Iowa Has a Racism Problem That It Needs to Confront
By now, exasperated Iowans are all too familiar with the common coastal perception of our state as a dull-witted, racist backwater, thanks primarily these...
Robert Ray and the Lost Soul of the Iowa Republican Party
In 1975, an ethnic minority group in Southeast Asia called the Tai Dam made an urgent appeal for asylum to governors in 30 states....
The Story County GOP’s Deafening Silence on Steve King
IN OCTOBER 2016, the Story County Republican Party hosted its seventh annual Wendy Jensen Memorial Chili Supper, named in honor of a local volunteer...
Iowa’s No. 1 State Ranking Is a Cruel Joke
On Tuesday, the day before Iowa Senate Republicans passed a massively unaffordable, billion-dollar tax cut and another bill that would outlaw virtually all abortions...
Criminal Justice Reform Advocate Compares Kim Reynolds to MLK Jr., JFK
A fawning column published last Tuesday in the Des Moines Register by the director of a national criminal justice reform group active in the...
The Dystopian Fever Dream of President Trump Becomes a Reality
Last night, America’s worst impulses, embodied by a bigoted, bloviating reality TV star who stoked racial and anti-immigrant paranoia, won the endorsements of scores...
Condemnation of “Lawless” Bakken Pipeline Resistance Fails to Grasp the Nature of Political Protest
A coalition established by the Iowa State Building and Construction Trades Council and comprised of pro-pipeline industry groups in Iowa, Illinois, and the Dakotas,...
Yes, the Confederate Flag Is Racist and Has No Place on Main Street
After the Informer published photos of Confederate flags — including one flying atop the truck of Cool Biker Stuff, the main vendor invited to...