Iowa, where have you gone?

The Iowa I came back to raise my daughter (now daughters) in is pretty much gone red.

Friends I had in high school post random MAGA nonsense.

Co-workers make TikToks about supporting Trump and the MAGA movement.

So many Iowans have been sucked into the Big Lie.

For what? To feel better about themselves? Their own shortcomings? Their own uncomfortable feelings about what Iowa is becoming? Being uncomfortable with people who look like them or sound like them, so they vote for “safety”?

I don’t know. I say this a lot anymore. I don’t know Iowa. I don’t know many of the people I grew up with. I don’t know how this gets better. With our newly re-elected governor, her thrust for power, and her want for more will drive this state into the ground.

And for what? Donors? Mama Bears? The ultra MAGA?

I don’t know Iowa anymore and it makes me sad. And honestly, I’m not sure how to get past this election. So much of what I believe is being flushed like yesterday’s rubbish.

I was told in 2016 that we “needed something different”. I wish I could ask those former friends, is this what you wanted? Is this the Iowa you want your grandkids raised in, one with no tolerance for differences? One with no empathy for their fellow man?

The problem is, I think they would say yes, because it’s being “made great again”.

Tomorrow is a new day. The sun will come up. But the light will be dimmed because I can see the storm clouds rolling with the next legislative sessions. I know I shouldn’t invite trouble, but this is as plain as day.

I don’t know, man. I just don’t know.