Columnist jumps the shark

So my Sunday column on U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson’s attacks on the Linn-Mar school district for its efforts to support transgender kids drew a lot of responses.

Hinson depicts transgender kids as a threat and calls Linn-Ma’s support plans are “ridiculous” and “radical.” I strongly disagree. Readers, also, are split.

“Wow! I couldn’t disagree with you more in your article today. You’re stirring the pot just as much as you say the Republicans are,” wrote one reader.

“I’m 76 and really don’t understand the terminology or vastness of the situation,” wrote another reader. “However, I have two grandsons and want them to have every opportunity to live a fulfilling life regardless of their sexual orientation or bent. You are so right that politicians should not use this issue to instill fear and hatred.”

One email I received was peculiar. Its first two paragraphs offered praise for my daughter and her cross country teammates who volunteered to hand out water at a race last weekend. But then the writer shifted gears.

“On today's column, this has got to be about a half dozen on the same topic? It's getting old. Ashley Hinson is an excellent representative. I get a lot of material from her and rarely notice any transgender related material,” the reader wrote. “My simple request is keep your Linn-Mar gossip at home. Most of us don't care. I remember 10 years ago I could relate to most of your columns. Like Steven Colbert, you've jumped the shark and no longer see the forest.”

"Gossip?“ I asked him to clarify.

“The point being it seems like you are taking your dinner table conversation to an audience that does not care,” the reader wrote, saying he does care about my “treatment of Congresswoman Hinson.”

I’m not sure if he wrote something similar to Hinson, who took this issue from her own Linn-Mar kitchen table to the campaign trail. She gave two public speeches last month disparaging the district for its transgender support policies, which is what I wrote about.

I’m always intrigued by the “you used to be so much better 10 years ago” argument. Ten years ago I was getting mail from people who insisted I was too hard on former Gov. Terry Branstad. I’ve supported LGBTQ rights since the minute I walked through the door here nearly 15 years ago.

I supported them through the joy of the Varnum ruling making marriage equality the law of the land in Iowa. I decried the political attacks on Supreme Court justices who joined the ruling and were tossed off the bench. And I’m here now as those and other rights are threatened by a reckless Supreme Court and in red state that’s unrecognizable from 10 years ago when our politics had a semblance of sanity.

Sure, I used to write more about my family and my dog. But I’m not the one who blew away that sanity with a fire hose producing a relentless deluge of bad and harmful policies. I also didn’t encourage Iowa Republicans to cling tightly to a corrupt and dangerous president.

Democracy in the U.S. is in danger. Fundamental rights are on the line. The forest? It’s on fire.

As for jumping sharks with Stephen Colbert? I’m in. Stephen, have your people call my people.

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com