LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Iowans from the 4th Congressional district have a golden opportunity to repeal and replace Steve King this election.

Elect JD Scholten!

Steve King simply does NOT represent Iowa values. He hasn’t for a very long time.

When our Iowa ancestors fought and died in the Hornets Nest to save the Union and help free our black brothers and sisters from slavery, would they ever have anticipated that a century and a half later, an Iowa Congressman would promote ante-bellum racism on a national scale, in the name of Iowa?

While it doesn’t matter to the xenophobic bigots out there, in the eyes of the rest of our nation, and the world, King has been a joke for so long, he actually diminished Iowa’s reliable old “literate” label single-handedly.

That long-standing national respect for Iowa’s exceptional literacy rate was rudely shattered over the years, as intelligent, educated and reasonable people across the nation and around the world recoiled at King’s many hateful and ignorant comments.

And unfortunately they have now conflated Iowa and King, deservedly or not.

Since Trump’s dubious election instigated unhinged racial bias and outright bigotry in our political process, Steve King’s negative influence is much more deep and profound. The international, intellectual derision and disapproval he has brought upon this state has been the result.

Anyone who considers that fact trivial contributes directly to Iowa’s population drain. Removing Steve King from congress is the best first step in reversing that sorry situation.

There has been a long line of good men and women who took up that cause over the years, only to lose to King because they couldn’t crack that angry shell of 21st Century prejudice that has metastasized among the Iowa Republican Party.

But the results of the latest Congressional District 4 Democratic primary, are very encouraging, and D4 Iowa voters should to learn more about JD Scholten.

JD’s hitting the road in a big, colorful RV... he’s out on the gravel or down on the street, walking the neighborhoods and all about town, meeting people personally, shaking hands and networking on a personal level that the venerated Tom Harkin says is the only reliable route to victory in Iowa.

When you read about JD, it really gives you hope that there’s a better future for the 4th District of Iowa, one where their Congressman isn’t compulsively and arrogantly trashing our multi-ethnic fellow-Americans with crude, ignorant, insensitive and downright distasteful tweets and posts and congressional speeches.

That just isn’t Iowa ...

It is imperative that candidates like JD win the day this November and sweep these heartless Trump Republicans from office.

As we watch the roiling chaos of Trump’s immigration policies devastate immigrant families, we can only hope and pray that young, strong and big-hearted Democrats like JD will take charge of Congress and turn that windblown ship of state around, and correct its course into the future.

Help bring Iowa into the 21st Century, with candidates like JD Scholten... bright young leaders who celebrate diversity, practice compassion and govern with true dignity.

Anyone who thinks Steve King and his big boss Trump fit those descriptions must be living on a different planet.

Please, don’t miss this election, folks.

The future of Iowa AND our great nation depends on you.

JOHN E. PATTERSON

An expat Iowan, living in Lindsborg, Kan.