-sponsor.
Thanks Dave for another excellent piece. My experience with most elected officials of both parties at the state and national level is that the point of having the job is to keep the job. Moral compass? Doesn't exist. Doing the right thing for the right reason? Not a consideration. Making decisions based on positioning for the next election cycle? An absolute.
Yes to term limits. Yes to campaign $ limits or public financing. Yes to recall provisions. Yes to anything that will encourage the best and brightest to step forward to be a temporary public servant.
And a cry out for a mental health check for me to even utter such nonsense. None will happen as the there is one thing certain on the farm and in Capitols -- the hogs do not slaughter themselves.
What is she afraid of? If she is colored as the next Jeff Flake or Bob Corker, Elon Musk steps up, gives a car dealer from Council Bluffs or Davenport $5 million to "primary" her, Trump endorses the opponent and Joni is running for a local school board soon thereafter. Cave in or get ousted. Its the MAGA way.
Character no longer counts in MAGA world, at least if the offender is a fellow MAGA. Oh, they want to be tough on Hunter Biden or, heaven forbid, Liz Cheney, but look at the cabinet designees and tell me that Trump gives a damn about character. Hegseth, who's own mother called him out on abuse to women, a known alcoholic...it doesn't matter. Most of the MAGAs don't even watch real news.
In our house, we're retreating to things we can control. My wife is volunteering at an inner city day care and I'm tutoring under-achieving first through fourth graders. What else can one do when virtually all the guardrails -the so-called checks and balances - are gone? We certainly aren't going to go to the local clinic and watch kids get vaccinated.
Rod, I think you have the right perspective. As individuals, we can only do what we can realistically do. We can’t control the political world. Focus on what we can control.
"What is Ernst afraid of? Is she so intoxicated with being a US Senator that she can’t stand up for issues she cares deeply about? What’s the point of being in the job?"
ME. Yes, Sen. Ernst is intoxicated with be a US senator.
She only marginally represents Iowa. She has almost extracted herself. Reportedly. she has a nice, expensive condo in Washington DC. In her 6 years, she can complete her 99-county swing through Iowa w/o confronting the voters. She driven around by staff, stopping at coffee shops and other small, friendly businesses to "hear" what Iowan's think. it's a ruse that seems to please 50% of the voters.
She has occasional celebrity status and gets her name in the news. She flew around PA "campaigning for Trump and his MAGA senatorial candidate. She even sat next to JC aboard the campaign plane. There's a lot to like about being a U.S. senator and the pay is pretty good with great benefits and a pension. Sure beats being a member of the Iowa senate or even Lt. governor.
Why wouldn't she fight to save that job? It's easier to bend to MAGA than be a Liz Cheney who has a fallback position with security. Ernst doesn't. She'll never set foot in Iowa again if she were displaced in a primary (unlikely but embarrassing).
Iowa is an increasingly unpleasant place, and I'm not just talking about the odor of pig s*it when they (immigrant workers) spread it on fields just north of Ankeny. A reasonable person, not Ernst or Grassley, would see that eventually it will be impossible to co-exist in 200 X 300 mile patch where the animals outnumber the human beings by ate least thirty to one. Long and short. Ernst will do as Trump wants.
I haven't seen the ad that is online surging Ernst to support Hegseth, but understand Elon paid for it. Ernst won't need Koch Bros. when Musk can be there. She should marry him.
Well, I realize this dates me, both in years and in past political standards long since gone. But I remember asking Governor Bob Ray a few times if he was concerned that voters might punish him for some position he was taking. Ray, a cool customer, would smirk and say, “If voters don’t like what I’m doing, they can vote for somebody else. I’ve got lots of other things I could do.”
A little cocky, maybe, but he had his head screwed on straight and kept the job in perspective. It wasn’t his total life.
Iowans needn't wonder if Sen. Ernst will demonstrate courage or cowardice as she, given her sworn duty of "advice and consent," considers President-Elect Trump's nominees to lead our Nation's most important institutions. We need only look to her Iowa colleague, Sen. Grassley, to understand the consistent, reliable depths of MAGA/Trump induced cowardice. Hail to the Chief!
Another great article Dave. While I, too, don’t not quite feel sorry for Ernst, I almost understand her dilemma. Sell out or get booted out.
BUT - WHY DOES GRASSLEY BOW AND SCRAPE TO MAGA AND TRUMP? He doesn’t have to worry about getting re-elected - don’t we all hope. And even if he did run he’d win - he’s Iowa’s Icon.
I’m disappointed and shocked at how he’s turned into another weasley Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz. By my measure Grassley has ruined his conservative Republican legacy.
Nice to hear from you, Kurt. I covered her fairly extensively during her first Senate run in 2014. She looked you in the eye, had a firm handshake, listened, seemed genuine. I thought she would be okay. I think they get to Washington, though, and get a taste of the bright lights and they change.
Dave: As always, thank you for your very insightful perspectives. The thirst for power and servitude has taken over the once party called Republican now with a small r and now in my opinion a cult to one. Fortitude and purpose to country as left them in order to try to prop up a wishful political legacy that they, like Ernst want to maintain in fear of going against the MAGA order. The common sense and duty to country has left them. We as citizens who believe in the foundations of our country must continue to extend our voices for reason.
Well written, Dave. I had a glimmer of hope she would do the right thing, but nah… it is sickening to watch our country decay.
They care about one thing and one thing only - staying in power.
Very good observations, my friend. Perhaps, a good case can be made for term limits? I recall from the political science and government cases I took back in the day (late 1960s/early 1970s) that term limits were a bad thing. Limiting time in office could inhibit the ability of a particular elected official to learn the office and his or her role were some of the arguments/propositions. Institutional knowledge would be lost. Perhaps ,when Thomas Jefferson discussed the concept of refreshing the tree of liberty, he was not so much thinking so much in terms of a revolution and bloodshed, but more so with a concept of an individual representative's "blood" being lost in an election or as a result of an end to the fixed amount of time to serve in elected office.
Sign me up for term limits, George. They encourage new blood, fresh ideas and less cowardice. I am not a young man and Grassley has been in elected office since I was three years old.
Chuck Grassley was in office (Elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in 1959); I was in kindergarten—think about that! Nothing personal with Mr. Grassley – but let's put a cap on serving!
RINO -- Ed (70 yrs old)
If the presidents limit is 8 years, why not term limits for congress? I would think 24 years for a Senator and 18 years for a House representative. Time for them to learn the ropes, but not enough of rope to hang us American’s out to dry – LOL.
RINO -- Ed
As the grandmother of a female graduate of the US Naval Academy I wrote to both of our Senators. I received a reply from Grassley (think AI may have been used in the response) but have yet to hear from Joni.
I used to write to Joni, too - but gave it up when I never received even an acknowledgment. And as you noted - Grassley's 'responses' appear to be composed by interns or by AI.
Just as many or your readers and other Substack writers have predicted, she will fold under MAGA pressure, lest she become Citizen Ernst. Perhaps instead of a background check, can senators and prospective cabinet members be required to take a CT scan to confirm that they have a spine? If Joni indeed votes to confirm Hegseth, it's one of the most nauseating cases of political hypocrisy I've witnessed. Nothing matters to them but fealty to Trump.
*of
Great column, and wonderfully written, Dave!
Coming from you, Cheryl, I am honored.
Joni Ernst may not have a moral compass, but like many Republicans, she is a very reliable political weather vane.
Excellent analogy. A reliable predictor of which way the wind is blowing.
Only if that vane points to hell, I'm thinking
😂
Lot of common sense there Dave. on term limits, Iowa's own Senator Grassely tried to get a bill through once for term limits> Couldn't get anyone to co-sponsor.
I don’t recall that. Grassley, of all people, wanted term limits?
As I recall anyway. Contact and find out.
Supposedly - Grassley originally RAN with a promise to pursue term limits. What a joke.
👍should be interesting to see how her decision will impact her “next” run in 2026?!
Thanks Dave for another excellent piece. My experience with most elected officials of both parties at the state and national level is that the point of having the job is to keep the job. Moral compass? Doesn't exist. Doing the right thing for the right reason? Not a consideration. Making decisions based on positioning for the next election cycle? An absolute.
Yes to term limits. Yes to campaign $ limits or public financing. Yes to recall provisions. Yes to anything that will encourage the best and brightest to step forward to be a temporary public servant.
And a cry out for a mental health check for me to even utter such nonsense. None will happen as the there is one thing certain on the farm and in Capitols -- the hogs do not slaughter themselves.
John, your mental health is just fine. And your moral compass is due north. Which means you would be doomed in Iowa politics!
What is she afraid of? If she is colored as the next Jeff Flake or Bob Corker, Elon Musk steps up, gives a car dealer from Council Bluffs or Davenport $5 million to "primary" her, Trump endorses the opponent and Joni is running for a local school board soon thereafter. Cave in or get ousted. Its the MAGA way.
Character no longer counts in MAGA world, at least if the offender is a fellow MAGA. Oh, they want to be tough on Hunter Biden or, heaven forbid, Liz Cheney, but look at the cabinet designees and tell me that Trump gives a damn about character. Hegseth, who's own mother called him out on abuse to women, a known alcoholic...it doesn't matter. Most of the MAGAs don't even watch real news.
In our house, we're retreating to things we can control. My wife is volunteering at an inner city day care and I'm tutoring under-achieving first through fourth graders. What else can one do when virtually all the guardrails -the so-called checks and balances - are gone? We certainly aren't going to go to the local clinic and watch kids get vaccinated.
Rod, I think you have the right perspective. As individuals, we can only do what we can realistically do. We can’t control the political world. Focus on what we can control.
I just had a vision of the good Germans saying FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL to each other in the late 1930's-
"What is Ernst afraid of? Is she so intoxicated with being a US Senator that she can’t stand up for issues she cares deeply about? What’s the point of being in the job?"
ME. Yes, Sen. Ernst is intoxicated with be a US senator.
She only marginally represents Iowa. She has almost extracted herself. Reportedly. she has a nice, expensive condo in Washington DC. In her 6 years, she can complete her 99-county swing through Iowa w/o confronting the voters. She driven around by staff, stopping at coffee shops and other small, friendly businesses to "hear" what Iowan's think. it's a ruse that seems to please 50% of the voters.
She has occasional celebrity status and gets her name in the news. She flew around PA "campaigning for Trump and his MAGA senatorial candidate. She even sat next to JC aboard the campaign plane. There's a lot to like about being a U.S. senator and the pay is pretty good with great benefits and a pension. Sure beats being a member of the Iowa senate or even Lt. governor.
Why wouldn't she fight to save that job? It's easier to bend to MAGA than be a Liz Cheney who has a fallback position with security. Ernst doesn't. She'll never set foot in Iowa again if she were displaced in a primary (unlikely but embarrassing).
Iowa is an increasingly unpleasant place, and I'm not just talking about the odor of pig s*it when they (immigrant workers) spread it on fields just north of Ankeny. A reasonable person, not Ernst or Grassley, would see that eventually it will be impossible to co-exist in 200 X 300 mile patch where the animals outnumber the human beings by ate least thirty to one. Long and short. Ernst will do as Trump wants.
I haven't seen the ad that is online surging Ernst to support Hegseth, but understand Elon paid for it. Ernst won't need Koch Bros. when Musk can be there. She should marry him.
Well, I realize this dates me, both in years and in past political standards long since gone. But I remember asking Governor Bob Ray a few times if he was concerned that voters might punish him for some position he was taking. Ray, a cool customer, would smirk and say, “If voters don’t like what I’m doing, they can vote for somebody else. I’ve got lots of other things I could do.”
A little cocky, maybe, but he had his head screwed on straight and kept the job in perspective. It wasn’t his total life.
Iowans needn't wonder if Sen. Ernst will demonstrate courage or cowardice as she, given her sworn duty of "advice and consent," considers President-Elect Trump's nominees to lead our Nation's most important institutions. We need only look to her Iowa colleague, Sen. Grassley, to understand the consistent, reliable depths of MAGA/Trump induced cowardice. Hail to the Chief!
Another great article Dave. While I, too, don’t not quite feel sorry for Ernst, I almost understand her dilemma. Sell out or get booted out.
BUT - WHY DOES GRASSLEY BOW AND SCRAPE TO MAGA AND TRUMP? He doesn’t have to worry about getting re-elected - don’t we all hope. And even if he did run he’d win - he’s Iowa’s Icon.
I’m disappointed and shocked at how he’s turned into another weasley Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz. By my measure Grassley has ruined his conservative Republican legacy.
The point of her being in the job is being in the job and getting reelected.
I'm not from or in Iowa, but from my perspective I never noticed her having a moral compass in the first place.
Nice to hear from you, Kurt. I covered her fairly extensively during her first Senate run in 2014. She looked you in the eye, had a firm handshake, listened, seemed genuine. I thought she would be okay. I think they get to Washington, though, and get a taste of the bright lights and they change.
Excellent article. I have given up hope that anyone has a moral compass these days…..
Dave: As always, thank you for your very insightful perspectives. The thirst for power and servitude has taken over the once party called Republican now with a small r and now in my opinion a cult to one. Fortitude and purpose to country as left them in order to try to prop up a wishful political legacy that they, like Ernst want to maintain in fear of going against the MAGA order. The common sense and duty to country has left them. We as citizens who believe in the foundations of our country must continue to extend our voices for reason.