Add to the litany of "outrages," promoted by Fox News, the new HHS mandate which requires the health plans of religious institutions to cover contraceptives with no co-payment. The US Council of Catholic Bishops, headed by Fox pal, the conservative Archbishop Timothy Dolan, is mighty pissed and if the bishop's ain't happy ain't nobody happy - especially at Fox News where this topic has been the focus of indignation by Fox's professional Catholics - Maltese Knight Peter Johnson Jr, Steve Doocy, and Fr. Jonathan Morris. But being that Megyn Kelly's "America Live" is an official "news" show, I thought that maybe she would bring some sanity to the issue. Turns out, not so much given that she interviewed the Catholic League's Bill Donohue whose connection to sanity is very, very tenuous. Fasten your seatbelts cuz we're in for a bumpy ride!
The issue of the contraceptive mandate is big on Fox as they can use it to bash President Obama in the hope that this will sway Catholic votes against him. It's also part of their ongoing theme of Christian/Catholic victimization at the hands of the evil, librul Obama. So it's a win, win. Thus, it wasn't surprising to see it featured on "America Live" where Megyn Kelly emphatically framed it, not surprisingly, as an "outrage" in her opening comment that this requirement has Catholics "up in arms" and saying that this "is an attack on religion." She promoted the bishops' meme, already expounded on Fox, that this is a "violation of religious liberty." She introduced her guest, the homophobic, anti-Semitic, and blamer of victims of pedophile priests, Bill Donohue who, in his explanation of the rule, claimed that it included abortion inducing drugs. Fact Check -This is true only in the theology of the Catholic Church which believes that pregnancy begins at conception and not implantation which is the view of the medical community. The mandate does not include abortion drug RU486.
Bill quickly escalated and started shouting about how Obama "double-crossed" Catholics because he once promised them he would respect their beliefs. He claimed that even the Washington Post editorialized against it. Fact Check - If he's referring to the article by the head of the conservative Catholic Newman Society, it's an opinion piece, not an editorial position of the paper. Megyn's phrasing was interesting when she noted that "pro-choice" and "women's groups" "forced" this rule. She read a comment, praising Obama, from NOW president Terry O'Neill which blustering Bill described as "disparaging" to Catholics. There was a moment of rich irony when bully Donohue accused the Obama administration of "bullying."
Donohue yelled about how the exemption for those institutions that hire only Catholics was too narrow because the church's employees are very diverse. That would have been an opportunity for Megyn to ask him if it's discriminatory to deny free birth control to non-Catholic women whose faith does not proscribe it. But no, she let him rant about "insidious" this is. When he said that there will be lawsuits, attorney Kelly could have mentioned the success of other lawsuits regarding contraception discrimination although I will give her credit for attempting to present the views of women who support the policy.
And then good, ole Bill underscored his reputation as a raving lunatic: "Everybody can afford to buy a CD, they can't afford to buy a condom?"
Seriously? Does Bill think that condoms are women's primary birth control? Does he know that a monthly refill for birth control, sometimes used to counteract medical problems such as excessive menstrual periods or severe acne, costs lots more than a condom? He continued to bray about condoms and how "this isn't about cost." Kelly laughed when he "joked" that you can get them for free from Mayor Bloomberg. He was spluttering when he yelled that this is "all about trying to shove a secular agenda down the throats of Catholics." (And his church's crusade to ban abortion isn't shoving their theology on non-Catholics?) The yelling continued with more perceived affronts to Catholics and other people of faith. Pope Bill finished with a comment about how HHS Secretary Sebelius isn't in good standing with the Catholic Church.
What more can I say except that I'm hearing the strains of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy."
South Park may be a cartoon, but tell me that doesn’t capture Donohue’s ego perfectly.