Chuck Grassley crashes and burns

| 10:30 am EDT October 14, 2021
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When I was a child, I had some interesting beliefs. One of them was about starlight. I used to love looking at the stars. As they twinkled and shone their exquisite light, I imagined all the stars were people — people who had passed away. I would look to the stars seeking meaning in their sparkle. The stars seemed to be magnificent and iridescent. Perhaps, I thought we would all be starlight someday.

Of course, I was but a child. And I had other beliefs as well. I, for example, believed in the good of adults. As I saw many decent and good children fall to peer pressure and group-think, I foolishly consoled myself with the notion that once said children arrived at adulthood, this behavior would all be in the distant past. Adults I believed knew better.

I was wrong. I can be forgiven, I think, as I had but just a few years on this great planet. Now, when I see so many adults fall victim to the evil lulls of peer pressure, I wonder if they, too, once sought guidance from the stars. Was there ever a time when they were innocent? When they believed in doing good?

I ask these questions because of what is happening at the school board meetings. It is not just the parents themselves who are misbehaving. It is some of our GOP Senators. One such example is Chuck Grassley. I call him out because of his seniority. He should know better.

Except he doesn’t. The lull of group-think has reeled even Grassley in. Now, virtually all the Republican Senate Judiciary Committee are striking out at our Department of Justice.

This has to do with AG Garland’s quick response to terrified teachers and parents who have been imploring him for help. Grassley and his cohorts do not want Garland to help. And they wrote a letter.

“We urge you to make very clear to the American public that the Department of Justice will not interfere with the rights of parents to come before the school boards and speak with educators.”

Forgive me, friends. But this is BULLSHIT. Grassley and all his sycophantic buddies know what is happening. They likely have seen videos of parents being terrorized.

The fact that Republicans would stand idly by while parents and educators are in danger is not even the worst of it. But that they would encourage the harassment is despicable. They’re not in denial. Walls of peer pressure surround them. These walls are thick, unyielding, and leave no room for disobedience or individual arguments. This shows that even people as senior as Grassley are not immune from the temptation of being one with the crowd.