Imagine that a speeding incident involving the governor’s vehicle snowballed into a scandal and a wrongful-termination lawsuit from a 25-year law enforcement veteran. If you were the governor, wouldn’t you make sure your driver didn’t exceed the speed limit again?
In July, Governor Terry Branstad acknowledged the need “to obey the speed limit laws.” Yet news broke yesterday that his unmarked SUV was caught speeding again in late August. Franklin County Chief Deputy Linn Larson pulled the vehicle over and gave a warning to the state trooper who was driving. A spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Public Safety won’t say how fast the governor’s vehicle was going or how the driver was disciplined later. Branstad’s spokesman Tim Albrecht depicted the governor as an innocent bystander:
“The governor has made clear that his security detail is to obey all traffic laws, and he does not tolerate any exceptions. Upon learning of the incident, the Department of Public Safety launched an immediate investigation and they took disciplinary action against the trooper involved in the incident.”
Are we supposed to believe that the governor’s driver independently decided to speed, with no pressure from Branstad’s staff to get the governor and Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds to a noon town-hall meeting on time? I’m with State Senator Jeff Danielson:
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Cedar Falls, said after hearing about the latest traffic stop. “It’s the governor’s responsibility to change the culture and it begins with himself and not deferring it to the troopers.”
This is an open thread: all topics welcome.
6 Comments
Iowa Press
After watching Iowa Press, I wonder if the Iowa Democratic Party should “buy” the program and run it on commercial television every now and then as an infomercial.
rockm Sat 28 Sep 3:53 PM
I didn't watch it
but I did read the transcript. It’s frustrating that Terry Branstad will have the money to bail them out, so GOP candidates down-ticket probably won’t have to suffer for the total incompetence of the state party leaders.
desmoinesdem Sat 28 Sep 6:51 PM
LOL!
Is Terry angling to bring more Libertarians into the fold of the GOP? If he wants to change the speed limits in Iowa he could talk to someone at the DOT. I assume we would have our federal highway funds restricted if he changed them too much.
To be perfectly honest, the firs this happened I thought the IDP and Jack Hatch were just grasping at straws a bit, but if it keeps happening then something needs to be done
moderateiadem Sat 28 Sep 3:58 PM
the scheduling needs to change
Fewer events in a day, spaced further apart = less pressure to speed on the highway. It’s not complicated.
desmoinesdem Sat 28 Sep 6:52 PM
orrr
or the Lt. Governor can take events solo to help space them out more.
natewithglasses Sat 28 Sep 8:16 PM
like lieutenant governors have done
for decades. Good point.
Most of the events on the public schedule feature both Branstad and Reynolds.
desmoinesdem Sat 28 Sep 10:43 PM