Bobby Jindal, Republican Governor of Louisiana and delusional Presidential wannabee, doubles down on his hatred in an Op-Ed in today's New York Times, declaring war on anyone who opposes discrimination, and making it clear he doesn't give a damn what the consequences are for the people of his state, whether they're being discriminated against, or whether they're the ones doing the discriminating:
In Indiana and Arkansas, large corporations recently joined left-wing activists to bully elected officials into backing away from strong protections for religious liberty. It was disappointing to see conservative leaders so hastily retreat on legislation that would simply allow for an individual or business to claim a right to free exercise of religion in a court of law.
This is the sound of bigotry dying. It makes a loud squeal of victimhood and wraps itself in the Constitution:
Our country was founded on the principle of religious liberty, enshrined in the Bill of Rights. Why shouldn’t an individual or business have the right to cite, in a court proceeding, religious liberty as a reason for not participating in a same-sex marriage ceremony that violates a sincerely held religious belief?
That is what Indiana and Arkansas sought to do. That political leaders in both states quickly cowered amid the shrieks of big business and the radical left should alarm us all.
I guess believing that mega-corporations made up of thousands of individual employees, officers and directors shouldn't have the right to "adopt" a religion and use it to deprive people of their basic human rights is a "radical left" position. Good to know. I hope my children all grow up to be radical leftists.
The title to Jindal's screed is "I'm Holding Firm Against Gay Marriage", suggesting it is his personal philosophy, and not any concern for others, businesses or otherwise, that motivates him. But Jindal makes it clear that all Louisianians and their businesses will suffer the consequences of his "religious" views as long as he stays in office:
As the fight for religious liberty moves to Louisiana, I have a clear message for any corporation that contemplates bullying our state: Save your breath.
Jindal has some real zingers here, some of which appear to have been rather hastily conceived:
A pluralistic and diverse society like ours can exist only if we all tolerate people who disagree with us.
Isn't that what non-discrimination means?
The same people who think that profit making is vulgar believe that religiosity is folly.
Yes. That's why Jesus overturned all those moneychangers' tables in the Temple.
The left-wing ideologues who oppose religious freedom are the same ones who seek to tax and regulate businesses out of existence.
So, by opposing laws which discriminate and thereby would keep people from consuming products and services, liberals are trying to destroy business?
Jindal's rant is actually quite unhinged, even for a Republican, and although much of it is red-meat pandering most likely intended to shore up his Quixotic quest to be a real "player" in the Republican Party, it ends with a very dark appeal to fascism:
Liberals have decided that if they can’t win at the ballot box, they will win in the boardroom. It’s a deliberate strategy. And it’s time for corporate America to make a decision...
[T]he business community must stand shoulder to shoulder with those fighting for religious liberty...
Those who believe in freedom must stick together: If it’s not freedom for all, it’s not freedom at all. This strategy requires populist social conservatives to ally with the business community on economic matters and corporate titans to side with social conservatives on cultural matters. This is the grand bargain that makes freedom’s defense possible.
This is actually quite frightening in its absolutism. Jindal is urging corporations to unite in imposing religious dogma on American consumers, through discrimination. The consequences of that taken to their logical conclusion would be terrifying and would probably destroy any pretense of America as a Republic. It would, however, create a theocracy, presumably with fanatics like Jindal at the helm, issuing edicts from time to time to punish minority, non-compliant populations.
Jindal's rant should be read by all who want to understand the true face of the Republican Party and the extremism that drives it.
UPDATE-The Human Rights Campaign has taken a red pen to Jindal's Op-Ed, proving once again that there is no power as strong as Ridicule against the Right.