Yep, Todd’s spotted what many of us have been saying for a long time. Grifter Bob is making serious bank by fleecing the sheeple who buy the spiritual snake oil he pedals from his out-of-state-bus-of-hate.
Not long ago I went down to Green Square Park to see for myself just what Vander Plaatz was pedaling – I like a good side show as much as the next guy – and saw a very small handful of folks who were hell-bent on cramming their religion down the throats of We The People. There were no rational arguments against same gender marriage, only Old Testament rantings. I asked ‘em if they thought we should ban pork production, cotton-poly blends, tattoos, barbers, shrimp, and menstruating women in public. No, of course not, because that all somehow got voided by Jesus, they said. But not the gay thing. Evidently they believe that still stands. I asked them how someone else’s civil marriage adversely impacted their own marriage. Destroys the fabric of society, they said. How? Traditional marriage must be maintained! (note change of subject) When I asked ‘em to define “traditional marriage”, they said “Biblical marriage”. Which kind of biblical marriage? There are at least 8 different types of marriage described in the Bible. Did you capture your wife when you were killing all the men of her village per God’s instruction? Did you rape her then pay her father off? Did your brother die and leave her to you in his will? Of course not.
Nope, there’s *NO* rational reason to oppose same gender marriage. But as long as there’s sheeple to fleece, Grifter Bob or someone like him will be their to make serious bank off them. Scare ‘em good, Bobby…scare ‘em good.

Thank you for another well written column.

I keep hoping that people will realize our judges did what, per their oath, they had to do, uphold the constitution. However, the outrage industry keeps several false statements alive.

Dorman,
What is frightening about the “Outrage Industry” is that even though these people seem initially motivated by a desire for the kind of attention that leads to speakers fees, book deals, and contributions, eventually they manage to sucker enough people in that what they started turns into a real movement with real consequences.
We can look at the Tea Party which has had a very short trajectory, which started as Koch funded astroturf, quckly morphed into a movement that has taken over the Republican Party and is now in the process of destroying it.
It is tempting to think we can deal with crazy people simply by ignoring them in a “don’t feed the trolls” maneuver. Except these “trolls” have, as you say, made it all about us.—”It’s all about our traditions and our marriages, our right to vote and our Constitution, our demands and our anger”. Which means we may have to go point by point with these people.
Case in point, Catholic bishops using the First Amendment to justify denial of health care benefits based on a religious doctrine that 90% of Americans, including Catholics, ignore. The bishops can’t be classified as part of your “Outrage Industry” but they are certainly being used by the “Outrage Industry”. Worse, the bishops are trying to turn back the clock 50 years and potentially awakening old fears that Catholic politicians cannot be trusted, that the Vatican will actively interfere in our elections and with our government. These old fears almost cost John Kennedy the election in 1960 and did cost Al Smith the election in 1928.
With the current effort to back door elect state judges, what we have is an effort to increase the power of the state to supress the rights and liberties of real people by arguing that the abstraction “the People”, not the courts, have the power to determine the legality of our laws.

Hopefully the gullible who followed huxter Bob and his ilk will have reconsidered and will not vote likewise this time. On the other hand, my experience with people who have been given the gift of gullibility, it’s the gift that just keeps on giving. I’m not making any bets.

The Outrage industry isn’t limited to this issue; it’s country-wide and growing strong. Every time we turn around, there is someone in our faces screaming about this or that. Often they demonstrate their ignorance by showing they know little about that which they seem to be demanding. If people would stop claiming to know what’s best for everyone and worry about their own lives, we’d all be a lot better off. It won’t stop though, as there’s too much money and notariety to be had. Sometimes I think they create situations just to get dollars in the door, and their name splashed around the globe. The sad thing for me is – if they’d redirect their energy toward helping solve some of society’s problems rather than creating a few, we’d have a much better America.

I sincerely hope that people who vote to oust the judges realize that they aren’t gaining anything by doing so. It’s labeled as being against gay marriage, but it is actually about being against the Iowa Constitution and its protection of equal rights for all. One day they may find themselves part of a group being discriminated against and wish they had a constitution that protected them.

This is true on many levels, but is not isolated with this cause as others point out. Just replace Bob Vander Plaats name with Al Gore, change this to global warming, and it’s the same thing. This is what happens when the government retains too much power and becomes too big. It works fine when it’s your side controlling people, but your side doesn’t always win. Then, the people that think the government should be telling everyone what to do scream the loudest when things don’t go their way.

We as a people reap what we sow. The more power we give the government and other special interest, the less freedom we all have.

One man’s outrage is another’s fetish.