Top Iowa Republicans model ‘Bad Idea Jeans’

Years ago, Saturday Night Live aired one of its famous fake commercials. It was for “Bad Idea Jeans.”

A group of dudes wearing Bad Idea Jeans were discussing their lives, and really bad ideas.

One guy says, “Hey, we’ve got our apartment. We ripped up the floors, pipes, wiring, and having everything completely redone.”

A second guy asks, “You’re renting, right?”

“Yeah,” the first guy says, as “Bad Idea” flashes on the screen.

Well, it seems like most of our Republican congressional delegation put on their Bad Idea Jeans this week. Or maybe Bad Idea has a line of business wear.

All four of Iowa’s GOP U.S. representatives, including Ashley Hinson and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, voted for Ohio U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan on Tuesday to become the next speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

On Wednesday, as Jordan’s second bid for the speakership failed, Miller-Meeks switched her vote to Texas U.S. Rep. Kay Garner.

After the vote, Miller-Meeks said in a statement saying she received “credible death threats and a barrage of threatening phone calls.”

Jordan’s backers clearly are a class act.

Jordan, as you may have heard, was neck deep in former President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election, throw out the legally cast votes of millions of Americans and urge then-Vice President Mike Pence to rule electoral votes unconstitutional on Jan. 6. Jordan spoke with Trump as the Capitol riot unfolded.

That’s, of course, just the tip of the iceberg as to why Jordan is unfit to be second in line to the presidency. He hasn’t been a primary sponsor of any major piece of legislation enacted during his 16 years in Congress. He’s been too busy throwing bombs to legislate.

But that doesn’t seem to bother our House members.

“We spoke last week about our shared conservative priorities and the needs of Iowans, and I am confident he will advance both,” Hinson posed on X.

Meanwhile, back in Iowa, the state’s chief law enforcement officer endorsed a presidential hopeful facing 91 charges in four criminal cases for mishandling classified information, obstructing justice, conspiring to overturn an election and falsifying business records.

“He will secure our border,” Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said during Trump’s rally in Adel. “He will fight the terrorists, he will fix the economy, he will stand up for agriculture, and he will uphold our Constitution and our way of life.”

Well, so long as he’s not in jail. She’s clearly backing the blue, or is she giving them the Bird?

Throughout the week. Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst has spent considerable time on social media blaming President Joe Biden for the horrific terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas in Israel. “Weak, appeasement,” repeat. Never mind that bears no resemblance to Biden’s strong response.

During an interview on the highly reputable outlet Newsmax, Ernst said Biden “is furthering the terrorist agenda across the Middle East.” That’s a pretty serious accusation coming from a U.S. senator. But in our current political timeline, it’s just one more throw away lie and on to the next.

You want to know what really makes us look weak? A dysfunctional House of Representatives, baseless sniping at the president for political gain in a time of crisis and the real possibility we might elect a reckless, corrupt charlatan to the presidency. How can we lead the free world? The bad ideas just keep coming.

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com