Political corruption runs deep in Iowa’s Republican Party with white Republicans thinking they are better than the rest of the state’s citizens. As part of her weekly press conference Wednesday, Gov. Kim
Kim Reynolds and husband Kevin jump to the head of the vaccination line.
Reynolds, along with her husband, Kevin, and Interim Director of the Iowa Department of Health Kelly Garcia, received their one-shot dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.1
The state health department2
Elderly in Iowa forced to wait for vaccine as Republican legislators jump to the head of the line.
ruled that the oldest citizens are to be inoculated first,3 but Reynolds, in contradicting her own words,4 and her husband jumped to the head of the line and they are 61. After waiting months, I received my first vaccination Thursday when the state opened up for people 75. My spouse was denied the shot due to age (55).
Why any politician and their spouses would be given priority over older citizens for the vaccine after spending months and millions of tax payer dollars to deny the reality of the tRump virus baffles the imagination.5
Governors who got the shots along with their spouses, and the vice president’s office, said they wanted to set an example for residents, build trust, bridge ideological divides and show that the vaccine is safe and effective. But that’s a rationale some critics don’t buy.6
Kim Reynolds and Donald tRump
Reynolds, who delights in photos with the virus denying tRump, denied the reality of the tRump Virus and her pathetic response borders on genocide–earning her the nickname among medical professionals in Iowa of Governor COVID-Kim yet COVID-Kim was the first recipient of the Johnson & Johnson 1-shot vaccine in Iowa at a staged political press conference while older Iowans had to continue to wait for their age group to be called–and most will have to endure taking two shots (I will take my second shot in three weeks). It is not surprising that in the bigoted and racist state of fascist Iowa, minorities in Iowa are on the end of the lists to receive the life-saving vaccine.
Corrupt politicians like Pat Grassley, the grandson of Iowa US Senator Charles Grassley and Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, both Republicans, released the guidelines a few days before the Legislature was due to return. But Grassley (R-New Hampshire) and Whitver concluded that the requirements do not appear to apply to lawmakers. Legislators exempted themselves from temperature checks when they met in a shortened session last June after taking a hiatus due to COVID-19, although members of the public were required to have their temperatures taken. It is common to see Iowa Republican lawmakers without masks and not following social distance rules.7 While Iowa Republicans congratulate themselves on their response to the tRump Virus, COVID-19 continues to exact a deathly price from Iowa people.8
Iowa Legislator Todd Prichard
Iowa Republicans seldom consider law are them as well as other Iowans. Across the aisle it is a different story: “We’re going to require masks in our caucus, and that, as we learned from June9 that’s not hard,” said House Minority Leader Todd Prichard, D-Charles City. “My members were very willing to make sure that they were taking proper steps as prescribed by the CDC to protect people that they work with and themselves from the pandemic.”
Prichard is not easily intimidated. He called upon the GOP Speaker Pat Grassley to remove Rep. Dean Fisher, R-Montour, from his post as chairman of the Environmental Protection Committee and stripped of all committee assignments because of comments Fisher made about election fraud and the attack on the Capitol Jan. 6, and because he has refused to apologize for his posts. “Fisher must be held accountable for his actions,” Prichard said in a letter to Grassley. Grassley rejected the petition of the minority leader claiming it was “partisan politics” even though he had denounced the results of the election himself as being votes stolen.
In social media posts. Fisher claimed there had been “outright cheating” in Democratic-led states and cities. Referring to the Supreme Court refusing to overturn election results, Fisher said “ … we will survive. Remember, our side has the guns, the other side doesn’t know which bathroom to use.”
“It’s not about left or right or Democrats versus Republicans, Prichard responded. “As leaders in this state, we cannot remain silent and ignore the truth while promoting violence,” he said. “Healing the divisions in our country starts with leaders telling the truth and setting the right example for respect. Change starts with us.”10
- https://www.lemarssentinel.com/story/2869246.html. ↩
- https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/health/when-can-i-get-covid-vaccine-iowa-age-65-older-medical-conditions-20210111. Cf. https://idph.iowa.gov/Portals/1/userfiles/61/covid19/vaccine/V%202%20IOWA%20COVID-19%20VACCINATION%20STRATEGY%2012_4_20_FINAL.pdf. ↩
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2021/01/21/kim-reynolds-coronavirus-covid-19-update-vaccine-distribution-education-criminal-justice-said-today/4233552001/ cp. https://states.aarp.org/iowa/covid-19-vaccine-distribution. ↩
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2021/02/25/governor-kim-reynolds-iowa-covid-news-conference-feb-25-vaccine-coronavirus/6806731002/. ↩
- https://khn.org/news/article/as-the-vulnerable-wait-some-political-leaders-spouses-get-covid-vaccines/. ↩
- https://med.nyu.edu/faculty/arthur-caplan. cp. https://khn.org/news/article/as-the-vulnerable-wait-some-political-leaders-spouses-get-covid-vaccines/ and https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/12/23/covid-vaccine-priority-congress/ ↩
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2021/01/08/iowa-legislature-gop-lawmakers-set-covid-19-safety-protocols-no-mask-mandate/6579532002/. Cp. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/iowa-house-rep-amy-nielsen-covid-pat-grassley-masks-capitol-20210131. ↩
- https://www.kcci.com/article/covid-19-pandemic-at-focus-as-iowas-2021-legislative-session-begins/35179833. ↩
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2020/06/14/iowa-legislature-adjourns-2020-session-budget-voter-id-abortion-felon-voting/3184423001/. ↩
- https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/iowa-democratic-leader-calls-for-gop-lawmaker-to-be-punished-for-comments-on-election-fraud-and-jan-6-capitol-riot-20210122. ↩
I find it most interesting that Rep. Dean Fisher (R) would make such a statement as “Remember, our side has the guns, the other side doesn’t know which bathroom to use.”
I, as a Dem, have guns and know plenty of Dems who also do (I do live in Texas . . .), and know Republicans who do not (I thought that was illegal in this here state ..).
But as far as the bathroom part of the comment, it is not Dem legislators who introduce “Bathroom Bills”.
Mr Fisher crafted a perfect combination of hypocrisy and irony. I will put money on him going far in the Fuckublican paRty.
All bathroom bills are introduced and passed by Republicans. Kolkhorst’s Senate Bill 6 would limit bathroom use in government buildings on the basis of “biological sex” rather than gender identity: https://www.texastribune.org/2017/03/30/texas-republicans-double-down-bathroom-bill-despite-north-carolina-vot/. On March 22, 2016, upon request from three-fifths of all the members of the North Carolina Senate and the North Carolina House of Representatives, its President and Speaker, respectively, called the General Assembly into special session for the following day: On March 22, 2016, upon request from three-fifths of all the members of the North Carolina Senate and the North Carolina House of Representatives, its President and Speaker, respectively, called the General Assembly into special session for the following day. Kutner, Max (May 1, 2016). “Denying Transgender People Bathroom Access Is Linked to Suicide”. Newsweek.com. Newsweek. Retrieved August 13, 2016. As North Carolina grapples with the fallout from its new “bathroom law,” which says that people must use public restrooms matching the gender on their birth certificates, and a dozen states consider similar bills, a new study suggests an association between denied access to restrooms and suicide attempts by transgender people. I will continue this in a forthcoming article.