CNN's Crowley Brings Up Catholic Uproar; Gov. O'Malley Dismisses Bishops as a Gaggle of Republicans
Kudos to CNN "State of the Union" host Candy Crowley for bringing up on Sunday the undercovered story of the recent Obamacare-related decision to force Catholic employers to insure sterilizations, abortifacients, and contraceptives. When she mentioned "real outrage within the Catholic community" -- and bishops' letters opposed Obama were again read in parishes across America at Mass on Sunday -- liberal Gov. Martin O'Malley blew off the bishops: "most of those in the hierarchy are also Republicans." Is that why Obama's violating their religious freedom?
O'Malley also claimed that this is not a big deal because "these same rules apply in countries like Italy which have overwhelming numbers of Catholics, and yet we did not see the reaction in those countries to these sorts of things." This might be because while 97 percent of Italians think of themselves as Catholic, church attendance is very low (from 15 to 30 percent). They go to church on an Obama schedule. (Fore!)
Or course, alleged Catholic O'Malley is presently putting all of his prestige behind legalizing "gay marriage" in Maryland, so he's not exactly on a church wavelength. Here's how the exchange unfolded:
CANDY CROWLEY: And this week what we've seen is some real outrage within the Catholic community about the president's decision to require Catholic entities, charities, churches and schools to provide contraception and other things within their health insurance plans.
E.J. Dionne, who is no raving Republican here, had this to say in his column, "it is so remarkable that Obama utterly botched the admittedly difficult question of how contraceptive services should be treated under the new health care law. His administration mishandled this decision not once but twice. In the process, Obama threw his progressive Catholic allies under the bus and strengthened the hand of those inside the church who had originally sought to derail the health care law." And I want to quickly play for you something that Newt Gingrich said last night about this same issue.
NEWT GINGRICH [clip]: The Obama administration has declared war on religious freedom in this country and people need to understand that. This is a decision so totally outrageous, and the illustration of such radical secular ideology that I believe the entire hierarchy will oppose it every inch of the way.
CROWLEY: So, my question to you in the final 90 seconds we have, has President Obama damaged the Catholic vote as far as Democrats are concerned? And you, as I understand it, are Catholic.
O'MALLEY: I am Catholic. And I think, Candy, there has been a little bit too much hyperventilating over this issue. It's one of those issues that they want to use...
CROWLEY: Well, it came from Catholics themselves in the hierarchy.
O'MALLEY: Well, some, and most of those members of that hierarchy are also Republicans. And if you look at 28 states, Candy, this is not about abortion, it's about covering contraception as part of the health care coverage, mandatory basic coverage. Twenty-eight states already require this, and in Europe countries that are...
CROWLEY: But you're not thinking about the state, the federal government, telling a religion what it must cover in a health care policy.
O'MALLEY: Well, there is an exemption for churches themselves. The exemption does not necessarily extend to institutions like hospitals or universities that employ people of all faiths. But these same rules apply in countries like Italy which have overwhelming numbers of Catholics, and yet we did not see the reaction in those countries to these sorts of things.
Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell, also a Catholic, predicted this would make Catholic voters look more favorably at Romney:
CROWLEY: Well, and I'm going to give the last word to you, Governor McDonnell. Is there an opening for Republicans to seize in the Catholic vote sector, which is very large as you know, in some very important states, Ohio, Pennsylvania, et cetera?
MCDONNELL: Absolutely. As a pro-life Catholic, I think the answer is yes. Besides the health care bill being unconstitutional and a great expansion of federal government, I think if it does not respect people's individual religious views and makes groups or individuals do things that are contrary to their deeply held beliefs, there is going to be a visceral negative reaction. And I think the Catholic voters will look very favorably upon Mitt Romney this year.
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Comments
Italy is not America
Submitted by optimist on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 12:32am.
It does not have a First Amendment. Mr. O'Malley, try again.
Italy is a very different place
Submitted by Galvanic on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 1:06am.
The public schools in Italy also have a crucifix in each classroom. Many of our schools prohibit the students from wearing crosses on necklaces.
I'm Just Curious...
Submitted by Samaritan01 on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 12:43am.
Does the Obamacare act require Muslim organizations to provide birth control to its employees?? Not that they would be treated any differently under this president........
⇒ Good question
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 12:52am.
How soon will Obamacare be covering such practices as female genital mutilation and hymen restoration?
Don't we have a duty to respect their culture?
Good morning Cool
Submitted by cocodrie on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 3:19am.
You're right we should respect their culture, especially honor killings and beheading of infidels.
Jesus Loves You so much He died for you
The press is dutifully grooming my Governor
Submitted by bkeyser on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 12:58am.
but they don't seem yet to realize that he's quite dumb- Joe Biden-like dumb, in fact. The only thing he can bring to a debate is a bunch of liberal platitudes, which, in Maryland, makes him brighter than the vast majority of people living within 15 miles of the I-95 corridor; folks otherwise knows as O'Malley voters.
⇒ Don't worry, Bob
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 1:05am.
Romney has only two from which to choose for VP, both Floridians. And Romney seems to be the type of person who would welcome a more intelligent person than he on the ticket. That's what good managers do.
If either Rubio or West is the pick, look for Joe Biden to suddenly want to spend more time with his family.
Bromance
Submitted by stratman on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 1:52am.
Romney's two choices for VP from Florida? Connie Mack and Charlie Crist.
I was watching that interviiew, and I was flabbergasted when
Submitted by Rush Fan on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 1:15am.
I heard Candy Crowley's question. I agree that Candy Crowley deserves kudos for asking a question the rest of the Leftist media won't touch. However, Crowley is still primarily a pseudo--journalist, as Noel pointed out in his piece on the unemployment report.
By the way, Gov. McDonnell can handle himself when confronted with a lying Leftist, such as Gov. O'Malley. Here is a portion of the transcript of that interaction:
O'MALLEY: Well, that's very interesting. In fact I was going to ask Governor McDonnell, Candy, if his state is creating jobs again or is Virginia still losing jobs as you were in the recession? And that's a rhetorical question, governor. Your state is now creating jobs, my state is creating jobs, throughout our country, Candy, we're now creating jobs again.
Now we could create jobs faster, Governor McDonnell, if your party were not captive of the right wing Tea Party folks in congress who want to keep anything from happening. But facts are stubborn things. We've gone 23 months in a row of positive job growth, we've driven foreclosures down to their lowest rate in 49 months and unemployment has now been driven down to its lowest rate in three years. [...]
MCDONNELL: Well, let me just respond to my friend, Martin.
By the way we get along. We do a lot together in the Washington area but I just flat disagree with him. 11 out of the top 15 states in America that are ranked by CNBC as top places to do business are Republican states. Seven out of the 10 states that have had the biggest drop in unemployment are states run by Republican governors.
And he and I disagree. His plan in Maryland is to increase taxes on income, on gas, on cigars and everything else, but the bottom line is, I'll take our record in Virginia of creating jobs, we're at a 6.2% unemployment, Maryland is at 6.9.
O'Malley
Submitted by oldfart on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 6:10am.
The current governor of Maryland (lower case g) is only following in the foot steps of outstanding Maryland Governors - such as Spiro T. Agnew. A previous poster's comments about O'Malley and Biden actually do a disservice to Mr. Biden. Compared to O'Malley, Biden qualifies for Mensa. O'Malley is the finest example of Maryland machine politics – everything on the bottom gets burned and the scum floats to the top. I remember, as an undergraduate at College Park, a political science professor relating that there are three characteristics for Maryland politics: 1. Corruption 2. Corruption 3. Corruption. Just take a look at the new congressional map for Maryland. The corrupt Maryland press defends O'Malley's plan as a way to get rid of a pesky solid Republican seat in the US House. The district boundries look like a bunch of snakes on drugs. The real intent was two fold – 1. Protect Hoyer who now represents a mostly African-American district and 2. Prevent the creation of a another mostly African-American district from Maryland. Very interesting that the re-districting is now before a Federal Court for review. Who is the racist here? The pig from Baltimore!
Just another Baltimore pol showing his colors
Submitted by TheHistorian on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 6:18am.
Martin O'Malley is just another Baltimore pol showing off his colors. BTW, both Pelosi's father and brother were mayors of Baltimore a decade or two ahead of O'Malley. And Nancy Pelosi's father was also governor of MD. So O'Malley and Pelosi having similar views is a matter of heritage, not coincidence.
If you remember the history of governors of MD, the retirement at one time was prison (both Spiro Agnew and Marvin Mandel went there as retirement). So O'Malley is just another in a long line of potential felons.
Dennis Prager
just say no
Submitted by MidAmerica on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 7:36am.
I have a local hospital and in surrounding communities more hospitals and clinics run by an order of Catholic nuns who have already told their employees that if the current administration is reelected they will close the doors rather than perform abortions. This will have a very serious effect on local care options and thousands of people will be out of work.
Mid, this isn't about
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 8:36am.
Mid, this isn't about performing abortions. It's about providing health insurance to their employees which covers birth control, sterilization, and abortifacient drugs like RU 486.
OTOH, we would be foolish to pretend this isn't the first step in eventually eliminating the conscience clause altogether.
MId
Submitted by ferv888 on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 8:59am.
not only that, but this is the administratios way of getting to single payer. Catholics will stop giving insurance to get around the law, and they will dump all of their employees on the Govt. system and guess what, Single Payer becomes the law of the land.
This is not just about birth control, it is about insurance and getting the mandates in place.
FERV888
"most of those in the
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 8:33am.
"most of those in the hierarchy are also Republicans.
I don't know where his proof of that is, but even if it's true, is O'Malley really trying to make the case that their opposition is simply a matter of politics?
It's Alinsky tactics. To
Submitted by lotr on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 2:07pm.
It's Alinsky tactics. To wit:
In this case, the Bishops are reduced to mere Republican partisan hacks. Of course, this is at odds with the fact that none in the Catholic clergy ever make public statements about supporting one political party (or candidate) over others. They are the closest thing to objective out there.
But word to the wise: Expect more of the same if this issue starts making its way to the light of day over mainstream news media outlets.
Choice
Submitted by ferv888 on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 8:59am.
You are free to choose Gov. O Malley, you are never free of the consequenses of your choices. If I am wrong on the abortion issue, no big deal, I've lived a life of my choosing and if this is all there is, I will go to my grave feeling like I have lived a good full life.. You, If i am right, have some "splainin" to do as Ricky would say.
FERV888
Maryland State of the Union
Submitted by John21 on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 9:30am.
Unfortunately this POS O’Malley is the governor of my state. His administration mirrors the disaster in the White House and is just about as effective. His answer to everything is to increase taxes and throw money at it. In other words the current administration of Maryland is a total failure.
Crime is getting worse not better.
The percent of poor are getting larger not smaller.
Businesses are closing or leaving the state because of taxes
Many people are leaving the state because they can no longer afford to live here.
Real Estate values are in the toilet.
The school systems are in the lower half of the rankings
The roads are getting worse and no improvement in sight
We are lucky to be having a mild winter, because we could not keep the roads open if it were bad.
The corruption from the top down in this administration is unbelievable
The reduction in Unemployment is a combination of people leaving the state and minimum wage jobs
This is the true State of the Union in Maryland
The Catholic Bishops are mostly Republican?
Submitted by drsamherman on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 10:55am.
What in the hell are you injecting, smoking, taking or otherwise abusing, Governor O'Mouthy?
Most of the Catholic Bishops are die-hard Democrats!
⇒ Of course Doc
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 11:01am.
But "die-hard Democrats" doesn't sell the narrative.
O'Malley the desperate wannabe
Submitted by greydawg on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 11:17am.
O'Malley is a far left ultra-lib who worships at the smell of Obama. He is incredibly ambitious and will do or say anything that he thinks might boost him up the national list of wannabes. His performance in Maryland (he just loves the prospect of homosexual marriage) has shown him to be a "cafeteria" Catholic. He will believe what he wants to believe and the church can take its dictates to hell. He is, after all, Maryland's Mighty O.
E.J. Dionne got this topic right for a change
Submitted by Conservator on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 1:15pm.
I'm no fan of leftist E.J. Dionne, but Catholic voters put Obama in the White House. He would never had been elected without carrying this significant portion of his based. Does progressive ideology trump Obama's reelect campaign? It's almost like Obama doesn't want his job any longer.
Liberal Love
Submitted by djaymick on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 3:59pm.
I love it when liberals are asked political questions and their answers are somehow link to Europe. Who gives a crap what Europe is doing? We all know - going broke. This just tells you the direction the liberal want to take our country.