Megyn Kelly, Duck Dynasty, and the 'Debate' Over Sexual Orientation

“Is he ever coming back? It remains to be seen, but that will certainly shut down debate. There really won’t, I mean, he’s a Christian man — I grant you, he did not say this in the kindest way – but why can’t there be a debate about it? Why can’t there be a back-and-forth, a discussion — you know, that’s how he feels, and you say how you feel, instead of saying, ‘You are fired, you are basically canned.’”
— Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, defending Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson, who was suspended for remarks in an interview comparing people in the LGBT community to drunks, thieves, and prostitutes. Robertson was suspended indefinitely by A&E for the comments.

Here’s the thing Megyn, we’ve had that conversation. We’ve had that debate for decades. What more do you think we need to say here? And what new info did this clown supposedly bring to the table here?He’s not the first guy who’s ever said, “Them homersexuals is bein’ immoral ‘cause th’ Bible.” He’s not exactly breaking new ground here. How long are we supposed to sit back and listen to the same tired, unconvincing, insulting arguments and over and over?

Kelly isn’t calling for a debate — and neither are the rest of Roberston’s defenders. She’s asking for the right to hurl insults at people in the LGBT community, while members of that community shut up and take it.

Sorry folks, that part of the “debate” is over.

News Roundup for 4/25/12

Rightwing domestic violence expert

-Headline of the Day-
"Religious right lobbies against VAWA."

OK, so what's the VAWA? That's the Violence Against Women Act. Why would so-called religious leaders be against that? "[B]ecause of new provisions that ensure that LGBT victims of domestic violence do not encounter discrimination while seeking help," the report tells us.

You know, because Jesus said you ought to be able to smack lesbians around if you want.

Actually, the idea is that anything that recognizes or protects LGBT people "normalizes" them. So it's better to pretend they don't exist because... Well, that's not extremely clear.

However, unlike the other War on Women fiascos the right has staged lately, this one includes at least one honest-to-goodness expert on the subject of violence against women. According to the report, a letter to the Judiciary Committee on the subject "was also signed by conservative activist Timothy Johnson, who was convicted of a felony domestic violence charge and was arrested a second time for putting his wife in a wrist lock and choking his son."

Apparently Bluebeard was unavailable. (Maddow Blog)


-Ladies man-



Of course, it's easy to be a ladies man when the only alternative to you is a pack of misogynistic psychopaths. (McClatchy)


-Bonus HotD-
"Tennessee Rep.: Bullied Gay Children Who Killed Themselves Didn’t Have ‘Proper Principles.’"

And so we hit the conservatives-are-just-dicks trifecta. (Wonkette)

News Roundup for 3/17/11

Probably doesn't hate gays

-Headline of the day-
"Irish Minister Criticizes NYC St. Pat's Parade."

Who's more Irish than New York City? Boston and Ireland, that's who. And it was some Irish guy who was hating on the annual St. Patrick's Day parade in NYC yesterday.

According to the report, "Irish foreign minister Eamon Gilmore criticized the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade for its ban on LGBT groups, saying, 'Exclusion is not an Irish thing.'"

"What these parades are about is a celebration of Ireland and Irishness," he told the Irish-American outlet Irish Voice. "I think they need to celebrate Ireland as it is, not as people imagine it. Equality is very much the center of who we are in our identity in Ireland."

So less about the guy on the Lucky Charms box and more about actual Ireland. Got it. As a side note, there's absolutely no evidence that the guy on the Lucky Charms box hates gays either. (The Advocate)


-Cartoon time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, you wonder how the nuclear crisis in Japan is changing things here in America? Me too! Let's have a look and see. Yay!


Click for animation

OK, so it didn't change anything... (MarkFiore.com)


-Bonus HotD-
"Maine GOP Gov. Paul LePage Stole Candy From Children, Wants To Undo Child Labor Laws."

Today's GOP, looking out for you. (ThinkProgress)

Republicans Don't Hate Gays... Well, Not as Much as They Could, Anyway

This just struck me as funny. As you probably know, Ken Mehlman -- former RNC head and the author of GWB's 2004 "OH MY GOD, THE GAYS ARE TAKING OVER!" campaign -- is just so freakin' gay. So, of course, Republicans are out in droves denying they've ever hated gay people -- despite the obvious fact that they do.

But wait, Peter Wehner at Commentary has proof that the right doesn't hate the gays and he delivers his smackdown argument thusly (emphasis mine):

I suppose that’s predictable. He is, after all, the most powerful Republican ever to identify himself as gay. But my sense is that it’ll be a lot less of a big deal to conservatives than it might be to liberals like (just to choose one name at random) Frank Rich, for whom the political is also the personal. While it’s something that runs counter to the stereotype, most of the conservatives I know are largely to completely indifferent to a person’s sexual orientation. They are the kind of people who might even invite Elton John to perform at their weddings and not give a second thought to the fact that John is gay.

Yes, Elton John played at Rush Limbaugh's umpteenth wedding. Wow. How "tolerant" of him to offer a job to a gay fella. Was John a guest at the wedding?

Well, no.

This would be like pointing to a white wedding in the '50s and arguing that there's no racism because there's a black bartender someplace. Or an Asian florist or Jewish tailor. It's like saying a turn-of-the-century Man of Substance wasn't sexist and, to prove it, presenting his maid. Would handlebar-mustachioed millionaire-industrialist Phineas B. Applebottom hire a mere woman if he hated them so much? Yes actually, he might. In fact, I'm pretty damned sure a lot of women-haters did. They even married them.

So, does hiring Elton John prove that Rush Limbaugh doesn't hate gays? No, it doesn't. Hiring someone to perform a service for you doesn't mean you think of them as an equal. It never has. That this was the best example of rightwing tolerance Wehner could think of shows just how intolerant they really are.

Hating the Heroes

A leftover bookmark from my earlier post on the politics of hate.

ABC News:

Air Force Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach has flown on dozens of combat missions over Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo as an F-15E Strike Eagle weapons officer. His commanders have called him a "war hero," "superstar" and "#1 officer/aviator."

But now Fehrenbach is flying into the fight of his career -- this time in a federal courtroom and under fire from the military he's spent 19 years serving.

A U.S. Air Force panel has recommended Fehrenbach be discharged immediately under the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy that bars openly gay and lesbian service members from the force. His attorneys are asking a federal judge to find the policy unconstitutional.

Fehrenbach is one of the highest-ranking military officers investigated for homosexual conduct. A discharge before September 2011 would cost him valuable military retirement benefits awarded to those who serve at least 20 years.

I'm sorry, who's besmirching American heroism again? Seems to me that a Muslim community center in New York has nothing at all to do with this. In fact, it seems to me that rightwing homophobia is more of the issue here. But let's go ahead and ignore this example of the military shedding its finest officers for no good reason in a time of war, because there's no political advantage to Republicans in correcting this.