Iowa Politics with Jeff Stein -- Tue. Oct. 20, 2026

Still in the headlines, I'm Jeff Stein with today's Iowa Politics Report.

I was going through some old newspapers at home over the weekend, just as news was breaking of the European riots, especially in France.

I came upon a front page story from my hometown weekly, the Toledo Chronicle, from May of 1948.

It reported on the Cornell College history professor who spoke to graduates of the Toledo High School class of 1948 that week.

He was called Austrian born American naturalized, Dr. Eric Coleman, and he spoke on today's youth and tomorrow's world.

He began by comparing life in Europe to life in the US, which he said was just this side of paradise, according to the article.

Today's youth, he said, have no hunger problem.

They live in a free atmosphere and have a good spirit of cooperation, but they are not prepared to meet invasion and the horrors of war should they come to these United States.

Neither are our youth prepared to assist in maintaining the peace."

He continued by saying the youth of the U.S.

must be trained and prepared to meet a changing world and to take an interest in politics.

Now that was in 1948.

The same might be said for 2026.

The article also noted that when asked what he liked most about America, Dr. Coleman quoted another refugee who came to the U.S.

and remarked,

When the bell rings at dawn, it's the milkman, not the German secret police.

Conversely, when asked what he did not like about the U.S., the history professor said he thinks politics are kicked around too freely and not enough emphasis is placed upon the importance of obtaining the right leaders so that the German secret police do not ring American doorbells at dawn.

Again, that's from a small Iowa town high school graduation address nearly 80 years ago from someone who experienced the horrors firsthand.

Did we learn the lessons the professor was teaching then?

And if not, it's not too late.

And that's the Iowa Politics Report for Tuesday, October 20 on Twitter, Instagram, Gitter, Threads and Truth Social.

and Iowa politics.

I'm Jeff Stein on News Talk 1540, KXEL.