Vander Plaats to Iowa Supreme Court Justices: "Just Quit Already..."

The Gazette must be having a slow day.  For whatever reason, they decided to revisit thrice-failed gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats demanding that Iowa's four remaining Supreme Court justices resign in an orderly, yet cowed fashion as soon as possible.  Maybe it was a fresh interview by BVP, but the quotes weren't very fresh.  I wrote a similar piece on this subject last month.  This latest piece pretty much rehashes what he said last month:

“The people have spoken and demanded a change in leadership,” Vander Plaats told a news conference, saying a majority of Iowans have indicated they do not believe the unanimous court acted within their authority in making Iowa “a same-sex marriage state.”

“… I believe it is now time for the four remaining Supreme Court justices to respect the will of the people and uphold the integrity and honor of the court by resigning in a timely fashion,” he said. “This is how we hold judicial activism in check.”

Vander Plaats said the resignations should be tendered in such a way as to keep a three-member quorum in place to keep the Supreme Court functioning during the transition...

Vander Plaats, a former high school teacher and principal, likened the current court situation to an under-aged drinking party where some got caught and punished, but those in charge asked the other attendees to “step up” and not let their peers be the only ones to shoulder the punishment for the entire group.

“I think if they self-analyzed, if they looked themselves in the mirror, I think they would say there’s a credibility issue with their existence on the court, there’s an integrity issue with their existence on the court, and by us bringing it to light to the people of Iowa, I think they’re going to understand it more than ever,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s wishful thinking. I think honestly this is the honorable thing to do,” Vander Plaats told reporters. “They were all part of this ruling. We voted three off because they were the only ones on the ballot. Had the other four been on the ballot, they would have been voted off as well.”

I like this (non) response from the courts:

Steve Davis, a spokesman for the Iowa Judicial Branch, said “the court chooses not to respond” to Vander Plaats’ comments.

If you think about it, BVP is really pretty ballsy.  He led his first successful campaign and now believes that he has the ability to make demands not only on the continued employment of these justices for making one decision that he dislikes, but also the method for their collective resignation.  Hopefully, Iowans will step up during the next retention vote and support our judicial system against BVP and his political commandeering of our normally top-notch judicial merit system.  If not, I'll truly weep for the downward direction of our wonderful state.