This is not the first time Mike Pence has admitted there is no real justification for the anti-gay bill he just signed into law.
There are many reasons lawmakers pass bills and many reasons governors sign them into law. Some good, some bad. Often, legislation is in response to an unfortunate event, or a series of events that show a demonstrable pattern of harm from which citizens, the State, or the environment need to be protected. Think bans on smoking in public, or repeal of conscience protections that allowed hundreds of children to become infected with the measles.
Sometimes the only reason to pass a bill, or to sign one into law, is because it helps your re-election campaign, or your campaign for higher office.
On Monday, a few days before Republican Governor Mike Pence signed Indiana’s controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act – note the “restoration” part in the title – into law Thursday morning, in a private event closed to the press and the public, he tweeted that he was “looking forward” to signing the bill.
It’s about “reassuring Hoosiers that their religious freedoms are intact.”
In other words, it’s a law that serves no purpose, other than a political one. He even admitted it on Twitter.
In between that message he tweeted on Monday, to his signing the bill on Thursday, the public became aware of not only the viciousness of the bill, that it was the fruit of a deep anti-gay animus, but that several major corporations important to Indiana’s economy had denounced it.
LOOK:Â Tweet Of The Day: Hillary Clinton On Indiana Anti-Gay ‘Religious Freedom’ Law
The $4 billion software firm Salesforce is extremely opposed, along with Gen Con, a $50 million annual gaming convention, Fortune 500 member Cummins, Eskenazi Health, Eli Lilly and Co., George Takei, Pat McAfee, Jason Collins, the mayor of Indianapolis, and the State of Indiana’s tourism board, among many others.
Right after he signed the bill on Thursday, Pence looked for cover, doing an interview with conservative radio host Greg Garrison, the “Voice of the Heartland.”Â
Pressed to answer “whether religious freedom has been threatened in Indiana,” thus offering a valid reason for the law, Governor Pence drew a blank, offering a non-answer.
LOOK:Â Broadway’s Audra McDonald Just Took Down Indiana Gov. Mike Pence In A Glorious Twitter Rant
“I’m not aware of cases and controversies,” Gov. Pence responded. “I mean as I travel around the state one thing I know for sure —Hoosier hospitality is the greatest in the nation. Hoosiers are loving, caring, generous to a fault. People that have strong hearts, strong values. But this isn’t about any present controversy as much as some in the media want to make it about. It’s about making sure that Hoosiers have the same protections in our state courts as they have in federal courts and as 30 other states have.”
In other words, the answer is “no.”
No real justification for imposing pro-religious discrimination upon Hoosiers, but heck, maybe he thought it would look good on his presidential résumé.
(Of course, it won’t.)
Listen:
Â
Related:Â
George Takei Calls For A Boycott Of Indiana
Breaking: Indiana Governor Mike Pence Has Signed ‘Religious Freedom’ Bill Into Law
Â
Image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr and a CC license
Hat tip: Talking Points Memo
Â