There’s a proposal pending in New York’s legislature that would require restaurants in state highway system rest areas to operate seven days a week. At face value, that might seem unremarkable, except the Chick-fil-A chain is closed on Sundays and would be affected by the proposed change.
It’s not yet clear whether the state legislation will pass, and according to an Associated Press report, the bill wouldn’t immediately apply to restaurants currently operating. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina nevertheless said late last week that he was declaring “war” over the measure.
It was against this backdrop that the Republican senator appeared on Fox News this week and suggested that state legislators in the Empire State should follow the right’s ideological approach:
“The bottom line is conservatives are tolerant. We are, you know, kind of, get out of your business. You leave me alone, I’ll leave you alone.”
As a video clip of the comment helped show, Graham said this in a rather matter-of-fact way, as if his description of contemporary conservativism was obvious and plainly true.
This was, of course, the same longtime GOP lawmaker who last year unveiled a federal abortion ban, which would be imposed on the nation.
Indeed, therein lies the point. Graham’s description of conservatism certainly sounded quite nice. The government is going to get out of my business and leave people alone? It’s the kind of pitch that’s likely to have broad appeal.
The trouble, of course, is that the description comes with fine print that the South Carolinian neglected to mention. For Republicans, the goal is to keep government out of your business and leave you alone, just so long as you don’t want to terminate a dangerous or unwanted pregnancy. Or provide medical care for a transgender minor. Or read the “wrong” library book. Or teach a class the right considers racially provocative. Or run a business with policies the GOP considers “woke.”
For the Republican officials who still oppose marriage equality, conservatism is about ensuring the government leaves you alone, just so long as same-sex couples don't expect equal treatment under the law.
Watching Graham, I also found myself thinking about Texas’ Kate Cox, who had to leave her home state for medical care because of a law approved by conservative legislators, enforced by a conservative state attorney general, and endorsed by conservative state Supreme Court justices.
Conservatives are committed to getting government "out of your business”? Try again, senator.