Dumb Dick Durbin Demagogues Hobby Lobby

We have speculated from time to time on whether Dick Durbin is the dumbest Democrat of them all. It is a hotly contested title, but he is definitely a contender. Most recently, Durbin has been discoursing on the Hobby Lobby decision. At NRO’s Bench Memos, Ed Whelan takes him apart:

Democratic senator Richard Durbin contends that the Hobby Lobby ruling violates the “fundamental premise” of Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), which held that a constitutional right of privacy protects the use of contraceptives by married persons (and which was extended some years later to unmarried persons). Durbin complains that Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito, as members of the Hobby Lobby majority, failed to live up to their statements in their confirmation hearings in which (per Durbin’s paraphrase) “they both said they stood by the Griswold decision.”

So Hobby Lobby banned the use of contraceptives? Who knew?

Senator Durbin is either a fool or a demagogue (or both). The constitutional right set forth in Griswold is a right against governmental interference, not a right to force a private employer to pay for your contraception. That explains why neither the Obama administration in its Hobby Lobby brief nor even Justice Ginsburg in her histrionic dissent even mentions Griswold.

Are there really Americans who do not understand the difference between 1) banning something, and 2) not paying for it? The Democrats obviously think there are. I dunno, maybe we should try it: the government is banning me from buying a new Jaguar F-Type!

As it happens, one opinion in Hobby Lobby does mention Griswold. That is Justice Alito’s majority opinion, which, as part of its tentative exploration whether the HHS mandate serves a compelling governmental interest, cites Griswold for the proposition that “Under our cases, women (and men) have a constitutional right to obtain contraceptives” (p. 39). Thus, beyond the fact that Hobby Lobby does not conflict at all with Griswold, Alito and Roberts expressly “stood by the Griswold decision” in Hobby Lobby.

The Democrats’ demagoguing of Hobby Lobby is of a piece with their approach to pretty much every issue. It is all about two things: riling up their base by spreading falsehoods, and raising money. They are past the point of making any attempt to govern, or engaging in serious debate on any public policy issue. Their sole goal is retaining their grip on power.

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