As most people are by now aware the Speaker of the Iowa House Pat Murphy ordered the removal of hundreds of concerned citizen’s from the gallery during the course of a public hearing on a bill attempting to remove federal deductibility from Iowa’s tax laws. Contrary to what you will hear or read in the mainstream media there were no demonstrations, just applause. Speaker Murphy rationalizes his actions by claiming that “decorum” must be maintained. I could live with this if this standard was applied fairly across the board. However I have come across a video that clearly shows that this is not the case. Earlier this year when Governor Culver delivered his Condition of the State address in the Iowa House Chamber members of the General Assembly as well as visitors erupted into applause and cheers much as the concerned citizen’s did on Tuesday.  As the video that I have linked shows there was no attempt to maintain “decorum” and there was no attempt to regain order only continued “chaos.”

 http://www.iptv.org/video/detail.cfm/3233/cos_20090107_condition_state_2009

Without a doubt the events of April 1^st at the Iowa Statehouse will live in infamy for they were a manifestation of the tyrannical mindset that Speaker Murphy holds. The only logical conclusion that a rational human being can come to is that Speaker Murphy has no regard for the will of the people. There were several messages delivered that evening. Perhaps the most important is that the people of Iowa are angry, they are frustrated, and they are growing more and more restless. The legislative leaders would be wise to take heed to the message because that restlessness is growing.