As an aside, I spent the weekend in the Great State of Iowa, in a rural farm community in the northeastern/central part of the State. Joe Offer suggested that I should get some reaction of the folks to the decision by the Iowa Supreme Court, which found bans on the legal union of gay folks to be unconstitutional. Most of the folks I spoke with thought it was a correct decision, although there were a few that were very loud in their condemnation. While hardly a decent sampling, none the less this was a primarily rural, bib overall wearing group. I found their views to be very progressive, and certainly outside of the stereotype that "sophisticates" would have you believe. And it is fair to point out that it was Iowa that gave President Obama a major boost in his campaign.

All the best,

Mick