using religious liberty to suppress women's liberty

GOP candidates have picked up the ball put into play by a group of conservative catholic bishops to attack president obama by claiming he attacks religious liberty by keeping birth control available to women who want it.

a few days ago i posted an article from catholic democrats that gives some of the history of that particular smear of obama. here's an excerpt:

The bishops' "religious liberty" campaign derived its origins in part from a 2009 conservative political document called "The Manhattan Declaration," written by Princeton Professor Robert George and endorsed by a broad range of Republican activists. George was a leading architect of what can only be labeled a campaign of hate speech toward candidate Obama in 2008, repeatedly labelling him as "the most pro-abortion candidate of either major political party in history." Archbishop Dolan and several other bishops with strong anti-Obama views signed that document, which claimed that there was a growing assault on religious liberty in America because Democrats refused to adopt Republican views on reversing Roe-vs-Wade and other conservative postures. Some bishops have now signed-on wholesale to the Republican view that President Obama is somehow out to get Catholics, despite his having a cabinet with an unprecedented number of Catholics....

on jstor.org i found a review of a 1993 book by professor george. consider this excerpt:

...he is consistently respectful of his opponents and careful in his attempts to present their arguments. ...george scrupulously avoids rhetorical excesses in favor of considered argument.

note how that contrasts with george's description of obama as "the most pro-abortion candidate of either major political party in history."

apparently the professor was once able to maintain objectivity in his academic pursuits but has more recently abandoned that ethical stance in his political activities.

too bad.