{"id":1425,"date":"2014-11-05T15:32:10","date_gmt":"2014-11-05T21:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/?p=1425"},"modified":"2014-11-05T15:36:00","modified_gmt":"2014-11-05T21:36:00","slug":"control-the-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/?p=1425","title":{"rendered":"Control the Issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"webeagle\"<\/a>I rediscovered a valuable lesson after Tuesday\u2019s election.\u00a0 Don\u2019t let the opposition determine the issue.<\/p>\n

Bruce Braley\u2019s campaign for the U.S. Senate was poorly run.\u00a0 That\u2019s my opinion.\u00a0 It began when he spoke to a group of trial attorneys in Texas, stating that if the Democrats lost the majority in the U.S. Senate, \u201ca farmer from Iowa who never went to law school\u201d would become the next Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.\u00a0 He apologized within a day of the tape being aired on television.\u00a0 That was his first big mistake.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t need to apologize; he stated a fact.<\/p>\n

At that point, he allowed the Republicans and media to define the issue.<\/p>\n

Twenty years ago, I was studying to become a legal assistant.\u00a0 The class in Advanced Legal Research and Writing was given an assignment.\u00a0 I can\u2019t recall the specific assignment, but I do recall the case associated with the assignment \u2013 State v. Lake<\/a>.\u00a0 Kathy Lake, from Muscatine, took her case to the Iowa Supreme Court defending herself (pro se<\/em>).\u00a0 Here are the facts in the case:<\/p>\n

On June 23, 1990, defendant, Kathy Lake, was a passenger in an automobile being driven on a public street in West Liberty. A police officer stopped the vehicle based on his belief that the driver was operating while intoxicated. The validity of that stop is not challenged. The driver brought the vehicle to a stop in a public parking lot. The officer ordered the driver out of the car.<\/p>\n

At or near the time that the driver exited the vehicle, the defendant also stepped out of the vehicle and spoke to the officer. The officer directed defendant to re-enter the vehicle and, when she did not, told her to stay in the vicinity. Based on the officer’s observations of defendant, she was charged with public intoxication in violation of Iowa Code section 123.46 (1989).<\/p>\n

Notice that Lake was \u201coutside\u201d of the vehicle when she was charged with public intoxication.\u00a0 The issue in the case was whether \u201cdefendant [Lake] was in a “public place” even while she remained within the automobile.\u201d\u00a0 Evidently, without knowing any more information other than provided in the written opinion, it appears as though Kathy Lake controlled the issue.\u00a0 There was an alternative question for the court to answer \u2013 \u201cthat she entered a public place when she exited the car.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you read this case, you will realize that Lake determined the issue.\u00a0 When I read this case almost 20 years ago, I had to read it more than once.\u00a0 It came in handy for two reasons.\u00a0 First, the State attempted for years to change the law so that \u201cthe interior of a motor vehicle is public place for the purposes of public intoxication\u201d.\u00a0 Imagine how detrimental that law would have been if it were enacted?\u00a0 I did everything I could to stop that legislation from becoming law, and it seems like I had to do that for six or eight straight years. In the end, a couple of government entities quit introducing it \u2013 I won!\u00a0 Second, it taught me that I should be able to decide what the issue is for discussion, not someone else.\u00a0 That\u2019s how I try to lobby.<\/p>\n

Braley did not insult Grassley; he stated a fact.\u00a0 Yet, he succumbed to what the opposition considered to be an insult.\u00a0 Or, was that the game all along?\u00a0 Make it appear as though he insulted the senior senator from Iowa.<\/p>\n

The media rose again to condemn a statement made by Senator Tom Harkin.\u00a0 Harkin said \u201cthat Ernst wasn’t fit to be Iowa’s senator just because she’s \u2018really attractive and she sounds nice.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In addressing fellow Democrats in Ames, Harkin said:\u00a0 “I don’t care if she’s as good looking as Taylor Swift or as nice as Mr. Rogers, but if she votes like Michele Bachmann, she’s wrong for the state of Iowa.”\u00a0 Within a day Senator Harkin is saying that he regretted those remarks.\u00a0 Why?<\/p>\n

In politics, the opposition always says unflattering things about you.\u00a0 How ironic that Senator-elect Ernst wouldn\u2019t talk to media outlets in Iowa because they wrote negative editorials about her, but she used CNN to express her distaste<\/a> for what Harkin said.\u00a0 She controlled the issue.<\/p>\n

Besides, the double standard was very obvious in this campaign. Why is it that Joni Ernst did not apologize for her husband\u2019s remarks on Facebook about Hillary Clinton being a hag? Or that he posted a supposed joke that displayed violence against women?\u00a0 Neither the campaign nor Joni apologized.\u00a0 These are instances in which an apology is appropriate. Again, she controlled the issue and the media allowed it.<\/p>\n

What will happen now that Braley has been defeated and the Republicans take control of the U.S. Senate?\u00a0 A \u201cfarmer from Iowa who never went to law school\u201d will probably become the next Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.\u00a0 It\u2019s a fact.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m taking control of this issue. I will not apologize!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In politics, the opposition always says unflattering things about you. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[534,562,560,561,563,559],"class_list":["post-1425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bruce-braley","tag-joni-ernst","tag-kathy-lake","tag-senator-chuck-grassley","tag-senator-tom-harkin","tag-state-v-lake"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1425"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1428,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425\/revisions\/1428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}