Did Peace Index look under the dome?

By The Des Moines Register

----

A thistle to the Iowa legislators wasting time on silly distractions. One lawmaker recently opined that despite political division, the assembly is really one big family. It is behaving like a dysfunctional one, bickering over a heated sidewalk outside the Capitol, bathroom privileges in the House chamber and a dust-up over a lawmaker who took it upon herself to remove a citizen's poster from the rotunda. Grandstanding has come before substance this session, and the clock is ticking. Elder statesmen and women need to assert leadership and finish the important work of the state in the next few weeks.

A rose to the city of Des Moines for a commitment to eliminating graffiti and prosecuting those who deface public and private property. The city spends as much as $81,000 a year removing graffiti before it inspires others, and it created a graffiti hot line (515-237-1808). Police officers recently filed charges against a Roosevelt High School student who allegedly “tagged” a convenience store, and officers confiscated a backpack they say contained cans of spray paint. Graffiti may be art in the eyes of some, but it is wrong to put it where it's not wanted. Lettering and gang symbols sprayed on bridges and walls instantly give the impression of a city that has lost a key ingredient of civil order.

A rose to Iowa, which was ranked No. 9 in the nation on the annual Global Peace Index. Iowa was beat out on the peace scale by, among others, Minnesota (No. 4) and North Dakota (No. 5) but far ahead of the likes of Louisiana (No. 1 on the least-peaceful list). The peace index is compiled by the Institute for Economic and Peace based on violent crime rates, jail population and small-arms ownership. Iowa didn't seem so peaceful with the tragic shooting of a Keokuk County sheriff's deputy, but Iowans have not lost the capacity to find such an act shocking and unacceptable. Perhaps it is this state's historic ties to the earth that the people of Iowa have an innate expectation of harmony with nature and each other.