Don’t let Iowa become Texas

Republicans in Texas are giving cannibalism a bad name. They have set out to devour some of their own. Among the most appetizing are their recognized leaders, conservative to their core and with years of public service. They are rewarded for their slightest deviation with shunning, belittling, and hostility. The gobblers feel righteous, some declaring they are doing the Lord’s work.

At their recent state convention, they booed Sen. John Cornyn, a serious public servant, a solid conservative during his 20 years in the Senate and as attorney general of the state. His sin was massive. He, along with nine other Republicans, talked to Democrats about bipartisan gun control legislation. He was formally “rebuked” at a convention of 5,100 delegates and alternates. It was as if Uvalde was in the Fiji Islands, not 277 miles away. There was more on their plate. Dan Crenshaw, elected in 2020 to the House, had voted for the gun changes which largely involved background checks, and not much more. He came to politics as a retired Navy lieutenant commander and a SEAL. He had degrees from Tufts and Harvard and lost an eye in Afghanistan. He was pursued by people calling him “eyepatch McCain,” a traitor, and a RINO, and that should be “hung for treason.” He may not be hanged, but he could be defeated with the gobblers negative help.

Cornyn and Crenshaw are among the brains and muscle of Republicans in Washington. Thus, the attack on them makes sense in Texas. Check this question and answer you get on the internet. “If you had to eat a human, what part should You eat? The brain and muscles are probably your best bet according to Yale certified nutritionist Dr. Jim Stoppani. Muscles offer protein and the brain would provide slow-burning energy since it's high in fat and glucose.”

The Texas gobblers had the votes to trash the legitimacy of President Joe Biden’s victory, to call for the elimination of the federal income tax and to urge the repeal of the voting rights act of 1965. That act was a bipartisan attempt to eliminate historic racism that made voting difficult Black citizens. On its final passage, 30 Republican senators voted for it, two against. That was of no relevance because it had never entered the delegates’ low glucose brains.

When they got off national issues, they turned their sights and labeled homosexuality “an abnormal lifestyle choice.” According to the Texas Tribune, they protected “the humanity of the preborn child,” promoting new messaging after the state has taken steps to vastly restrict abortion.

The delegates also called for children to learn in school about “the humanity of the preborn child.” The humanity of women who may die seems irrelevant.

Iowa, fortunately, is not yet Texas. The recent Republican convention in Des Moines, did not rebuke Sen. Chuck Grassley for anything. But some of the Texas spirit is here. Much of it grows from Trump and his lies about the election. Sen. Grassley should speak the truth about 2020. And so should Sen. Joni Ernst and Gov. Kim Reynolds. They should also talk to Sen. Cornyn.

Norman Sherman of Coralville has worked extensively in politics, including as Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s press secretary.