Now what exactly does a “secular-socialist machine” look like?
Today’s Washington Post features a polemical and off-base column from none other than Newt Gingrich, in which he claims that “the Obama-Pelosi-Reid system is clearly a secular-socialist machine” and that “Obama is the most radical president in American history.”
Gingrich claims that President Obama– a Christian who is outspoken about his
personal religious beliefs — is “secular” because Obama described the U.S. as a “secular country that is respectful of religious freedom,” and because he appointed David Hamilton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. (Hamilton ruled on a church-state case that caused a bit of a brouhaha on the right.)
It’s pretty ironic that Gingrich’s piece runs right on the heels of the announcement that President Obama’s administration will fight to keep the National Day of Prayer,
appealing a federal judge’s recent ruling that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.
Yep, that sounds exactly like the actions of a “secular-socialist machine.”
It’s also easy enough to address the ridiculousness of both of Gingrich’s claims directly. In fact, Dan tackled the Judge Hamilton issue quite well
a while back. And I think it’s pretty clear that the President understands the
importance of faith to the life of our country. (Also, last year in the same speech Gingrich quotes, the President also said “I’ve said before that one of the great strengths of the United States is — although as I mentioned, we have a very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation — we consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values.”)
That doesn’t sound so radical to me.
Very well stated and I agree, not a radical concept at all. Gingrich, like many do not understand the concept of religious freedom.
It never ceases to amaze me the kind of comments public figures will make in spite of all evidence to the contrary. Especially when a quick Google search can so easily expose that such statements are not based on the facts.