Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vatican)
Republican Rep. Darrell Issa never met a waste of taxpayer time and dollars he didn't like, as long as he thinks it will "
be good theater."
Issa's latest way-off-Broadway show, opening tomorrow, is called "Lines Crossed: Separation of Church and State. Has the Obama Administration Trampled on Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Conscience?" As Sarah Posner reports:
The lead witness is the Most Reverend William E. Lori, Roman Catholic Bishop of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty. Judging from Lori and the rest of the witness list, it’s obvious that Issa has posed what he considers to be a rhetorical question and lined up nine like-minded rhetoricians to answer it anyway. None of the religious groups supportive of the Obama administration will be heard from. [...]
Eight out of nine of Issa’s witnesses are Orthodox Christian, Catholic, and evangelical, and represent Christian institutions, one of which, Belmont Abbey College, has sued HHS over the contraception requirement.
Golly, isn't that convenient? In order to prove that President Obama is trampling on religious freedom, Issa will only speak to people who agree with Issa that President Obama is trampling on religious freedom. Issa won't be hearing from any of the
nearly two dozen religious groups who have no problem with the Obama administration's new health care policy to require insurance coverage of birth control. And apparently, he hasn't read the latest
poll that confirms, once again, that the majority of the American public, including the
church-going public, doesn't agree likes their birth control and likes the president's new policy.
Issa only wants to hear from people who think that women's health care oppresses their religious freedom to ... um ... something. It doesn't make sense, but then again, when it comes to Issa, it doesn't have to make sense. It just has to be good theater.
