Newt Gingrich, Shill and Liar

Last night, I was listening to the Republican Debate and Newt said

Should the Catholic church be forced to close its adoption services in Massachusetts because it won’t accept gay couples, which is exactly what the state has done? Should the Catholic church be driven out of providing charitable services in the District of Columbia because it won't give in to secular bigotry? Should the Catholic church find itself discriminated against by the Obama administration on key delivery of services because of the bias and the bigotry of the administration?

None of this happened. In none of these cases did the government come to a Catholic service and say, "You must act despite your religious convictions or we will, with the force of arms, shut your doors"

What really happened is that the government said, "If you cannot act for all the people that we, the government of the United States, represent, then you will no longer be able to take taxpayer money in order to do whatever it is you do."

Gingrich is not attacking "anti-Catholic bigotry," which he claims is fashionable. He's attacking the government's refusal to be biased in favor of religion, which is now (apparently) unfashionable. He's complaining because his sect isn't being allowed to suck at the public teat without the concomittant responsibility of serving, you know, the public.

So just remember that when you hear Newt, or any of the candidates, talk this way: what they're really saying is that they want access to your tax money and special rights to ignore the responsibilities that come with their being given that access. This isn't bigotry, it's fairness.