Experiments in Democracy and Zoom

My screen during Pints and Politics event. I had some issues dealing with the Gazette link--and the monkey is here to say "something went wrong." Iowa is seeking a new motto for it's welcome sign, maybe the computer has supplied a timely slogan: Something Went Wrong.

On Feb. 25, a week I ago, I tuned in to view a “Pints and Politics” panel discussion put on by the Gazette.

They do these now and then, and I’ve been to one before. However, Thursdays tend to be busy days and nights in the academic universe, so sadly I often have to miss these. But I viewed this one and enjoyed it.

Erin Jordan of the Gazette moderated, and Todd Dorman, Adam Sullivan and James Lynch, Gazette writers, were joined by Kassidy Arena of Iowa Public Radio.

The panel talked about the freak winter storm in Texas, Iowa education bills and election reforms pending in the Iowa legislature.

It’s been a week—I’ve been busy—but here are some of my notes from the program:

Best quote: The panel spent much of its time describing some rather strange and anti-democratic ideas in the Iowa legislature—ending tenure, a protection of free speech, in the name of free speech; tightening election rules to stamp out nonresistant vote fraud; rushing through important bills with minimal feedback partly due to a failure to create safety rules during a pandemic—it was a discussion of a legislative session in which one party has run amok. Adam Sullivan, I thought, had the quote that summed up the spirit of the discussion: “States are supposed to be the laboratory of democracy, but they are running some messed up experiments.”

James Lynch had interesting points to make, but also provided the séance moments of the event, as he sometimes froze. I noted that he used a background that had the Gazette name—but it appeared backwards, to me.

A bill that would tighten election rules drew much of the discussion. The bill moved through the legislature at breakneck speech, and Kassidy Arena noted that it did so at a time when many Iowans are reluctant to go to the Capitol—where the GOP leaders have not mandated masks.

That points out what to me is one of the oddest things that has happened in recent politics. Iowa’s governor has relaxed rules as infections, while dropping, remain higher than they were for much of 2020. In Texas, in the week since this Pints and Politics discussion, the governor there cited mysterious “matrices” in announcing an end to state mask mandates.

Is he drinking the same Matrix vodka that Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has been drunk on for the past year? Somehow Reynolds sees matrices none of the rest of us see. Not it has spread to Texas like a bad virus. Matrix delusion--the new GOP affliction.

Back to this event. I enjoyed my own beer as I listened, yet I appreciate that Jordan said the Gazette may try some social-distance in-person events this summer. I would have to pay more, but I'm OK with someone bringing me my drinks. Assuming I have a shot by then—and not of whiskey, of a vaccine—I would like to go.

I also thought Arena was a good guest panelist and hope she attends again.

Kassidy Arena of Iowa Public Radio during event. All  images on this post are screen shots of the Gazette event.

I also kind of miss Zoom. Yes, I know, they used Zoom for this event, but I was viewing it indirectly, not via a Zoom link. At an earlier Gazette discussion featuring photographers, the chat in Zoom was an interesting adjunct to the discussion. This event lacked that chat feature, and I missed it

Of course, given the political nature of this event, it’s possible that chat comments easily get out of hand, and maybe The Gazette knows that from experience. As I say, I have not been able to attend these all that often.

I enjoyed this one. Still, the men in the panel, at least visually, all had some trouble—James had the backward background and froze; with his t-shirt and unruly hair, Dorman looked a bit like he was being held hostage in suburban Marion (with COVID-19, I suppose he sort of is); Sullivan had a mantle sprouting from the sides of his head.

From a nicely decorate cell somewhere in Marion, a hostage speaks.

The double X’s in the crowd, in contrast, opted for contacts if they needed corrective eye lenses, had their hair comparatively under control and seemed to have more of a sense about their backgrounds.

As far as the optics go, men, the woman are making us look like slackers. What else is new?

Anyway, apt final word to Dorman, who made a point about the pandemic: “As long as we can get beer and streaming services, we’ve proven over the past year that we can make it.”

Or maybe to Jordan, whose final sentence cut out and finished on these segue words: "until then."