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Sharron Angle, a Nevada Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, told conservative radio entertainer Bill Manders that she cannot and will not accept abortion under any circumstances, specifically stating that women who are victims of rape and incest should not be allowed to access an abortion.

From a press release by the Nevada State Democratic Party:

Manders: Is there any reason at all for an abortion?

Angle: Not in my book.

Manders: So, in other words, rape and incest would not be something?

Angle: You know, I'm a Christian and I believe that God has a plan and a purpose for each one of our lives and that he can intercede in all kinds of situations and we need to have a little faith in many things.

Ask any Christian if his/her God is mighty and I'm sure you'll soon learn that the Christian God is so powerful that he defies human understanding. I've yet to understand why a God with so much power would only be able to accomplish certain tasks through horrific means. Yet, if we are to agree with Angle, this is exactly what we must believe.

But don't overlook the first answer Angle gives to Manders when asked if there is "any reason at all for an abortion." Angle says, "Not in my book."

According to Angle's book, women who suffer severe pregnancy complications should die instead of accessing abortion services. I guess the woman's grief-stricken spouse and other children can just have a little faith that God works in mysterious and, at least according to Angle, horrific ways.

I was able to listen to the Podcast of the Bob Bruce Radio Show on WMTradio.com early Sunday morning.  You can find it here.  Bob talks about the latest hot topic in Cedar Rapids, the Yardy and the safety device that has been pitched to the City Council and has been added to the City Budget for $540,000.  He spoke with Inventor Kim Brokaw.  Kim Brokaw admitted that he was NOT following directions when he was injured, he did NOT have the lid closed. 

You've got to listen to this podcast if for no other reason to listen to Bob singing "yardy" to the tune of "Feelings", it's a once in a lifetime experience :-)  or at least we can hope!  Just kidding Bob!

I also spent some time watching the video from Budget meeting #10 on www.neighborhoodnetworknews.com.  Councilman Chuck Wieneke had the best idea of all.  If indeed, the Yardy is a danger to us, let's collect them all and just start using paper sacks to put yard trash in.  I agree.  That's a lot better than spending a half a million bucks!!!

If you have not taken the time to read the comment section on KCRG you've got to go there.  Be ready to laugh.  Some of the comments are hilarious.  Several people have commented that this is the first time they have seen everyone on the same page in a comment section.  There seem to be more than a few of us that think this is a stupid decision by our Council.

Another comment about watching the video.  I was amazed to watch how giddy Kris Gulick was as he talked about being able to help Kim Brokaw get his product marketed.

Wednesday's City Council meeting should be an interesting one.  I wonder just how long the public comment line will be.

Kathy Potts

David Chung, author of Hawkeye GOP, has announced that he is resigning his elected position on the Iowa Republican State Central Committee so that he can freely volunteer for the gubernatorial campaign of Christian Fong. This move was done, he said, both because of promises he made to be neutral in primaries and perceived conflicts of interest.

In reading his letter, however, I was reminded of another case of conflict of interest that has yet to be addressed by Iowa Republicans.

In the fall of 2008, Iowa Right to Life published their pre-election newsletter. In that newsletter, the organization attacked a Republican candidate for U.S. House, labeling her "a great pretender" on anti-abortion issues. While this might have garnered limited blow-back in and of itself, the situation escalated because Kim Lehman, a then somewhat newly elected member to the Republican National Committee (who by virtue of that elected position also serves on the GOP SCC), was also executive director of Iowa Right to Life.

Eastern Iowa Republicans who had been knocking doors and otherwise campaigning on behalf of this congressional candidate took offense to the newsletter posting, and presented a letter to the RPI that called for Lehman's removal as RNC chairwoman. Chung and two other SCC members also penned a letter that called for Lehman to resign. Numerous conservative bloggers also joined the fray.

Lehman, who was interviewed by O. Kay Henderson of Radio Iowa, said that she did not personally write the newsletter article in question, although she did approve it and the entire newsletter prior to publication.

Long story made a bit shorter, the Republican SCC met in December and (narrowly) voted to censure Lehman. Chung, who was still serving on the SCC at that time, originally posted that Lehman "expressed regrets over her action and stated that she was stepping down from her position as president of IRLC." Chung then later corrected his original statement, indicating that Lehman expressed regrets over what happened, but not her actions. He also clarified that Lehman had already been seeking new employment, and hoped to reveal a new director for Iowa Right to Life in the spring.

If anyone is counting, spring has come and gone. Yet, this past Monday Lehman -- who said that people should be able to distinguish her as a person from the IRLC organization -- appeared on Jan Micelson's radio program as Iowa Right to Life. Her name is also the only one listed under contact information on IRLC's Web site.

Despite the Republican SCC providing Lehman a vote of no confidence and calling for her resignation from Iowa Right to Life, she continues to serve both as a Republican elected official and as executive director of an organization that publicly attacked a federal GOP candidate.

It makes one wonder why Chung felt the need to resign his position. It seems to me that if the RNC and the RPI are willing to put up with an elected official that is affliated with the bashing of a Republican candidate, they'd be uniquely thrilled to have one intent on supporting one.  

Although the Republican State Central Committee won't be casting votes until next weekend, the six candidates interested in being the next chairman (no women are under consideration) of the Republican Party of Iowa spoke in a candidate forum at the organization's Des Moines headquarters today.

Those interested in the job are:

• Andy Cable, Eldora, current chairman of the Hardin County Republicans
• Danny Carroll, Grinnell, former 12-year state representative
• Paul Pate, Cedar Rapids, former CR Mayor, former Iowa Senator, former Iowa Secretary of State
• Matt Randall, Ames, founder of Young Professionals of Iowa
• Christopher Reed, Marion, the 2008 U.S. Senate candidate who ran against Tom Harkin
• Matt Strawn, Ankeny, one of the Iowa Barnstormers owners and a former congressional aide

Since the meeting was in Des Moines -- which is a whole other sore spot for those of us in Iowa's second largest county -- I didn't attend. There is an excellent eye-witness/reporter's notebook report available from O. Kay Henderson of Radio Iowa. There is also a series of Tweets (postings to Twitter) available from the blog Iowa Defense Alliance.

There is nothing yet available at the Hawkeye GOP blog, authored by Republican State Central Committeeman David Chung. Of course, since meetings in Des Moines often lead to lunches and/or dinners with friends afterward, this shouldn't be taken as a sign that he won't be posting his thoughts if he was able to attend.

For what it is worth, if I were sitting on the Republican SCC, I would be casting my vote for Pate. He's proven himself and is seasoned. When it comes to fund-raising, he can get the job done. Also, he seems to have a plan -- something the RPI seems to be lacking these days. Most importantly, however, Pate would not necessarily be seen as a win or loss between the embattled social and fiscal conservatives. He's someone who could reach to both and, perhaps, actually strike some sort of compromise or truce.

What the RPI is missing -- indeed, what it always seems to be missing -- is a strong female voice. The Republicans select three people from each of Iowa's five congressional districts as members of the State Central Committee. Of those 15 individuals only one -- a person from the 2nd District -- is female. (And, yes, they did name her as their secretary.) Of course there is also the one nationally-mandated female representative to the Republican National Committee.

If the Iowa Republicans want to make some waves, they should consider dropping the appearance of the good ole boy network in favor of something a bit more representative of the state.

One of the great things about being a journalist is meeting people in all different walks of life. Some come into your life for short bursts of time, to help you through a particular event or moment, and others become friends that you can call on repeatedly.

One of the many people I've met while covering the immigration raid and its aftermath in Postville is Jeff Abbas of the listener-supported KPVL radio station. He's quick with a laugh... and nearly compassionate to a fault. Throughout this mess, he has been a strong voice in the community. Being that strong voice, however, hasn't always been easy for him. As I've learned first hand while covering the Cedar Rapids floods, it's difficult to watch a place you love, a place that you call home be ripped apart and try to put itself back together.

Jeff was recently featured on KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids. Kudos to you, Jeff!

If any readers have been wondering what they could do to help the town of Postville in the wake of the immigration raids, giving a donation to the radio station -- the only radio station in town -- would be of benefit. Feel free to download the stream and listen in too.

Although 364 Iowa school districts will have school leaders on the ballot this Tuesday, if history is any indicator, only about 6 percent of eligible voters will take time to voice their opinion. A new initiative launched by the Iowa Association of School Boards hopes to change that.

In 2000, an IASB survey indicated average voter turnout for school board elections hovered around 10 percent and was on par with general elections. The same survey this year indicated the number had slipped to about 6 percent.

"When these numbers from the auditors came back showing that -- depending on district -- turnout numbers ranged from about 4 to 6 percent it was disconcerting," said Jennifer Huffman, communications specialist for IASB. "You don't want to just assume the decrease represents a citizen's lack of awareness for the importance of school governance or a lack of interest in public education."

Huffman says the decrease in voter turnout combined with a difficulty some districts were having finding qualified candidates have led to some county auditors and state legislators to call for a change in the school board election process.

"There are some who have expressed a desire to combine the school board elections with November general elections," she said. "For many reasons, IASB wants the school board elections to remain annually in September."

Non-matching school and city boundaries, voters living in unincorporated areas, partisan politics being a part of general elections and potentially high turnover rates for school board members are just a handful of the reasons the IASB lists for keeping the school board election process in September. In order to keep the elections where they are, Huffman says the ISAB began discussing what they could do to increase voter turnout. A key component to that discussion was the fact that many school districts were having trouble convincing qualified candidates to run for the no-pay volunteer post.

"Back in April or May we began brainstorming the types of things we could be doing throughout the year to encourage people to run for school board," she said. "We partnered with the Farm Bureau, parent-teacher organizations and local chambers of commerce and requested they encourage their civic-minded membership to run for school board. The second part of the campaign we decided to invest some money -- something we had never done before -- for a radio campaign."

The 60-second radio spot, developed by Brownfield Communications as a part of IASB's "Care About Children" program, has been running on more than 70 stations throughout 93 counties since Aug. 27. Radio was chosen both because of it being economical and its ability to reach some of the state's rural areas. The ad highlights four of Iowa's school districts in an attempt to bring awareness to the varied and positive roles school boards can play within a district and a community. Those districts are Ogden, Sioux City, Louisa-Muscatine and Mount Vernon.

Listen to the ad:

Huffman says the four districts were chosen based on their individual excellence and innovative initiatives.

"Sioux City earned last year's T.E. Davidson Award, which goes to a school board every year that we recognize for its accomplishments and increasing student achievement," she said. "The Mount Vernon board was this year's recipient of the award for the stellar things they are doing in their district. We highlighted Ogden because they are one of the early pioneers for working within their community and with their community partners to set up a preschool program within their school system. Louisa-Muscatine has just been doing amazing things with technology in their schools."

In addition to the ad buy, Huffman emailed a copy of the audio file to many key members throughout the state and asked them to forward the file to their friends and neighbors. While not everyone who received the ad ended up forwarding it along, she says some good has still come from the grassroots effort.

"We have some school districts who have placed the file on their websites," she said. "These are baby steps. I knew we weren't going to increase voter turnout to 15 or 20 percent in a three- or four-month period of time and with one radio campaign. It's still a new and valuable way to present what school boards are doing for their districts. Hopefully, they'll be fired up and wanting to do more of it."

At the end of the day, Huffman says she is just hoping the work the IASB has done to find qualified candidates and to increase awareness of school and student excellence will translate to more people coming to polls on Tuesday.