Monday, CWA’s Iowa State Director, Tamara Scott, Iowa native and National Field Director, Janae Stracke, and a handful of other CWA of Iowa supporters attended Sen. Grassley’s (R-Iowa) 99th Town Hall Meeting, which concluded his 38th annual 99 county tour. As expected, the meeting was filled with liberal protesters and contention over the issue of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s pending confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Over the years, CWA of Iowa has attended many of Sen. Grassley’s town hall meetings to offer support for our shared conservative values, but this last meeting was certainly one of the more disruptive. The protesters were disrespectful, yelling, and interrupting both other attendees and the Senator. Several times throughout the hour-long meeting, frustrated attendees would chime in with a “Let him speak!” or a “Show some respect!” as protesters continued to disrupt what is usually a civil meeting with objections to Judge Kavanuagh.
When Stracke was called on to share a comment or ask a question, she started by thanking Sen. Grassley for making himself available to hear from the public face to face, something most senators are not willing to do. She apologized for the disruptive nature of this meeting and referred back to her experiences with protesters at the Kavanaugh hearings in D.C. the previous week. Stracke referred to one instance when a Kavanaugh protester could not make any claim against the judge’s record; rather, they could only talk about the issue of abortion. The point Stracke wanted to make was that there are no legitimate reasons to oppose Judge Kavanaugh based on his years of work and solid record. This was, of course, very upsetting to the protesters present at the meeting in Iowa and interruptions began.
In an effort to unite everyone on common ground, the last person called on to speak stood and asked to close the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag, something that represents a lot, one being the right of everyone present to publicly disagree and voice their opinion. Unfortunately, even our Pledge of Allegiance is no longer common ground for some Americans; a handful of protesters started yelling in opposition to saying the pledge and ultimately kneeled as others in the room stood in respect the flag and what it represents.
This battle we are in spans much further than one issue. It runs far and wide, and as Ephesians 6:12 tells us, we know we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but rather “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” We must continue to fight on our knees in prayer and then stand to take action with our legs and voices. Offering support to your Members of Congress is just one way to do that; if you haven’t already, be sure to contact your senator and/or local media and let them know you support Judge Kavanaugh and want them to support him as well.
You can watch a Facebook Live of Tamara Scott and Janae Stracke following the town hall meeting here.