In spite of fairly widespread conjecture that she was one of the red-state Democrats who should be “watched” when the Blunt-Rubio amendment was brought up to a vote today, Senator Claire McCaskill came through for her constituents and voted to keep our employers out of our bedrooms – and, not incidentally, to preserve meaningful employer-based insurance coverage. If you havn’t done so already, consider sending her a big thank you. In fact, you can drop her a quick thank you note simply by clicking here.

Our GOP Senator Roy Blunt, however, is another story.  Blunt has vowed to go to the mat in the struggle to gut the Affordable Care Act via the backdoor by pretending that he actually believes religious freedom is in danger:

This fight is not over,” said Senate GOP Conference Vice Chair Roy Blunt (R-MO), the author of the amendment that was tabled 51-48 on Thursday. “I will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers of Congress to protect the rights that make our nation great”

So much for those who persist in viewing Blunt as somewhat more moderate than the typical Tea Party boob. There is a difference, but it consists in the distinction that can be drawn between true believers and corporistist shills who are more than willing to make use of the social issues dear to the former as tools to secure or hold onto power.

The real downside is that, once again, an issue that belongs in the individual sphere has been commandeered for political purposes and we will end up spending massive amounts of energy on distractions while real problems are neglected.  As Greg Seargant observes, the fight is just beginning:

… both sides have laid their bets, and given the commitment of base voters on either side to this issue, this battle isn’t going away.