Dick Goodson

Two events on Tuesday of this week occurred which prompted me to write this article. The first was an excellent program last night on Public Television, which was about the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and the culture and politics of attempting to keep the Chinese out of America. The second was the very bad taste…

Given the personality, the chaos, the drama, the lack of any understanding of presidential norms and the lying, I believe one must go back to Andrew Johnson to find a person in the oval office as unqualified and bad for the country as President Trump. Each of us has some idea as to what we…

On the day I am writing this there is 203 days to go before the fall elections. On that day Iowans will pick a new governor, determine which party is in control of both the House and Senate in Iowa, participate in determining what the Congress will look like and elect any number of other…

At 4:15 am on Friday, March 23, my wife and I drove over and picked up my granddaughter Zoe, 22, and got her to the Des Moines airport for a 6:00 am direct flight to Washington DC to attend the March For Our Lives scheduled for that day. She was accompanied by her friend Madeline,…

After reading the paper and listening to the local news regarding the end of Bill Dix’s political career, I am reminded of a quote by John Dalberg-Acton, who wrote a letter to an Anglican Bishop. In it he said, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” As we move closer to the 2018…

I think that the movement to get control of the issue of so many Americans dying of gun violence has now found its voice, just as the # MeToo movement has for woman’s harassment issues. The catalyst here is the recent shooting at the Stoneman-Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. I believe that the key…

With the Winter Olympics now in full swing and with the North Koreans participating, it seems to me we are losing an opportunity to engage on even a minimalist level. I get the increased sanctions we have put on the North and I even get some of the “good cop/bad cop” posturing of the Trump…

What should be the overriding issues to run on for Democrats as we move toward the mid terms? In my humble opinion, there are two key issues above all else Democrats should focus on: healthcare, and the hollowing out of the middle class. Or, in a word, wages. Many articles have been written about American…

Events have truly heated up in the past few days as the chair and staff of the Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee have created and then approved releasing a memo on the FBI and their use of FISA warrants in the Russia investigation. It seems to me there is so much “he said, she…

Recently the Register ran a “Letter to the Editor” I wrote entitled “Ten Attributes We Need in a President.” They were in no particular order and were bi-partisan in nature. Here they are as listed: Be honest. Have empathy. Put your ego on hold. Do not engage in or support “Fake News” Respect the “Rule…