By Bill Radl, Iowa City
I am heartened by Ed Flaherty’s optimism as he calls on citizens to write Grassley to urge the senator to oppose the war in Iran. Ed is a good man and a dedicated protester against misdirected and just plain stupid military intrusions by our government around the world.
I am not, on the other hand, heartened by my decades-long correspondence with Grassley. I no longer believe that Grassley is an individual with weight in the Republican Party, assuming he ever was. And he certainly has no influence in the White House. Charley G is the epitome of the aged government servant who probably didn’t have a great deal on his mind when he entered politics over 50 years ago. And now he just needs a kind Eagle Scout to help him out the door and onto a slow tractor back to Iowa.
Yes, let’s write Chuck. I’m not stopping now. But if the Democratic Party has any intention of running candidates against Joni this year or Chuck after that, they’d better work harder than they seem to be at the moment.
Finally, don’t believe stories that Grassley is thinking of retirement. He’ll be visiting all 99 Iowa counties before his next election in 2028 — doing pushups. He’ll only be 102 years old at the end of that term.
