WELCOME to the debut of “The Truth Is!”, a blog of reporting and commentary that aims to be informative, thoughtful and provocative. At least initially, the blog will have a strong heartland flavor by virtue of the connection of a number of us to Cowles family journalism. I am former editor of the Des Moines Register’s opinion pages. Another contributor, Michael Gartner, is former editor of the paper; he later served as president of NBC News. Another former Register editor who has agreed to contribute, Geneva Overholser, is director of the University of Southern California’s Annenberg school of journalism. Followers of the blog will have access also to the work of Herbert Strentz of Des Moines, a close Register and other newspaper watcher who once headed Drake University’s journalism school. Bill Leonard, a longtime Register editorial writer, will add insights.

“The Truth Is!” will be supervised by my daughter, Marcia Wolff, a communications lawyer for 20 years with Arnold and Porter (Washington, D.C.). Invaluable technical assistance in assembling and maintaining the blog is provided by my grandsons Julian Cranberg, a college first-year, and Daniel Wolff, a high school senior.

If you detect a whiff of nepotism in this operation, so be it. All of it is strictly a labor of love. —Gil Cranberg

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Gilbert Cranberg: GOP’S DEBT TO THE TSARNAEVS

The Republican Party owes a monumental debt of gratitude to the Tsarnaev brothers, the terrorist pair who detonated bombs at the Boston marathon. The bombings and ensuing manhunt deflected attention from Republican responsibility for the tawdry filibuster tactics that defeated efforts to tighten the nation’s notoriously permissive gun laws.

A measure for improved background checks was approved 54-46. But under the anti-democratic requirement championed by Republicans, and enthusiastically urged by the party’s Senate leader, a super-majority of 60 votes actually was needed to cut off the GOP filibuster and for the vote to count. Public opinion polls showed that the measure was popular with voters, who should have been enraged by the outcome, and would have been had the Tsarnaev brothers not taken center stage.

Republican responsibility for killing the background check bill is unmistakable. The GOP vote against the measure was nearly unanimous—41-4. Americans were so preoccupied by the drama playing out in Boston they barely noticed.

But facts are stubborn and can have a long shelf life. It’s not often that a political party can be blamed for the loss of human life. It was a fluke that spared the GOP for now, but sooner or later there will be a price to be paid for irresponsibility.


 

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