Who Is Bob Vander Plaats And Why Does It Matter?
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on November 19th, 2011 5:36 am by HL
Who Is Bob Vander Plaats And Why Does It Matter?
Earlier this year, we introduced you to the FAMiLY LEADER, the extreme anti-gay group in Iowa, and its leader, Bob Vander Plaats. Tomorrow, Vander Plaats is hosting a “Thanksgiving Family Forum” for presidential candidates. If history is any guide, this event promises to be a veritable cornucopia of attacks on gays and women’s health care […]
Earlier this year, we introduced you to the FAMiLY LEADER, the extreme anti-gay group in Iowa, and its leader, Bob Vander Plaats. Tomorrow, Vander Plaats is hosting a “Thanksgiving Family Forum” for presidential candidates. If history is any guide, this event promises to be a veritable cornucopia of attacks on gays and women’s health care and a celebration of fringe social views.
Here’s a rundown of that history, just to remind you who and what Republicans presidential candidates choose to associate themselves with — something that definitely matters.
Vander Plaats — The Lowlights
- a Cedar Rapids Gazette columnist called last week’s Iowa State Senate District 18 special election loss a “stinging rebuke” to Vander Plaats’ FAMiLY Leader
- Vander Plaats received national and local condemnation over his group’s “Marriage Vow” for 2012 candidates, which included language:
- suggesting that children were better off under slavery than they are under Obama (later removed after a national outcry)
- likening homosexuality to polygamy, adultery, or polyandry
- attacking gays as a public health risk
- saying homosexuality is a choice
- fomenting the non-existent “Sharia” threat to America
- banning pornography
- Top Iowa Republicans attacked Vander Plaats, saying his “credibility is waning to the point of no impact” and attacked the Marriage Vow as a “huge distraction”
- Vander Plaats said gays are a “public health risk” akin to smoking:
- Vander Plaats repeatedly suggested President Obama was born in Kenya and praised Donald Trump’s birther investigation:
- Vander Plaats erupted in laughter at a “faggot” joke, saying “that’s pretty good”:
- Vander Plaats’ group took millions in federal funds while decrying federal spending
- Vander Plaats’ political career has been marked by failure:
- 2002: ran for the GOP gubernatorial nomination and lost.
- 2006: ran for the GOP gubernational nomination again, dropped out during the primary, joined the GOP ticket as Jim Nussle’s running mate, and promptly lost again.
- 2010: ran for the GOP gubernational nomination again and lost, again.
This local TV news report from Des Moines last night outlines most of the recent controversies facing Vander Plaats and his organization — and why his influence is on the wane. Check it out:
Stay tuned to ThinkProgress LGBT and our twitter feeds for live updates on tomorrow’s presidential forum in Iowa.
HBO Is Doing A ?Wolf Hall? Miniseries
Back in June, I put Hilary Mantel’s masterful novel about Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII, Wolf Hall, on my Introductory Guide to Women-Centered Culture For Guys syllabus. Now, HBO’s making a miniseries out of it. This is great news for a couple of reasons. First, if it’s done right, the adaptation will be a great […]
Back in June, I put Hilary Mantel’s masterful novel about Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII, Wolf Hall, on my Introductory Guide to Women-Centered Culture For Guys syllabus. Now, HBO’s making a miniseries out of it.
This is great news for a couple of reasons. First, if it’s done right, the adaptation will be a great look at — in addition to the birth of the Church of England — European trade, the consolidation of church properties that led to the founding of Cardinal College at Oxford, and the allegations that Thomas More actively promoted the torture of Protestants during the lead-up to England’s split with the Catholic Church. Wolf Hall is a phenomenal novel about personal investment in politics. Watching Thomas Cromwell escape his father’s vicious abuse through the kindness of Amsterdam’s cloth merchants and the mercenary armies of the continent; Cardinal Wolsey fret over the future of the college he wanted to make a jewel; or the cold home More builds to prop up the edifice of his righteousness, the show builds a complicated definition of the means and costs of being a genuinely world-historical figure.
And for all that it’s big, it’s a strikingly personal novel. We see what it means to be sold off for your chastity, the cost of being an object of obsessive pursuit in a way that makes a mockery of Twilight. It’s a shame that Natalie Dormer already played Anne Boelyn in The Tudors so she can’t take on a more nuanced version of the role here. Cromwell’s relationship with his late wife, and later, with her sister, who is married to another man, are infinitely tender. The loss of his daughter, the disappointment of his son, sting like whips. And it’s a marvelous novel of friendship, whether it’s Cromwell and Wolsey or Cromwell and Imperial diplomat Eustace Chapuys. I don’t really know how a miniseries will capture the Cabinet of Wonders-like effect of the novel, which is one of the most effective evocations of a historic worldview I’ve ever read. But I’m glad it’s not getting reduced to a movie, and that some serious writerly fire-power will be behind it. HBO’s movie team has been wildly on their game lately, so I can’t wait to see what they do with this.
