If you watched the cable news stations or the Sunday morning talks shows on the networks, you know that the controversy over the Obama administration's decision to force Catholic institutions to pay for insurance that covers abortifacients, sterilization and contraception has landed squarely in the mainstream media and that most commentators understand that this was a really stupid move by the White House. This morning in the Washington Post, Kathleen Parker, who is not a ranter by any stretch, looks at the HHS decision and the controversy surrounding the Komen Foundation.
The other thing that emerged from the coverage was how badly informed some commentators are. On Fox News Sunday, Juan Williams seemed to think that the mandate was a function of Catholic institutions receiving federal funds, but this has nothing to do with that. Chris Satullo, a commentator on WHYY this morning on my drive up here, made the same mistake. Both men also seem to think that the issue is unique to institutions that dispense health care, which is also not the case. At least Satullo nonetheless grasped that, at the end of the day, this was a bad decision.
One thing is clear - the issue is not going away.
