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.
A web video produced by a member of a controversial Sioux City church is arguing that because the Iowa Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage last year, the next logical step will be legalizing incest.
Tim Hicks, who created and posted the video on YouTube, is a member of Cornerstone World Outreach in Sioux City. In fact, nearly half of the videos he’s posted on YouTube are of the church’s pastor, Cary Gordon. The church is facing a possible IRS investigation over its campaign to convince other pastors around the state to encourage their congregations to vote against retaining three state Supreme Court justices on the ballot this fall.
Hick’s video, which is entitled “Vote no on judicial retention,” is a parody of commercials for the online dating website eHarmony. The narrator of the video says the Iowa Supreme Court is the authority on marriage, all while a married couple discusses how they’ve known each other their entire lives. By the end, it is revealed that the married couple are brother and sister, and they thank the Supreme Court for allowing their marriage to happen.
In comments below the video, Hicks said he made it to reveal “the obvious next steps for liberal judges to take. What will they legalize next … polygamy, NAMBLA, a feller and his horse?”
In addition to being a member of the church, Hicks also plays saxophone for Cornerstone’s Praise Team.
Hicks’ slippery slope argument is not new. It has been voiced numerous times, with former U.S. Senator and likely presidential hopeful Rick Santorum being one of the most high-profile examples. Dan Savage, a gay-rights activist and newspaper editor, has pointed out the slippery slope argument with regards to same-sex marriage is not valid.
“Legalizing same-sex marriage no more requires us to legalize man-on-dog marriage or man-on-daughter marriage or man-on-ten-year-old marriage than legalizing pot requires us to legalize meth,” he wrote back in 2008, later adding: “And things can legalized them one at a time — legalizing marriages between loving, consenting adults of the same gender doesn’t require us to legalize marriages between men and dogs.”
Below is Hicks’ video:
Follow Jason Hancock on Twitter
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter