By
Jerry Bowen
Flyover
Country, IA, USA
Gully-whomper thunderstorms soaked our
corner of flyover country this spring. Then the early summer heat kicked
in to bake the corn and soybean fields of west central Iowa under endless
Technicolor blue skies and impossibly huge cumulous clouds. A parade of
puffy floats.
 |
| Jerry Bowen |
“Now that looks like a jet liner with
fat wings!”
“What about that huge hog over there?
Wait. It’s changing. It’s a buffalo now.”
And so on. Bucolic scenes that
belie a puzzlement on the ground.
This is the America where motorists
(mostly in pickup trucks) stir up dust on the gravel roads and give a friendly
wave over the steering wheel to approaching vehicles. Out here where
everyone seems to know everybody else it is a neighborly gesture. And yet
there is reason to wonder at some point if that comforting waving hand won’t
come with an extended middle finger over the next hill.
 |
| Road to the Bowen Farm |
Here, where the pace of life is about
as slow and relaxing as slow and relaxing can be, old friends and extended families
are at odds over the new President. Having a hard time discussing the man
and his daily impact on the country. Donald J. Trump is a living,
breathing Rorschach test. Testing assumptions and relationships. People
who have known one another for entire lifetimes feel as though they don’t know
each other anymore.
Trump’s oft times belligerent,
frequently boastful tweets are seen as appalling or affirming. His arms-length
relationship with truth and reality viewed as damning or just “The Donald”
telling it like it is. The reality TV that launched him has spawned a
virtual reality with fake news and alternative facts that stifle honest
conversations. Where and how does that discussion begin?
Our neighbors a mile to the south of us
struggle with what to make of it all. How to talk about it with
family. Relatives who voted for Trump. And our neighbors are salt of
the earth, easy to get along with folks.
Mike is a third-generation farmer who
jokes the biggest move he ever made in life was from his bedroom in the family
home to his parents’ bedroom at the end of the hall when they moved out and he
took over the farm. He and Susan raised five children here. They are
a thoughtful couple who want to understand. Not accuse. And they are
a minority.
 |
| The Bowen Farm |
Iowa voted heavily for Trump and the
Congressional District where they live is represented by Steve King. He is
a Republican notorious for his caustic observations about immigrants, especially
undocumented immigrants. Trump’s “beautiful wall that Mexico will pay for” struck
a chord among many voters here. And yet it seems to make little sense.
Immigrants are essential to Iowa’s
billion-dollar agricultural economy. They take the dangerous packing plant jobs
and labor intense dairy farm positions that locals won’t. There are
several small towns that have survived because of this influx. Hispanic
families especially ... a population that is growing and staying. Not
moving away.
The town of Denison, population 8,400,
has a high school marching band, concert band, pep band and ... a mariachi
band. The first in the State. A recognition of the changing culture
and times. Iowa. Field of salsa dreams. Go figure.
Our friends Mike and Susan would like
to know what their relatives see in the new President that they do
not. Trade for example. Changing NAFTA, the North American Free Trade
Agreement, as Trump now demands. A step back from scrapping it as he
initially promised.
It is in no small way because of NAFTA
that Iowa’s farm economy does as well as it does. Mexico is a major customer of
the field corn grown here. Hog producers also have a big market south of
the border. And yet Trump received support from Iowa’s farmers. And
some of them seemed surprised now that he meant what he said. Stunned too
that Mexico is making noises about buying their corn from South American
producers if Trump really plays tough.
Trump promises to make America great
again, but based on his budget proposals, it will be on the backs of country’s
neediest. The Obamacare do-over will leave tens of millions of the poor
and elderly without health insurance. The food stamp program will be cut
substantially. It will hurt Iowa’s poor and elderly too, and some of them
are struggling in the small towns that dot the rural county roads.
Proposed tax cuts will benefit the very
rich in an effort to stimulate the economy. Middle and lower income families
will supposedly be enriched by trickle down income from the newly stimulated
economy. The problem is the idea has not worked before. Why would it work
now?
The conversation about these ideas and
why Trump voters voted for him is difficult to have. Even in the most
respectful tone of voice it questions the thinking of the cousin, uncle or
sister-in-law. It challenges their choice and their judgment. “Well
you sure couldn’t trust Hillary!” is not a response that leads to a
constructive exchange.
So there is little talk about the
election of 2016 here in flyover country, except among kindred spirits. Safer
that way, though no less passionate.
 |
| Evening in Bowen Flyover Country |
And folks are still waving in passing over those dusty country roads ... all five digits on display as far as we know.
And those amazing
cumulous clouds keep rolling along too.
“Look at that
one! Can’t be! Oh me oh my! Looks like a puffy comb
forward!”
All those clouds. Another
storm can’t be far off. You can almost hear the rumbling now.
________________________________
Jerry Bowen is a three-time Emmy Award-winning news correspondent now in retirement after 33 years with CBS Network News. He lives in Los Angeles but escapes regularly to commune with the coyotes and cougars on his family farm in southwest Iowa.