Multidude wrote:
Honestly I'm speechless. That is just too far of a stretch.
Sure. But can you honestly say that had say starbucks chosen to honor Bush's 2004 presidential win with free coffee that a zillion liberal groups wouldn't have argued that they were supporting a president who trampled on civil liberties and got us into an illegal war?
It also happened to be a poor choice of words and context. Some of you are probably unaware, but the Catholic Church (and likely others) are organizing a petition thingie to various members of the Senate and House to show opposition to the "Freedom of Choice Act". One of the key points is that Obama has promised to sign this if Congress passes it (which is made all the more likely now than it was 4 years ago when initially proposed). In case you don't know what it's about or why an organization associated with the Church might care, the Act itself recognizes an inherent "right" to an abortion and would make a whole host of state abortion laws illegal (well beyond the guidelines in Roe v. Wade btw).
So a public statement honoring the inauguration of a president who's promised to sign an Act titled "Freedom of Choice" with a statement about America's freedom of choice, is likely to get some kind of backlash. Yes. It's obvious they were talking about people choosing to elect Obama. But it's politics. If they can use this as an opportunity to raise awareness about the Act, then they're going to take it, right?
They don't care if the relationship is tenuous. They want people to be aware of the Acts existence. The media coverage helps them with this, so the more absurd the better...