Herb Strentz was dean of the Drake School of Journalism from 1975 to 1988 and professor there until retirement in 2004. He was executive secretary of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council from its founding in 1976 to 2000.

Perhaps some place there is an intersection of Dr. Jekyll Avenue and Mr. Hyde Street, commemorating the contrasting personalities of a man in the 1886 novella by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Even if so, it would be difficult to match the contrasts and political irony of an intersection in the shire of Leonora in the state of Western Australia—the intersection of Hoover and Trump Streets!

It’s in Leonora near the site of the successful Gwalia gold mine Herbert Hoover managed in 1898 and the home he designed there. The mine and house are still in impressive operation.

Trump? That was the name given another mine in 1897, which was closed much of the time before ceasing operations altogether in 2009.

While the Aussie intersection makes sense in the context of the region’s gold mining history, it spurs some irony in the history of two Republican U.S. presidents, Herbert Hoover and Donald Trump, and the wayward course of the Grand Old Party these days.

Previous Bleeding Heartland posts have addressed Hoover’s public service and humanitarian accomplishments, as well as Trump’s civil and criminal indictments and how the Iowa GOP continues to embrace him and his manifold lies.

Still, the jarring nature of that intersection sign thousands of miles away evoked thoughts about contrasts in the Republican Party’s history and current affairs. After all, the street signs do point in different directions.

Here’s a brief take on those different directions in terms of Hoover vs Trump and wondering which way the Iowa GOP will decide to go.

One wealthy in many ways vs One bankrupt in many ways.

One wanting to serve vs One demanding to be worshipped.

One who sought agreement vs One who spouts divisiveness.

Thoughtful vs Scheming.

Honest vs Corrupt.

Moral vs Venal.

World view vs Me.

The list is stacked? Of course it is. Stacked to favor the aspirations of 1776.

It is well past time for the GOP to close its Trump operation.

Political parties have their share of internal discord, of course, but let’s leave Jekyll and Hyde in literature and not as a governing legacy for generations to come.

Top photo of intersection of Hoover and Trump Streets in Western Australia provided by the author and published with permission.