It is clear that NBC hates God, after the network removed the words "Under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance during its broadcast of the U.S. Open. Can't NBC just be free to hate God like every other freedom-loving corporate person? Indiana Sen. Dan Coats says no! This omission must be explained in excruciating detail to top federal authorities.

Coats has sent a letter to NBC executives asking them to "provide a written account of its decision-making process and what actions the network will take to prevent a similar occurrence from happening in the future." Coats acknowledged that the network has already apologized for its decision — there's your first mistake, NBC! — but that's not good enough. He "remain[s] concerned that such a decision to selectively edit the Pledge could be made in the first place."

It's important to make as clear as possible what a leading member of the party that rails against "Big Government" is doing here. Some employees at a private corporation made the decision to remove a couple of words that weren't even in the original text of the Pledge, most likely over the concern that it would offend certain non-religious markets in which they were trying to maximize viewership. This was a decision that employees of a private business made, because they thought it would make them more money. This was probably a miscalculation — no one gives a shit about whether "Under God" is mentioned on the teevee — but that's NBC's bottom-line issue. And yet now we have a Senator demanding written records and proof of why it will never happen again! This is a fine pander, and Dan Coats deserves applause. We're getting a special bonus mid-year "War on Christmas," and America's children couldn't be more excited.

[Image via AP]