Louisiana’s version of Indiana’s now infamous”Religious Freedom” bill has died screaming in legislative committee, so Gov. Bobby Jindal is just going to declare it law anyway because EAGLE and MURICA.
“We will be issuing an Executive Order shortly that will accomplish the intent of HB 707 to prevent the state from discriminating against persons or entities with deeply held religious beliefs that marriage is between one man and one woman,” he explained. “This Executive Order will prohibit the state from denying or revoking a tax exemption, tax deduction, contract, cooperative agreement, loan, professional license, certification, accreditation, or employment on the basis the person acts in accordance with a religious belief that marriage is between one man and one woman.”
Proponents of the bill, including sponsor Rep. Mike Johnson (R), claimed that it had nothing to do with enabling discrimination against LGBT people. Nevertheless, he specifically cited the cases of florists, bakers, and event venues that have been punished in other states for refusing to serve same-sex couples as the reason the bill was necessary. Stephen Sabludowsky of Bayou Buzz highlighted some of other examples of discrimination that the provision seems to open the door to. “A doctor working at a state institution could not be fired by the state if the doctor refused to treat a same-sex couple,” he explained, nor could the state “take action against a teacher who refused to visit with the same-sex parents of a student.”
If your argument is literally “Well, we can’t allow the state to do anything about hating the gays because God,” then good luck winning the White House in 2016. Not that Bobby here had a chance in hell anyway, but he went ahead and made good on the threat late yesterday.
Please note that just a few months ago, Jindal attacked President Obama for issuing executive orders on immigration, calling the president “lawless”. I guess that makes Jindal just as bad, but nobody in Republicanland will point that out.
No wonder that Jindal’s approval ratings in Louisiana are tanking hard, he’s down to that magic number of 27%, which actually puts him below President Obama in the state.
Funny how that works.
Knowbody
At least it’s not another one of your “Vote for Hillary, you stupid liberals!” posts…
Punchy
I’m confused where a statute starts and an EO begins. I know an EO only lasts as long as the Admin does, but does it really have all the same official, legal implications as a legislatively passed bill? If so, what’s the check and balance on these things? Can the legislature vote to void an EO?
Scott S.
Well, the inevitable lawsuit will be interesting, since Bobby won’t be able to point to any sort of legislative action to back him up, just “But I don’t waaaaaant to!” Probably not a winning legal argument… for anyone but the Stupid Five on the Supreme Court… :/
Derelict
Jindal’s political journey has been fascinating to watch. He’s gone from rising star to self parody to walking catastrophe in just a few years. I’m eager to see where he is come 2017. Perhaps alone among former GOP contenders, he is too stupid even for Fox news–which in itself is a major accomplishment considering Fox still brings on Sarah Palin every now and again.
Scott S.
@Knowbody: Hey, look, it’s that obsessed Republican weirdo again.
madmommy
Even the Times-Picayune comments section, a cesspool of frothing winger insanity, has turned against Piyush. Evidently Louisiana is so flush with cash that we can afford the inevitable losing lawsuits, as well as the loss of business this is going to bring. It’s not like the service industry is rather important here. The best part is that the likely choice for our next Governor, Diaper Dave Vitter, is gonna make Jindal look sane by comparison.
Derelict
@Scott S.: Jindal’s running so hard to the right, he may eventually be forced to deport his own parents just to show he’s serious about stopping immigration.
Face
It’s a damn good thing there’s no significant gay population in New Orleans.
Can’t wait to see what a mass boycott and protests of Mardi Gras does to the local econ.
justawriter
“Sorry Mr. Governor sir, but in accordance with your executive order, my boss won’t let me serve you our fine jambalaya without a doctors note stating clearly that you are a man and your wife is a woman, with a copy of the test results. Oh yeah, the only gender determination tests we accept are ones that hurt.”
Culture of Truth
To quote the movie Airplane, “Christ, what an asshole.”
Patrick
People like Jindal also referred to Obama as a tyrant. By their own logic, this makes Jindal a tyrant.
peach flavored shampoo
@justawriter: Couples in Loo’seeana gunna need to carry and show copies of their karyotypes just to get a god dammed bagel with cream cheese.
pat
“Religious freedom” is nothing but bigotry, pure and simple.
Punchy
I gotta believe most of these bills are being pushed by lobbyists for GoFundMe. It’s about the only company that benefits from such fuckdummery.
Patrick
Could the state still take action against a teacher who refused to visit with the parent that covet’s his neighbor’s wife? Or are they as always picking and choosing what they want to believe in from their own bible?
srv
When a tyrant restricts freedom it is not tyranical to protect that freedom.
madmommy
@Face:
The rest of the state doesn’t give a rat’s ass about NOLA. It is an island of blue in a sea of blood red, and as such deserves to suffer. Don’t get me wrong, the bible-beaters will spend a weekend getting their freak on in the Quarter, but a big chunk of the state looks at NOLA as expendable. The fact that the blahs who live and work in the city will suffer is just icing on the cake. The entire state depends on tourism for a big chunk of their economy, but short-sighted stupidity is a badge of honor for these morons.
peach flavored shampoo
@Patrick: Or divorced parents, or parents who eat shellfish and/or pork, or single moms, or those that “spare the rod”, or moms who’ve had an abortion, or moms on birth control, or single dads without sufficient evidence of being interested in the female gender….
More seriously, does this also open the door for pharmacists to deny meds? Or is this law only for state-employed bigots?
benw
@Culture of Truth: Big time.
I hope the backlash is swift and fierce.
Cervantes
@Derelict:
His mother works for the Louisiana Department of Labor. At the moment, he’s her boss, more or less.
A Ghost To Most
@Culture of Truth:
I don’t know if it is in “Airplane”, but I do know it is in “Ghostbusters”. Nonetheless, apropo.
dubo
Well if Obama didn’t set the precedent my issuing more tyrannical executive orders than every world leader in history combined no Republican would ever have dared issue an executive order /conventionalwisdom /hottake /everythingisobummersfault
NotMax
@Punchy
Not quite so. It lasts until expiration (if it contains such a time limit), until overturned by the courts or until altered, revoked or otherwise made moot by a successive order and/or other relevant circumstances (such as a law put into effect which by its verbiage contradicts or nullifies an executive order).
For example, Dubya’s odious Executive Order 12333 remains in effect, although it rightly ought to have been overturned during Obama’s first week.
Mustang Bobby
@A Ghost To Most: It’s also in “Annie Hall.”
Bobby Thomson
@Knowbody: what is it with you and silent k nyms?
sparrow
Allowing doctors to refuse to treat patients? Seriously? What the fuck. This is just screaming for a lawsuit. Evil motherfuckers.
JCJ
Yatsuno
@JCJ: Our trolls have needed servicing for awhile now.
lowercase steve
@sparrow:
Yeah seriously, what kind of doctor refuses to treat the sick/injured because they dislike their patients or their patients’ choices? Do ER doctors who oppose gang violence refuse to treat gunshot wounds? Do doctors in prisons refuse to treat convicted murderers?
lowercase steve
@madmommy:
Is the “Piyush” thing necessary? The guy wants to be called “Bobby.” I don’t like the man’s policies but I don’t see the need to poke at him for changing his name. We don’t refer to Muhammad Ali as Cassius Clay, right?
SFAW
@A Ghost To Most:
As well as Molly Ivins – still missing her – about Camille Paglia.
lowercase steve
@Yatsuno:
He appears to be a halfhearted troll, just going through the motions.
jharp
How about if my religious beliefs are simply held? But not deeply.
Can I still be a bigot and treat gay people like 2nd class citizens?
CONGRATULATIONS!
I wonder why Jindal’s so uppity.
@Derelict: It was that SOTU rebuttal speech. Killed his career right on the spot.
Central Planning
@A Ghost To Most:
Or Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: “Pardon my french, but you’re an asshole”
justawriter
@peach flavored shampoo: I think they would be served god dammed bagels. It’s the god blessed bagels that are the problem.
JGabriel
Bobby Jindal:
I think Lindsey Graham and Bobby Jindal should run together, I just can’t decide which one should be the VP candidate and which one should be the P candidate. I mean, I just don’t know which one should be on top.
the Conster
@jharp:
This is my question too – and if deeply held, based on what authority? Who will arbitrate the sincerity of held beliefs? Why can’t these morons ever ask the next obvious question, which is how and who is going to construct the enforcement regimen?
SFAW
@lowercase steve:
Possibly because that is no longer his name?
SFAW
I don’t know what everyone is getting so het up about, re: the Executive Order. I mean, it’s not as if he’s an uppity blackity-black black man who doesn’t know his place.
SFAW
@the Conster:
Well, if you’re asking for volunteers, I’ll be more than happy to do it.
Paul in KY
@lowercase steve: Did he legally change his name? Mr. Ali did.
boatboy_srq
@Face: New Orleans going under (fiscally) won’t be a big problem for Baton Rouge: after all, it’s already gone under (physically) and look how that turned out. Now if there were a big LGBTQ presence in Shreveport or Lake Charles…
lowercase steve
@SFAW:
Ok, and Bobby Jindal asks that people call him Bobby. So why insist on calling him Piyush? Are we implying something?
japa21
@peach flavored shampoo: Those don’t matter and don’t apply anyway. After all, this is religious freedom only when it applies to the icky sex between people of the same sex type of thing.
Of course, I would like to see some business apply it to lesbian marriages when there is no, none, zippo, zilch, reference to any prohibition of girl on girl fun in the Bible.
Amir Khalid
But wouldn’t that doctor be subject to professional sanctions for refusing treatment on unethical grounds?
Mandalay
@lowercase steve:
Exactly right. People who think they are so smart by carefully referring to Romney as “Willard” or Obama as “Barack Hussein” only make themselves look dumb, and those using “Puyish” to refer to Jindal are no different.
If the best argument you have is to mock someone’s birth name – something that nobody can control – then you’ve got nothing.
ruemara
@lowercase steve: Are you? You’re having quite the tizzy fit over use of the man’s given name. Step up and stop dancing around what you’re trying to accuse people of.
Mandalay
@lowercase steve:
Of course they are – they are implying it’s OK to use racist tactics if the cause is attacking a Republican.
What other possible reason is there to go out of your way to carefully refer to Jindal as “Piyush”?
SFAW
@lowercase steve:
Why? Is he ashamed of his Indian heritage? I knew a guy who changed his name from an obviously-Jewish-name, to something somewhat-more-WASP-y, just so he could get into a country club. (The guy would be about 65 or 70 years old today, so it’s not like this was back in the 1920s or ’30s.) He deserved contempt.
Fortunately, we only hold Jindal in contempt because he’s a fucking-asshole, pandering, right-wing dumbfuck anti-American bastard. (Apologies to bastards everywhere.)
A Ghost To Most
@SFAW:
Molly sure could cut to the nut about people. Paglia pegged, in four words.
SFAW
@Amir Khalid:
We’ll have to ask Nino Scalia about that one.
NotMax
Rather royalist, that “we.”
Mandalay
@ruemara:
I’ll happily do that – it’s racism on BJ in full flow
Folks here have regularly and rightly denounced those on the right for carefully referring to President Obama as “Barack HUSSEIN Obama”, and this is no different. Anyone here who wants to go out of their way to carefully refer to Jindal as “Piyush” is a racist, and can fuck off. Clear enough?
HinTN
@Face: Up in Red Stick the don’t give a flying fig what happens in NOLA.
lowercase steve
@SFAW:
Maybe. Or maybe he grew up in an environment that was hostile to “the other” and he did what he thought was best to fit in. Maybe it is cynical. Maybe it is about deep-seated insecurities. Maybe the name change is attached to his taking on a Christian identity.
Regardless it not our business/not relevant to this conversation. We don’t get to decide how this man negotiates his identity unless we want to start telling people the correct way to be Black or Indian or Hispanic or anything else. And that doesn’t sound particularly progressive to me.
SFAW
@Mandalay:
Yeah whatever.
Or maybe it’s because people think it will annoy him – vicariously, since it’s unlikely he reads this rag very much (sorry, John) – irrespective of his ethnic heritage. The same way that people here and elsewhere refer to Mitt Romney as Willard.
Patricia Kayden
@madmommy: Won’t we have to wait and see if the businesses act on their threats and actually withdraw themselves from Louisiana? I assume that if even one business leaves Louisiana, all hell will break loose in regard to Jindal’s Executive Order and it will be overturned post haste.
SFAW
@lowercase steve:
See if you can get a grant from the Heritage Foundation to research why he wants to be called “Bobby.” No doubt it will be something important and valuable to the national conversation.
Bubblegum Tate
@Derelict:
Absolutely not. He’s perfect for Fox News. If they need to, they can tout his Rhodes Scholar bona fides. But otherwise, they can just have him on as an “expert” to talk about his “expertise” in governing, managing higher education, standing up to Big Oil, science, etc.
Amir Khalid
@lowercase steve:
For what it’s worth, a lot of people unsympathetic to Muhammad Ali persisted in calling him Cassius Clay for years after he converted.
On a related note, does calling Charlie Sheen (his stage name) Carlos Estevez (his well-known real and legal name, which he must use in all dealings with the law) constitute anti-Latino prejudice, as the man once claimed?
catclub
@madmommy:
Given that Vitter has NO presidential ambitions, he may be able to stay much more sane on many issues. Not that he will, but you can hope.
NotMax
@japa21
Would that be twin piques?
lowercase steve
@SFAW:
Ah yes, I am clearly a conservative because I suggested perhaps we not be racist and instead focus on the damage Jindal’s policies do.
Next you’ll tell me that I am fascist because I object to people making fat jokes about Chris Christie whenever he does something awful.
Villago Delenda Est
@Patrick: This is the funny thing about Rethugs. Even when confronted with their own logic, they deny its existence, for “reasons”.
Mandalay
@lowercase steve:
Well said. Those here defending the use of “Piyush” are defending the indefensible.
benw
@Amir Khalid: You’d think so, that this law can only stop the state itself from disciplining state-employed doctors, but the AMA or whoever can revoke any license on ethical grounds. I guess there are doctors out there who could watch someone die in the emergency room because their same sex spouse is also there? Seems unlikely… Is the assumption that another, non-bigoted doctor is there to provide treatment?
Also, they have to tie this bigoted BS to same-sex marriage, but that opens up a whole bunch of weirdness in when and how it is practically applied. For example, if a gay person needing immediate treatment does NOT bring their spouse to the emergency room, the doctor would not inherently know their sexual orientation and treat them. But what if the patient, call him “John,” blurts out, “help me, doc, I can’t leave my husband alone!” Now the doctor immediately stops treatment. Would he have to argue that he stopped treatment ONLY because John and his husband threatened the “institution of marriage” in violation of said doctor’s deep religious convictions, and NOT because of John’s gayness per se, in order for the doctor to be protected by this executive order?
catclub
@the Conster: Well, the EO statement made it pretty clear that only right wing Christian beliefs need apply. And only on marriage, nothing else seems to be in the quoted text.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mandalay: Because Piyush is his name.
Duh.
On edit: You twit.
Villago Delenda Est
@lowercase steve: That he’s a vile piece of shit desperate to deny his own heritage to play to the racist filth that is the GOP base?
Certainly not!
Paul in KY
@Villago Delenda Est: Also, many of his voters might not vote for him if they knew his name was ‘Piyush’. He rides those racists & I want them to know his correct name.
Think of it as a public service.
Gin & Tonic
@benw: but the AMA or whoever can revoke any license
The AMA is a lobbying group and trade association, like the US Rice Producers Association or similar. It does not get involved in certification, let alone licensing. Licenses to practice any medical-related profession are difficult to revoke, intentionally.
lowercase steve
@Amir Khalid:
I think the question is what people are trying to accomplish by doing so.
Are they implying (or outright stating) that he is traitor to “his people” for having taken on an Anglican stage name (like many Jews/Hispanics/others have done in Hollywood over the decades)? Certainly non-WASPs in Hollywood have had to take on stereotyped roles or change their persona to find work. That seems like a problem with the system (that one would feel like they have to do this) and I am not sure criticizing people for how to dealt with the system makes sense.
Or are they implying that he is some sort of infiltrator and is thus untrustworthy (i.e. the Barack Hussein Obama garbage)?
Are they trying to make an implicit/explicit link between Sheen’s behavior and his ethnicity?
I think these are all problematic.
benw
@Gin & Tonic: Ah ok, thank’s for the correction!
catclub
@benw:
doing something. Of course, the whole point of the ‘religious freedom’ law was to protect people ( or firms) who were sued, not by the state, but by some other citizen, for damages. So the EO really does not do what Jindal was hoping the law would do.
Amir Khalid
@Gin & Tonic:
The medical licensing authority in Louisiana, then. If someone files a complaint saying Dr X refused to treat Mr Y not for a medical reason but simply because Mr Y had a husband, would Dr X face professional sanctions?
Mandalay
@Amir Khalid:
“Racist” would be a more accurate term for those who deliberately persisted in referring to him as “Cassius Clay”.
peach flavored shampoo
Dear lord I hope this is snark. Using a man’s actual name is being racist? Wow.
NotMax
@peach flavored shampoo
Trouble is that it’s spelled P-i-y-u-s-h but is pronounced “flaming asshole.”
Gin & Tonic
@Amir Khalid: I have no idea. I would hope the answer is “yes” but suspect the answer is “how much do you want to spend on legal fees?”
PurpleGirl
@peach flavored shampoo: You forgot people wearing clothes of two different thread — ex.: polyester and cotton.
Amir Khalid
@Mandalay:
I doubt it was just racism. There was also his opposition to the Vietnam war and his conversion to Islam — both controversial in themselves.
PurpleGirl
@NotMax: Didn’t President Truman desegregate the armed forces by EO?
Gin & Tonic
@NotMax: “Spelling” was the key factor, according to this from the Brown alumni magazine:
FWIW.
Mandalay
@peach flavored shampoo:
You are showing exactly the same injured innocence and faux puzzlement that Ann Coulter did when she was criticized for deliberately referring to President Obama as “HUSSEIN Obama”.
Nice company you keep.
ThresherK
@justawriter: How did I mis-read that as saying something about “doctor’s note” and “proof of testicles”?
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@lowercase steve:
FWIW, I’m on your side. Making fun of Jindal’s name because he chose to go by a less ethnic one seems like a very minor point to pick on, and makes it seem like there’s nothing else to criticize him on.
Also, as someone with a very uncommon Italian first name that is misspelled and/or mispronounced 9 out of 10 times, I can empathize with Jindal’s choice much more than any Heather or Michael out there can.
PurpleGirl
@Gin & Tonic: Licenses are bestowed by a state education department.
Mandalay
@Amir Khalid: You may well have a point about his conversion to Islam, but I don’t think the Vietnam War was that much of an issue when he changed his name (though it became central several years later when he was drafted).
It’s also worth noting that he changed his name before the Civil Rights Act passed, and merely being black was a sufficient crime for many Americans in 1964.
SFAW
@lowercase steve:
Calm down.
I only picked Heritage because – being not especially bright, apparently – it was the first one that came to mind. I figured the NSF was not really appropriate.
Not that it matters, but I don’t make fat jokes about Chris Christie. Of course, that’s a different issue than whether Jindal calls himself “Piyush” or “Bobby” or “Late for dinner.”
Sorry about your fascism, by the way. And you seemed so nice …
(Although, since you related it to Christie’s weight, perhaps I should have wroted “fat-scism”?)
SFAW
@NotMax:
Not “Throat Wobbler Mangrove”?
Mandalay
@Paul in KY:
Oh FFS, he’s been “Bobby” since he was four years old. You are sounding a bit like Trump and Coulter.
SFAW
@Mandalay:
Oh, give it a rest already. The hatred toward persons from the Indian subcontinent is, as far as I can tell, pretty far down the scale, compared to anti-Muslim hatred.
And when someone chooses to use a person’s MIDDLE name – especially as a way to highlight that hatred – and especially when the object of that hatred persistently uses his first name, another “strange” name, i.e., Barack – that’s a bit different. If the President kept calling himself “Barry” or “Rock” or “Good-Time Charlie,” use of his given/birth name would be a legitimate parallel vis-a-vis Coulter et al.
Mandalay
@SFAW:
No – you give it a rest. Jindal has been “Bobby” since he was four years old. Anyone who is carefully and deliberately choosing to call him “Piyush” is clearly doing it for racist reasons, and they richly deserve to be called on it.
SFAW
@Mandalay:
Perhaps you can find someone else with whom you can “take it outside” and have a fistfight. Because that’s clearly what you want.
As I and others have pointed out, people call W. Mitt Romney “Willard,” even though he expressed his preference for “Mitt” when he was in kindergarten (according to Wikipedia). But we’re all fucking racists because we call Mitt “Willard.” Oops, I meant because some have called Bobby “Piyush.” Or maybe it’s because we’re anti-Mormon. Or anti-Hindu. Or anti-Christian. “Whatever,” as the kids (used to) say.
ETA: And, just to be clear: you really have no fucking idea why people choose to call Jindal “Piyush,” but you’re going to persist with the whole “you’re all fucking racists and I hates you” until … what? Someone finally says “Yeah, you’re right” just to shut you up? Or everyone gets tired of you and stops replying?
peach flavored shampoo
I bet the IRS, LA DMV, and SS office are suprised to hear this.
SFAW
@peach flavored shampoo:
Which is why he’s going to abolish them when he becomes Preznit.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mandalay: I use Barack HUSSEIN Obama as a slap in the face of racist shitstains like Ann Coulter. To rub it in. There’s not a fucking thing Coulter can do about the fact that the President of the United States’ middle name is “Hussein”.
SFAW
@Villago Delenda Est:
Well, obviously, that makes YOU the REAL racist.
Jay C
To move on, for a moment, from the fascinating subject of whether Gov. Jindal ought to be called “Piyush” or “Bobby”, I wonder what the actual (as opposed to speculated) legal standing of this Executive Order is? Or if Louisiana law regards these orders in a different manner than Federal law (wrt President Obama’s EOs). Can they be overridden by the Lege? Are they subject to court jurisdiction?
This particular one seems, rather idiotically (not unexpected, since it’s Bobby JIndal) to be so specifically directed at same-sex marriages (and gays in general, despite its bland language), that it seems to run right up against a possible legal barrier (especially if the SCOTUS rules that States have to recognize SSM)?
Penus
@lowercase steve:
His mama named him Clay. I’m-a call him Clay!
SFAW
@Penus:
Channeling Joe Frazier, are we?
Penus
@SFAW: Did Frazier say that? I was going for the Coming to America bit, but maybe Eddie cribbed it from Frazier.
SFAW
@Penus:
I don’t know if that’s an actual Frazier quote, but he persisted in calling Ali “Clay” for a number of years. I don’t know if it was just to needle Ali, or because Frazier had no love for the Nation of Islam, or what.
ETA: I have no idea what Frazier thought of Nation of Islam, that was just a random “thought” thrown out for the sake of argument.
NotMax
@JayC
Cannot speak to the legislature, but all executive orders are potentially subject to judicial review (whether the court(s) accept the case(s) is another matter).
Frank McCormick
Wow! Circular firing squad in FULL effect!
inkadu
@Paul in KY: “Hey, racists, your governor is a foreigner, so don’t vote for him.”
Really striking a blow for social justice there, Paul.
Han
@SFAW: Arsenio Hall from Coming to America.
Sadly, one of the last funny Eddie Murphy movies, IMHO. With an early cameo by Samuel L. Jackson, gotta love that.
mr_gravity
@SFAW: I would prefer people call me “Francine”. But only during the late evening hours.
mr_gravity
“Frannie” is also acceptable.
SFAW
@mr_gravity:
Is Francine your name? Or just something you want to be called? And what time zone are you in (re: “evening hours”)?
Not that I’ll do any of that, of course.
madmommy
Sorry to unwittingly start a shitstorm and then bail, but errands wait for no one. As for using the Governor’s name, well…Piyush is his name. He could have changed it legally at any point, hell I changed my given name in 8th grade. Yet he has not. It’s not like he’s trying to win votes in a party notorious for their racist tendencies, so maybe he wishes he had changed it long ago. He isn’t a little kid trying to get through school while looking different, he’s a grown man. If he didn’t want to be Piyush, why not change it legally?
Penus
@madmommy: It strikes me as similar to when Republicans make a big point of saying Barack HUSSEIN Obama. There’s an element of othering to it. We should be better than that.
Signed, a guy who doesn’t go by either of his given names
AxelFoley
@lowercase steve:
Piyush is his real name, so no. As far as I can tell, he hasn’t officially changed his name to Bobby.
Fuck him either way. He wants to be white so bad, it kills him.
mainmata
@Punchy: I’m pretty sure that Jindal’s EO only covers state employees, institutions and actions like contracts, etc. whereas presumably a state law would apply to all citizens and activities in the state.