Viewpoints

Pastors in many denominations are heavily encouraged, or required, to participate in some sort of continuing education each year. What this looks like can vary from pastor to pastor depending on their interests, goals, what the growing edges they may want to look at. In November, I, along with Rev. Kim Gates from St. Paul and Forest Mills UMCs, had the opportunity to take a “Civil Rights Pilgrimage” on a small group tour. We started out in Nashville, traveled down to Atlanta, rode over to Birmingham and also spent time in Montgomery and Selma in Alabama before making the loop back up to Nashville.

Now, full disclosure would be admitting that the civil rights era of the 1950s and 1960s happened well before my time, so while many on the trip could remember what they heard (or didn’t hear) in the news back then, it is all history to me.

To the Editor:

Having spent most of my life in education as a student, teacher, coach, consultant, professor, and university dean, I am concerned about the lengthy downward achievement trend of Iowa students. Governors Harold Hughes (Democrat) and Robert D. Ray (Republican) took great pride in Iowa’s ranking as #1 in the ACT, SAT, and the Iowa Test of Educational Development, and Iowa Test of Basic Skills. The four assessments were unsurpassed among the statistical evaluations for validity and reliability.

Unfortunately,  Governor Terry Branstad and Governor Kim Reynolds disliked the Iowa State Education Association, most progressive educational endeavors, and many educational experts. Their lack of educational support is easily seen in the data.

To the Editor:

The branches of our military have long proven that working together as a team results in positive outcomes. Our Legislators often refer to our Military as “America’s Finest!”

Perhaps our Legislators should glean lessons from “America’s Finest” and earn the same title. Of course, most of our Legislators have never been to “Boot Camp”, and Law School is not an equal substitute!

I saw an inscription on a monument regarding our Vietnam Veterans, and I quote:

“We were the best America had, Brothers who fought without America’s support, Brothers who returned without America’s Welcome, Brothers who will always be the best America had.”
End of quote.

In our future elections, let’s strive to give America our best government leaders so they can be referred to as America’s Finest Lawmakers who serve at the pleasure of and for the people!

Respectfully,
Carl Christianson,
Waukon
 

To the Editor:

Let’s shop local.

Everyone is getting ready for Christmas. Let’s help our local businesses. We are lucky we have several new businesses, as well as our older businesses.

How many businesses have you never been in? Find out all these new businesses have to offer. I personally have been very surprised at what they have.

How many have never been at the Green House? They have nice yard and garden items. Take a look.

Go to Steel Cow and see the jewelry items that Val sells with her cow paintings; earrings, necklaces, small paintings, etc. Former Waukon people would like local artist creations. Take a look.

How many women have never gone to Sweeney’s to look for gifts for husbands and children? Toys, kitchen items, boots, shirts, winter wear. You will be surprised.

Gift cards at grocery stores, beauty shops, nail decorating, restaurants, hardware stores. Look everywhere.

To the Editor:

What does liberty mean to you? The dictionary definition of liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s way of life, behavior, or political views.

I wonder if Moms For Liberty have ever read that definition, as their whole premise is that of oppression and restriction. They worked with Governor Reynolds and Iowa Republican legislators to restrict the books our children and youth may read in school. They were instrumental in passing laws last session that restrict the rights of LGBTQ youth and pointedly singled out transgender youth and their rights. Moms For Liberty aren’t really for liberty, they are for undermining public education and communities.

To the Editor:

May this Christmas season be a blessing to everyone. The holiday season is an ideal time to see all of your family. This would be a great time to discuss a lot about your family.

What do you not know about your family? Do you know great-grandparents’ names, where they came from, what nationality they are, or when they arrived in America?

Today, young people seem uninterested in the past. If our senior people do not get family history recorded today, it may very well be lost.

There are all kinds of helps and research available to use, but first you need family names, places, etc. to connect to your family. Christmas is a good time to see the older generations of people and get names of parents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and even where family lived and worked.

To the Editor:

Where should I start? There is so much wrong with our country. An ex-Democrat says the Democrat Party has the mentality of gangsters. Can Trump bring us back? He is far better than the lightweights that think they can. Trump is polling great and his four years as President proved that he is reliable.

I’ve been in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, two times in Dubuque, Waterloo, La Crosse, and I’ve watched his rally on TV. In all the rallies I attended, it was fun because all the people were so nice. The January 6 rally got out of control. I think the Dems had some very bad people planted in the crowd to start the misbehavior and then blame Trump, like what they tried with the fake dossier, bought and paid for by Hillary Clinton and the Dems. They tried to pin that on Trump and they spent millions of our tax dollars trying to pin Trump, who was totally innocent.

Yep, I agree with David Horowitz - the Dems have the mentality of gangsters.

To the Editor:

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is expected to be a happy time of the year. The holidays are among us, celebrations with family and friends are in full swing, the decorations are beautiful, and Christmas music is on in nearly every public place. It’s a great time of year. Except for when it isn’t.

The truth is, Christmas isn’t a happy time for everyone. Not only does grief not take a holiday, but it seems to come roaring back even stronger at times. It can come in many forms: death of a loved one, loss of a job, loss of a dream, changes you weren’t ready for.

And seasonal depression is real, as well. It’s been dark at 5 p.m. since the middle of November, and prolonged darkness can make any troubles feel twice as heavy. It’s hard enough to feel these feelings, but to feel them when it feels like everyone around us is full of happiness and good cheer, is a lot to bear at times.

To the Editor:

It is unusual for members of a political party to criticize members of their own party. And yet, that is what highly respected members of the Republican party are doing, warning of the danger Donald Trump represents. Included in this group are Mitt Romney, John Kelly, John Bolton, Stuart Stevens, and J. Michael Luttig.

Liz Cheney, daughter of Dick Cheney, warns in her new book, “Oath and Honor”, that Trump poses a threat to our very democracy if he becomes president again. As she says, “We will be voting on whether to preserve our republic. . . . As a nation, we can endure damaging policies for a four-year term.

But we cannot survive a president willing to terminate our Constitution.”

Trump has railed against his perceived enemies calling them “vermin” and claiming that undocumented immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country.” Such language harkens back to white nationalism and fascism. He promises to root out his enemies.

To the Editor:

In the last three years, $773,383,868 has been invested in the 22 Iowa counties that make up Iowa’s Congressional District 2.  This includes 797 projects in childcare, broadband, education, healthcare, transportation, environment, and others, all huge job creators and economic drivers for local economies and governments, non-profits, etc. that provide a myriad of local services.

These are the kinds of investments that make a huge difference in the everyday lives of Iowans. Anyone can see for themselves by going to www.iowaatwork.com. The website is interactive by clicking on the individual projects in the various counties and finding project-specific information.