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.
[Commentary] Not since Robin Williams' winning turn as a South Beach drag club owner in "The Birdcage" has a straight man seemed so comfortable in a place so gay.
Tonight is without question the pinnacle of Dennis Kucinich's wild pitch of a presidential campaign. He owned the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) Democratic presidential "debate" (interviews really) broadcast nationally on Logo, a division of MTV Networks. (For their repressed parts, Republicans opted to keep their gay business in the closet until another cranked-up male hooker spills to the tabloids or needs White House press credentials).
On to the Democrats who showed …
(Or click here to read Lynda Waddington's live-blog of the event.)
Kucinich, the Spockish Ohio congressman, surely must be on overage charges with his 15-minutes-of-fame calling plan. That said, he clearly has some folk status in the gay community as the Logo panel Thursday night referred to him as "so evolved," "totally evolved" and even an "outspoken hero" where LGBT rights are concerned. Musician Melissa Etheridge, an advocate for the homosexual community, went so far as to tell Kucinich, "I hope you always run for president until you are elected." A Washington Post panelist added that Kucinich seemed to be 100 percent in favor of the LGBT agenda.
The tape of this debate is one Dennis should save so future generations of his Vulcan offspring can watch with pride as the rest of the country forgets the man who campaigned for the presidency as a proud vegetarian in one of the biggest pork-producing counties in western Iowa. Any serious person who saw anything in this debate to elevate this Burning River City dweller from street-corner hollerer to legitimacy quickly had that dashed as Kucinich implied that he has a sort of clairvoyance, an "ability to see what others can't." Others will come to him, says the former boy mayor.
Yes, Kucinich had his moment, deep, deep in the world of expanded cable TV. But the LGBT community, an estimated 4 percent of the nation's voters, is diverse and no doubt interested in more than hearing what they want to hear.
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's overarching message of inclusion and tolerance, his come-together politics, should have some appeal for the LGBT community as they reflect on the nearly two hours of the Logo session dedicated to their causes. The Illinois senator may not be with them on all the issues (he supports civil unions, not gay marriage), but he knows the sting of intolerance. There's feeling your pain and feeling your pain.
"When you're a black guy named Barack Obama you know what it's like to be on the outside," Obama said.
He added, "I don't like people looking down on other people." Obama gives you the impression that he could actually do something about this.
What's more, Obama's positioning on the matter of gay coupling is the most astute of the Democratic candidates. It's something of a libertarian view: disentangle the religious elements of the relationship (marriage) from the legal rights (civil unions). The state should ensure that same-sex couples have the health care and job and discrimination and legal status and protection that heterosexuals do.
The question of marriage, says Obama, should be left to the churches. The Baptists and Catholics can say no to gay weddings, whereas the Unitarian Universalists will arrange the flowers. And so on.
Obama's strongest claim to support from the LGBT community is the fact that he raises its issues in key events. In his star-making 2004 Democratic National Conventional keynote address, Obama talked about red-staters having gay friends. Similarly, he talked about gay rights that cold day in Springfield, Ill., in February when he announced his run for the presidency.
"I don't just talk about these issues where it's convenient," Obama said.
Obama showed wisdom in artfully dealing with a spectularly stupid question about whether the gay rights agenda, the journey of homosexuals in America, should be compared to the African-American experience. The last time I checked, the gays kids I went to high school with didn't travel from Iowa to San Francisco and The Village in coffin-quartered slave ships.
Former U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina injected a moving angle into the American debate on gay issues, something all of us should think about more. He talked about seeing runaway kids in a Los Angeles outreach center, gay young people who had been tossed from their homes by parents unable to accept their sexual orientation. When he finds the overlooked and marginalized and unseen, Edwards gets a kick in his step, as if he's a John Grisham novel lawyer springing from the paperback to life.
"It just can't be in America that people think that's OK," Edwards said.
He also gets points with the LGBT community because hate merchant Ann Coulter called him gay. And he was honest with the gay community, telling them he's in favor of civil unions, not the full white-caked ceremony.
"I do not support same sex marriage," Edwards said.
U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., reminded the audience of something important: 2007 is not 1993. When her husband's administration crafted the "Don't Ask. Don't Tell" policy, something she's opposed to now, the military had something of a witch hunt going on for gays in the ranks, she said. The policy served as a temporary measure so society could evolve – presumably somewhere short of soothsayer Kucinich.
HRC has a good argument for leaving gay marriage to the states. There's more progressive action there and the "struggle" doesn't demand the sort of federal intervention that the race-based civil rights movement did, HRC reasonably reasoned.
As for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat who is surging in Iowa, connecting with voters here with some old-school campainging, the Logo event wasn't his best trip to the mound. That's OK, though. Guys in Iowa don't really relate to Melissa Etheridge, either.
Richardson said some of the right things to the LGBT audience but he seemed awfully uncomfortable – like a guy who would much prefer to be arguing about Barry Bonds' home run over a cold beer at Hooters rather than talking about whether Jack and Bill should get the same wedding deal as the heterosexual couple that went up the church hill.
He did say he would get rid of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and work to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which he acknowledged was "cheap political trick" to stave off Republican election maneuvering.
Former U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska, 76, scored some points with the LGBT crowd in his ill-fated run for the Oval Office, most notably by saying that most people in his generation have it wrong on gays.
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