It sure seems there are a lot of conservatives in the state of Iowa displeased with their Junior Senator — Joni Ernst. Ernst voted for the (Dis)Respect for Marriage Act not once, not twice, but three times really.
She voted for cloture earlier this month on it. She voted for cloture on Monday. And she voted for the actual legislation on Tuesday.
Three betrayals.
I’m not going to rehash why marriage is a vitally important issue — even in 2022. If you are genuinely curious about why it matters, you can read about it here. Short version — biology matters. Families matter. Children have a right to a mom and a dad. Marriage between a man and a woman produces something marriage between two men or two women never will — a future generation.
There’s a lot more to it than that, but I guess I couldn’t pass up getting that in there.
The bottom line is Ernst didn’t take her finger, lick the tip and hold it up to see which way the political winds were blowing. She simply took her middle finger, folded the other four in and held it up to the individuals responsible for the Republican Party of Iowa’s platform.
Here is the portion of the platform she ignored.
Liberty Section, Number 13. We believe that traditional, two-parent (one male (XY) and one female (XX)), marriage-based families are the foundation to a stable, enduring, and healthy civilization. We encourage the repeal of any laws allowing any marriage that is not between one natural man and one natural woman. 1st, Life 5 & 6; 2nd, Life 5; 3rd, Liberty 2.13; 4th, Life 4
This is pretty basic stuff. Fundamental, you might say. The Republican Party of Iowa platform clearly and plainly expresses what it believes is foundational to a “stable, enduring and healthy civilization.”
Ernst voted not once, not twice, but three times in direct opposition to it.
“Shut up hick, peasant Iowans,” Ernst essentially said. “You’re backward. You’re on the wrong side of history. Quit being bigots, homophobes.”
That’s the message delivered by Ernst.
Of course, we know former Gov. Terry Branstad said in court he didn’t know what the GOP platform said about homosexual marriage and he didn’t care. So it isn’t like there isn’t precedent for an elected Republican to not give two craps about what their base believes about this foundational issue.
It’s over and done with now. The bill will need to clear one final hurdle in the House after being amended in the Senate. It already passed the House with support from Ashley Hinson and Mariannette Miller-Meeks. So it isn’t likely to stall in the Democrat-controlled chamber during this lame-duck session.
And, even if it did somehow get caught up, Representative-elect Zach Nunn said he would vote the same way Congresswoman Cindy Axne did — along with Hinson and Miller-Meeks — and support it.
So, now that 66 percent of the Republican delegation in Congress from Iowa has abandoned what the GOP of Iowa platform states is foundational to a “stable, enduring and healthy civilization” — now what?
Seriously. Ask yourself the question. What’s the consequence?
Will the Republican Party of Iowa stick up for its base and the people who make up the Party? No. They’ll remain silent, passively consenting to the votes taken by the elected Republicans.
Will the voters hold these elected people accountable? Well, Hinson and Miller-Meeks voted for the (Dis)Respect for Marriage Act months before their re-election — not four years like Joni — and they survived.
Will groups like The FAMiLY Leader and Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition lead by setting an example? Will Ernst be on stage at their next big event or fundraiser? Will she have a video shown? I ask because Hinson and Miller-Meeks were on stage at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s fall supper just weeks after voting for homosexual marriage.
Meanwhile, the national Faith & Freedom Coalition guy was on stage talking about how important it is to fight and preserve marriage.
You can’t make it up, folks.
If we’re to believe that what is written into the Republican Party of Iowa platform adequately and accurately portrays what the base of the GOP believes, then we just saw 66 percent of the GOP Iowa delegation vote against what the base calls foundational to a stable, enduring and healthy civilization.
What’s the consequence? I’ll tell you what the consequence of the betrayal is — a less stable, less enduring and less healthy civilization.
One in which we can’t define what a woman is. One in which your little daughter or granddaughter has to use a bathroom stall next to a 40-year-old man who thinks he is a woman. One in which a male can “change genders” while in prison and be transferred to a female prison and impregnate fellow inmates. One in which a boy can play girls’ sports. One in which pornographic materials are stocked on the shelves in school libraries in the name of “tolerance” and “acceptance” and “diversity.”
You know, the one we’re living in now.
The consequences are real. And you don’t want to know what is next. Because it isn’t pleasant. And it certainly doesn’t lend itself to a “stable, enduring and healthy civilization.”
And who do we have to blame for it? Not Democrats. Well, not just Democrats.
No, here in Iowa, we can also blame Republicans and those who provide cover and shelter to the Republicans representing us in D.C.
But hey, at least Iowa went “red” earlier this month, right? You know, to “save” America. If you want to “save” America, how about encouraging a more “stable, enduring and healthy civilization?”
Every county central committee in Iowa should be censuring Ernst. Every single one.
You are absolutely correct on every count. Thanks for pointing out the hypocrisy of Faith and Freedom Coalition. I stopped supporting them LONG AGO. They are not about the Christian faith and not about freedom. Time for them to change their name. The whole thing is disgusting! When is the Christian Church going to stop pretending? They are complicit in all of this. Joni Ernst is just like the rest of them. Where is Kim Reynolds? I don’t hear a peep. This is her state. Why doesn’t she speak up for the people that live and work in this state. Oh … yah, she’s also a big part of the problem.
Why are you surprised? Conservatives are being betrayed at every turn. Trump recently released a statement about the Jan. 6 prisoners. Why didn’t he pardon them when he had the chance? Ernst and Grassley both support sending billions of dollars to Ukraine to keep the war profiteering grift going no matter how many Ukrainians are dying for nothing. Where are they on demanding answers about the FTX money laundering scam? Where is the Republican leadership in the House and Senate? It seems a whole bunch of politicians and MIC companies are making big bucks from the war in Ukraine. They all have blood on their hands.