'Philosophers' make Iowa important

I've never read a author such as Keillor, who writes so many words that say nothing.

GARRISON KEILLOR IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE WRITER ,eg PHILOSOPHER, AND SHOWMAN. THIS STORY SERVES AS A REMINDER OF WHAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT. MY FATHER WAS OF NORWEGIAN BACKGROUND AND HAD THE EXACT PERSONALITY AS GARRISON'S UNCLES. HE ALWAYS HAD A CALMING EFFECT WHEN THE REST OF THE WORLD SEEMED TO BE GOING MAD, VERY MUCH LIKE GARRISON HIMSELF.

Another Bob Greenesque stroll down memory lane. The Iowa of Garrison's day is long gone. Iowa is tops for the production of crystral meth, illegal immigrants working in large meat packing plants, and gigantic hog farms that are causing pollution and emit as much odor as one of Keillor's columns. Gary, the caucaus is a joke. NY, FL, TX and Cali hold all the cards

As a nearly lifelong Iowa resident (I grew up in Eastern Iowa and live in Western Iowa) and couldn't disagree more with Mr. Keillor's description of Iowan as philosophers. We are as partisan as the rest of the country. There are six blue counties; Scott, Dubuque, Black Hawk, Polk, Johnson, and Linn. They are the union dominated, liberal urban centers. The rest of the counties are red and mostly agricultural and culturally conservative. Ask most of the folks on my side of the state about Senator Hillary Clinton and the responses are always, "Love her!" or, "Hate her!" There is no middle ground.

I can take or leave Iowa as the First-In-The Nation Presidential prize. It does give me more time to carefully consider who I'll support but the rest of the country is screwed because of this weird desire to front-load the whole nomination process to the first month of the year so that the nomination is sewn up months before the convention. Come on Democrats. Be honest. More than most of you were wondering in April of '04, "John Kerry? You're kidding. Right?" Republicans thought the same thing about Bob Dole in '92.

Change your calender, Mr. Keillor. It's November 2007, not 1957. Those Iowa philosophers of which you speak are as much shadows of the past as the warrior poets of ancient Scotland.

I'm 44 years old and I have yet to even set foot in this state, even though I once lived in Milwaukee. This is something that I will hopefully rectify one of these days. Rock on, Iowa.

Iowa is not dull. It's just across the border from exciting Nebraska that makes Iowa look bad.

I like Garrison Keillor plenty, and the thought of his dulcet tones reading this words makes them even more pleasant. That said, Iowa caucus-attendees have, in past caucuses, chosen; John Kerry, George W. Bush and George H.W.Bush (over Reagan in '76), while giving the likes of Pat Robertson a 2nd place finish over eventual nominee Bush in 1988.

None of these folks is even remotely in touch with everyday Americans, regardless of how much ammo they buy or brush they clear or how many homosexuals they condemn to the eternal fires of hell.

Yes Mr. Keillor, the days you are talking about, the world was about the size of Iowa. And true people used to hang around driveways and corners and talked about "It sure is a small world, aint it.."

And cheap was better than expensive because there were no "Made in China" tags.

Welcome to 2007.

Apples are nice. But we are kind of hoping to find someone bringing a little less of the crazy to foreign policy in the very near future. Hillary seems to want to End the War in Iraq but also keep fighting it too. That feller from Chicago with the funny name has been talkin some good sense about it all these days.

That's the word from my driveway. I only have a minivan to lean against but the maple leaves are as pretty as they ever were.

-Randy Kauper, Iowa City

Actually we have some very nice homosexuals in my neighborhood thank you. And no one who talks as nasty and ignorant as you do.

Ammo? Brush? Hellfire? Does stereotyping people make you feel cosmopolitan? Ironically, it makes you sound like you live in a real small world.

Ummm wrote:

I like Garrison Keillor plenty, and the thought of his dulcet tones reading this words makes them even more pleasant. That said, Iowa caucus-attendees have, in past caucuses, chosen; John Kerry, George W. Bush and George H.W.Bush (over Reagan in '76), while giving the likes of Pat Robertson a 2nd place finish over eventual nominee Bush in 1988.
None of these folks is even remotely in touch with everyday Americans, regardless of how much ammo they buy or brush they clear or how many homosexuals they condemn to the eternal fires of hell.

Ed Thompson wrote:

As a nearly lifelong Iowa resident (I grew up in Eastern Iowa and live in Western Iowa) and couldn't disagree more with Mr. Keillor's description of Iowan as philosophers. We are as partisan as the rest of the country. There are six blue counties; Scott, Dubuque, Black Hawk, Polk, Johnson, and Linn. They are the union dominated, liberal urban centers. The rest of the counties are red and mostly agricultural and culturally conservative. Ask most of the folks on my side of the state about Senator Hillary Clinton and the responses are always, "Love her!" or, "Hate her!" There is no middle ground.
I can take or leave Iowa as the First-In-The Nation Presidential prize. It does give me more time to carefully consider who I'll support but the rest of the country is screwed because of this weird desire to front-load the whole nomination process to the first month of the year so that the nomination is sewn up months before the convention. Come on Democrats. Be honest. More than most of you were wondering in April of '04, "John Kerry? You're kidding. Right?" Republicans thought the same thing about Bob Dole in '92.
Change your calender, Mr. Keillor. It's November 2007, not 1957. Those Iowa philosophers of which you speak are as much shadows of the past as the warrior poets of ancient Scotland.

Ed, I totally agree with you. Who is he kidding. The driveway philospohers in Chicago talk about politics and they are as confused as the rest of us. Hillary, Obama, Mitt.... IS this the best the US has to offer? I think not.

I recognize Mr. Keillor's America and am amazed at the hostility that his nostalgia for it generates among some of the people commenting here. Life before everyone was committed to wholesale consumerism and careerism WAS better. Robert Putnam has showed that in BOWLING ALONE. We have lost a lot in our pursuit of more expensive gas, higher housing prices, single parent families and global warming. Dunno why saying this excites anger. Is anyone claiming that things are better nowadays? The complexity of society and our individual lives leave us running from contacts with other people. We hide inside electronic gadgets that prevent us from connecting. The problems of the world have become too large for us to handle and our children are facing a terrible future. If all this doesn't drive you to nostalgia maybe you're still in the denial stage, Giles Slade

What a great way to be brought up "to share and not to snatch things away from others". Seems its a motto all of us should teach our children. My oldest, much beloved grandson is now a quarterback in flag football, but we have done our best to teach him sharing and I hope he never forgets.

I love the way Garrison Keiller writes. He makes me remember the way life used to be. Real and simple! He calms me with his down to earth common sense approach to life. Heaven knows the world needs that so very much!

I love to read Garrison Keiller's comments. He sees the world in the true light it was intended to be seen. Real and Simple! He makes me feel calm and secure doing the right thing for the right reasons. To do what is right not for the money but for the sake of making the world a better place than when you found it. To help people because we are all the same inside-needy and wanting to be loved for what we are not for what we can be used by someone for their selfish needs.