On the surface, tonight’s State of the Union (SOTU) address is little different from the others delivered by President Obama or any other president for the past century. It will include pomp and circumstance, and portray the U.S. president as a king-like figure deigning to speak to Congress instead of as the head of a co-equal branch of the federal government.

But just below the surface, in and amongst the political and the politically correct invitees, a couple of Republicans are openly promoting religious liberty.

Part of the narrative is providential: Yesterday was the deadline for amicus briefs to be submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the Obama administration’s abortifacient and contraceptive mandate. More than 200 Members of Congress signed a brief in favor of the Little Sisters of the Poor, Priests for Life and the other five organizations fighting the mandate.

Part of the narrative is by political design, with all of the media associated with the State of the Union address. House Speaker Paul Ryan, who signed the amicus brief, has invited the Little Sisters of the Poor to attend the event as his guests, thus showcasing the common face of the mandate’s victims — victims who, unlike corporations like Exxon-Mobil, have not been granted exemptions from the mandate.

“The Little Sisters of the Poor care for the most vulnerable among us, and they should be free to practice their faith without the threat of government interference or intimidation,” Ryan said. “It’s my privilege to support their cause.”

Also, Senator James Lankford, R-OK, has invited another victim — Oklahoma Wesleyan University president Dr. Everett Piper — to attend. Like Ryan, Lankford signed the brief, and like the Little Sisters, Piper is taking the mandate head-on in the courts.

“The reason for our lawsuit is simple and clear,” said Piper in a statement from the Alliance Defending Freedom. “Under the guise of Obamacare, the Obama administration claims it has the right to require Oklahoma Wesleyan to include the provision of abortifacient drugs in its employee health insurance package. A government that is this cavalier in its disrespect of religious freedom is a government that disrespects the Constitution and the women it is intended to protect.”

On another religious liberty front, Jim Obergefell, whose case led to the Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage and a subsequent warning from conservative justices that freedom was being put at risk, will attend as a guest of the First Couple. Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, who was jailed for refusing to sign same-sex “marriage” licenses, also is reportedly attending, though the congressional member hosting her has not been reported as of this writing.

As a seven-year veteran of the Beltway, I am generally loathe to give credit to politicians of either party for getting something right, given how much both parties have gotten wrong. But Ryan and Lankford deserve credit for making sure the media and President Obama are faced with some of the real victims of President Obama’s prolonged attacks on religious liberty.