There are nine work days until the semester ends, ladies and gentlemen.

It’s times like these when we envy the out-of-staters — one step outside is all it takes to absolve all culpability for anyone inclined to get out of Central Iowa in quick fashion.

It’s a given that were it not for this fine institution of learning, most of us would rather be anywhere but the middle of Iowa, especially in the throes of winter. There’s a hunch that the lovely hues of gray and brown found November through March may indeed have something to do with our generation’s noticeable exodus from our dearly beloved farm country.

Come Jan. 10, Iowa’s political climate may prove equally inhospitable.

Yesterday, Gov.-elect Terry Branstad espoused great plans for the Empire, recounting the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage a “tragic mistake,” and calling for a vote to amend the definition of marriage via the state constitution.

This is where we take the time to remind you that the “decision” was to uphold a lower court’s ruling that denying marriage licenses to couples based solely on the grounds of sexual orientation was of “no significant government interest.”

Branstad again went on the record criticizing Iowa’s process of judicial selection as highly partisan, with 12 Democrats on the nomination committee, preferring the luxury of directly selecting U.S. Supreme Court Justices afforded to the president.

We’ll spare you a tirade on how ridiculously hypocritical that statement is, and instead remind you that it was the Branstache himself who selected two of the three judges sent packing Nov. 2 in political retribution, with Republican committee members galore.

With a projected $914 [corrected from: a reported $940] million surplus and fellow partygoers taking control of the U.S. House of Representatives [corrected from: controlling both houses of the U.S. Congress], state Republicans seem hell-bent on orchestrating a statewide vote to directly discriminate against a specific minority in the state constitution.

Your new governor is equally enthused.

Senate Majority Leader and Counciltuckyman Mike Gronstal has pledged to block any vote to begin the thankfully arduous process of constitutional amendment. Terry Branstad was quick on the draw:

“Just because you’re a leader in the legislature doesn’t mean you’re a dictator or you have the right to make unilateral decisions.”

Yes, the man who wants total authority over judicial selection, the man who supports legislative discrimination against the LGBT community, is calling people a dictator.

Gronstal’s response?

“Dictators are people that make efforts to take away other people’s rights. I’m not going down that road.”