Even when Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is right, he finds a way to be wrong. In a press release correctly condemning his fellow Missouri Republicans for effectively ousting his public health nominee based on misinformation, Parson declared that he wouldn't have put anyone in that role who doesn't have "the same Christian values" as himself.

So atheists, Muslims and Jews need not apply for state-funded positions under this administration? In addition to being deeply offensive, that suggestion — made on official letterhead and posted on the governor's official Twitter account — is blatantly unconstitutional.

Parson made the comment while savaging state Senate Republicans for refusing to confirm his appointment of Donald Kauerauf as director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Kauerauf was well-qualified, but that means nothing to today's elected Republicans, who too often see their duty as nothing more or less than appeasing the most irrational elements of their base.

Components of that base had launched a sabotage campaign against Kauerauf, falsely alleging he had called for mask mandates and vaccine requirements and questioning his commitment to their anti-abortion-rights cause. Those allegations were baseless rantings by fringe extremists, but that didn't stop Senate Republicans from dutifully carrying their water and handing Parson a defeat.

Issuing his own angry rant in a press release, Parson chided the Senate for choosing "to believe baseless rumors and outright lies on social media rather than the facts in front of them." That's an accurate summary of the situation — and an ironically good description of the pandemic response from too many of the conservatives with whom Parson has aligned himself.

Parson also slammed Senate Republicans for "tarnishing a man's character by feeding misinformation." Right again. And, again, it could serve as an eerily apt description of another issue: Parson's bizarre campaign of belligerent public attacks and legal threats against Post-Dispatch reporter Josh Renaud for daring to discover a security vulnerability in an online state database and bringing it to the administration's attention before going public with it.

If that episode hinted that Parson isn't especially respectful of the First Amendment, his comment in the press release defending Kauerauf's anti-abortion credentials confirms it. "Missourians know that I share these beliefs and would not have nominated someone who does not share the same Christian values," he wrote.

While we disagree with Parson's policies opposing abortion rights, he has a right as governor to appoint cabinet members with similar policy views. But imposing a religion-specific litmus test is something entirely different — and entirely improper.

It's never been in Parson's nature to be courageous enough to retract such a statement. As this and other episodes have demonstrated, thoughtful acceptance of criticism isn't exactly his strong suit. But Missouri voters at least should know that the leader of this state's democracy apparently views it as more of a theocracy.

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