Arrogant and out of touch – that’s the best way to describe Governor Mike Pence, Speaker Brian Bosma, President David Long and the Republican legislative supermajorities. They all received multiple warnings about potential backlash on the so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act. They all ignored those warnings. And they all blamed everyone but themselves for the overwhelming RFRA uproar.
Statehouse Republicans allowed political ideology to trump Hoosier Hospitality with the enactment of RFRA. Much to their surprise, the people across this state and nation saw through the illusion Indiana Republicans attempted to produce. Their lack of vision shows how completely out of touch their brand of governing is in Indiana.
After RFRA’s supermajority debacle
Editorial, Journal and Courier
It’s hard to imagine Gov. Mike Pence handling the past two weeks any worse than he did.
He discounted the readily available signs that Senate Bill 101 — Indiana’s version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act — came factory-installed with hints and allegations of discrimination against gay and lesbian Hoosiers. When those hints and allegations started turning into nixed development deals and nationwide boycotts — real deals about money, jobs and convention traffic — Pence blamed the media for smearing a law they misunderstood. He continued to listen to inside cronies with easily traceable ties to anti-gay agendas before giving in to adjustments on the law to save face — not to mention the state’s dwindling reputation.
Read the full editorialÂ
here.
