Today I'm naming a new political inductee into The Tyson Zone. (As a reminder, The Tyson Zone is named after former boxer Mike Tyson, and is the status an athlete or other celebrity reaches when his or her behavior becomes so outrageous that one would believe any story or anecdote about the person, no matter how shocking or bizarre. http://streffblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/politicians-in-tyson-zone.html)
It's social conservative and perpetual Iowa gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats. After another failed attempt this year at being nominated as the Republican candidate for governor, he is now leading a well-financed (by others outside Iowa) fight to remove 3 Iowa supreme court justices from the bench. Their sin? Being part of a ruling over a year ago that allowed gay marriage in Iowa.
I've said before I think it's up to the people of Iowa to decide this issue (http://streffblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/for-athiests-there-is-god-of-common.html),
but through legislative means, not this this way. Removing justices for a single and defensible, albeit controversial ruling is plain stupid.
However, simply trying to remove these justices isn't what gets Bob into the Tyson Zone. For that, you have to look at what he said this week in a debate on the issue, when he asserted the ruling opened the door to the possibility of polygamy, parents marrying their children, and other similar decisions.
Not sure if Bob really believes that, or if it's just more scare tactics from a bitter man. Regardless, after saying that, I don't see how there's anything more the guy can say or do that would surprise anyone. In short, social consevatives like Bob will say or do anything to get everybody to live in the same little box that they do, bordered only by their own idea of morality.
The truth is, regardless of how anyone feels about this ruling, Iowa's social climate and culture hasn't changed in the past 1+ year. Every once in a while, gay couples come here to get married, spend some money doing so, and then usually go back to their lives. It hasn't exactly become the Sodom or Gomorrah of the midwest, and on the plus side, at least we don't subsidize its economic impact with our taxes, like we do with ethanol.
Bob Vander Plaats, join your political soul mate Steve King in the Tyson Zone.
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