It Is the Gift That Keeps On Giving
“Thank you Indiana”. – Hilary Clinton
Indiana, and now Arkansas’ Religious Freedom Restoration Act is indeed the gift that keeps on giving if you are vested in the 2016 Presidential race. As a progressive Democrat, and a craven political cynic, I see this as an opportunity to paint every conservative Republican running with this brush. Every Republican running should be asked whether businesses should have the right to place “No Gays Allowed” signs in their places of business.
Better still, we could ask conservatives themselves whether, as a result of this law, they now feel that they are free to discriminate against gays because of their religion. The law does imply that a gay person, by being gay, violates someones religious freedom. That’s not laughable and completely serious right?
ABC57 News – See the Difference Michiana
I know some will say “Any business dumb enough to put a sign like that in their window, likely won’t be around long.” But they fail to recognize that a state with few protections for LGBT persons, and a legislature that would pass this law probably means that most citizens of Indiana are probably pretty good with it. More importantly, progressive liberals such as myself relish tarring a Republican legislature with a potential Republican presidential candidate as homophobic, discriminatory, and backwards.
I have a libertarian/conservative friend who looked at this as an opportunity for the GOP that I previously had not seen. He said “I think what has happened in Indiana is actually a great thing. Conservatives have learned that pushing their social agenda is really bad for business, and that for the most part Americans have very little tolerance for intolerance.”
I think he is prescient as we have already seen the overwhelming response from Republicans. The Republican mayor of Indianapolis issued an executive order protecting gays and lesbians, and Wal-Mart has vehemently objected to the law in Arkansas. This is in addition to numerous CEOs, the NCAA, the NBA, the NFL, musical acts, and bans of state sponsored travel from several cities and states. So far possible GOP presidential candidates Cruz, Carson and Bush have all stated support for the law. That makes this progressive Democrat smile.
