Pennsylvania Congressman Mike Kelly wins today’s award in ridiculous political hyperbole:
House Republicans called the Obama administration’s birth-control mandate “religious bigotry” and compared it to the events of Pearl Harbor and Sept. 11, 2001.
The heated remarks came at a press conference marking the mandate’s first day.
“I know in your mind you can think of the times America was attacked,” said Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), a freshman.
“One is December 7 — that is Pearl Harbor Day. Another was September 11 — that was the day of the terrorist attack.
“I want you to remember August 1, 2012 — the attack on our religious freedom. That is a date that will live in infamy, along with those other dates.”
Starting Wednesday, most employers will have to cover contraception in their health plans without a co-pay.
Republicans have denounced the policy as an attack on the religious freedom of people who object to birth control or consider some forms equal to abortion.
Another freshman, Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.), said the mandate marks the return of “anti-Catholic bigotry” to American life.
“We thought we were past that,” he said, “but the mandate from this administration represents the rearing of its head again.”
I’m not a huge fan of this mandate. Not because I oppose contraceptives, but because I oppose the idea of the Federal Government dictating the terms of benefits provided by employers to employees. Kelly’s remarks, though, are utterly ridiculous. Not satisfied with bringing up a military attack that killed thousands, he goes even further and compares the mandate to the murder of 3,000 Americans in a coordinated and planned terrorist attack. I’m surprised he didn’t throw the Nazis in there.
