An Overreach Destined to Backfire

Today's print column

The U.S. Senate over the weekend knocked down one more misguided law that allowed gay and lesbian Americans to be treated as second-class citizens by their own government. But apparently the message still hasn't reached our Statehouse.

The Senate voted to repeal “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” a policy that forced gays and lesbians serving their country in the armed forces to conceal their sexual orientation under threat of discharge. It's a big moment, and it does considerable damage to the fading notion that our nation's laws should be used to shove gays and lesbians into the shadows. Top military leaders backed the change, and a Pentagon study showed it would have no real impact on our military's ability to fight.

Some are very unhappy. Bryan Fischer, public policy director for the American Family Association, argued that our military would now be “feminized and neutered beyond repair.” He's the same guy who said the Medal of Honor has been “feminized” after Staff Sgt. Sal Giunta of Hiawatha won it. Too many medals for soldiers who save comrades and too few for those who kill the enemy, Fischer argued. Never mind that Giunta did both.

You may also remember it's the AFA that bankrolled a successful campaign to oust three Iowa Supreme Court justices who joined a ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.

But that retention win wasn't enough. Three freshman Iowa House members are drafting a resolution for impeachment proceedings against the remaining four justices. Before they've served one day in the Legislature, they're grasping for its most powerful weapon. This is now what passes for conservative.

Incoming House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, dubbed “rock solid” on our front page last month, was less so on this issue. He says he hasn't given it much thought, but is open to impeachment if Iowans demand it. I doubt our founders envisioned impeachment by popular demand when they narrowed its use to cases involving  “misdemeanor or malfeasance.”

This is a truly remarkable overreach. And it will backfire.

A House impeachment debate will be an agenda-stopping circus. But in the Senate, the impeachment drive will be subject to a trial, with fact-finding, evidence and testimony. In virtually every instance, from California to Iowa, when a spotlight shines on the flimsy “facts” peddled by crusaders, they melt under the glare. Their outraged taunts sound much better shouted from a campaign bus than explained under a withering, public cross-examination.

That's why I doubt impeachment will happen. But I may be underestimating their desperation, especially after the weekend they had in Washington.

Comments: (319) 398-8452; todd.dorman@sourcemedia.net