He will walk 300 miles

Former Iowa legislator-turned activist Ed Fallon is on his Save America March with an aim to bring awareness to the current state of democracy. With a goal of 300 miles across southwestern Iowa set, Fallon crossed into Clarke County from the west earlier this month, with overnight stops in Murray and Osceola Oct. 16 and 17.

“I’m remembering the words of President Kennedy: ‘Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,’” Fallon, a former Democrat turned Independent, said. “And those words ring so true right now, because we’re in big trouble… we’re at risk of losing our democracy.”

While the current political climate and attitudes are troubling to Fallon, he said the chasm began decades ago.

“It goes back 40 years, where both Democratic and Republican administrations are at fault between letting big chains destroy our economy… [and] for letting a handful of big corporations control the media,” he said.

Citing those two examples with an increased government surveillance following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Fallon said it created a “perfect storm” for Donald Trump to come along and exploit weaknesses in the Constitution to attempt to control everything.

Fallon talked of the current economic landscape, including the ongoing trade war with China that has included tariffs on imports from China and the lack of sales of soybeans to them; it was announced Sunday that a proposed additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports is no longer on the table and that China will be buying U.S. soybeans. Fallon also talked about the president’s $20 billion in foreign aid sent to Argentina and military strikes on supposed drug boats in the Caribbean.

“I don’t care if you voted for him or not, but we gotta wake up and see what’s going on,” Fallon said. “I think Americans want a tough president, but there’s tough and then there’s bully.”

Calling the present an “all-hands on deck moment,” Fallon spoke to examples of dictatorships around the world and how they usually form slowly over time until it’s too late to react. He reiterated that it’s not to blame on any one political party, saying he was impressed with recent actions by Republicans U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, who are starting to question some of what has been going on. He said having more people speak up and defend democracy is important and going to be needed.

“There’s lots of reasons - good reasons - someone might have voted for Trump, but right now I’m asking Trump voters to say, hey, take a look at this, is this what you wanted?”

Talk for change

On his march, Fallon has met with locals of differing political backgrounds and ideologies, holding conversations about their opinions and viewpoints. He said the most important thing for people to do right now is to start talking to one another to rebuild trust and respect. Thinking that all Democrats or all Republicans are evil is not helpful for driving effective change, nor is responding to situations with violence. Also important is to get involved and to not be afraid to rise to the challenges of saving democracy.

“We’re all in this together, we can solve this with intelligent conversations and compromise… there’s a way to deal with our differences that doesn’t involve this hyper-partisanship with name-calling and shouting.”

Fallon served as a state representative for Iowa’s 66th District from 1992 to 2006 as a Democrat. He ran for governor in 2006 and Congress in 2008, failing to win the Democratic primary in both elections. As a legislator, Fallon worked with Republicans to oppose eminent-domain laws, including work in Clarke County on a former proposed reservoir site north of Murray. After his time in elected office, Fallon turned to activism where he continued to speak out for landowners’ rights and for climate change awareness. Fallon has hosted a radio talk show since 2009 and is also a podcaster.