I cannot get excited about Pence. He’s too easily rolled. When the Indiana legislature passed a law stating that merchants were not required to perform certain business operations if it clashed with their religious scruples, the fudge packers went on the warpath.
In less than 24 hours, Pence folded like a paper parasol and vetoed the law.
Actions have consequences. And I don’t think someone who would easily throw all the Christian merchants and craftspeople under the proverbial bus, in slavish deference to a cult of rebellious sodomites, deserves to hold an office one heartbeat away from the Presidency.
Thanks for that info.
No, Pence did not veto the Religious Freedom Restoration Act passed by the state legislature. He immediately signed it. The LGBT lobby immediately went berserk, and it was the Republican legislature that folded like a parasol, quickly drawing up “clarifying” language that was appended to an unrelated bill that very same week. The Religious Freedom Law was never vetoed, nor was it rescinded. It was, however, effectively amended by adding explicit protections for gender identity and sexual preference.
Do I wish Pence and the state legislature had stood up to the LBGT lobby? Of course. But the time to do that was as the bill was being crafted. As I understand it, it was a badly written bill. So, imho, what looked like a quick cave to the vocal LGBT lobby was a scramble to cut losses before it met court challenge. Do they stand on intent and not the language of the law (like democrats), and have the bill struck down on appeal, being the precedent that poisons any other state’s religious freedom law?
It was a mess, to be sure. And I was disappointed. But I think we should be disappointed for the right reasons. Pence did not veto the bill. He signed it. He did not cave to the LGBT lobby. He did, however, reap the consequences of hastiness and sloppiness, underestimating the opponents, and overestimating the skills of supposed allies.