Last weekend, three friends and I drove a total of 34 hours to attend Jon Stewart’s “Rally to Restore Sanity” in Washington, D.C. The rally served as a reminder for both Stewart and the audience that reason has not been eradicated by fear, despite the fear-touting media. The musical guests and comedic skits were entertaining, however, the true value of the rally rested in Stewart’s closing comments:

“With that being said, I feel good, strangely, calmly, good. Because the image of Americans that is reflected back to us by our political and media process is false … if the picture of us were true. Of course our inability to solve problems would actually be quite sane and reasonable. Why would you work with Marxists, actively subverting our Constitution? Or racists and homophobes who see no one’s humanity but their own?”

And yet, despite the satisfaction I received from being among 200,000 individuals touting reasonableness over fear, I find myself already needing another reminder. A reminder that the image we’re shown of Americans is not entirely true. Because yet again, I find myself, post-election day, disappointed in the outcome of a vote I humbly deemed important — that vote outcome being the decision to oust Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and associate justices Michael J. Streit and David L. Baker.

“The court legislated from the bench … they governed from the bench and they even attempted to amend our Constitution from the bench … this is not their role. The legislature makes the law,” said Bob Vander Plaats, a Republican attorney from Sioux City.

The fact that Vander Plaats is an attorney both shocks and sickens me. Even the Iowa State Bar Association could not withhold its disappointment in this vote. I ask those who ousted these justices for their “legislating from the bench,” would you also oust the Supreme Court justices who ruled in Brown v. Board of Education? That too was an unpopular decision and a decision that overruled several laws. Where was this anger toward “judicial activism” after the Citizens United v. FEC decision? This decision not only overruled two previous court cases, but also threw away years of campaign finance laws. I struggle to see how Varnum vs. Brien is an example of judicial activism and Citizens United is not — or, even better, Bush v. Gore. The Supreme Court did not even have the judicial standing to make that decision and yet, there were no rallying calls of judicial activism when they dismissed another Florida recount.

We have now effectively handicapped Iowa’s ability to possess an objective judiciary, untouched by the threats of political whims and special interest groups. We were among the first to integrate schools, the first to allow women to practice law, and now, we have put the possibility of future landmarks at risk — by forcing a precedent that preserving majority opinion is more important than preserving our state constitution.

Where did all the reasonable people go? Not to mention, putting three more unemployed people in this economy is also clearly, not a sane idea.