To mix a few metaphors, when Brit Hume sticks his foot in his mouth, he just keeps digging!
(Pause while you form that mental picture. Got it?)
A few weeks back Brit Hume made headlines by dropping any pretense he had left that he was a journalist of some sort, and suggesting that in order for Tiger Woods to fix his mistakes, he should abandon his Buddhist faith and become a Christian. (This, despite the fact that on most counts, practicing Buddhists mop the floor with practicing Christians when it comes to morality.) Well, now he’s gone and done it again. After Tiger’s press conference where he said “Sorry about all the sex, y’all,” he said that he had “lost track” of the teachings of his faith.
So that should be the end of the story, right? Oh, but no. Brit Hume decided to go on television and say this instead:
I thought Tiger Woods showed himself in that presentation to be a shaken, chastened, and contrite man. And gone was the swagger. Gone was all of the radiant self-confidence that we used to see in him. This was a pretty shaken guy up there.
Now look, I think, because I’m a Christian and I believe that Christianity is true, that Tiger Woods and his wife Elin would be a lot farther down the road toward forgiveness and redemption if they were both Christians, but they’re not. And I – they’re going to do the best they can with what they have. And I wish Tiger Woods well.
Oh fergawdsake. Now it’s a pissing contest over which religion brings redemption faster?
Christianity: I can forgive you all the way past that tree!
Peter LaBarbera decided to get on the computer tonight to reprint a malformed little tirade from one Daniel Zanoza, “executive director” of some group called “Republicans for Fair Media.” Zanoza’s piece bemoans the fact that Bill O’Reilly ran a “Culture Warriors” segment, and none of the panelists supported keeping Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in place. Worse than that? Even Bill O’Reilly supported repeal! (See update below.) The hysterical, fearful mental state which led to Zanoza’s dismay also leads him to ask “Is Fox news tacking to the left” to “appease and attract more liberal viewers?”
Uh, Daniel, no.
Fox News is not tacking to the left. Your positions are just rapidly becoming so grotesque in the public eye that even Fox is beginning to realize how ill-informed and bigoted they are.* You refer to lifting DADT as a “social experiment,” the favored term of know-nothings like Elaine Donnelly, but the reality is that gays serve in the US Military already and have for years, and the institution hasn’t fallen apart. Likewise, gays serve openly in the militaries in the United Kingdom, Israel, and a host of other places, and if you’d done any research on the issue before hunting/pecking your ignorance into the perpetuity of the internet, you’d know that the Israeli military is one of the fiercest fighting forces in the world. EVEN WITH ALL THOSE HOMOS!
I guess we’re just a hell of a lot tougher than your tortured little minds would like to admit.
As I said above, when you’re losing Fox News, you might as well pack it in, because you’ve lost the war.
(By the way, the funniest line in Zanoza’s screed is where he talks about how shocked he was to hear this “liberal” stuff because Fox is supposed to be “Fair and Balanced,” which, in the wingnut mind, means never having to be confronted with ideas you disagree with/have no rational argument against. Wingnuts are such delicate creatures.)
*A turning point for that was likely Elaine Donnelly’s embarrassing testimony before Congress a while back, when Patrick Murphy tore her to pieces as others present in the room openly marveled at the insane things coming out of her mouth. Good times.
UPDATE: Jeremy pulled the transcript (something I should have done, but didn’t think about in my pre-coffee writing) and it seems that Daniel Zanoza’s account of the O’Reilly segment doesn’t even match reality. The two panelists indeed supported repeal, and O’Reilly played a bit of devil’s advocate against them, and from what I can see, pulled out some tired conservative tropes about the military not wanting openly gay people serving. (They tend to rely on a flawed, unscientific poll of Military Times readers, who are mostly older, and many are retired.) As Jeremy said, the exchange is pretty much what you would expect from O’Reilly. So Zanoza’s “the sky is falling!” hysteria, aside from being insane, was based on watching a television segment that simply didn’t happen.
Americans Are Tired of the Politics of Personal Destruction, Says TWO
NEW YORK – Truth Wins Out criticized the on-going smear campaign that anti-gay organizations and politicians are orchestrating against Kevin Jennings, who is serving as the Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education for the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools.
“We are witnessing a disgraceful political hit job filled with baseless allegations, ugly innuendo and outright homophobia,” said Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen. “Kevin Jennings is a hero that has saved the lives of many students and is eminently qualified for his position. Thanks to his work, countless gay youth were able to concentrate on scholastic success instead of basic survival or even suicide.”
The groundless attacks intensified after fifty-three House Republicans signed a letter to the Obama administration asking for the dismissal of Jennings. “As the founder of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, Mr. Jennings has played an integral role in promoting homosexuality and pushing a pro-homosexual agenda in America’s schools –an agenda that runs counter to the values that many parents desire to instill in their children,” the lawmakers write.
“Jennings ‘real agenda’ was promoting tolerance and stopping children from essentially getting mugged in schools because of their real or perceived sexual orientation,” said Besen. “These attempts to slime Jennings have nothing to do with his exemplary record or qualifications. Instead, extremists are trying to use Jennings as a proxy to further their culture war.
“When America elected Barack Obama,” Besen continued, “they wanted to end the politics of personal destruction and transcend politics as usual. People are tired of the lies, distortions and roaring rhetoric and it is time that anti-gay activists retire such tactics.”
The smears began when right wing media outlets irresponsibly reported that Jennings counseled a fifteen-year-old student who was allegedly having a relationship with a twenty-four year old man. They claimed he instructed the young man to use a condom, while he should have reported the illegal relationship to the authorities.
However, the truth is, the young man was actually 16, the legal age of consent, and no sexual relations actually occurred. The suggestion of condom use, if the young man had chosen to be sexually active, was appropriate, given the alternative was that he may have contracted HIV if he was ignorant on how to protect himself.
Media Matters tracked down the young man in question, Brewster, who said:
“In 1988, I had taken a bus home for the weekend, and on the return trip met someone who was also gay. The next day, I had a conversation with Mr. Jennings about it. I had no sexual contact with anybody at the time, though I was entirely legally free to do so. I was a sixteen year-old going through something most of us have experienced: adolescence.
“I find it regrettable that the people who have the compassion and integrity to protect our nation’s students are themselves in need of protection from homophobic smear attacks. Were it not for Mr. Jennings’ courage and concern for my well-being at that time in my life, I doubt I’d be the proud gay man that I am today.”
“It is beyond ridiculous that Jennings is being criticized for giving advice on a legal relationship that never even occurred,” said TWO’s Wayne Besen. “These abusive attacks are immoral and despicable and show that the modern Republican Party must resort to below the belt politics to hold onto its dwindling support.
“It is surreal that the GOP is once again posing as the party of family values,” continued Besen “One would think they were too busy walking the Appalachian Trail or applauding the ‘family values’ of Sens. David Vitter and John Ensign to even notice Jennings. Why is a party that is a billboard for bad behavior still preaching to America? Jennings is an outstanding educator and upstanding citizen. He should be left alone to do his job and educate America’s children.”
Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that counters anti-gay propaganda, exposes the “ex-gay” myth and educates America about gay life. For more information, visit TruthWinsOut.org.
