Home of the first computer, the first female lawyer, one of the first states to pass gay marriage, and the home of badass farmers--Iowa isn't a bunch of "hillbillies" and this video won't let you forget. Iowa Nice (video below with some NSFW words), created by Iowans Scott Siepker and Paul Benedict has gone viral--getting some Reddit attention and an on-air mention from MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Monday night (the view counter is still catching up with only 304 views for now but close to 7,000 likes). It also helps that it's one of the intentionally funniest Iowa ads to come out of a state that's home to the Santorum surge, Gingrich's desperation swipes, and Romney's steely smile--but the video isn't necessarily a response to all that Republican attention. Though the video never explicitly mentions it and is simply described as "a response to national media coverage of our beloved home state," the video's hillbilly rebuke and reminders of Iowan achievement seem to be a response to University of Iowa professor Stephen Bloom, who wrote an article with some not-so-nice sweeping generalizations about Iowa and Iowans on TheAtlantic.com in December (the deserved mega-backlash from the article has since sent Bloom into hiding). Siepker, whose credited as the Iowan of the video, points out that Iowa "can have it all" thanks to a low unemployment rate, city living and the accomplishments we mentioned at the top, while peppering his ad with a a few choice, and well-timed curse words.  And we totally believe him, and are convinced that Iowa is indeed the Ryan Gosling (let's just forget for the moment that he's Canadian) of the 50 states.

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Alexander Abad-Santos