I use to do a Sunday linkfest, but then decided that I rather liked keeping that day reserved for doing all the family and home stuff that sometimes gets pushed aside during the work week. So, I think "Monday Morning Quickies" might serve as a fair alternative for those who have been missing the Sunday posts.
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There has been a great deal of speculation, especially on the part of pundits, as to how certain divides within the Republican Party will manifest themselves. What I find most interesting about those discussions, however, is that most seem to think this is some new development. The fact is that this isn't a case of going to bed one night with clear skin and waking up to find a massive pimple on your forehead. This is one of those deep blemishes that festers under the skin for ages, causing pain each time it is touched, yet refusing to come to the surface so that it can properly be treated. As an example, it was these same concerns years ago that led to my own frustration threshold being reached and, ultimately, my departure from the Republican ranks.
From my vantage point, the newness of what is going on lies not in the conflicts, but in the fact that some, possibly tired of the slow membership bleed and disenfranchisement, are starting to push back. Although some have called such conflicts the beginning of the end for the party, I don't see it that way at all. Without these conversations, without some sort of resolution of the conflicts, the party is destined bleed its way to overt extremism and subsequent obscurity.
Here in Iowa, and in Linn County specifically, we have a unique vantage point to watch the happenings. Not only the divides ever-present on the gubernatorial campaign trail, but the blog Hot Issues from Linn County Iowa has been documenting some of the insider baseball of the local central committee, which currently revolves around how voting members of that committee -- including delegates to the recent special nominating convention in Iowa House District 33 -- earned placement on the membership roster.
On the back burner, simmering away and keeping emotions hot, is the Federal Elections Commission complaint that Morris Hurd, pastor of West Hill United Methodist Church in Burlington, helped funnel money between one of the 2008 Republican presidential campaigns and the Iowa Christian Alliance. (Which is headed by Steve Scheffler, who is also elected to represent Iowans on the Republican National Committee.) As if the allegations themselves weren't enough to gossip about, about the same time the church was burglarized, without signs of forced entry, and a computer was taken. For some Republicans, it all seems a little convenient. In fact, it prompted the proprietors of the Burlington Derailed blog to print a handy flow chart showing the Iowa GOP's structure.
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Folks in Johnson County will be holding their own nominating conventions to fill a supervisor seat. John Deeth has detailed on the Democratic plans, as well as basic info and a link to more on the Republican plans.
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For the past three weekends, I've been traveling to different locations in Iowa to present seminars for Iowa women who want to be more effective online. I want to write a much larger post about this later, so just let me say for now that I learned as much as I gave.
Thanks to all the great women who came out & I hope we have many more opportunities to get together in the coming months.
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Jay Mattsson has published a one-on-one interview with Francis Thicke, who is running as a Democrat for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture. If you want to know more about Thicke and why he is running, head over to Blog for Iowa and read the full post.
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No, I have absolutely no idea why the Century for the Common Iowan blog has decided to only be available to invited readers. If anyone else knows, please clue me in.
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Not only does Iowa get to keep the pig, but there are no reports of any bathroom penalty flags at Kinnick.
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Finally, I did have the amazing opportunity this weekend to set down my reporter's notebook and attend the Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner as just another face in the crowd. There's no way I'm going to spoil a night off by trying to piece together a news report of what happened. But, if I can channel Deeth for a moment, I'll admit that my biggest disappointment is that Vice Pres. Joe Biden didn't enter or leave to "Centerfield" by John Fogerty.
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There has been a great deal of speculation, especially on the part of pundits, as to how certain divides within the Republican Party will manifest themselves. What I find most interesting about those discussions, however, is that most seem to think this is some new development. The fact is that this isn't a case of going to bed one night with clear skin and waking up to find a massive pimple on your forehead. This is one of those deep blemishes that festers under the skin for ages, causing pain each time it is touched, yet refusing to come to the surface so that it can properly be treated. As an example, it was these same concerns years ago that led to my own frustration threshold being reached and, ultimately, my departure from the Republican ranks.
From my vantage point, the newness of what is going on lies not in the conflicts, but in the fact that some, possibly tired of the slow membership bleed and disenfranchisement, are starting to push back. Although some have called such conflicts the beginning of the end for the party, I don't see it that way at all. Without these conversations, without some sort of resolution of the conflicts, the party is destined bleed its way to overt extremism and subsequent obscurity.
Here in Iowa, and in Linn County specifically, we have a unique vantage point to watch the happenings. Not only the divides ever-present on the gubernatorial campaign trail, but the blog Hot Issues from Linn County Iowa has been documenting some of the insider baseball of the local central committee, which currently revolves around how voting members of that committee -- including delegates to the recent special nominating convention in Iowa House District 33 -- earned placement on the membership roster.
On the back burner, simmering away and keeping emotions hot, is the Federal Elections Commission complaint that Morris Hurd, pastor of West Hill United Methodist Church in Burlington, helped funnel money between one of the 2008 Republican presidential campaigns and the Iowa Christian Alliance. (Which is headed by Steve Scheffler, who is also elected to represent Iowans on the Republican National Committee.) As if the allegations themselves weren't enough to gossip about, about the same time the church was burglarized, without signs of forced entry, and a computer was taken. For some Republicans, it all seems a little convenient. In fact, it prompted the proprietors of the Burlington Derailed blog to print a handy flow chart showing the Iowa GOP's structure.
----------
Folks in Johnson County will be holding their own nominating conventions to fill a supervisor seat. John Deeth has detailed on the Democratic plans, as well as basic info and a link to more on the Republican plans.
----------
For the past three weekends, I've been traveling to different locations in Iowa to present seminars for Iowa women who want to be more effective online. I want to write a much larger post about this later, so just let me say for now that I learned as much as I gave.
Thanks to all the great women who came out & I hope we have many more opportunities to get together in the coming months.
----------
Jay Mattsson has published a one-on-one interview with Francis Thicke, who is running as a Democrat for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture. If you want to know more about Thicke and why he is running, head over to Blog for Iowa and read the full post.
----------
No, I have absolutely no idea why the Century for the Common Iowan blog has decided to only be available to invited readers. If anyone else knows, please clue me in.
----------
Not only does Iowa get to keep the pig, but there are no reports of any bathroom penalty flags at Kinnick.
----------
Finally, I did have the amazing opportunity this weekend to set down my reporter's notebook and attend the Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner as just another face in the crowd. There's no way I'm going to spoil a night off by trying to piece together a news report of what happened. But, if I can channel Deeth for a moment, I'll admit that my biggest disappointment is that Vice Pres. Joe Biden didn't enter or leave to "Centerfield" by John Fogerty.
Some of us in the party are getting real tired of the Theocrat wing of the GOP. There are more issues than abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research, and abstinence education. They have alienated a large swath of conservatives who think we need to be more articulate than just screeching slogans and pounding our pitchforks on the ground while concentrating on just a few issues.