Flag lowering has gotten out of hand
Why should an Iowa governor have the power to order the lowering of the U.S. flag? OK, the Iowa flag —- otherwise let the feds make the call.
State Rep. Blaine Watkins hit my nail on the head while aiming for his: “It’s got to do with respect for anybody (italics mine). We’ve had a long list for years of different groups that we’ve done it for.”
It seems to me the flag is now down more than it’s up. Years ago, it pretty much had to be for the passing of a president, the sort of news that made you remember where you were when you heard it; today, the very people who lower it can’t tell you why.
Of course, a great letter-to-the-editor writer should qualify —- “Now he belongs to the pages!”
Jim Zeller, Des Moines
All is not well with Iowa water quality
Here we are in February. The groundhog has seen his shadow. The Republican-led Iowa Legislature is busy and telling us they are making Iowa better place to live. The Farm Bureau and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig are touting how much money Iowa is spending on cleaning up our waterways and they are claiming it is working. The Raccoon River currently contains unhealthy amounts of nitrate, about 11.8 parts per million according to the Des Moines Water Works testing. Please, Iowans, consider this list and decide which of these comments are true and which comments matter.
Kim Hagemann, Polk City
Republican candidates for governor seem ignorant of medicine
At the Iowa gubernatorial debate sponsored by the Moms for Liberty organization Jan. 27, Republican candidates were asked about the mRNA vaccines. Zach Lahn, Brad Sherman, and Eddie Andrews all stated they were committed to banning the vaccine while Adam Steen said he would consider a ban. Between 2021 and 2024 it is estimated that the mRNA vaccines developed and given to combat the COVID-19 epidemic saved 2.5 million lives worldwide. Politicians should never and are not qualified to take away your health care choices, in this case by banning the use of mRNA vaccines in Iowa. I will always trust my doctor’s recommendations in regard to my health care over a politician.
Kevin Shawgo, Nevada
Thank friends in Denmark; don’t punish them
When our country needed help in Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban, who sheltered Osama bin Laden while his terrorists killed nearly 3,000 Americans on Sept. 11, many NATO and other nations fought alongside us there. In fact, 457 British solders gave their lives in defense of the United States during that conflict. In addition, 44 Danish solders sacrificed their lives for us there. Denmark had the highest per capita casualty rate of any nation who helped us there. The Danish solders and all who helped deserve our eternal gratitude. And too many deserve it for making the ultimate sacrifice for us. These countries proved to be true friends in our hour of need.
Our leaders should be thanking our brave friends for their sacrifice, not falsely accusing them of “staying back”; especially someone who did not serve when it was his turn to serve.
Thank you to all who served our country when duty called and to all who served with us.
Edward Friedmann, Redfield
We shouldn’t risk diluting community colleges’ unique role
I agree with Greg Christy’s guest column in the Feb. 1 Register, pointing out Iowa’s fine range of public and private colleges and universities. We need them all. I want to add one thing: Our fine community colleges do more than prepare people to become tradespeople for the workforce. North Iowa Area Community College, for example, offers courses in everything from agronomy to architecture, business, carpentry to composition, history, geography, mathematics to music, psychology, sociology and public speech. We need to fully appreciate them. We need to recognize and support them in how they fully serve the state as community colleges.
Norma Cook Everist, Mason City
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Lowering flags to half-staff has gotten out of hand | Letters
Reporting by The Register’s readers, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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