My Entry Today in Book Five: Working Through the Maze 2018

Well, there’s more to be worried about. Of course there is. My ProLaw program? Not working right. My required Sign In for Legal Filing in Iowa? Not set up. The expectations? That I’ll be tackling my responsibilities solo starting Monday.

This place (by other estimations) is chaos as nothing has been done in months. I can help with this. I can get this place back to reasonable. But… it is going to take a while!

POEM BREAK:
First day of the rest of your life
Can’t think too hard or focus it right
There’s no way to plan every next step to come
so be prepared, be flexible, be young and dumb
if things go wrong, that may be part of the plan
you grew up too fast and were a child-sized man

Take the next step with faith
knowing it might not be safe
Drop your guard, embrace fate, and live.

POEM BREAK OVER

So I realized something as I was reviewing Legal and Political Maps. Positive: My new job puts me firmly in District 2B. There are 14 Judicial Districts in Iowa ranging from 1A to 8B. Now… when I had jury trial in Boone, when I was running the Ames Office, when I worked in Tiny Town? ALL of that was in District 2B. So the majority of my judicial experience has been in District 2B… which is good. Knowing Judges, and Judges knowing you, is an important part of the job. Negative: When I move to Iowa Falls, I will again be in Iowa’s Congressional District 4. I hate Congressional District 4. Hate. It. Google two words for me: Steve King. That is Congressional District 4. A man that is “unbeatable” in his district. This is a man who as recently as June 2018 actively and enthusiastically re-tweeted and supported European Neo-Nazis. He is an Iowan with a Confederate Flag on his desk. BTW: Iowa fought against the south. Last year, he said “Our civilization cannot be restored by other people’s babies.” A direct (persistent) assault on all immigrants and non-whites. And he is unapologetic about his transparent and staggering racism. But that’s not bad enough. Being the Poster Child for White Supremacy in Iowa isn’t bad enough. Steve King is also routinely named as “the least effective legislator in D.C.” by non-partisan periodicals. He has never sponsored a bill that passed. He has never written a bill, period. He is the equivalent of sending a KKK robe to Washington DC and simply allowing it to collect a paycheck. AND HE IS UNBEATABLE IN THE FOURTH DISTRICT OF IOWA!

The following is from a Des Moines Register Article that was published March 2017:
Even GOP leaders around the state who privately regard King, 67, as an embarrassment or worse see only a narrow path to voting him out of office — one that almost certainly depends on an intra-party challenge. The district’s demographics are such that King has triumphed even in elections heavily favoring Democrats in Iowa.

Interviews with nearly a dozen Iowa Republicans this month revealed a growing fatigue with the congressman’s antics, balanced by an acceptance of the political reality of the district he represents.

“I’m hopeful that one day the Republican Party will decide to get rid of its embarrassing member of Congress here,” GOP activist and fundraiser Nick Ryan said with a sigh in an interview this month.

King’s office has not responded to several interview requests from The Des Moines Register this month.

The 39-county 4th District encompasses Iowa’s conservative heartland, rendering most Democratic bids quixotic and likely ruling out moderate Chamber of Commerce-type Republican candidacies as well.

“There’s no prayer for a challenger that comes across as a moderate-to-liberal Republican,” said Mark Lundberg, a longtime GOP activist from Sioux County. “I can’t even imagine that being an option.”

The district includes almost 72,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats, according to the latest data from the Secretary of State’s Office, and many of those Republicans skew strongly conservative. It was northwest Iowa, for example, that drove socially conservative presidential candidates Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum and Ted Cruz to victories in the last three Iowa caucus campaigns.

Undaunted by the numbers and encouraged by a flood of fundraising following King’s comments this month, Democrat Kim Weaver has announced she’ll challenge him in 2018. Weaver, of Sheldon, ran against King in 2016, losing by almost 23 percentage points. Even if 2018 turns out to be a strong year for Democrats, she’ll face an uphill challenge.

In an interview, Weaver said she knew even from the outset of her first run in 2015 that it might take more than one campaign cycle to introduce herself to voters and build a profile to mount a serious challenge. This time around, she said, she’s already seeing stronger fundraising, more help from volunteers and greater activism around the district.

“I would not be doing this again if I did not think it was a possibility,” she said. “Because trust me, it’s not easy.”

When asked how she could overcome Republicans’ strong partisan advantage, she noted that more than half of registered voters are either Democratic or independent.

“My approach is going to be to talk to everybody — not just Democrats,” she said. “We’re going to reach out to Republicans and no-party voters.”

(Editorial Aside: Kim Weaver dropped out of the race 2 months later because of persistent and alarming “acts of intimidation, including death threats.” These became more than “the norm” to the point where her safety and her family’s safety were very genuinely at risk.)

According to many Republican observers, the ideal replacement for Steve King would look a lot like Steve King — just without the tendency to make incendiary statements.

“He’s pretty dead-on for what the vast majority of voters like up here when it comes to economics, immigration issues and social issues. He fits very well up here,” Lundberg said, adding, “You’d have to have very conservative credentials to even make an attempt.”

That means someone with deep roots in the district and a fiercely conservative outlook on immigration, abortion, same-sex marriage, debt and deficits and other key issues — not to mention campaign-trail charisma and an ability to raise money.

“Ninety percent of his votes are the same as other Republicans,” Cable, the Eldora activist, said. “To beat him, you’re going to have to prove you’re better on those things, not just that you disagree with him on a few other things.”

Such Republicans do exist in the 4th District, party activists and officials said. Some have even been approached about running. But on top of those ideological, financial and personality requirements, they have to bring something else to the table: a willingness to risk their political future on a challenge to a well-known and still-popular incumbent.

One prominent Republican in the district described such a run as a “kamikaze mission.”

“It would have to be a pretty strong or pretty unique Republican to take him out in that district in a primary,” said Brent Siegrist, a former Iowa House speaker from Council Bluffs who ran for Congress against King in the 2002 GOP primary. “There’s not much of an opening there, but I suppose there’s a small opening.”

(END OF ARTICLE)

The problem? Honestly.... Iowa’s 4th District is full of 3 things. (1) Rural Agriculture; (2) Under Privileged Whites; and (3) Militant Christians. Combine that!
(1) Agriculture doesn’t mean “Conservative.” Agriculture means “screw Corporate Farms, yay Government money”… so you’d think they would lean a little liberal. And some of the farming communities in Eastern Iowa do. But add that word RURAL and you add an entirely new perspective. You aren’t dealing with the Agriculture Families looking to oust Big Agro… you’re looking at the Agriculture Families looking to oust Big Government.
(2) Under privileged whites… there’s a reason I say it that exact way. Do you know why so much anti-immigrant and racist stuff is supported in the 4th District? Because Iowans watched Black Lives Matter and White Privilege and said, “I’m making $15k a year with two kids, and this black criminal is calling me out while wearing Nike Lebron X shoes?! Fuck him and his entire movement!” THAT is why (little secret) Trump carried Iowa. Hell, Tiny Town in District 4? Trump received 2,702 votes compared to 1,078 votes cast for ANYBODY else. My current county in District 4? Trump received 5,254 votes compared to 3,085 votes cast for ANYBODY else. These are the poor whites who embrace racism as a way of saying “fuck you for saying I’m privileged.” I’m not saying they’re right… I’m just saying why they have reacted the way they have to King and Trump’s racism.
(3) Militant Christians. Typically… I despise the kinds of jokes you hear Jim Jefferies make about Religion. To Jefferies and people like him, all religion is bad and all religion is Anti-Progress. Bull shit, but thanks for playing. Religion and Science, Religion and Progress, Religion and Compassion can exist together. But… to use Mr. Jefferies’ phrase “Dumb cunts will do what dumb cunts will do.” But where Jeffries suggests that phrase is for “The Religious” I suggest that phrase is for ANY individual that actively works against their interest or the interest of their community. And yes… Militant Christians in Iowa’s 4th District are Dumb Cunts. These are people that, remember above, are poor… under privileged… not possessing of an excess of money to give away. But they are blindingly quick to donate money to Pro-Life Bullshit. Apparently, feeding your kid versus feeding yourself takes a back seat when the idea of abortion comes up!! It. is. insane. AND… tell any of them my favorite phrase? “Banning abortions doesn’t stop abortion. Banning abortions stops safe abortions.” They’ll roll their eyes! They’ll say, “If you love God, you won’t get an abortion.” Okay. That doesn’t answer my statement. Unless you’re implying something in your statement. The implication being, “If you love God, you won’t get an abortion. Everyone else can die.” Which… allow me to applaud your complete failure on understanding any element of The Gospel.

But… that is why the Iowa 4th is screwed to have Steve King. Anti-Government, Racist, Pro Life jackholes who are struggling so much in their own lives that they can’t show compassion for others.

Maybe I’m being a reductionist asshole but… that’s what it looks like to me.