Never in my lifetime (72+years) have I seen a more consistently inaccurate interpreter of laws and legal principles than Brenna Bird. And, I’m still waiting to hear who financed her excursions to provide background photo legitimacy to support Trump, and his NY trial that resulted in 34 felony convictions.
You'd written about the midwestern version of it in the past month. The subject of iowa voter records being wired off to DC. And it's troubling, too, that smart Iowa voters I know repeat the mantra "well, I've got nothing to hide", or its counterpart, "they already know all about me anyway..."
I agree completely. While other states were fighting--successfully--in court to protect their own residents PII, Bird willingly gave all Iowans' data to the federal government, and provided the legal opinion to the state SOS to hand over our voting lists to the federal government also.
Thanks for that link--it's an interesting parallel. I wrote about the Berry Said donation that started the MFT / Leo network in The Pincer Movement last year. The mechanics are the same today, though they added another organization. The 85 Fund has been ballooning in size. Larger every year.
There's an additional financial surveillance method that I just found out about, and I may write that one up soon also.
Thanks for this. I think you've provided some validation for my hypothesis that the Iowa legislature is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Koch's Americans for Prosperity, and that the American Legislative Exchange Council writes all Iowa's 'interesting' laws. My last seven - eight years as small-town administrator were in eastern Iowa communities, a couple with finances found in such straits that I was on first name basis with the Dept of Mgmt and Comptroller's offices. I've posited my notion that Iowa is a test bed for the sort of 'government' that would please those of libertarian bent: officials and fellow citizens, with few exception, have looked for my tinfoil hat.
Tim, I don’t think you’re off on an unsubstantiated bender — I think you’re describing the same structure from ground level that I’ve been trying to map from the records.
I’d be careful with “wholly-owned subsidiary,” because Iowa still has real people, real public servants, and real local institutions that do push back. But the pattern you’re describing is very real: national policy shops, donor networks, model legislation, legal organizations, and state-level political committees have learned how to move through state government with remarkable efficiency.
That is why Iowa matters. It has often functioned as a test bed. The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism quoted Jessica Anderson saying of Heritage Action’s voting-law strategy: “Iowa was the first state that we got to work in, and we did it quickly, and we did it quietly… Honestly, nobody noticed.” That line has stuck with me because it matches what the public records keep showing.
So no, I don’t think the tinfoil hat fits. I think you’re seeing the local administrative consequences of a national machine that prefers to operate through statehouses, attorneys general, secretaries of state, agency rulemaking, and quiet legal infrastructure rather than through loud federal fights alone.
And yes — Miriam Adelson showing up in the ledger is exactly the sort of thing that makes the “local grassroots support” story collapse under its own weight.
Ehm, whew. Thanks. That's both validating and unsettling. To your first point: I was looking for an attention-getting conversation opener (it was); AND, I had a lot of respect for the guy who was (maybe still is) the director of mgmt, and for the comptroller, who both DID know up from down AND were genuinely concerned for 'good government'.
I want to reflect further on this subject. I really, really appreciate your flooding these dark, churning waters with a ship-size carbon arc lamp, because it shouldn't be this way. It doesn't have to be this way. And the stain doesn't respect state lines or big rivers.
Never in my lifetime (72+years) have I seen a more consistently inaccurate interpreter of laws and legal principles than Brenna Bird. And, I’m still waiting to hear who financed her excursions to provide background photo legitimacy to support Trump, and his NY trial that resulted in 34 felony convictions.
You might be interested in this writer's work: Lin Su, a former big tech exec who'd finally gotten enough cognitive dissonance from her work to walk away. This recent piece, on election tech, was unsettling in a manner you'd probably recognize: https://freeparadox.substack.com/p/targeted-democracy?r=wo0if&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
You'd written about the midwestern version of it in the past month. The subject of iowa voter records being wired off to DC. And it's troubling, too, that smart Iowa voters I know repeat the mantra "well, I've got nothing to hide", or its counterpart, "they already know all about me anyway..."
Tim
I agree completely. While other states were fighting--successfully--in court to protect their own residents PII, Bird willingly gave all Iowans' data to the federal government, and provided the legal opinion to the state SOS to hand over our voting lists to the federal government also.
Thanks for that link--it's an interesting parallel. I wrote about the Berry Said donation that started the MFT / Leo network in The Pincer Movement last year. The mechanics are the same today, though they added another organization. The 85 Fund has been ballooning in size. Larger every year.
There's an additional financial surveillance method that I just found out about, and I may write that one up soon also.
Thanks for this. I think you've provided some validation for my hypothesis that the Iowa legislature is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Koch's Americans for Prosperity, and that the American Legislative Exchange Council writes all Iowa's 'interesting' laws. My last seven - eight years as small-town administrator were in eastern Iowa communities, a couple with finances found in such straits that I was on first name basis with the Dept of Mgmt and Comptroller's offices. I've posited my notion that Iowa is a test bed for the sort of 'government' that would please those of libertarian bent: officials and fellow citizens, with few exception, have looked for my tinfoil hat.
Am I off on an unsubstantiated bender here?
But Miriam Adelson? Good grief.
Tim Long, Just Up the Hill from.Lock 15
Tim, I don’t think you’re off on an unsubstantiated bender — I think you’re describing the same structure from ground level that I’ve been trying to map from the records.
I’d be careful with “wholly-owned subsidiary,” because Iowa still has real people, real public servants, and real local institutions that do push back. But the pattern you’re describing is very real: national policy shops, donor networks, model legislation, legal organizations, and state-level political committees have learned how to move through state government with remarkable efficiency.
That is why Iowa matters. It has often functioned as a test bed. The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism quoted Jessica Anderson saying of Heritage Action’s voting-law strategy: “Iowa was the first state that we got to work in, and we did it quickly, and we did it quietly… Honestly, nobody noticed.” That line has stuck with me because it matches what the public records keep showing.
So no, I don’t think the tinfoil hat fits. I think you’re seeing the local administrative consequences of a national machine that prefers to operate through statehouses, attorneys general, secretaries of state, agency rulemaking, and quiet legal infrastructure rather than through loud federal fights alone.
And yes — Miriam Adelson showing up in the ledger is exactly the sort of thing that makes the “local grassroots support” story collapse under its own weight.
Ehm, whew. Thanks. That's both validating and unsettling. To your first point: I was looking for an attention-getting conversation opener (it was); AND, I had a lot of respect for the guy who was (maybe still is) the director of mgmt, and for the comptroller, who both DID know up from down AND were genuinely concerned for 'good government'.
I want to reflect further on this subject. I really, really appreciate your flooding these dark, churning waters with a ship-size carbon arc lamp, because it shouldn't be this way. It doesn't have to be this way. And the stain doesn't respect state lines or big rivers.
Tim
Yes i agree and understand what you meant.
Transparency is essential, and disinformation can be subdued with a change in how we communicate.
Thanks for reading Tim.