On the heels of the successful campaign to remove three Iowa Supreme Court justices because of the court ruling in favor of marriage equality, Bob Vander Plaats has made it his mission to get the four remaining justices removed as well and begun raising money for that purpose.
This, in turn, has prompted Dan Moore, a former adviser on three of Vander Plaats’ campaigns, to pen a guest column for the The Des Moines Register accusing Vander Plaats of becoming so “obsessed with the gay-marriage issue” that he is out to destroy the judiciary:
As a friend and former adviser on three of Bob Vander Plaats’ campaigns, I understood from Bob that he was done with campaigning against the courts after the retention vote Nov. 2. Yet his senseless attacks on the courts continue.
Bob is obsessed with the gay-marriage issue. He is so obsessed that he would rather see the Iowa judicial system destroyed, instead of pursuing a change in the law within the channels provided (a constitutional amendment). Iowa’s judicial system has been held in high regard by the entire United States. The Iowa judicial branch has a long history of exceptional service, distinguished and acclaimed decisions – and now it is being raked through the mud, disparaged, criticized and harangued daily.
I would like to ask all Iowans to step back and consider the gravity of what is now being proposed by Bob and other anti-court persons. They are suggesting that the four remaining Supreme Court justices be impeached … Bob Vander Plaats, who is highly regarded by many conservatives in Iowa, is quite simply wrong to encourage Iowans to support the resignation or impeachment of the remaining four justices of the Iowa Supreme Court. He is grasping at political relevance using daily sound bites of misinformation to intentionally mislead.
I hope all Iowans step back and objectively analyze the damage to the Iowa judicial branch that Bob has already caused. The talk and rhetoric of resignation and impeachment should die.
