WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE June 6, 2025
Today marks the eighty-first anniversary of D-Day, the Normandy invasion to reclaim Europe from Nazi Germany. Our troops displayed incredible courage. How sad, then, that a veteran of a later war revealed cowardice as a U.S. senator.
Joni Ernst, R.-Iowa, graduated from Iowa State and, through ROTC, was commissioned a second-lieutenant in the Army. In 2003, she served as a company commander in Kuwait and Iraq. She retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard after 23 years of service.
I appreciate Sen. Ernst’s service. But last week, she made a mockery of it.
At town meeting in Butler County, Iowa, Sen. Ernst was asked about cuts to Medicaid in the Donald Trump tax bill, which the House passed May 22nd. A woman in the crowd yelled, “People are going to die.” Senator Ernst’s reply: “Well, we all are going to die.”
True. But for many people, Medicaid cuts will mean dying earlier and in greater discomfort or pain.
You’d think Sen. Ernst would walk back her remark. Of Iowa’s 3.2 million residents, 700,000 are on Medicaid, which provides healthcare to people of limited means. You’d be wrong.
The next day, she dug a deeper hole. Sen. Ernst said—straight-faced—“I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that yes, we’re all going to perish from this earth. So, I apologize.” Then she furthered the insult. “And I’m really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the tooth fairy, as well.”
A senator for (supposedly) all Iowans, Sen. Ernst concluded, “But for those that would like to see eternal and everlasting life, I encourage you to embrace my lord and savior, Jesus Christ.” Translation: “You Iowa Jews, Muslims, Hindus and other non-Christians, go back where you came from.” (That might include Iowa.)
Medicaid, like all government programs, should always be reviewed. Taxpayers of all political stripes stand against waste, fraud and abuse. It’s a non-partisan issue. But Joni Ernst doubling down on callousness reflects everything that’s wrong with Congressional Republicans.
Sen. Ernst is building a negative track record. She stood against the nomination of Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense until December when she said she’d support Hegseth—accused of sexual assault—through the nomination process. Ernst was an earlier victim of sexual assault but faced heavy pressure from Donald Trump.
To have stood up and voted against Hegseth would have meant Ernst, a two-term senator, likely would have been primaried in her bid for re-election next year. Trump and MAGA World would throw a ton of money behind a far-right challenger—money Ernst could never match.
I have great respect for combat and combat-theater veterans. They show courage every day—not because they have no fear, but because they stand in despite their fear. I would have hoped that a veteran like Joni Ernst would have displayed the courage to stand up and be counted.
Of course, Sen. Ernst can offer the same old, worn excuse: I have to be re-elected so I can serve the people of Iowa. But to be re-elected, I can’t serve the people. If I do, I’ll be primaried and booted out of office.
Take time to think that over. But not too much. We’re all going to die.
Let’s remember the brave soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, who gave so much on D-Day and throughout the European campaign—those who came back to tell their stories and those who didn’t. May their memories be a blessing.
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There was a great line in a column last week in the NYTimes (I don’t remember whose): Many politicians believe that they want to do things that matter, and in order to do what matters, I need to be re-elected, and eventually getting re-elected is all that matters. In the case of Joni Ernst, it feels that she feels obliged not only to genuflect to Trump’s policies, but also to parrot his casual cruelty.
I suspect that the constituent who cried out that people were going to die was not looking for eternal life, just a longer and healthier life in the here and now.
As for D-Day, you’re right to honor those who risked (and lost) their lives in defense of liberty and democracy. One of the sad aspects of the Vietnam protests was that we failed to separate the war, which was a bad idea, from the soldiers, most of whom served honorably. It’s likely that the disrespect that was directed at the returning VN vets caused at least some of the homelessness, PTSD and drug addiction that has afflicted them in later years.
For many years, David, I’ve been writing about representatives and senators not doing the right thing so they could be re-elected, because only then could they do the right thing, which they couldn’t risk doing.
As to the hostile attitudes towards Viet Nam vets, that stands as a black mark against many Americans who, if rightly decrying the war, failed to make the separation you mention. I think the nation has learned from that. But that only played a minor role in vets experiencing PTSD. The violence of war destroys our sense of humanity and thus ourselves. Someone I played basketball with served two tours in Viet Nam and later killed himself.
I’ve always been thankful that while I was trained to kill and lead others in doing that, I never had to. (And, I would have.)
I was never sure what I would have done if I had been drafted. I had a student deferment through 1967, then was in grad school at UCLA. By 1968, it was pretty clear that the war was both unwise and unwinnable, so the possibility of being drafted created a serious quandary. The lottery came along and saved me from having to think too hard, but it was a tough time for many of us.
I totally get it, David. We never know what we will do until we’re faced with the challenge.