America is starting to pay too great a price for the increased security since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and anger has become too much a part of public life, retired General Colin Powell said at a motivational seminar Thursday attended by approximately 15,000 people in downtown Des Moines.
"We are starting to pay too much for our security," said Powell, a four-star general, former U.S. secretary of state, and former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "Foreign students who normally come to our universities are not coming. It's too hard to get a visa ... so we are losing this contact with the rest of the world. We are losing money, also."
Powell said America is safer than it was before 9/11, and that must be maintained. But he said the nation must also ensure security is not so tight that it prevents people with health needs from coming to the Mayo Clinic or foreign students from coming to American universities. He said these people contribute to the nation's well-being and expose themselves to America's goodwill.
"It's the best tool we have to show the rest of the world what America is all about because, you know, they can come and knock down another building ... ," he said. "The terrorists ... can't change who we are and what we are as a freedom-loving, open economic system."
Powell also warned that while America has always been a nation of debates, anger has lately become a large part of public life. "We're slipping into a dangerous period right now where nobody wants to listen to anybody else," he said. "The anger level is rising to the point where it is dangerous for us and dangerous for our political leaders. ... We've got to knock off the expressions of hatred and anger and racism."
The retired general said he doesn't come to Iowa much because when you're here, "someone thinks you're running for something."
Former First Lady: Criticism, Complaints Part of "Sacred Music" of Democracy
Also at the seminar, former First Lady Laura Bush gave Iowans insight into how she endured criticism during President George W. Bush's eight years in the White House and the fear after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
"One of the questions I'm most often asked is, 'How did you stand it? Didn't it bother you? Didn't it make your blood boil to ... watch this constant flood of criticism in a vacuum?'" Bush said. "And of course, it bothered me. Just as it would bother anyone in this room.
"All that blathering and bloviating is, in reality, a kind of sacred music or, at least, the clanking gears of democracy," Bush continued. "When you live in the White House, you live not just with the ghosts of presidents, but with the echoes of citizens holding this government to account.
"Yet you have the feeling, walking in those rooms, that they were mostly decent men that tried to do the very best they could with the breathtaking responsibility that had been entrusted to them," she said.
Bush also acknowledged the fear she felt after the terrorist attacks. On October 30, President Bush was throwing out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium in the third game of the World Series before a crowd of 57,000.
"At any other time, this would be the most lighthearted of presidential duties," she said. "But now, every landmark is a potential terrorist objective. Every crowd a target. The police officers and firefighters and other first responders who are guarding the president are still grieving their dead."
President Bush concerned himself that day with throwing the pitch without bouncing the ball, "but I'm still worried about something else. Something I can't bring myself to say aloud."
Giuliani Urges Preparedness
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said at the seminar that "relentless preparation" for everything in life -- from job interviews to football games, court trials to presidential debates, and even terrorist attacks -- will help with anything unexpected.
"If you prepare for everything you can think of, you'll be prepared even for the thing you hadn't thought of," said Giuliani.
Giuliani recalled the day of the September 11 terrorist attacks and how he watched a man throw himself from the 101st floor of the World Trade Center. "This is much worse than we've ever faced before," he said. "We're going to have to make up our response because we don't have a plan for this."
But in the hours, days, weeks, and months that followed, Giuliani pulled from his knowledge of the city's plans for blackouts, derailments, hurricanes, the West Nile virus, a nuclear attack, and high-rise fires to make the necessary decisions. "Every decision I was making, I had made before," he said. "We were prepared. We didn't know we were prepared because we had prepared for other things."
He urged the crowd to practice for things that cause anxiety until it becomes comfortable and turns into a strength. "Never feel embarrassed that you have to practice," he said.
Giuliani, a 2008 presidential candidate, estimated that Barack Obama and John McCain each practiced for 100 hours for last year's televised presidential debates.
"They didn't practice because they were going to tell people lies," Giuliani said. "Do you know why they practiced? Because they wanted to think about what unexpected thing could come up where they would make a mistake. I went through 11 or 12 presidential debates, and that's what you think about: You think about: Are you going to make a mistake and afterwards it's going to be on the news for weeks and weeks?"
Franken, Harkin Push for Public Health-Insurance Option
U.S. Senator Al Franken pushed for a government-run, public health-insurance option during his remarks at U.S. Senator Tom Harkin's annual steak-fry fundraiser, saying insurance companies need to "face real competition" and that a public option would bring down costs and create opportunities.
And Harkin (D-Iowa) promised that the pending health-reform bill will contain a public option.
"That strong health reform bill -- mark my word, I'm the chairman -- it's going to have a strong public option," Harkin told a crowd of about 2,000 supporters in Indianola.
Harkin has taken as chair of the powerful Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP), a seat left vacant by the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy in August.
Franken (D-Minnesota) had been slated to be the guest at Harkin's steak-fry fundraiser in 2001, but that event was canceled because of the terrorist attacks.
Speaking about health care, Franken said, "This year we have a chance to confront the single biggest threat to America's future and the greatest unmet moral obligation in our history all rolled into one.
"That's what health care is. This is our moment of opportunity. This needs to be the moment when the debate changes, when the heat of an angry summer breaks."
"Let's fight the lies and the distortions," Harkin said. "Let's educate our friends, our neighbors, and our coworkers. This is the year, folks. Let's finally create a health-care system that works not only for the healthy and wealthy but for all Americans in our country."
Vander Plaats Plays to His Base at Forum
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats of Sioux City played to his conservative base at an Iowa Family Policy Center forum, clearly earning the most applause, hoots, and hollers and walking away with 63.14 percent of the straw-poll vote at the end of the evening.
Vander Plaats hammered on conservative themes including the "sanctity of life," traditional marriage, and parental rights. He also said Iowa is a sovereign state and that he would not honor illegal immigration, would resist and turn back expansion of gambling, and would stand up for the Second Amendment.
"I will not walk away from my core values when I get elected governor of Iowa," he said.
Christian Fong of Cedar Rapids, making his first appearance before the conservative group, talked about how the Republican Party is fractured. Fong called for "Christ-like leadership" and scolded politicians who show a "mirage of compassion" to voters and pretend to feel their pain. "They'll trade it for votes," he said. "I'm telling you, it is an old tactic of cruel and visionless people to offer hope and change while offering tyranny at the same time."
He came in second with 14.10 percent of the votes at the forum attended by about 350 people at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
Christopher Rants of Sioux City placed third with 12.82 percent, veering away from his usual stump speech about property taxes and jobs to instead deliver a somber and personal message that included how he became "a real pro-life candidate."
"When you end up on your knees at the chapel in a St. Louis hospital, you don't pray to God to save your unborn mass of fetal tissue; you pray to God to save your baby," he said. "That's when I became a real pro-life candidate."
And Rod Roberts of Carroll placed fourth with 8.65 percent, basically sticking to his stump speech and talking about how Iowa needs a governor who's friendly, civil, and respectful.
Roberts emphasized the importance of giving people a vote on the gay-marriage issue. "It's a question that the people should answer for government; it is not the place of government to answer for the people," he said. "The people of Iowa deserve that opportunity and if elected in that first year, it will be a priority of my agenda along with a couple of other priority areas."
Iowa Family Policy Center President Chuck Hurley announced at the forum that Let Us Vote, or "LUV," Iowa is launching an aggressive effort to pressure middle-of-the-road legislators to allow a vote on a constitutional amendment on gay marriage. The campaign aims to build a "grassroots army" of more than 100,000 activists and raise $485,000 by December 31 to get 11 more legislators to vote in favor of the marriage amendment.
Borlaug Hailed as "True American Hero"
Norman Borlaug, the Iowa native who was founder of the World Food Prize and won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize, was hailed as "a true American hero" and drew tributes, words of praise, and resolutions from both sides of the aisle after his death at the age of 95 due to complications from cancer.
The "father of the Green Revolution" is credited with saving more lives than any other person in history.
U.S. Representative Tom Latham (R-Ames) is leading an effort to replace one of the two Iowa statues currently on display in the U.S. Capitol building - depting Samuel Kirkwood and James Harlan - with one honoring Borlaug.
"Dr. Borlaug is a true American hero and a legendary Iowan," Latham said. "His work has saved billions of lives across the globe from starvation, and I can think of no better example of a great Iowan to the millions of people who visit the Capitol each year than Norman."
A spokesperson for Governor Chet Culver declined to say whether the governor would support a Borlaug statue in the Capiotl.
"Governor Culver was one of Dr. Borlaug's biggest fans," spokesperson Troy Price told IowaPolitics.com. "In fact, he not only keeps a photo of him in his personal office, but we have also placed Dr. Borlaug's portrait in our reception room.
"Dr. Borlaug has clearly earned our respect and he will go down in history as one of Iowa's greatest citizens," Price said. "Governor Culver believes the idea of placing a statue of Dr. Borlaug in the U.S. Capitol is interesting, and deserves further consideration."
U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) noted that Borlaug is one of only five people to have won a Nobel Peace Prize, a Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, and the Presidential Freedom Award, so he should have his own statue without removing one of Iowa's current two.
Three states have gone through the process of replacing statues in recent years: Kansas replaced one of its statues with that of Dwight Eisenhower, Alabama with Helen Keller, and California with Ronald Reagan.
Iowa Republicans Introduce Education Plan
Iowa Republicans this week proposed exit exams for graduating high-school students, entrance exams for new teachers, outcome-based academic standards, and the Parent & Taxpayer Right to Know Act with annual report cards so parents and taxpayers know the effectiveness of their schools.
Republican Party of Iowa Chair Matt Strawn said he's a product of Iowa public schools and called it troubling that the state has let a "phenomenal system slip into mediocrity." He said the Iowa School House Initiatives should create greater accountability and transparency.
Strawn was joined by Senator Kim Reynolds of Osceola and state Representatives Mike May of Spirit Lake and Jodi Tymeson of Winterset in unveiling the proposals.
They pointed to a study showing that half of Iowa's high-school graduates need remedial work in college, and 71 percent of students who took the ACT in 2008-09 were not prepared for college. "We need to change that. That's unacceptable," Strawn said. "Republicans are stepping up today to lead."
Iowa House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (D-Des Moines) criticized Iowa Republicans' call for greater accountability, standards, and transparency in Iowa's public education system.
"If Republicans have a record to run on, it's the record number of times they have voted 'no' in the last three years," McCarthy said. "They voted against training for teachers to meet Iowa's new core curriculum, expanding access to early-childhood education, and funding for schools hit by the natural disasters of 2008.
"We welcome bipartisan ideas but Republicans have consistently failed to back up their words with any action for Iowa students and teachers," McCarthy said.
This weekly summary comes from IowaPolitics.com, an online government and politics news service. IowaPolitics.com staff contributed to this report.
