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09/29/2010
Iowa: NOM's cynical plan to send message, written on pink slip
Brian Brown knows that the National Organization for Marriage and Iowa For Freedom's campaign to remove three Iowa Supreme Court justices will accomplish absolutely nothing tangible for his side's "traditional marriage" war. But as we've said a million times: NOMmers like Brian don't care about the practical results, because this campaign is really all about sending a public relations message pertaining to the anti-LGBT side's power in American politics. Because while NOM's most apparent campaign is against marriage equality in the literal sense, the group's ancillary campaign is a rhetorical effort to change the way the public looks and thinks and talks about the equality fight (e.g. they don't want anyone calling it an "equality fight"). This Iowa judges matter is firmly within that PR playbook, constituting nothing more than a vindictive effort to take away qualified people's jobs in order to make an example out of them. The NOM/IFF anti-fairness coalition is taking advantage of marriage equality having been unanimously decided in a state that has a retention voting process, knowing that they can rally the "stop gay marriage at any cost" set to believe whatever they sell. Plus NOM and IFF (and associates) know these judges can't and won't (and shouldn't) go out and campaign against this costly effort, which means that they are basically sitting ducks. NOM/IFF are trying to fire these vulnerable judges in effigy, if you will.
But don't just take our word for it. Here's Brian bearing out our claim:
Brian Brown, executive director of National Organization for Marriage, said pro-family groups realize that removing these judges will not resolve the same-sex marriage crisis; however it sends a very powerful message.
“If justices go outside the bounds of their oaths, if the justices go outside the bounds of the U.S. and state constitutions,” Brown said, “They’re going to be held accountable."
[Focus on the Family]
You know, because that's what we do here in America: We use our personal, faith-based objections to do nothing more than threaten a co-equal branch of government. That is what freedom's all about. Right?
Ugh.
More than just about any other effort to come before it, anti-marriage ballot initiatives included, this Iowa effort really fleshes out how careless and self-absorbed NOM truly is. But while they might win this short term, one-sided battle, it's undeniable that it's this NOM/IFF coalition that will ultimately have to pay a fat karma bill to the gods of accountability.