Last place I ever would have expected !

Steve King will be along any time now, to take advantage of this news by spewing nonsense for the pleasure of his wingnut base.

Hope he’s apoplectic.

This story got me interested about the status of Prop. 8 in California. I knew that AG Brown was questioning its legality, or illegality, as it were. Found out that it will be looked at by the State Supreme Court in two months.
Should I stick with keeping my fingers crossed, or should I start praying for them to do the right thing?

Good for Iowa ! Maybe we can soon just talk about the things that are actually hurting the country.

Many Iowa voters no longer get as bothered about homosexuality as they once did.

I remember in NJ when McGreevey came out. talk about “ho-hum.”

Yes, Iowa has a lot of mossbacks, but it also has a large and vibrant progressive community. Don’t forget tens of thousands of Iowans came out in the freezing cold on a blustery snowy January evening, a little over a year ago, to launch Obama.

I’ll defer to the locals, but I’d bet on this ruling doing wonders for the Wedding Industrial Complex in Iowa– florists, caterers, gown/tux shops, wedding planners, hotels and romantic getaway honeymoon destinations, . . .

distinctly recall towards the end of the primaries candidate Obama going back to Iowa giving a speech that spoke very directly to that – and noting to mr cbl the diversity of that crowd – it wasn’t just field staff and volunteers – they were Iowans period and they were definitely buying in . will have to do some googling

p.s. y’all are forgetting the good people of Iowa keep re-electing Tom Harkin (yeay!)

Comments along the lines of “Iowa is the last place I would have expected” demonstrate a serious lack of understanding of the midwest.

Spend a few minutes looking at, for example, what the Kansas legislature has done this week and update your expectations.

I was hoping that we were done with the nonsense stereotypes about Iowa after we proved such wrong when we did vote for “that one” in the caucuses. Maybe the continued existence of Steve King is keeping the stereotype alive. Funny how Issa and Bachman haven’t done the same damage to their states.

Honeymoon destinations? WoW! Who’da thunk?

California is large and diverse. San Francisco is So Not Bakersfield. Issa can’t influence what people think of California, but he only continues the poor reputation that Orange County has.

Does Iowa have a ballot initiative process?

I would not assume that this will be permanent but it is another blow against intolerance.

And Iowa is tiny and populated by clones. Got it.

crikey! gotta go, bbl

but leave you with this

mad progressive love to all ‘dogs and Iowans

I don’t think it’s populated by clones. How’d you get that from my comment?

Iowa does not have a ballot initiative process.

Digg is open.

It wasn’t aimed at you. It was aimed at anyone who uses the logic you laid out. To blame Iowa City, for example, for Steve King makes as much sense as blaming San Francisco for Darrell Issa.

Outstanding news, Peterr — and an outstanding treatment of it by you. You always get to the meat of things well before anyone else.

The times, they are a’changing. Was in southwest Iowa last week for a family funeral. My lovely liberal great-auntie. She explained to me once that southern Iowa was Bible-belt country in the day. She vaguely remembered tagging along with grandfather to the grange hall for what was either a John Birch or KKK meeting (big difference, I know, but it’s her memory, not mine). It is amazing and wonderful to watch this metamorphosis. Booyah, Iowa!!!

Which state will be the first to fight gay marriage all the way to the Supreme and lose? Looks like Iowa has better things to do with their money.

Now’s the time to get this in front of the supremes, if you favor it. The GOP is on the run almost everywhere, the conservatives on the Supreme Court tend to be strict constructionists, and we’ve got a democrat in the WH.

1st Amendment says “If a church doesn’t want to marry a couple, you can’t make them. But if they want to marry the couple, you can’t stop them”.

14th amendment says everybody is entitled to equal protection under the law, outside of an overriding government interest.

Those two amendments would be an impossible hurdle to overcome, IMO you’d need to amend the constitution to prevent gay marriage from becoming a reality. Under BushCo, I was worried that might happen. Now, not so much.

Boxturtle (Would buy commerical time on Rush to broadcast the first gay wedding live. ]:-) )

Ratatouille!

Re Bachmann and damage to state, not entirely true. Of our eight Congress critters, guess who’s the only one who gets press. And guess what that does to the image of MN. Couple that with Jesse Ventura (who actually turned out to be a reasonably good governor) and the stereotype is cemented, at least in some folks’ minds. And now, of course, on top of that, we have the Franken/Coleman brouhahahahahahaha. But like Iowa, there’s far more here than meets the media’s roving eye.

Did you notice the Digg is filed under “Travel and Places?” Go Iowa!

Oh, ja, barbara. How’s that fish?
I try not to harbor stereotyping, but it is a human trait, right? Not nice, but far too typical. For instance, I sometimes imagine that people who are uncivil are also not smart. Ha! Of course, I’m wrong.

Damn I love The Music Man.

Even though there’s trouble in River City?

Came back to leave this one:
Ding, dong, Ding.
You can hear the chapel bells chime.

The music man was making a pitch for band instruments. He had naught against snooker, per se. But most metaphors don’t bear close examination.

No ballot initiative in Iowa. Amending the state constitution requires passing two consecutive legislative sessions followed by passing popular vote – all by simple majorities. I fear this can be accomplished by 2012.

Kudos to Iowa. About damn time.

But I gotta say – I realize we’re trying to paint Iowa as ultra-whitebread and conservative, but just to set the record straight – librarians are often the most liberal crew in any city or town. They work tirelessly to protect freedom of speech and defend the public’s right to read and access information without monitoring or censure. Marian the Librarian may be a stereotype, but today’s librarians are more likely to be ACLU members and have non-traditional relationships themselves.

*getting off librarian soapbox* :)

Yeah, but, are certain words creeping into their vocabulary?

Forget California. As Iowa goes, so goes the nation.

There’s very little interest in getting a marriage equality case in front of the current US Supreme Court. Hardly anyone thinks that would be a winning proposition for the forces of light.

The California case, for instance, is specifically drawn to exclude all federal interests; it’s only a state case, based on state law and the constitution, and there’s no foreseeable recourse to the federal level.

And that’s probably for the best until we have a Democratic president in a position to replace one or more of the wingnuts among the US Supremes.

So sad, but, so true.

Today, I am proud to be an Iowan.

Tomorrow, the fundie wingnuts will be frothing at the mouth, and shame will return.

Forget California. As Iowa goes, so goes the nation.

As Iowa slowly slips into the Pacific we all wonder if California will follow.

As Iowa’s trade with Pacific-rim countries grows we all wonder if California might ever catch up.

As Iowan immigrants increase in number and use more and more health care and other social services we will all remember that after them comes California and their infamous immigrant Oregonians.

Could be could be.

Oh, this makes me SO happy to be an Iowan!

Although, I have to wonder at the shock expressed by some of the commentary here and elsewhere – we’re a pretty blue state. Sure, we’ve got some crazy conservative types (Steve King & the people who voted for Huckabee) but I like to think that the vast majority of us are a little more humanistic. (The major exception to this is of course police/media racism against Blacks/Hispanics, which is sadly quite prevalent.) Hell, we have Maharishi University! And the low-cost women’s health clinic in Iowa City is named after Emma Goldman. We’re not Berkeley, but we’re sure as shit not Phoenix, either.

Here’s your cue!

With special Guest Star Pete (”You can Thank ME for Don’t Ask/ Don’t Tell”)Williams.

And did you note the vote? Seven to 0. Unanimous!

Iowa is different from CA, NY, MA, and VT. It not only is midwest through and through, but it is also …. how should I put it? Proud? They don’t want outsiders coming and telling THEM what to do. So, if the Mormons come in and try that, I guess that the Mormons will be escorted to the state line, in a snap.

I live in CA and spent a lot of time in Iowa as a child. The reason the Mormons can get away with their BS is that CA is very diverse — all colors, all races, all religions, etc. Iowa is white bread, by and large.

Hopefully, I am correct and if the Mormons try anything, they will be kicked out, quickly.