In order not to get sued or put in jail, we will refrain from commenting on Donald Trump suing The Des Moines Register and Ann Selzer, who conducted the Iowa Poll that showed Kamala Harris with a lead in Iowa just before the election. He claims it was election interference. It would do little good for us to note that The Register and Selzer are dedicated to reporting facts, so we will not say so. It would be silly for us to remark that Selzer is a professional with an impeccable reputation, unlike some politicians who shall remain nameless so they do not sue.
It is beyond our ken to know how Trump could have suffered damage when he won Iowa handily despite the poll, so it is not our place to say. Likewise, we could not understand how the president-elect must rely on a state consumer-protection law to allege an election violation or some sort of defamation, so we would have no comment on that. We would dare not say that the lawsuit is without merit because that is only an opinion of the lowest order and is itself without merit, no doubt, because rich men and their lawyers believe it to be so.
We could not suggest that free speech is in peril when you can file lawsuits to terrorize free speech, or that we are about to find out what life is like in a banana republic. Not us. We did not say that, or that you could wake up in the gulag if you don’t toe the line. That would not be fittingly compliant in a post-realist society.
It’s not all bad that farmland value took a haircut this year, according to the annual Iowa State University survey. Buena Vista County’s average agland price dropped 6.5%, thanks to lower crop prices and higher interest rates. Interesting that the farther northwest you go, the less depreciation as there is plenty of cash to support the land market.
With over 80% of Iowa land free of debt, the correction will be absorbed without a lot of pain. It has been expected as we have watched prices go up consistently over the past decades. The past couple years have cooled things off, and it is orderly. Owners are not exactly rushing for the exits as sales are delayed. Most land agents believe prices will increase as interest rates decline, according to Iowa State. They assume that the Trump Administration will not torch land values with a trade war.
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