Quotes of the Day — subject: Bob Vander Plaats

From Under the Golden Dome, 5/31/11

Just recently @Crazy_BobVP was created to poke fun at
Iowa’s poodle trainer. The accounts tweets are harmless
jokes, such as the user’s post “That’s funny, I don’t
remember telling @MittRomney that he is allowed to
come to Iowa this month” or “If the rapture takes place
on Saturday the Capturing Momentum Tour will begin at
noon on Tuesday at the pizza ranch by the pearly gates.”
But sometime recently, the account was suspended by
Twitter for impersonation.
     After looking into Twitter’s Impersonation account
suspension process, filing a report to cancel an account
is a drawn out process that could take as long as a week
to complete. And the person filing the report has to
provide, among other things, a fax of his/her driver’s
license and a signed letter requesting the account be
deactivated.  To sum it up, Cry-Baby Bob had to take a
lot of time out of his ‘busy’ day of hunting RINOs and
traveling to Pizza Ranches to make sure this harmless
parody of him was silenced.  This shouldn’t come as a
surprise to anyone who knows the history of this spoiled
little infant that is disguised as a politician in big-boy
clothes.
     Even Congressional candidate Christie Vilsack has a
parody account: @FakeChristieV. Her tweets include
“The welcome sign in Primghar, ‘Where men are men
and the sheep are nervous.’  WHAT KIND OF SICK
FUCKS ARE WE DEALING WITH HERE?!!!” and
“Algona means ‘toothless bastards’ in Norwegian.
They’re living up to your name today, good God.
#listeningtour”
     These accounts are still active because the politicians
they joke about have realized that mockery is part of
being in the public spotlight. Bob “Hissy Fit” Vander
Plaats should realize that he cannot stop the satire
that will follow him everywhere, especially when he
surrounds himself with musket-toting Tea Party
activists and says that the Government needs to cut
spending while his organization took $3 million from
in federal grants.
     Crazy Bob appears to have plenty of time on his hands,
so I’d like to encourage everyone to create their own
Bob Vander Plaats parody account.  You’ll know you’ve
won when Bob decides to spend a week working to get
the account deleted.  Then just start up a new one!
And lastly I would like to give Bob a bit of advice: if you
can’t take a joke, get a real job, stop saying crazy things,
and stop parading around the state holding tea party
rallies at Pizza Ranches.

The campaign against Iowa’s judiciary by Bob Vander Plaats is funded by out-of-state money, the speakers are from out of state, and the buses are from out of state,” she said. “It is simply an exercise in the use of PAC money and special interest money and out of state interests.

— Attorney Christine Branstad, Gov. Terry's niece, quoted in GavelGrab

It says nothing in the federal constitution about same sex couples being allowed to marry, However it says nothing about marriage between conventional couples either....In fact the Federal constitution says nothing about marriage being a right at all. So how is giving same sex partners the right to Marry a attack of a conventional couples rights, when they have no mention of having the right to marriage in the Federal constitution either? Vander Plaats is a nutcase with his own personal agenda.

— Kevin Griffiths, in a comment to the Des Moines Register

So, by upholding the Iowa constitution and allowing same sex marriage, I am going to lose all my freedoms. I will lose more of my freedoms if Rick Santorum and Bob Vander Plaats get their way.

— Stephen Brubaker, in a comment to the Des Moines Register

Constitutional scholar Rick Santorum explains why Iowa's Supreme Court overstepped its bounds — because article three of the US constitution is smaller than articles one and two!

Since Bob Vander Plaats thinks it's ok to take Justice Wiggins' words completely out of context and plaster them on a flaming red forty-foot bus, AKSARBENT thought we'd do something similar (in yellow) to Rick Santorum's participation in the Iowa Family Leader's smear-Wiggins junket in Des Moines on Monday. Except that we're misrepresenting Santorum far less than he and his are distorting Wiggins' words:

It's very simple to understand what the role of the courts is, as far as the power that was given them; the authority that were [sic] granted by our founders in the constitution... the founders were very clear that the court's role was limited. How do we know this? Well, read the constitution... Article one was put first... Second is article two... Read that article! Much shorter than article one... Third was the judicial branch — a very small, I might add, article [interrupted by applause!]... Our founders understood that the role of the court was not to be the one that was to be pre-eminent.

Now a cynical person might conclude that since the founders enumerated fewer constraints on the Supreme Court, resulting in a shorter article, that they were actually giving it more power — the last word, if you will. But such people are probably judicial anarchists who favor the color red. Oh wait...
 

Defending Iowa's courts: State Sen. Kent Sorensen would politicize judiciary by electing Iowa Supreme Court

Andrew Duffelmeyer, of the Iowa Independent, reports that a nationally-coordinated effort is underway to dismantle judicial merit selection processes in multiple states, according to the head of the Iowa ACLU, threatening the independence of the judiciary.

Ben Stone, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, said that would leave people accused of crimes “in a horrid position.”

     “They want people that are terrified of public opinion, because they know they can manipulate public opinion to get what they want,” Stone said.

Polk County District Court Judge Robert Hanson says he's accepted every invitation to talk about the decision and other issues.

Hanson said that process showed “what happens when we take the high road” and “what staying quiet gets you as a judge: it gets you a ticket right off the bench.”

     “People assume the worst about us right now,” Hanson said. “I don’t like that any better than anybody else does but that’s the truth. They accept this characterization of us as out of control, as arrogant people that are trying to hold society in the way that we think it ought to be and not giving them any say in it.”

From top Left: Reps Dwayne Alons of Hull,Tom Shaw of Laurens,
Betty De Boef of What Cheer, Glen Massie of Des Moines
and Kim Pearson of Pleasant Hill.

The Independent recalled that:

...five Republican lawmakers filed resolutions to impeach those justices: Reps. Dwayne Alons (R-Hull), Betty De Boef (R-What Cheer), Glen Massie (R-Des Moines), Kim Pearson (R-Pleasant Hill), Tom Shaw (R-Laurens).
[AKSARBENT: This political stunt, quickly quashed, caused the Muscatine Journal to recommend that the five be recalled.]

     Those five, along with Reps. Royd Chambers (R-Sheldon) and Mark Lofgren (R-Muscatine) also filed a resolution to remove the judicial nomination process from the Iowa Constitution and instead allowing the governor to fill vacancies in the Supreme Court through appointment and Iowa Senate confirmation.

    And state Sen. Kent Sorenson (R-Indianola) filed a resolution amending the Iowa Constitution so that Iowa Supreme Court justices are elected in statewide races, not appointed by a commission. [AKSARBENT: More about Sorensen here and here.]

Muscatine, Iowa Journal urges recall of Iowa GOP reps who tried to impeach Supreme Court justices

On Thursday, five Iowa representatives filed resolutions to impeach the remaining Iowa Supreme Court justices who were not dumped following last fall's judicial retention vote, on which NOM, Bob Vanderplaats and the Iowa Family Leader and others spent a small fortune.

According to the Des Moines Register, the resolutions were quashed Friday by Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, who said:

“While I agree with much of the reasoning behind the impeachment resolutions, I disagree with this remedy,” Paulsen, R-Hiawatha,  said in a statement. “I do not expect it to be debated on the floor of the House, and if it is, I will vote no.”
     ...Paulsen, a lawyer,  said the resolutions won’t be debated because they have been sent to the House Judiciary Committee, which is not scheduled to meet the rest of the 2011 legislative session.

 The Muscatine Journal opined:

From top Left: Reps Dwayne Alons of Hull,Tom Shaw of Laurens,
Betty De Boef of What Cheer, Glen Massie of Des Moines
and Kim Pearson of Pleasant Hill.

Someone should start petitions to remove from the Iowa Legislature Republican representatives Kim Pearson of Pleasant Hill, Tom Shaw of Laurens, Betty De Boef of What Cheer, Dwayne Alons of Hull and Glen Massie of Des Moines. They filed resolutions Thursday to impeach the remaining four justices on the state Supreme Court who decided a case in 2009 that legalized same-sex marriage in Iowa. Voters ousted the other three justices last November.

These legislators can't see what the state's biggest challenges are if they really think Chief Justice Mark Cady and justices David Wiggins, Daryl Hecht and Brent Appel pose such a threat that they must be removed from office.

When did Iowa become so intolerant and nearsighted?

- Chris Steinbach of the Muscatine Journal

Addendum: The Iowa Independent reported on the swift negative reaction to this political stunt.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Des Moines, a member of Democratic leadership, immediately challenged House Speaker Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha) and Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer (R-Garner) to speak against the actions taken by their caucus members.
     “I issue the following challenge to Speaker Paulsen and Majority Leader Upmeyer on the proposed impeachment of the remaining Supreme Court Justices … either publicly condemn your own Republican members as well as members of the Republican Party for offering this outrageous, extremist proposal … or allow a full and open impeachment proceeding for all Iowans to consider knowing House Democrats will use every available procedural tool to shut down the Iowa House and defeat this right-wing effort,” said McCarthy.
     “I suspect, however that the House Republican Leadership will do neither and instead remain cowardly silent. If that is true, then let it be clear to all Republicans where the House Republican Leadership truly stands on this issue.”
     The articles of impeachment drafted and filed by the five legislators were also immediately attacked by Justice Not Politics, a nonpartisan group that formed in advance of the 2010 retention election in hopes of bolstering support for the three justices on the November ballot and to stress the non-political nature of the Iowa Judicial Branch.
     “The threat by five legislators to impeach the State Supreme Court Justices is only a sad attempt to misuse the impeachment process for political gain, but completely out of touch with Iowans,” read the Justice Not Politics statement. “Thousands of Iowans signed on to Justice Not Politics’ letter against impeachment, and two polls released this year found an overwhelming majority of Iowans oppose impeachment.
     “We are confident legislators and Iowans will reject this ridiculous effort by a small, but loud minority to placate their extreme agenda to inject politics and discrimination into our court system.”

Iowa Republicans go after Bob Vander Plaats' judicial jihad; governor's spokesman rejects his assertions; former Lieutenant Governor tells him to 'come clean' and release donor names

Kay Henderson of Radio Iowa reported on the press conference by Justice Not Politics' Republican attorney Dan Moore who once served as treasurer for one of Vander Plaats' three unsuccessful campaigns for Iowa governor.

“Mr. Vander Plaats needs to provide straight answers and stop purveying misinformation about Iowa’s judiciary,” Moore said at a news conference in Des Moines. “Bob needs to stop conveying political rhetoric. Bob needs to acknowledge his efforts are to make the courts cede to special interests, not the constitution.”

Vander Plaats led the successful effort to oust three Iowa Supreme Court justices in the 2010 judicial retention election, then he became chief executive of The Family Leader late last year, a group that has been at the center of the crusade against gay marriage in Iowa. Moore cited a recent Des Moines Register poll which found 45 percent of Iowans “disapprove” of Vander Plaats and his agenda and Moore suggested Vander Plaaats is “out of touch” with the “real issues” Iowans face.

... Moore said “I think where my friend Bob has crossed the line for me is now the senseless and reckless attacks on the remaining four justices on the Iowa Supreme Court.” Three days after the November election Vander Plaats began calling for the four justices to resign.

...Former Lieutenant Governor Joy Corning, who is also a Republican, has called upon Vander Plaats to “come clean” and release the names of donors to the effort to oust supreme court justices. Neither Vander Plaats or a spokesman for The Family Leader have responded to requests for comment.

Watch video here

Yesterday, Vander Plaats, also in Des Moines on a Family Leader bus tour of 99 Iowa counties, voiced implied criticism of fellow Republican and current governor Terry Branstad: "Within six hours, without even sleeping on it, we had three appointments," he said, arguing that it meant nearly half of the seven-member court was picked with almost no public debate.

The governor's spokesman, Tim Albrecht, rejected Vander Plaats' assertions.

"Branstad's goal was to choose Supreme Court justices, from the available slate of nine candidates, who are most likely to faithfully interpret the laws and Constitution and respect the separation of powers," Albrecht said.

Text of Iowa petition rejecting judicial impeachment, signed by thousands of voters

Sally Peterson, Janece Valentine and Janet Rosenbury outside Iowa House
speaker's office after delivering 3,248 signatures to legislators

Justice Not Politics is waging a campaign against Politicians (almost all Republicans) in the Iowa House and Senate who are trying to impeach those Iowa Supreme Court justices not recalled by voters in November for their unanimous bipartisan ruling that banning same-sex marriage violates the equal protection provision of Iowa's constitution.

The organization is co-chaired by two former Iowa Lieutenant Governors: Joy Corning, a Republican, and Sally Pederson, a Democrat.

Here is the letter:

Dear Legislators:

I strongly urge you to resist any and all efforts to impeach the four Iowa State Supreme Court Justices. This threat undermines the integrity of Iowa’s courts and the whole judicial system.

Iowa’s law on impeachment is clear: It is only for officials who violate the law or their oath of office. Impeachment is not a wrecking ball every time some people disagree with the outcome of a single case. That is why a judge has never been impeached in the history of the state.

The future of the courts and these justices should be decided through the retention vote process, not a small, but loud minority who wish to inject politics into our court system.

Please protect our courts. Iowans want our courts to dispense justice not politics.

Sincerely,

Iowa lawsuit asserts judicial retention vote was illegal; seeks to nullify results

Brent Hellickson, Flickr

Jennifer Jacobs of the Des Moines Register reports that three Des Moines-area attorneys have sued to retain three Iowa Supreme Court judges voted off the bench because the Iowa Constitution mandates the votes for judges be "on a separate ballot."

The ballot used Nov. 2 included the names of the justices standing for retention on the back of a single sheet, "combined with other elections, nonpartisan offices, Constitutional questions and public measures," the lawsuit says.

A temporary judicial order has been requested that would bar the justices from leaving the Supreme Court when their terms end Dec. 31; a hearing is scheduled for Monday in Polk County District Court.

A 1962 amendment to the state constitution says judges "shall at such judicial election stand for retention in office on a separate ballot which shall submit the question of whether such judge shall be retained in office for the tenure prescribed for such office...."

The Legislature later approved putting the names of all judges on one ballot, the lawsuit says.

But the lawyers argue that "combining on a single ballot all elections, including judicial elections, issues, and measures is a facial violation of Iowa Constitution Article V Section 17."

The far right's most dangerous lawyer: James Bopp, Jr.

James Bopp Jr., currently filing suit to derail Iowa's judicial nomination process, may be the most dangerous, underestimated, and busy attorney on the far right. A special counsel for Focus on the Family, he is also helping NOM evade campaign disclosure laws in several states. Bopp eviscerated McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform legislation by initiating the Citizens United case, which Ted Olson, — yes that Ted Olson — argued successfully before the Supreme Court. How does he do it?

Bopp has a knack for finding provisions in campaign finance laws that have been taken for granted for decades as acceptable restrictions on corporate speech. Then, he makes ACLU-like arguments that such rules violate the First Amendment. Part of Bopp's genius lies in his choice of clients. Although his cases ultimately benefit powerful corporations, their public faces are usually small advocacy groups like Wisconsin Right to Life or Citizens United that are seeking to participate in political debate. Perhaps most impressive, he crafts cases that appear persuasive to people who do not share his agenda (he is a staunch conservative and member of the Republican National Committee). As a journalist and civil libertarian, I was deeply conflicted about the Citizens United case. After viewing the Hillary documentary, I thought Americans ought to be able to watch it on television if they wanted to, and was sympathetic to Bopp's argument that the campaign finance rules in this case resulted in censorship. Clearly the Supreme Court was, too.

Read Stephanie Mencimer's Mother Jones expose (The Man Who Took Down Campaign Finance Reform) of this very dangerous man, then click "Bopp" at the bottom of this post to review aksarbent's two previous posts about him.

The quotable Bopp: James Bopp Jr., the NOM lawyer trying to wreck Iowa's judicial nominating process

James Bopp, Jr.

James Bopp Jr., a Focus on the Family attorney, has a history of abetting anti-gay organizations like the National Organization for Marriage in the evasion of state financial disclosure regulations.

The Iowa Independent had this to say:

Even before the final ruling on Citizens United, however, Bopp had begun new campaigns into election law and specifically chose to represent predominantly anti-gay, socially conservative groups who wished to hide the donors that funded their political activities. His firm — Bopp, Coleson and Bostrom — has represented such groups in Iowa, California and Maine, petitioning that laws which require the groups to form Political Action Committees (PACs) and disclose their donors are unconstitutional. Many anticipate that the questions presented by Bopp and his associates  in such cases will also be eventually heard before the nation’s high court.

On December 10, Maine's Free Press reported:

Bopp... represents the National Organization for Marriage (NOM). Last year NOM gave nearly $2 million to the committee that was working to repeal the same-sex marriage law that had been passed by Maine's legislature. NOM challenged Maine's law that requires any group that spends over $5,000 to influence a ballot question vote to disclose donors who gave more than $100 and is challenging Maine's disclosure rules for political action committees. The court has ruled that the "influence" standards are unconstitutionally vague, but that, otherwise, Maine's laws governing PACs, independent campaign expenditures and attribution requirements are constitutional.

Read the ruling here; names from Bopp's law firm are all over it.

Common Cause and Public Campaign commissioned a report by Klein Research Services dated October 25, 2010. It devastatingly exposes James Bopp Jr. Its title?

The Man Behind our Secret Elections: James Bopp Jr.
New Report Examines Radical Activist and His Drive
to Dismantle Election Laws.

In the report is a collection of outrageously creepy assertions called The Quotable Bopp.

Campaign-finance reform, I consider mainly a slogan. I believe that this court, if pushed, would be willing to dump all campaign-finance regulations. [Gannett News Service, June 28, 2007]

I'm a guy that specializes in loopholes. [New York Sun, May 9, 2008]

We had a 10-year plan to take all this down. If we do it right, I think we can pretty well dismantle the entire regulatory regime that is called campaign finance law. ... We have been awfully successful and we are not done yet. [New York Times, January 25, 2010]

Groups have to be relieved of reporting their donors if lifting the prohibition on their political speech is going to have any meaning [New York Times, January 25, 2010]

The problem is having to file a report at all. To be regulated at all. To be accountable to the government at all. [Washington Independent, February 3, 2010]

Lurleen at Pam's House Blend has been on to this man's modus operandi for some time:

NOM and friends have been pursuing a two-prong agenda.  These groups are using anti-LGBT political campaigns as a vehicle to challenge the public disclosure and campaign finance laws.  The pattern that has emerged is this: They attack LGBT civil rights via referenda/initiatives or by backing anti-LGBT candidates or attacking pro-equality candidates, but they refuse to divulge the identities of their petition signers or campaign donors.  Then, when pressed for the information that law-abiding organizations provide, they sue the state to challenging the law.

The lawsuits they file are purely challenges to campaign finance and public disclosure laws and are not in any way "LGBT cases".  But because they oppose equal rights for LGBT Americans and oppose any campaign regulations or public disclosure requirements, NOM often launches their lawsuits off of controversy they create with their campaigns attacking LGBT rights or pro-equality candidates.  NOM & friends work hard to cloud their real intent in the public's eye.  They conflate the vehicles for their cases with the goal of their cases.

Focus On The Family attorney files lawsuit to remove half of Iowa's Judicial Nominating Commission;'A right wing campaign to screw up our courts'

James Bopp, Jr.

[Note to readers: Click the home tab to see the latest posts]

Focus On The Family attorney James Bopp Jr., filed a lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of four Iowans alleging that the method used to select finalists for the Iowa Supreme Court denies them a chance to participate equally in the selection of justices and judges.

The suit was filed under the auspices of the James Madison Center for Free Speech in Terre Haute, Ind.

ABC 5 in Des Moines said the nominating commission could start meeting this week to talk about replacements. The lawsuit is expected to be ruled on within the next few weeks.

ABC 5 further noted:

Through their suit they are trying to remove the 7 [of 15] members of the Commission that are members of the Iowa State Bar Association from the nominating equation entirely. They have asked for an immediate court action to stop the Commission from beginning the formal nominating process.

Rob Hogg, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids who is a lawyer and vice chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee decried Republican judicial activism.

“This lawsuit clearly is part of a right wing ideological campaign through an out-of-state lawyer to screw up our courts,” Hogg told the Des Moines Register.

The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiffs, because they are not attorneys, are excluded from the elections of the Elective members and have no say whatsoever in their selection.

Similar federal lawsuits filed in Alaska and Kansas were thrown out earlier this year.

The Des Moines Register quoted Constitutional Law expert Mark Kende: "They have to show that they were injured in some way personally. It's usually a pretty heavy burden for the party seeking an injunction, that would stop the election process of the whole state. That's not to say that it's unprecedented, but it's a very heavy burden, for them to meet."

Kende noted that there's good reason to have a certain amount of lawyers involved in the process, because of their knowledge about the judicial system and its players.

You can read the lawsuit here.

The Des Moines Register profiled the four Iowans (all Republicans) on whose behalf Bopp filed the lawsuit.

They are: Steve Carlson of Woodbury County, Mary Granzow of Polk County, Richard Kettells of Pleasant Hill, and William Ramsey of Black Hawk County.

Carlson made donations to Rod Roberts’ unsuccessful campaign for governor, and to the Woodbury County Republican Central Committee this year, and to the Alons for Representative Committee in 2007.

Campaign finance records show that Granzow donated to the Polk County Republican Central Committee this year. Ramsey donated to Iowa Realtors PAC.

Ramsey lives in Waterloo, Granzow in Johnston, Carlson in Sioux City and Kettells in Pleasant Hill, according to election and campaign records. The lawsuit shows those residences except for Granzow, who is listed as living in Des Moines.

A Steven S. Carlson has been quoted as a regional representative of the Iowa Christian Alliance and wrote an op-ed for the Sioux City Journal supporting U.S. Rep. Steve King, who represents northwestern Iowa.

“What became crystal clear in this election cycle is that a conservative resurgence evidenced itself in America on Nov. 2, 2010, and that this resurgence favors the bold, conservative approach exhibited by Steve King, Michelle Bachman, and others – not the “moderate views” of the past,” Carlson wrote.

A spokesman for the Iowa Christian Alliance, now the Iowa Christian Alliance Education Fund and the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, said Carlson served on the Alliance board. He couldn’t say when or for how long.

Power-drunk Vander Plaats demands all remaining Iowa Supreme Court justices resign; ACLU calls demand an irresponsible 'desire for revenge'; Court 'chooses not to respond'

Note: above frame shows former Iowa Supreme Court justice Mark McCormick, who opposes
Vander Plaats' efforts

Pugnacious Iowa troglodyte Bob Vander Plaats, who led the effort to remove three Iowa Supreme Court justices during the last election, has demanded that the four remaining Iowa Supreme Court justices resign. As of 6:00 pm Wednesday, KCCI was running a poll on whether they should do so here. (Hint, hint.)

Ben Stone, the director of the ACLU of Iowa, replied:

“Bob Vander Plaats’ recent demand that the four remaining Iowa Supreme Court justices resign is irresponsible. It does nothing to promote good government or the quality of justice in Iowa. Instead, it suggests a desire for revenge.
     Calling for these resignations is premature. These four justices will eventually come up for retention votes. Until those elections take place, the justices should do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Calling for their resignations now demonstrates little more than a push for retribution.
     Urging resignations also is irresponsible. The current court has been gutted by nearly half, slowing important cases and disrupting the ability of this critical court to function.
     It’s also just plain unwarranted. These justices, no matter what one thinks of marriage equality, were simply doing their job–applying the Iowa Constitution to the best of their ability.
     More than a half-century ago, state supreme courts across the country were making highly unpopular decisions on racial and gender equality, including the desegregation of schools and other public places. Those justices, too, were simply doing their job to determine equality under the law despite the lack of a contemporary popular mandate.”

Chuck Norris: crap actor, Vander Plaats
endorser and karate instructor to
Mormon Donny Osmond

Steve Davis, a spokesman for the Iowa Judicial Branch, said “the court chooses not to respond” to Vander Plaats’ comments.
     Vander Plaats' bid for governor, despite his endorsement by martial artist and actor Chuck Norris, ended in defeat during the primary by now Gov.-Elect Terry Branstad.

     The finance chairman of the Vander Plaats for Governor Council of Advisors was Mike Wells, President of Demand Group at his family's business, Wells' Blue Bunny Dairy, in Le Mars, Iowa.

Iowa Retention Vote, by County

The Des Moines Register, using data from the Iowa Secretary of State, has reported that 89 of Iowa's 99 counties voted to remove all three Supreme Court justices up for retention. Nine counties kept all three justices. One, Clinton, kept Streit and Ternus, but turned out Baker.

Sixty percent of the 10 most populated counties voted to keep all three judges.

Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, our best friend in Iowa politics, lives in Pottawattamie County, which, as you can see, voted against all three judges, and is part of Steve King's congressional district. Gronstal's Iowa senate district, 50 includes Carter Lake (now on the Nebraska side of the Missouri River, which changed course) as well as Council Bluffs, the site of Google's new $600 million data center. Hey Googlers! Give Mike some cash!

Map of Iowa Senate District 50:

Iowa's Judicial Retention Vote

Iowa Supreme Court Building, Des Moines

• In a Thursday editorial, the Iowa State Daily opined that the retention vote was abused. (What a breath of fresh air Iowa State's student rag is when compared to that of Rutgers!)
• The Wall Street Journal weighed in, in typically asinine fashion. Among its most idiotic assertions was the following (in defense of the vote): "But Iowa's voters aren't yahoos who recall judges willy-nilly, and when judges exceed their writ in such blatant fashion they shouldn't expect an automatic pass from the people whose lives are governed by their decisions [emphasis added]. "
• Free Republic advice: Strip them of their robes! No hyperlink needed...
• Iowa's best newspaper, The Des Moines Register, proclaimed: "Everyone Lost In Judicial Retention Election"
• Nebraska's, um, largest newspaper disclosed the uncertainty about whether Culver or Brandstad will get to appoint the three replacement judges