Bon Voyage, Chuck Grassley!
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has been in political office since 1958, and he’s been in the U.S. Senate since 1981. While he’s been a political fixture for decades, recent polling shows that even his fellow Iowans are beginning to think it’s time to elect someone else to his Senate seat. In recent times, Grassley has shown that he’s not astute or in-touch. Just by virtue of being Republican, we know he’s no friend of progress, and it’s time for us to look past him to someone who’s better aligned with the evolving mores of our compatriots. We don’t have to resign ourselves to being stuck with Grassley for yet another term.
This week, the senior senator from the Hawkeye State showed us again why he’s not good for our country. While Grassley has historically made attempts to appear moderate, he’s no longer keeping up that pretense. He has more in common with the far right than he does with moderate voters, especially now that the GOP is essentially a far-right entity more aligned with QAnon than with average citizens. Grassley’s latest ruse is to use the Christian Bible to justify his stance on disallowing equality for LGBTQ Americans. It’s convenient that religion once again serves to justify bigotry.
What those who use weaponized religion ignore is that religion is a choice, whereas sexual orientation is an unchosen, innate characteristic. Grassley has thusly denounced the LGBTQ Equality Act, using the religious excuses the right so fancies. Grassley stated that the bill would “fundamentally manipulate how our society deals with subjects of sex, gender, and faith,” and he went on to say that the legislation “would dictate what women, schools, churches, and doctors must believe.” Grassley and his Republican cohorts, as usual, are on the wrong side of the issue and out of touch with the polity.
