The Week - Swearing and drinking, Branstad finally gets his pick and poll of the week

The Week - An irregular feature.

HUCKABEE ON CHOICES

Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas who won Iowa's caucuses in 2008 and would give his best bass guitar to do it one more time, says being gay is a choice, just like cussin' and drinking.'

He said so on the CNN:

'People can be my friends who have lifestyles that are not necessarily my lifestyle. I don't shut people out of my circle or out of my life because they have a different point of view,” Huckabee told CNN's Dana Bash, while deflecting a question about whether he believes being gay is a choice.

'I don't drink alcohol, but gosh - a lot of my friends, maybe most of them, do. You know, I don't use profanity, but believe me, I've got a lot of friends who do. Some people really like classical music and ballet and opera - it's not my cup of tea,” Huckabee said.

I know a thing or two about drinking and swearing. Believe me.

I've also talked to a number of folks over the years about their struggles to come to terms with their sexual orientation, the difficulty of coming out to family and friends, the barriers, discrimination and hatred they've faced just trying to live their lives honestly. Equating that arduous journey with the decision to order up an old fashioned is enough to make me want to swear, and drink. Gasoline maybe. Before the tax goes up.

Huckabee says he has gay friends. Bully. If that's true, he knows he's full of grits, and gravy. If he doesn't know he's full of it, he's not really their friend. He's a politician in need of props.

But I understand. In order to justify supporting laws that make your 'friends” less than full American citizens, bring pain to their families and toss them into legal limbo, you have to believe being gay is like putting on a hat. Otherwise, you're using the law to persecute people for who they are, and for no good, legal reason. And that's a constitutional no-no. But it plays at the Pizza Ranch, so there's that.

BRANSTAD GETS HIS COMMISSIONER

He demanded! He slashed! He got sued! But, finally, Gov. Terry Branstad got to pick a state workers' compensation commissioner of his very own.

He is Joe Cortese, a Des Moines-area attorney. From the governor's announcement:

Cortese practices workers' compensation law at Huber, Book, Cortese & Lanz, where he is a partner. He has been with the firm, formerly Jones, Hoffman & Huber, since 1981. He has been a partner since 1985. He received his Bachelor's degree from Indiana University and earned his J.D. with honors from Drake Law School. He is a member of the Iowa State Bar Association, Polk County Bar Association, Iowa Association of Workers' Compensation Attorneys, Iowa Defense Counsel Association, Defense Research Institute and a founding member of the American Academy of ADR Attorneys.

Cortese will assume the role of Commissioner effective February 16, 2015. His appointment is subject to Iowa Senate confirmation.

You might recall the curious case of Chris Godfrey, who, having been unanimously confirmed by the Iowa Senate in 2009, was in the midst of a six-year term as commissioner when Branstad re-occupied Terrace Hill in 2011. Branstad and his team, even before taking office, demanded that Godfrey resign. But the commissioner said nope.

So Branstad saw to it that Godfrey's pay be slashed from $112,000 annually to $36,000, the lowest allowed by law. Still, Godfrey stayed.

Governors get to appoint a ton of people when they take office, but some jobs have overlapping terms in the interest of tapping the brakes on runaway gubernatorial authority. Branstad, however, has no interest in limiting runaway gubernatorial authority. He and his business allies had high hopes for the commissioner's post and its responsibility over workers' comp cases involving businesses. For some reason.

Godfrey kept on staying, and sued the governor and his team for defamation. Godfrey is gay, so toss discrimination on the pile.

Godfrey finally departed late last summer and took a federal job. But his lawsuit lives on. Branstad's private defense team is costing the state a pile of pretty pennies.

So now, Joe Cortese. A quick check of the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure site shows Cortese has made a long list of modest donations over the years to Republican candidates and committees. His biggest contributions, $250 apiece, went to the Polk County Republican Central Committee. He tossed a few bucks here and there to state lawmakers.

His law firm, Huber, Book, Cortese & Lanz, lists the Association of Business and Industry on its resources page, but it's not listed among Cortese's memberships.

I searched the Iowa judicial branch for cases he was involved in that made the appellate level. Slim pickings. I did find one Supreme Court ruling from way back in 1999 when he represented Iowa Erosion Control, Inc. and its insurer, Liberty Mutual.

One of Erosion Control's employees, Juan Sanchez, died on the job in a work-related accident. He left behind his mother, Victoria Sanchez, who sought survivor's benefits:

The facts are largely undisputed. Victoria Sanchez is a woman in her mid-fifties who was born and raised in Mexico. She lived there until 1988 when she joined her son, Juan, in California. Victoria speaks no English and neither reads nor writes Spanish. She has only a second grade education. She has never worked outside the home. Since coming to the United States she has been totally dependent on her son for all the necessities of life.

Victoria's immigration status was the subject of much speculation at trial. It appears she entered the country legally and has applied, as a sibling of an American citizen, for permanent residency status. Her application, however, has been pending without action by immigration officials for roughly a decade. In the meantime, she has been unable to secure a work permit.

Erosion Control didn't want to pay, arguing that Victoria Sanchez wasn't really dependent. The industrial commissioner and District Court sided with her. On to the Iowa Supreme Court:

It is undisputed that Victoria is illiterate in Spanish as well as English. This was demonstrated by her difficulty, even with the aid of an interpreter, in spelling her name for the court reporter. She has never been employed outside her home. This may be traced to lack of education and training but also reflects a strong cultural bias against 'working women” prevalent in her native country. Moreover it appears from the record that, despite years of effort, Victoria has been unable to secure a resident status from the Immigration and Naturalization Service that would authorize her to secure a work permit.

Iowa Erosion Control argues strenuously that the above-described impediments are largely of Victoria's own making and should not detract from her 'moral obligation” to support herself. It contends she should look to her eighty-year-old estranged husband in Mexico for support. Or, like many other undocumented aliens, she should secure whatever employment she can, heedless of the legalities.

We are convinced the company's position on this point is not well taken.

As am I. Very convinced. This ruling came roughly five years after her son's death.

So what does this tell us? Not a lot, I suppose. It's one case, 16 years ago. But it's an interesting one. If anyone out there has more insights into the nominee, please share.

POLL OF THE WEEK

Iowa's new U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R- Iowa Values, has been up at the Capitol for barely a month now. But the Register of Des Moines and its all-knowing Iowa Poll already are wondering whether Iowans think she's got what it takes to be president one day. Yep, President of the United States.

Ok, cool your jets. Drop anchor. Bag the bread.

Among Republicans, 58 percent say yes, our senator who just took office 20 minutes ago has the makings of a president. But 42 percent of Republicans either don't think so, or are unsure. Among Democrats, 82 percent say Ernst is not presidential material, but 11 percent say yes, she is.

For those scoring at home, the one and only correct answer is 'Not sure.” Congrats to the 16 percent of Republicans and 7 percent of Democrats who got it right.

Perhaps, having witnessed so many caucus campaigns, Iowans have been led to believe that any old shiny black SUV can pull up to a senior center and drop off a potential president. Happens every day. Nothing special, we believe. Look, there's a prominent U.S. senator eating a fried Twinkie. Yawn.

Truth is, president is a very special job. So is U.S. Senator. Let's give Sen. Ernst at least a few months to do her new job before we start heaping messy, unreasonable expectations on her brand new desk. Then, we can start mentioning her as vice president.

Any dollars used to conduct this portion of the Iowa Poll could have been better spent by the wonderful food banks Ernst referred to during the campaign.