Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Controversial radio host Steve Deace is the focus of a new YouTube video put together Iowa’s largest gay rights group with the hope it will help raise awareness of “attempts by extremists to undermine the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in favor of the freedom to marry.”
Justin Uebelhor, communications director of One Iowa, said the video is a part of the organization’s “Extreme Right Watch.” It features Deace, who hosts an afternoon show on Iowa’s largest radio station, discussing whether county recorders should obey the law and abide by the Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling to legalize gay marriage.
Republican state Sen. Merlin Bartz of Grafton spearheaded a petition drive trying to convince county recorders to ignore the ruling and refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. When the effort failed, Deace warned that the price of obeying the law was steep.
“If you are a county recorder today or any local official, and you are either enabling or equipping or facilitating or assisting essentially sodomy permission licenses, aka, marriage licenses to homosexuals, I just might remind you that Hell is really hot and a really forever place,” he said.
Carolyn Jenison, executive director of One Iowa, called Deace’s rhetoric “destructive and divisive.”
“Iowans believe in treating each other with fairness and respect,” she said. “There’s no place in a civil discussion for the divisive rhetoric displayed on Deace’s show.”
The past few months have put the spotlight on Deace’s program like never before. He has been highly critical of Republican leadership, especially Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley and Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn, for what he deems as a lack of action on the Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.
In May, he and his pastor, Bob Deever of Grace West Church in West Des Moines, spent an hour of the program calling into question the faith of state Sen. Matt McCoy, saying he couldn’t be a Christian because he is openly gay. Deace later reminisced about the days when a homosexual could not “live this way without any sort of societal retribution for them.”
When Kansas abortion doctor George Tiller was assassinated earlier this month, Deace made national news by celebrating his death, saying “babies in Kansas are safer today than they were yesterday while George Tiller was still taking in oxygen.”
However, Deace is no stranger to controversy. In 2004, Deace garned headlines when he criticized Shawn Green, a Jewish outfielder who at the time played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, for missing an important game scheduled during Yom Kippur. Deace said Green could solve all his problems by converting to Christianity and recognizing Jesus Christ as his Messiah.
The One Iowa video is below. In addition to his afternoon talk show, Deace co-hosts a morning sports talk show, and his co-host, Jon Miller, is asking the questions in the video.
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