Somebody call a wah-mbulance for Karl Rove and Bill O’Reilly, the downtrodden one percenters watching Republicans get hosed over Indiana’s “religious freedom” law – and unable to stop it.
What probably did the most damage to Indiana’s law were business objections and looming economic consequences. But Rove and O’Reilly were acting like some Occupy-types were on the verge of imposing some kind of secular-progressive martial law.
“The Democrats sense blood here,” O’Reilly said grimly. He told Rove, “Whoever runs for president, the Republican party is going to have to confront this issue of secular progressives defaming, maligning, slandering and libeling people of faith. Now, you’re gonna have to take a stance on it.”
Rove acknowledged that most of the GOP presidential candidates have come out in support of Indiana’s law and that defending the Indiana law is “a loser.” But, he insisted, “It will become a winner for the Republicans and for conservatives if they stand up and take it on and take on the hypocrisy.”
He was referring to the fact that Apple is “selling computers in Malaysia” where, according to Rove, it’s against the law to be gay. While Rove declared he loves Apple, he attacked the company’s CEO, Tim Cook, for selling computers in Malaysia where it is against the law to be gay.
But O’Reilly doesn’t see that as a winner for the Republicans. “Your points are absolutely valid. There’s hypocrisy all over the place,” O’Reilly said irritably. “Pointing to it isn’t going to help this cultural civil war. We need a leader in this country who’s gonna be very, very clear on this issue, very clear – that religious people in America are getting the hell kicked out of them now. Pardon the word.”
Rove agreed, but said, “There also needs to be a whistle blown on hypocrisy.” Because why? Making the right-wing hate the left even more is going to win over voters?
O’Reilly intoned, “Unless the Republican party starts to stand up for people of faith in this country, they will lose.”
Presumably, by “standing up for people of faith” O’Reilly means standing up for laws like Indiana’s. But the problem for Rove, O'Reilly and Republicans is, that’s not where the American public stands.
Watch it below, from last night's The O'Reilly Factor, via Media Matters.
It is hypocrisy if Apple sells computers in a country where gays are oppressed…but they support amending the constitution to outlaw gay marriage.
They want Apple to stop selling computers in America?
And this coming from a guy who, on this morning’s F&F, referred to those who don’t back these RFRA laws as “totalitarians” and “fascists”. Sounds like BOR is engaging in some defaming, maligning, etc. of his own.
But you are right about one thing, BOR – there is “hypocrisy all over the place” and you can find it by looking in the mirror.
But American Christianists don’t do that anymore!
We just want permission to be complete assholes to gay people.
smh
Stop acting like this is a Democrat-Republican thing. Your dopey old-ass audience might be too dull to understand the nuance, but this issue is reaching across party lines because it sets a dangerous precedent.
Can’t understand that, can you now…?
There are people whose faith tells them there should be no organ music in church, do those people refuse to sell wedding goods to people of the organ music persuasion? It may not seem like a big deal, but one religion actually split in two over it.
Hypocrisy is pretending that this one issue of gay marriage is so definitive of Christianity that normal rules don’t apply—when it clearly isn’t so.
And why would the exceptional USA, Land of the Braves, Beacon of Freedom, be held to a higher standard than Malaysia ?
