Apparently, Pope Francis is just not Christian enough For Fox News’ Todd Starnes. He not only adamantly defended Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson’s anti-gay comments as pro-Christian, he suggested that anyone who disagreed is anti-Christian.
In a discussion on Hannity last night, guest host Tucker Carlson whitwashed Robertson’s comments by describing them as “dar(ing) to voice his personal opinions about homosexuality.” Which is kind of like saying that somebody calling a black man the n-word is just “daring to voice his personal opinions about race.” And speaking of race, Robertson’s comments about African Americans were pretty darned offensive, too. Yet Carlson never mentioned them.
Instead, Carlson repeatedly turned the discussion – not to Robertson “just expressing his opinion” but to demonizing the left. He agreed with panelist Rick Ungar that this controversy will not end the Duck Dynasty show. Then Carlson quickly added, “But I want to talk about tolerance, which is the lodestar of the left. ‘We’re tolerant.’ Really? You’re so tolerant that you’re crushing this guy for expressing beliefs that you don’t share.”
Which is a nice way to spin it.
Ungar nicely pointed out that it wasn’t Robertson’s disapproval of homosexuality that has so upset people but the way that he expressed it. “He said some pretty gross things in there,” Ungar said. Which both Carlson and Starnes seemed to think irrelevant.
Instead, Starnes, of Fox News Radio, got right with the “let’s make this about the left” program. “Those who preach tolerance and diversity in this country are, in fact, the least tolerant and diverse of all,” he declaredl.
Now that’s hilarious. For one thing, Starnes is a blatantly anti-gay employee of Fox. And his record on racial issues is suspect, as well. In fact, Starnes may well be the least tolerant person at Fox. And that’s saying a lot. At any rate, he’s in no position to judge. At the very least, “tolerance champion” Carlson (a guy with a homphobic and bigoted record all his own) should have told the viewers of “fair and balanced” Fox just how closely aligned Starnes’ views are with Robertson’s.
As guest Remi Spencer, an attorney, went on to argue that this is not about Robertson’s free speech rights but the commercial decision by A&E about someone under contract, Carlson again changed the discussion to make it about smearing liberals:
But we’re talking about the principle here, which is, where are the civil-libertarian liberals who stand up for the right of people to offend? I mean, Al Goldstein just died, the pornographer. He was defended for decades by people on the grounds, “I think what he says is disgusting and he has the right to say it.” What liberals are saying that about Phil Robertson?
Of course, Al Goldstein never had a reality show and Robertson is not being criminally prosecuted, as Goldstein was. Don’t tell me that Carlson didn’t know the difference.
Spencer also made the point that Robertson is not representative of all Christians, that there are many “very devout” and “very religious” Christians with different opinions. She didn't mention him but the Pope sprang immediately to my mind given his recent comments saying, If a a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge."
Well, what would Pope Francis know, Starnes must think. He replied, “I am so sorry but that is not true. (Robertson) was quoting from the Holy Bible. If Phil Robertson had been twerking a duck, he would have gotten an Emmy.”
Maybe twerking a duck would have won him acclaim, but Robertson was smearing gays and blacks – and Starnes awarded him an honor for it. Starnes announced he had declared it “Ducky Dynasty Appreciation Day” on his radio show and “standing in solidarity,” with Robertson, he wore a camo tie on Hannity that night. That got chuckles from Spencer and a compliment from Carlson.
I've got to think that if Carlson and Starnes didn't basically approve of Robertson's remarks, they wouldn't be so vociferously defending him.
And, of course, if Robertson HAD been twerking on his show, I’m sure that FoxNoise would be right there treating him the same way they did Miley Cyrus for HER performance (which, by the way, ain’t gonna win an Emmy either since it really wasn’t all that great when it comes to full-on twerking). I have to admit a bit of confusion with the twerking analogy anyway. Did Starnes miss ALL THE CRITICISM that Miley received from the performance, EVEN from self-described liberals? About the only kind of “defense” offered to Miley was in a rather backhanded way—that Miley was being slammed for the performance while Robin Thicke wasn’t getting any heat (sort of like the way Janet Jackson got all the heat from “nipplegate” while her “partner in crime,” Justin Timberlake, didn’t suffer any negative feedback, aside from women’s groups who did condemn JT’s attempt to blame Janet for the whole thing) but that was still fairly mute compared to the absurd coverage of the incident.
And in all honesty, ain’t NO ONE who would want to see Phil Robertson twerking. (And anyone who would really needs to be institutionalized because they pose a danger to themselves—and others.)
You read Fox News’ script for January, didn’t you?