The Musings of Sergeant Shake-speare

   The Grave Monument of John Rafferty who was murdered by Jesse James and his gang in Adair Iowa in 1873 after the Civil War. John is one of millions of innocent people who have been murdered or fell victim to genocide by those who were radicalized by political ideology and political motivations.  One does not have to look hard to find the roots of violence in the United States. Our history is permeated with senseless violence. This Editorial was inspired by questions and comments  from other writers and true historians in reference to the assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk. Another senseless murder in America. Over the last thirty years, I have crisscrossed the country from east to west and north to south, reenacting and writing about American history. I have met many people along the way during this journey from many different states. Alongside of that I was a lifelong resident of Illinois and I was born and raised in the city of Chicago. I served ei...

  We asked Grok to assess three Iowa Republican Gubernatorial Candidates: Brad Sherman, Eddie Andrews and Randy Feenstra.  This is what AI gathered from available content: Eddie Andrews, an Iowa State Representative and Republican candidate for governor , has a complex relationship with Trump and MAGA ideals, based on available information. As a Black Republican, Andrews has been associated with the Republican Party’s expansion in Iowa during a period when Donald Trump won the state decisively in 2020, suggesting some level of alignment with the broader Republican base that supports Trump. However, there is no direct evidence in the provided sources that explicitly states Andrews fully embraces or identifies with the MAGA movement or its core ideologies, such as nativism, economic protectionism, or anti-immigration policies, as outlined in descriptions of MAGA. Andrews’ campaign and legislative record emphasize priorities like mental health, education, parental rights, and fis...

  Today President Trump called out the Anti-white Genocide in South Africa. This international embarrassment has been completely ignored by the media.  Farm Attacks and Land Seizure Fears for White South Africans White South Africans , particularly farmers, have raised serious concerns about their safety and property rights amid rising crime and new land reform policies. Reports of brutal farm attacks and the government’s push for land expropriation have fueled fears of targeted violence and loss of livelihoods. These issues have sparked heated debate, both in South Africa and abroad, with some calling the situation a crisis for the white community. L and reform process, and anxieties are driving these concerns. Using available data and firsthand accounts this is what we found out. Farm Attacks: A Harsh Reality Farm attacks—violent crimes targeting rural properties—have hit white South African farmers hard, creating a sense of vulnerability. According to the South African P...

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds Announces She Will Not Seek Re-Election in 2026: On April 11, 2025, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, the state’s first female governor, announced she will not seek a third term in office in 2026, marking the end of a nearly decade-long tenure that reshaped Iowa’s political landscape. The decision, shared in a heartfelt video on social media, came after months of speculation and caught many in the state’s Republican stronghold by surprise. Citing a desire to prioritize family, Reynolds reflected on her time in office with gratitude while signaling her intent to remain active through the end of her term in January 2027. “This wasn’t an easy decision, because I love this state and I love serving you,” Reynolds said in her announcement. “After a lot of thought, prayer, and conversations with my family, I have decided that I will not seek re-election in 2026. It’s time for me to be there for them—to watch every track meet and basketball game, to see them grow before...

  Climate science, once a quiet pursuit of truth, has been battered by political lies, eroding any credibility of climate research and obscuring facts. According to Grok AI, "The core evidence—CO2 levels at 420 ppm, a 1.1°C global temperature rise since the 1800s, and seas climbing 3.7 mm yearly—stands firm, rooted in decades of data from ice cores, satellites, and ocean buoys." Yet, when politicians weaponize these findings, trust crumbles, leaving the public skeptical and the science itself unfairly tarnished. The trouble began as climate science entered the political arena. Figures like Al Gore, with An Inconvenient Truth in 2006, spotlighted warming but tied it to personal brands. Gore’s green-tech investments and hefty speaking fees fueled accusations of profiteering, making the issue feel like a hustle. On the flip side, opponents dismissed rising temperatures as a “hoax” to dodge regulations, cherry-picking data to sow doubt. Both sides spun narratives, burying meas...

Polk County GOP passes a resolution regarding Rep. Lohse’s vote against bill removing gender identity from civil rights code. Last month, the Polk County Republican Central Committee voted 43-37 to adopt a resolution signaling its frustration with State Rep. Brian Lohse. The measure took issue with Lohse’s opposition to House File 583, a bill that stripped gender identity from Iowa’s Civil Rights Code. The resolution also slammed an amendment Lohse proposed, accusing it of deceiving fellow Republican lawmakers about its purpose and effects. This, it claimed, sparked confusion, forced colleagues to backtrack, and led to public clarifications from caucus members. It further argued that Lohse’s vote revealed a “troubling trend” of straying from the party’s core values and platform, weakening unity, tarnishing the party’s image, and undermining citizen protections. “Therefore, be it resolved, that the Polk County Central Committee officially condemns Rep. Brian Lohse for actions that cl...

  The Fed’s War on Supply: Fair Trade's Real Culprit The Federal Reserve’s relentless rate hikes are not just misguided—they’re a deliberate assault on America’s economic recovery, strangling supply when it’s already on life support. Prices remain sky-high, and inflation lingers not because of rampant consumer demand but because production and delivery systems are broken. The Fed, cloaked in its statist agenda, refuses to help, instead wielding high interest rates like a sledgehammer to crush Trump's economy. This isn’t a misdiagnosis; it’s intentional, and the goal is globalist enslavement. Consider the fuel crisis. Before COVID, America was the world’s top oil exporter, pumping 13 million barrels a day and importing nothing. Small drillers thrived, keeping energy cheap. Then came the Biden era: lockdowns, regulatory chokeholds, and a wave of bankruptcies—over 100 small oil firms folded by 2021 alone. Production sank to 11 million barrels daily, and diesel prices soared from $...

  General Timothy D. Haugh, a U.S. Air Force four-star general, was relieved of his duties as Commander of U.S. Cyber Command, Director of the National Security Agency (NSA), and Chief of the Central Security Service on April 3, 2025. No official reason for his dismissal has been publicly disclosed by the Department of Defense or the Trump administration at the time of his firing. However, based on available reporting, it appears that his removal stemmed from information disclosed by political activist Laura Loomer, who reportedly met with President Donald Trump on April 2, 2025, and called for Haugh’s ouster, alleging "disloyalty" to Trump. Loomer tied Haugh to General Mark Milley, a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and vocal Trump critic, claiming Haugh was "handpicked" by Milley and thus untrustworthy. Following this meeting, Trump directed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to dismiss Haugh, according to an unnamed U.S. official cited by The New Yor...

  On April 7, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a significant 5-4 ruling that bolstered President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration agenda, allowing his administration to utilize the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to expedite deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members. This decision, which came down to a narrow conservative majority, overturned a lower court’s temporary block on the policy, marking a pivotal moment in the ongoing legal and political battle over immigration enforcement in the United States. The case stemmed from Trump’s March 15 invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime statute historically used to intern Japanese, Italian, and German immigrants during World War II. And first implemented in the United States by Democrat President Franklin Roosevelt.  The administration argued that the law permitted swift deportations of individuals deemed national security threats, specifically targeting alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Criti...

 We'd like to welcome political cartoonist Todd Schowalter. Todd is collaborating with the Iowa Telegraph to bring us top notch political commentary through his artwork.  Todd Schowalter “Draws” Attention!!!! Todd Schowalter Productions is a comics and animation studio that began in 1989. It is run by Todd Schowalter. Todd is a nationally syndicated cartoonist. His work has appeared on television and in newspapers, magazines, books, advertisements, websites and on greeting cards worldwide. It produces a wide variety of custom animation, comics, and humorous comic ads for a number of industries

  Left-wing violence in the United States has a complex history , stretching back to the 1960s and continuing in various forms into 2025. Rooted in ideological opposition to capitalism, imperialism, and perceived and contrived inequality, leftist groups have consistently resorted to violent tactics to advance their causes. The current phase of leftist fueled violence began in Ferguson Missouri in 2014 .  These incidents have maintained a solid pace since 2016 after the election cycle that year and hasn't stopped since. It has now done significant damage to American political discourse. The 1960s marked a turning point for left-wing militancy, fueled by the Vietnam War, based on racial injustice and economic disparities. The Weather Underground, a radical offshoot of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), epitomized this era. Formed in 1969, this violent group aimed to overthrow the U.S. government through bombings, including attacks on the Capitol and Pentagon. Though th...

The last ten years of national politics has taught Americans a lot. It has showed us how deeply people can be manipulated into believing just about anything. The internet and social media has done a thorough job in giving the insane and uneducated a platform  from which to operate.   Yesterday's  Anti-Trump, Anti-Musk protests were a culmination of misinformation exercise.  PROTEST AFTERMATH As Sunday morning began to unfold, more information came out, and videos of the protests and protestors surfaced. There wasn't much that would surprise anyone. Because the protest were the same ideological tropes propaganda and personality conflicts that we've seen at the street level going all the way back to 1969. Only the names and faces have changed. It seems that there was a substantial turn out for these events in some areas, while other information suggests that numbers were inflated by the media and online photos of the protests were either created or taken from online s...

 Video of Today's Anti-Trump protests  Waterloo Iowa Anti Trump Protest On April 5, 2025, Waterloo, Iowa, saw a sizable crowd gather in Lincoln Park for an anti-Trump "Hands Off!" rally, one of many protests popping up nationwide. Organized by local activists, the event drew hundreds frustrated with President Trump’s latest moves since his January return to the White House. While the energy was high—signs waving, chants ringing out—the scene felt more like a venting session than a constructive push for change.  It's hard to ignore the irony. Trump’s back in office because enough Americans, including many in Iowa, voted for his vision: smaller government, tougher borders, and a shake-up of the D.C. swamp. Yet here in Waterloo, protesters railed against his alliance with Elon Musk and the efficiency cuts. Fair enough—change is hard . But the complaints about "protecting our rights" rang hollow when the same crowd cheered policies that often lean toward bigger ...

  THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH Welcome to our first issue of the  Sunday Edition  of the Iowa Telegraph News This weeks Top News Stories; Nationwide Anti-Trump Protests; SIOUX FALLS — A crowd estimated in the thousands protested Saturday in downtown Sioux Falls as part of a nationwide movement to resist President Donald Trump’s agenda, with attendees focusing on the protection of things such as abortion rights, Social Security and free trade Full article. Thousands gather in Sioux Falls to protest Trump’s actions • South Dakota Searchlight Iowa Social Worker Disciplined The Iowa Board of Behavioral Professionals has charged Dakota Funk, 33, of Independence with practicing in a professional relationship while intoxicated and under the influence of alcohol; failing to maintain sufficient, timely, and accurate documentation in client records; physically or verbally abusing a client or colleague; and being convicted of an offense that directly relates to the duties and responsibiliti...