Praise the Lord and Pass the Indignation

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Pardon us if we’re unmoved by the cries from Team Arnold and the GOP. “Ohhhh, the ignominy of it all! Oh, how low will those Democrats go?”

Today’s Los Angeles Times reports that Team Schwarzenegger was upset at a news conference held by religious leaders opposed to the Governor’s anti-worker, anti-education agenda.

“...the governor's aides denounced a small protest by religious leaders that took place across the street from Schwarzenegger's church in Santa Monica. Spokesman Todd Harris said the protest, coming on All Saints Day, was ‘not only tacky but an insult to all Californians of faith.’

“…Saint Monica's was full of worshipers attending Mass as the news conference progressed. The church declined to comment in detail, but Ned Dolejsi, executive director of the California Catholic Conference, said the group was concerned that the protest was ‘religious grandstanding.’” (Los Angeles Times, November 2, 2005)

Well, pardon us, but we don’t seem to remember any of the Governor’s team taking umbrage when the L.A. Times, in an article appropriately entitled “Praise the Lord and Pass the Initiatives,” reported that the GOP had hired Gary Marx to:

“…rally Christian conservatives behind an abortion measure on the November special election ballot in hopes that, once drawn to the polls, they will back the rest of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's fall agenda… the Republican church program is partly an attempt to replicate the Bush campaign's success in mobilizing swing-state evangelicals behind the president last year through extensive face-to-face conversations with fellow parishioners… (Los Angeles Times, October 13, 2005)

In fact, according to the Sacramento Bee, the Governor’s allies are working with church ministers to insert election propaganda and talking points into Sunday Sermons that reference Proposition 73 and the Governor’s initiatives…

“The California Catholic Conference prepared a series of homilies for priests to mark October as "Respect Life" month and to use as a countdown to the Nov. 8 special election. The sermons make references to Proposition 73, an initiative that would require parental notification before doctors can perform abortions on girls under 18…The talking point homilies are among numerous get-out-the-vote efforts in support of or against the parental notification initiative.

For example, “...the Traditional Values Coalition is printing 100,000 slate mailers for evangelical churches, declaring: ‘We must not let Planned Parenthood and their baby-killing allies dominate at the polls.’

“And Benjamin Lopez, a coalition lobbyist, said the slate mailers will also urge Christian conservatives to vote ‘yes’ on the governor's special election agenda, comprising Propositions 74, 75, 76 and 77.” (Sacramento Bee, October 30, 2005)

A press conference across the street from a church pales in comparison to what the GOP is doing, so please, spare us the false indignation.