🗣️ It’s Friday! Time for Only in Iowa, Positively Iowa, this week’s
pet photo, and of course, reader replies!

• 
  The record-long government shutdown is over: Here’s when different things (air travel, back pay) should start getting back to normal.

• 
  Des Moines bar apologizes for letting Nazi in: But Reddit users were less than impressed by the belated reaction.

• 
  It’s World Diabetes Day: Why is an awareness campaign still important? Because Iowans, particularly Latinos, are still dying of the disease without knowing they have it.

• Most NFL players come from Southern states, and also Iowa!
• 
  Immigrants winning in court: Immigration judges have denied hearings to hundreds of people detained by Homeland Security, opening them up to deportation. But district court judges are now ordering those judges to schedule the hearings, ruling that people, including Iowans, are not being given due process.

• The chief judge of Iowa’s largest judicial district was caught drunk driving.

• Is there a serial chip-throwing Iowa driver out there?

Did you catch this week’s geothermal storm/aurora borealis?

“There were some amazing northern lights visible over Iowa,” reader Marc W. wrote, noting he took this in Johnson County.

A photo of a young Jean Seberg. (oneredsf1/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

🐕 This is Evie, adopted by reader Judy D. from the Humane Society of North Iowa in March of 2017. “She was a stray, so nothing is known of her history,” Judy wrote, saying even her age was in question. “She’s fiercely loyal and very treat driven.”

Me too, Evie!

Send me your pet photos here.

Readers are invited to add to the conversation by emailing responses@iowastartingline.com. Please include your first name and last initial. You may also want to include your city, but that’s up to you. I may edit your content for conciseness or to correct typos.

Miller-Meeks town hall in Keosauqua:

• “It’s called Dim Wit Democracy. Surprise—no notice of her showing up in our county!” — Greg A.

More news outlets covering cancer in Iowa:

• “Of Corn and Cancer: Iowa’s Deadly Water Crisis https://newrepublic.com/article/201118/corn-cancer-iowa-deadly-water-crisis“ — Greg C.

Iowa’s job market:

• “My husband Chuck was a assistant manager of Peterbilt and Kenworth. His last full time job was Maytag and he couldn’t get another job for 8 years due to age discrimination.” — Janet H.

Article on Iowa’s oldest cities:

• “I have looked at a few sites now and have found no mention of Davenport being one of the 10 oldest cities on this site. Could you please collaborate this with me, for I have no way of telling who is right? Thank you for your time.”
  — Rolland O.

  (NOTE: Our list is based on the official incorporation date from the Iowa Secretary of State’s list, which shows Davenport was incorporated in 1881. That does differ from the City of Davenport’s website, which claims it was “officially incorporated” in 1836, which would make Davenport the second-oldest city behind Dubuque if true. Anyone out there with a primary document, send it my way!)

Letter of the Week:

Best and worst presidential cabinets

“Five different and independent research studies summarized that US presidential cabinets can be compared, contrasted and evaluated as follows:

stable, low-turnover and well-staffed cabinets are generally seen as higher performing, high-turnover and high-vacancy cabinets are associated with decreased effectiveness and appointment of experts and diverse talent correlates with improved policy outcomes and cabinet success.

The following presidential cabinets are widely regarded as among the best in U.S. history:

• Abraham Lincoln’s (Rep., 1861-1865) cabinet—known as the Team of Rivals—with people like William Seward, Salmon Chase and Edwin Stanton, challenged yet complemented Lincoln, helping with the Union’s victory and abolition of slavery.
• George Washington’s (no political party, 1789-1797) cabinet included Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Henry Knox and Edmund Randolph, which Lindsay Chervinsky and other historians identify as a foundational model for effective executive leadership.
• Franklin D. Roosevelt’s (Dem., 1933-1945) cabinet included Frances Perkins (first female cabinet secretary) and Henry Morgenthau, Jr., who helped shape and implement the New Deal policies and guide America through World War II.

Historical surveys cite the following presidential cabinets among the worst in U.S. history, predominantly due to issues of incompetence, corruption and scandal:

• Warren G. Harding’s (Rep., 1921-1923) cabinet is widely regarded as the worst of the worst due to the infamous Teapot Dome scandal, widespread corruption among cabinet members and for exemplifying poor cabinet selection due to cronyism and misconduct.
• Ulysses S. Grant’s (Rep., 1869-1877) cabinet was plagued by corruption, the Whiskey Ring scandal, the Credit Mobilier scandal and unethical governance.
• Donald J. Trump’s (Rep., 2017-2021 and 2025-2029) cabinets have been widely criticized for their lack of qualifications, record-setting high turnover rates, appointments based on loyalty over capability, conflicts of interest, stark public dissatisfaction and poorly vetted appointees but—nevertheless—approved by Republican Senators.

Research is replete that turnover rates of presidential appointments are an indicator of presidential performance and a concrete indicator of stability. High cabinet turnover has significant negative consequences for governance and leadership effectiveness, such as loss of institutional memory, loss of expertise, lack of cohesion and stalled initiatives.

Frequent cabinet turnover has serious consequences. It disrupts policy formation, diminishes efficiency, harms morale, undermines public trust, and weakens agency autonomy and long-term strategic capabilities.

During Trump’s first presidency, a record turnover occurred with 20 of his 24 cabinet picks either quitting or being ‘de-hired’ by Trump. Furthermore, 92 percent of the 65 people who were on Trump’s 2017-2021 ‘A Team’ left their appointed office.

During the first 220 days of Trump’s 2.0 administration, he’s already had turnover in 14 key positions, notably Charles Borges, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, Cameron Hamilton, Dr. Carla Hayden, Dr. Debra Houry, Dr. Daniel Jernigan, Dr. Peter Marks, Dr. Susan Monarez, Elon Musk, Shira Perlmutter, Dr. Vinay Prasad, Vivek Ramaswamy, Dr. Drew Snyder and Mike Waltz. Furthermore, at least 148,000 federal employees have left Trump’s 2.0 workforce.

From a cabinet member perspective, Trump’s two attempts at being president are near the bottom of 47 presidencies. Rigorous historical research suggests this does not bode well that the 2025-2029 time period will be successful.

With all of the chaos, uncertainty, dictatorial behavior, flip-flopping and 192 executive orders, 47 memoranda and 79 proclamations brought to the table by Mr. Trump since Jan. 20 and controversial cabinet member actions, the proverb ‘hope springs eternal’ has to be Americans’ guide to find optimism. A second proverb—’you reap what you sow’—is before Mr. Trump and the GOP Senators who approved the cabinet nominations.

Let’s face reality: A cabinet that ranks historically low with respect to competence, ethical standards, experience and other research-based competency criteria makes the US vulnerable to a multitude of operational inefficiencies, policy blunders, ethical mishaps, scandals, conflicts of interest, conspiracies and foreign intervention.”

— Steve Corbin, Professor Emeritus of Marketing, University of Northern
Iowa

You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.

Iowa Starting Line

c/o COURIER Newsroom
101 Avenue of the Americas
8th and 9th Floors
New York, NY 10013

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or  from this list.