Freedom Of Religion The Bryan Fischer Way!

Bryan Fischer, the "Director of Issues Analysis" for the social conservative group the American Family Association, says that when it comes to Islam, the First Amendment is a privilege, not a right. "Islam has no fundamental First Amendment claims, for the simple reason that it was not written to protect the religion of Islam," Fischer wrote today.

Such is the slippery slope of Christofascism. The First Amendment was written to protect all religions, but Fischer does not think Islam is a proper religion.

"The First Amendment was written by the Founders to protect the free exercise of Christianity." He might have said, "Christianity alone," for it the statement meant.

While you're trying desperately to digest that form of bigotry and Islamophobia, watch this old sketch with the two Stephens battling it out. It's hysterical!

George Rekers Vs The Nashville Flood: The Media's Decisions

Which is more important? 

We all have our passions ...

and they must be made known.

Anderson Cooper has HUMANITY. Janet Porter hawks DOMINION over everything,   Lou Engle SANCTIONS UGANDA and Tony Perkins' favorite words are CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION. With me, it's HYPOCRISY.

But on his CNN program, Anderson Cooper 360,  taught me a valuable lesson: good journalism concentrates on the truly important things. At times, those things may seem frivolous, even salacious, but they are important for people to know.

As I watched his fervor in relating what the city of Nashville was going through and the determination of its people to immediately help one another to recuperate and rebuild, I realized that he was doing what he believed should be done: tell the rest of us about the whole story no matter how horrendous or tragic, mawkish or even numbing it may seem. By now, everyone knows that Cooper loves being in the middle of the conflict or disaster: his coverage of Haiti continues even though some news sources have dropped it all together. Cooper's coverage, however, does not go for the sensational, but instead earnestly attempts the real. 

I covered the George Rekers scandal from the moment I read Wayne Besen's account. Wayne's report came immediately after the Miami New Times piece (within one hour, actually) and I submitted mine to OpEdNews within the next several hours. I looked anxiously for any other news sources. Over a period of 24 hours, I found only Joe  Jervis   (Joe.My.God), Alvin McEwen (Huffington Post), and Stephen Colbert. The Miami New Times gave updates, followed immediately by first-hand interviews by Joe  Jervis. I waited another 12 hours and discovered Jay Leno, Craig Ferguson, Rachel Maddow, and Joy Behar along with continuing updates by Besen and Jervis  upon which I wrote another piece and submitted it to OpEdNews. However, I was getting frustrated. I must have googled "George Alan Rekers" a thousand times in 24 hours, almost always coming up with nothing (yes, there was a small interview with the gay online magazine, Unzipped, but it wasn't publicized very well) Then I found out that Rekers' rentboy, Julien, acquiesed to an interview on Anderson Cooper 360. 

I was definitely anxious to see how the scandal and the rentboy would be treated. I was not let down: the story was told in a very straightforward manner, Julien was treated with respect and Cooper's ending included the formal statement by the Family Research Council. Yes, it was fair and balanced (ahem). 

Watching CNN's other stories impacted me in a way I had not expected: Cooper and CNN gave as much time and attention to Rekers' story as they did to the looming epidemic in Haiti and the murder of UVA student Yardley Love. And while the reporting was done in several different styles (Julien's interview was with CNN's Randi Kaye), each report was given its own impetus ... and its own stature among the rest. The message was clear: this was an IMPORTANT story and people should know about it. The focus was not placed entirely on Julien. That would have been too tempting for any other newscast; instead, the focus was on Rekers and his hypocrisy. 

And here I thought that only a few investigators and late-night comics considered it newsworthy.

Of course, other people (namely people like Tony Perkins and James Dobson) will put down CNN and Cooper because they consider anyone placing them in a bad light (or under a microscope) to be "anti-Christian." Janet Porter will point out that it's another reason  why America's Christian community should have "dominion" over the media. Lou Engles will try to blame Julien and all gays. And Pat Robertson will say, well, ah, something stupid.

Joe Jervis thought that CNN's coverage of the scandal (including Lucien's interview) was a disappointment and that Rachel Maddow's comments rocked. I liked both: Cooper 's job was to present the news while Maddow's job was to analyze the news and comment on it. 

Inmany case, the story is now "world class" thanks to sound investigative reporting. BTW, FOX "News" has not covered it. Go ahead and google it. Go to Fox's website and search. Unless it has done something between the time that I'm writing and the time you're reading, I'll venture a guess that you will find ... nothing. 

It doesn't matter, really. You know that FOX will end it with their (now) ubiquitous, but lame piece of political philosophy: "Blame Obama."

Just a thought.

Glen Beck Is Officially Crowned King Of Fools So Now We...Cry!

As I've said many times in this blog, hatred makes people stupid, so it's really no surprise that the crying pundit, Glen Beck, has been given the very dubious honor of being named "Misinformer of the Year" by Media Matters, the media watchdog. (And lest anyone think it's a strictly left wing media promoter, check out the stuff that they have on Obama!) The stupidity comes when Beck tries to pawn off his misinformation as actual truth. Look at just some of Beck's statements analyzed (and corrected) by Politifact.org and their "truth-o-meter":

Labor union president Andy Stern is "the most frequent visitor" at the White House.
Politifact: Only if you use incomplete, outdated data

Less than 10 percent of Obama's Cabinet appointees "have any experience in the private sector."
Politifact: Most of them do, to varying degrees

"In the health care bill, we're now offering insurance for dogs."

Politifact: No public option for Bo

John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, "has proposed forcing abortions and putting sterilants in the drinking water to control population."

Politifact: Holdren never endorsed these ideas

Forty-five percent of doctors "say they'll quit" if health reform passes

Politifact: A questionable assertion based on questionable data

"Why do we have automatic citizenship upon birth? We're the only country in the world that has it."

Politifact: Brazil, Canada, Guatamala, Romania...

When viewing Beck as a baffoon, one can't help but laugh at him and the people who adore him (yes, that's the right word). Mark Twain once said: "Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand." The problem with Beck as I see it, is that we're laughing at the wrong person. Beck enjoys the laughter he gets from his critics. In fact, it energizes him. His ego is still growing and he loves every minute of derision. However, we should be laughing at the people who watch/listen to his shows. They should be cringing with humiliation.

So we should hoist aloft a campaign to make sure that America knows Beck's audience to have the cumulative IQ of a dead flashlight battery. We should have SNL sketches devoted to idiots watching Glen Beck. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert should devote whole segments on Glen Beck supporters with misspelled signs, interviews with illiterate Beckies across the country, and special features about how some of them are paying $500 a drop for Beck's tears (Vicks Vaporub not included).

Nah, it won't float. Why not? Because Beckies transcend humiliation: they are too stupid to even surmise that someone is laughing at them.

So what should we do with this large crowd (according to his ratings) of idiots?

The King of Fools Has Been Crowned! Long Live The King!!!

There is nothing we can do, except ... cry.