Two weeks ago, it looked like Georgia was on the verge of joining the parade of discrimination disguised as religious freedom. After all, a Republican-dominated legislature had just passed a bill similar to the one passed in Mississippi, and sent it to the desk of a very conservative Republican governor, Nathan Deal. But Deal vetoed it. Well, amid talk that the legislature may revive it, Deal decided to shut down any talk that such a monstrosity will ever become law as long as he’s governor.
In his first public comments since vetoing the bill, Deal told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he’s not willing to “prejudge” any attempt to pass another “religious freedom” bill. However, he had a message for his colleagues in the Georgia General Assembly–he doesn’t want a repeat of what happened last month.
“I don’t want to go through the same process all over again. I’ve made my position very clear. I tried to write a very thoughtful veto message. It expressed my concerns and it expressed my reasons for vetoing it. And those reasons won’t change in my mind.”
Cliff Notes version: Don’t waste your time sending me another bill like this, because I’ll veto it again. Although a number of Republicans–including his own lieutenant governor, Casey Cagle–said this bill was a must, Deal said that he took “a very deep breath” while mulling whether to sign the bill and thinks his fellow Republicans need to do the same.
Deal also let us in on what his thinking was when he ultimately made the decision to veto the bill. For one thing, he felt it was unnecessary because it was merely a rehash of things already covered by both state and federal law–in essence, the same conclusion that Nikki Haley drew about a similar attempt in South Carolina. He was also concerned about some of the language in the bill, which led him to conclude that it was “intended for purposes other than what those supporting it said it was intended for.” He also admitted the obvious–he’d seen the backlash from similar bills in North Carolina and Mississippi, and wanted to spare Georgia “that kind of scenario.”
You would have thought that Deal would have had some cover to take a stand on discrimination disguised as religious freedom. He had a lifetime American Conservative Union rating of 90 during his 17-year tenure representing much of north Georgia in Congress–an area that is now the reddest district in the Eastern Time Zone. It would have been even higher than that, but he spent his first term as a Democrat with ACU ratings in the 60s. In other words–this guy isn’t exactly a RINO. But Deal has been slammed up and down by religious conservatives, as well as rank-and-file state legislators. He admits this has weighed on him, but has no qualms about doing something that he felt was “in the best interest of Georgia.”
My governor, Pat McCrory of North Carolina, would do well to take some lessons from Deal. After all, McCrory is supposedly more moderate than Deal. And yet, in what can charitably be described as a craven act of non-leadership, McCrory signed a bill into law that he initially thought went too far. Had he taken a “deep breath,” as Deal had done, he would have had the good sense to veto it.
I haven’t thought a whole lot of Deal over the years. After all, his party switch in 1995 was total and opportunistic as all hell. But it seems that actually having to break a sweat in order to win an election–something Deal never had to do before his runs for governor in 2010 and 2014–must have a way of clearing heads. It’s a sad day when you actually have to applaud a governor for doing his job–speaking for ALL of his state. But Deal deserves applause for taking off his red-tinted blinders long enough to see this “religious freedom” bill was a disaster waiting to happen.
