Fox’s resident culture warrior, Todd Starnes, visited The Kelly File Thursday night and discussed the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing prayer at government meetings. Host Megyn Kelly described the ruling from Starnes' viewpoint: a “rare victory for America,” in the “war on faith in this country.” Shortly after, they discussed gay rights.
As it turns out, Starnes had a book to flack. He explained:
I kind of feel like a Duck Dynasty guy living in a Miley Cyrus world, where right is wrong and wrong is right and I think a lot of other people in this country feel the same way I do that something is just not right and that something is a war on religious liberty that is specifically targeting the Christian faith.
OK, standard Starnes/Fox News fare. But then, Kelly asked how we can resolve the divide between those in the country who want to “recognize gay rights and not to discriminate against gays and lesbians” and those on the Christian right who feel that “diminishes their Biblical positions.”
Starnes responded:
Well, as I write in my book and Megyn, you know I’m from the southern states so I like to pepper my books with southern sayings. Look, I don’t care how you butter your biscuit, just don’t tell me how to butter mine.
Well, it speaks volumes that Starnes would categorize a group seeking tolerance and acceptance as trying to tell him how to "butter his biscuit." Double entendre and all.
But there is one group Starnes wants tolerance for:
…So folks like the HGTV guys… that’s a very troubling story. Now the LGBT activists are saying, you know, you can’t even hold a job in this country if you don’t believe the way we believe. And Megyn, my book has dozens of examples of people just like those hosts.
Oh, does Starnes mean like ex-professor Ward Churchill? Fired after being hounded by Bill O’Reilly for voicing his views about 9/11? Or The Dixie Chicks, vilified by the right wing after the lead singer criticized then-President George W. Bush? Or how about Dr. George Tiller? Oh, that’s right. He never lost his job for believing in a woman’s right to choose. He was assassinated. After years of attacks on him by Fox News.
Predictably, Kelly didn’t point out any of those pesky facts. She did, however, go on to ask Starnes to explain his nostalgia for the days when “Girls were girls and men were men.” She asked, “What’s up with that, Todd?”
“That’s a shout out to Archie Bunker,” he laughed.
She laughed, too, saying his book sounds “provocative.”
Which I take as code for, “I’m paid millions to cheerlead conservatives, especially when they’re my colleagues. So I’ll definitely find something good to say whether I agree with them or not!”
However, depending on what state a LGBT person lives in, they can be kept from having a job because there’s still many states that do not prevent discriminatory employment practices based on sexual orientation and gender identity! Are you going to speak up on their behalf, Toddles? Yeah, right.
And secondly, it’s extreme hypocrisy for you to be fussing about the LGBT folks standing up to/pushing back against those who don’t believe like they do — you, FOX “news” and those who think like you just love whining and stamping your little feet about the “gay agenda”. Pot, kettle, black, Todd. What about the conservative, Christian agenda, hmm? Those of your ilk are deliberately trying to keep those who don’t believe like YOU from obtaining their full Constitutional rights. The LGBT folks just want the same rights that the rest of us have but people like you are trying to deny them that. Bummer that your side can’t keep them feeling scared, silenced and in the closet anymore like you used to, eh?
Btw, I recommend listening to a Benham brothers interview from this past Friday’s “Ed Schultz Radio Show”. Ed was out so Mike Rogers from Raw Story was filling in. It was very telling the questions that they would not answer. Rogers did a good job outing their hypocrisy and contradictions. The interview is in the below link.
http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/benham-brothers-the-gay-rights-agenda-to-silence-now-threatens-our-livelihood/discrimination/2014/05/10/87073
You worry about your penis, Todd, and I will use and enjoy mine, OK?
The last time I checked, there is NO Constitutional right to having a TV show. Now, maybe if these “HGTV guys” want to start up their own network (or offer FoxNoise the opportunity to expand their programming to include home repair shows), they’re more than free to do that. But—and let’s not forget the FoxNoise stance on “right-to-work” laws—they have NO right to expect a job when their record indicates they don’t support the values the network supports. Sort of like the bigot who was hired as Mozilla’s CEO only to resign after his support of Prop 8 came to light—a position that ran contrary to Mozilla’s own stance on equality.
Once more—“freedom of speech” does NOT equal “freedom from repercussions of that speech.” If you want to express reprehensible opinions, be prepared for the blowback.
