Dumb And Dumber: Indiana Gov. Mike Pence To Introduce New Bill To Try And ‘Clarify’ His Anti-Gay Hate Law

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, burned by a fast-spreading political firestorm, told the Indianapolis Star yesterday that he will support the introduction of legislation to “clarify” that Indiana’s controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not promote discrimination against gays and lesbians.  The RFRA act was dumb, bigoted and hateful. Seeking to clarify it instead of repealing it is dumber and only reinforces the fact that the law was, in fact, hateful and Pence now knows it.

In his interview with the Star, Pence acknowledge that Indiana’s image — and potentially its economic health — has been hurt badly by the controversy.  No kidding?  This isn’t the 1950’s….what exactly did he expect?  Governor’s can’t sign laws that legalizes the oppression of groups of citizens some groups don’t like. Pence still insists that the intense blowback against the new law is the result of a “misunderstanding driven by misinformation.”  If that were true then why are you trying now to introduce legislation to clarify it?  You should be ashamed.

The religious reps witnessing the signing of a hate bill – incredible!

Pence’s backtracking came about on the same day that Angie’s List CEO Bill Oesterle announced that his company will abandon a deal with the state and city to expand the company’s headquarters in Indianapolis because of RFRA’s passage. Osterle is a Republican and it’s a sign that the damage from the RFRA debacle could be extensive.  Hopefully, the damage will be to whatever fantasy Gov. Pence was dreaming up to seek the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination.  He can kiss that dream goodbye no matter he does with his hate law.

Gov. Pence appears to be completely tone-deaf regarding signing his bigoted law.  When asked about the strongly negative reaction this has brought him and his state, he replied “I just can’t account for the hostility that’s been directed at our state,” and even more telling that his team didn’t see it coming.  That’s no surprise as Pence continues to insist, against all evidence, that the law is not about discrimination.  Really?  How sad he can’t recognize this.

I’m puzzled as to why so many Christians support this bigoted law

Whatever is in the new proposal to ‘clarify’ the hate law, it will no doubt be a real doozy and predictably stupid.  Hopefully, true Christians who have also had their credibility damaged by this will find the courage to stand up and speak out strongly and publicly against this discriminatory law. Pence is using religion as his excuse for signing this legislation and so far Christian groups who should know better have been strangely silent. Why is that? 

Perhaps the best reaction to Gov. Pence’s decision to sign this bill into law came from former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer who vetoed a similar bill as one of her last acts as Arizona Governor.  She said “even I wasn’t dumb enough to sign a bill like that.”  Too bad for Gov. Pence that he didn’t consult with former Gov. Brewer before torpedoing any future national political hopes he fantasized about.

Thanks for visiting!