President Barack Obama opened his State of the Union speech saying he'd keep it short, in what must have seemed music to the ears of some in the chamber antsy to get to Iowa to campaign for president.

History was made in a most unexpected way in late 2013 when the petition titled “Southern Poverty Law Center: Monitor Gender Identity Watch as a Hate Group” appeared at Change.org. At press time, the petition had garnered more than 7,000 signatures.

Not long ago, when religious liberty cases reached the courts, the people seeking protection for their beliefs were mostly from small faith groups and their lawyers were liberals.