Good As You: Iowa For Freedom Roundup
10/12/2012
Video: Vander Plaats denies our legislative success; apparently unfamiliar with NY, MD, WA, NH…
Listen to this ridiculous accusation that Bob Vander Plaats os now making in order to justify his freedom-threatening attempts to politicize the Iowa courts. Clip is cued up correctly: So let me first remind you that Bob's current "NO Wiggins"...
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09/25/2012
Video: Santorum and friends undermine sanctity of fair, independent, non-politicized judiciary
Sam Clovis, Rick Santorum, and Tamara Scott continue to tell Iowa that out-of-state money and special interest actors should politicize their court system by voting off judges on the basis of one, single, solitary opinion with which certain faith-motivated fans...
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03/03/2011
Iowa for out-of-state ATMs: GOP prez hopeful bankrolled judge-ousting
Well this explains why the so-called Iowa For Freedom campaign got off to an inordinately strong, connected, nationalized start from Day 1: Newt Gingrich anonymously donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to a successful effort to recall three judges who...
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01/20/2011
Judicial Iowa-vism: Hoping Justice Kennedy swayed more by one retention vote than by Harvard Law degree
Of all of the logic we hear surrounding Prop 8 and the potential decisions that higher courts might reach, this socially conservative meme inserting Iowa into some contrived "remember the Alamo" rally cry is one of the oddest: "Personally, I...
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12/06/2010
IFF-y justice: Bob Vander Plaats still confusing deed with merit
We want to address two new things from Bob Vander Plaats, the unsuccessfula Iowa gubernatorial candidate who instead chose to direct his electoral attention towards using personally-held faith to oust three justices who did nothing more than follow the equality...
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11/12/2010
Little known fact: 'Vander Plaats' is actually Iowan for 'courts that cater to my whims'
This has to be the most egregious, self-satisfied, overplayed hands in recent "culture war" memory: The leader of a successful campaign to oust three Iowa Supreme Court justices says the four justices who remain on the court should consider stepping...
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11/09/2010
Giving truth the Schlaf: Iowa For Freedom edition
Another completely misrepresentative take on the recent "Iowa For Freedom" campaign, this time from conservative doyenne Phyllis Schlafly: "The powers that be in Iowa tried to tell Iowa voters that they had an obligation to vote yes on the three...
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11/04/2010
Forget virgins: Iowa Supreme Court justices are God's newly ordered sacrifice
"God is our ultimate authority, and we think that we did God's will by standing up to the three judges who would try to redefine God's institution and say that marriage is anything other than one man and one woman"...
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Church/state[ment]: Evangelicals put much faith in Iowa 'win'
The so-called "Iowa For Freedom" crew made a stride towards destroying judicial independence. But it might be religious freedom -- true religious freedom, which includes the right to live and love as an equal citizen of this nation free from...
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A co-[opted] brand of government
Fundamentally changing the court's role in civil rights history. That is exactly what the anti-gay "Iowa For Mob Rule" "Iowa For Freedom" coalition wants: “What is so disturbing about this is that it really might cause judges in the future...
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11/03/2010
Iowa For Freedom's winnings: Pages of archived lies, ideas that can't be intellectually defended, massive karmic debt, a marriage opinion that still stands...
It's safe to say it now: From the first day many of us heard about the so-called Iowa For Freedom campaign, we were convinced that the opposition would win at the polls. The effort seemed tailor made for anti-gay lashing...
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11/02/2010
Audio: 'Iowa For Freedom' might win. But not with a clean conscience.
More deliberately anti-intellectual assessments of the Iowa judicial retention vote, this time from Maggie Gallagher: (click to play audio clip) *AUDIO SOURCE: Maggie Gallagher, segment 2 [Drew Mariani Show, 11/1/10] That whole "what is this, Russia?" question? It comes straight...
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Fun with 'First name, Last Name' fields: Iowa For Freedom (so-called) edition
*** *SEE ALSO: Our complete Iowa For Freedom Archive
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11/01/2010
Hey Iowa: Smash pumpkins, not judicial fairness
Over the weekend, the so-called Iowa For Freedom coalition posted this subliminal message regarding the state's upcoming judicial retention vote: [SOURCE] Fortunately, those who don't think judges and the independent judiciary in general should be subjected to a vindictive vote...
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10/31/2010
Grass? On the other side, 'pro-family' money is always greener
Fair Courts For US *** *SEE ALSO: Our complete Iowa For Freedom Archive
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10/30/2010
Video: Hey Iowa For Freedom: Rejecting state DOMA law doesn't mean ignoring it!
Here's some more proud point-missing from the Iowa For Freedom coalition. This time from a voter who believes the state Supreme Court justices "ignored" the DOMA law, even if in reality, the Varnum panel quite openly and honestly found the...
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10/29/2010
Video: Iowa For [Infantilizing Supporters of Basic Fairness]
Concerned Woman For America Tamara Scott: *** *SEE ALSO: Our complete Iowa For Freedom Archive
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Video: 'Quote, unquote," except for both the quote and the unquote parts
Never once in the 69 pages of Iowa Supreme Court's Varnum opinion is the phrase "evolving standard" used. One can find Iowa For Freedom head Bob Vander Plaats using the phrase to slight what he sees as the court's unjust...
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10/28/2010
If you retain the Iowa judges, communists win. Or something.
The National Organization For Marriage is still working the canard the claims pro-retention voices are rejecting the right to vote on judges itself. Though this time, with Soviet Union compares thrown in for some extra conservative oomph: In Iowa the...
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Video: 'Every time they have to make a decision, they'll be thinking about 'what will some people out there think?', not what the law is'
Former Iowa Governor Robert D. Ray (R) defends his state's court system against the so-called "Iowa For Freedom" campaign: (H/t: One Iowa) *** *Our complete Iowa For Freedom archive
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'Unimagined rights', detailed by advocates of gay-less fantasy world
This is what the Iowa Supreme Court's unanimous Varnum opinion actually says about "unimagined" rights: In fulfilling this mandate under the Iowa Constitution, we look to the past and to precedent. We look backwards, not because citizens’ rights are constrained...
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Audio: Iowa for (reductive, one-dimension retention)
Obfuscation, thy name is "Iowa For Freedom": (click to play audio clip) *AUDIO SOURCE: FRC Iowa Bus Tour Underway [FOTF] Right. Okay. So let's start with Maggie Gallagher Srivastav. Her first soundbite: "Nobody should be unaccountable, and in Iowa, the...
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10/27/2010
Iowa For Freedom (to paint gays as a degradation)
Iowa For Freedom speakers continue to reveal the obvious: That their current campaign against Iowa's Supreme Court justices has absolutely nothing to do with jurisprudence and everything to do with the faith-based war against same-sex marriage: “It’s a degradation of...
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Bob Vander Plaats' muddled school civics
The Iowa Supreme Court didn't make law. They didn't execute law. They most certainly didn't amend the constitution. In the 2009 marriage equality decision, the unanimous panel of justices did nothing more than determine that the "protect marriage" crowd has...
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Video: These three people want to unseat learned legal scholars for following the constitution
Here are some faces of Iowa For Freedom/ National Organization For Marriage support, courtesy of the Courage Campaign's "Judge Bus" tour trackers. Goat Go see for yourself: Homophobia much? Video, er, highlights from NOM’s “Judge Bus” supporters in Iowa [Courage...
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10/26/2010
Video: 'This isn't political. Now if you'll excuse me, these two elected officials are going to join me and the president of a special interest group as we hop back on a campaign bus underwritten by one of America's most prolific political action groups.
Concerned Woman For America Tamara Scott knows a well-financed, faith-motivated, single-issue campaign from a coalition of out-of-state "pro-family" groups is in no way politicizing Iowa's judicial retention system. In fact, she'll claim that it's "someone from the outside" who's putting...
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10/25/2010
Judge Bus Day 1: Weird football metaphors are King
On the road with the National Organization For Marriage, Family Research COuncil, Iowa For Freedom, and Congressman Steve King (Very Far R-IA): More to come. *** **EARLIER: The big purple bus they're all riding around in: NOM/FRC/IFF sure have a...
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Audio: 'I'm not interested in finding middle ground with those folks', says @iowaforfreedom supporter
Here's Iowa radio host Jan Mickelson, a big supporter of the Iowa For Freedom campaign, speaking with Alabama's former high court judge Roy Moore about the upcoming retention vote, DADT repeal, and LGBT rights in general: (click to play audio...
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Snooki costumes out of stock, Bob Vander Plaats opts for scary activist judge mask instead
Iowa for Freedom's Bob Vander Plaats continues to scare state voters into believing that marriage equality for same-sex couples is just step one on a road that will lead to repossession, empty gun racks, and death panels. This from The...
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10/22/2010
NOM/FRC/IFF sure have a funny way of honoring Spirit Day
We'd seen mockup images of the Family Research Council/National Organization For Marriage/ Iowa For Freedom "Judge Bus," which is set to hit the road for the vindictive purpose of voting out judges who did nothing more than side with the...
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10/21/2010
Iowa For Freedom campaign is wrong-headed, says 1961
The current war against judges who sided with equal protection and due process in removing gender discrimination from marriage may not be exclusively partisan. But if this, one of the very first editorials written about the Iowa judicial retention system,...
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Video: But there *is* such thing as an activist edit
*** *The original ad *Our complete Iowa For Freedom archive
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Video: Iowa for [acting like a paparazzo chasing Lindsey Lohan]
The anti-LGBT, anti-judicious, far-right-connected, very well-financed roustabouts at "Iowa For Mob Rule" "Iowa For Freedom" continue their bullying habits. This video has been posted to IFF's official YouTube site: (*this is Judge David Baker and Chief Justice Marsha Ternus, two...
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10/20/2010
Video: Wherein a tongue-tied Bob Vander Plaats gets smacked down. Hard.
Iowa For Freedom's Bob Vander Plaats really thought he was on to something when he mentioned the Emancipation Proclamation's role in freeing slaves, as part of a suggestion that the Iowa court shouldn't play a role in the modern conversation...
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New NOM/Iowa For Freedom strategy: Iowa judges wrong b/c of distance from Boston
*NOTE: This is the ad referenced in this post. *** *UPDATE: Here's what scholar Mark McCormick actually said, sans fear noises and editing: "There is no such thing as an 'activist judge,' in the sense that I'm aware of --...
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Jury of his (and only his) peers: NOM's head activist judge vs. Iowa jurists
Of a new anti-LGBT equality ad that the National Organization For Marriage has produced alongside the Campaign for Working Families PAC and Iowa for Freedom, NOM president Brian Brown says: “This election, we want Iowans to know that their values...
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Video: Iowa for Freedom's oddest spinjob yet
Well, we've been saying it for weeks. Now, in a truly bizarre new video posted to their official YouTube channel under the heading "Iowa Independent Retention Debate Coverage 3," the folks at the so-called "Iowa For Freedom" coalition have all...
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10/19/2010
Iowa For Freedom: Fostering needless controversy, pretending its neither
Perhaps more than any other campaign coalition we've ever witnessed, the so-called Iowa For Mob Rule Based on Personal Faith Whims "Iowa For Freedom" crew has displayed an incredible desire/ability to have whatever conversation they feel like having, wholly independent...
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10/18/2010
Iowa For Freedom: Comment moderation perfect metaphor for campaign itself
Well of course they still haven't posted either of the two (perfectly fair, in no way inflammatory) comments that we have left in their supposedly open forum. But the so-called "Iowa For Freedom" coalition has, in a completely separate post,...
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'Why do you oppose judicial activism?' (*And by 'you' we mean only those who jibe with our preconceived narrative)
A comment we tried to leave on the so-called "Iowa For Freedom" coalition's blog: [SOURCE] Three days later, not one comment has been approved. But hey, we're only talking here about state Supreme Court justices careers, the role of the...
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10/07/2010
Video: Iowa for [denying courts should play same exact roles they played in other minority rights fights]
To sum up what Iowa For Freedom's Bob Vander Plaats and WHO radio's Jen Green are saying in the following video: LGBT people have no right or responsibility to use the court system to keep discrimination in check. Not in...
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10/06/2010
Video: [Iowa for] Freedom '10: ♫ All we have to do is take these lies and make them true somehow ♫
Iowa For Freedom's Bob Vander Plaats and WHO Radio's Jan Mickelson claim the monolithic collective known as "they" doesn't want to debate? Well we did debate already! In court. Of law. Where the Supreme Court unanimously sided with our side's...
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10/05/2010
Poll: Vindictive Iowa For Freedom campaign unnecessarily divides state
A Des Moines Register poll turns up completely non-shocking yet thoroughly frustrating findings in regards to the state's upcoming judicial retention vote: Forty-four percent of Iowans who plan to cast a ballot in the retention election say they will vote...
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10/04/2010
Iowans against the independent judiciary: 'We The People Will Provide Moral Authority'
One version of "moral authority" vs. one unanimous court decision steeped in constitutional authority. One flawed description of America's co-equal branches of government vs. one concrete actuality regarding the same. One crew who's bastardizing the term "freedom" vs. One Iowa....
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10/03/2010
Video: Iowa activist [noun] judges [verb]
We keep thinking we're going to wake up from the anti-civic nightmare of Iowa Supreme Court justices having their jobs threatened because of one single (unanimous) opinion out of the thousands that they've taken on in their careers. From the...
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10/01/2010
Video: 'Those justices don't know me or you or what we want...'
More web spots from Iowa For Torches and Pitchforks Iowa For Freedom: You know when your children are really going to be confused, ladies? If/when they find themselves in front of a court of law, and immediately learn that the...
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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...
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09/28/2010
Video: Iowa For Freedom's continued passion for shooting down judges, domesticated game birds
TIP #1: If you get a pop filter for your microphone, then your voiceover's plosives will not explode in the viewers' ears. Blue Microphones makes a good one. TIP #2: If you actually read the Varnum decision through an objective...
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09/22/2010
Why some Iowans will vote to fire judges (Hint: careful examination of jurisprudence not #1 basis)
The so-called "Iowa For Mob Rule" "Iowa For Freedom" group has an interactive map feature where locals can leave their name, location, and a brief comment about why they are planning to vote against the retention of three of the...
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09/21/2010
Iowa For [Calling out Bald-Faced Deception]
Kudos to the Des Moines Register for pointing out the so-called "Iowa For Freedom" group's deceptive decision to misrepresent the words of retired SCOTUS justice Sandra Day O'Connor: A thistle to a group working to oust three Iowa Supreme Court...
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