Idiot William Donohue
In my last post, I discussed the resignations of bloggers Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan from the John Edwards presidential campaign. The person leading the charge to get rid of these two bloggers was William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. According to its website, “Motivated by the letter and the spirit of the First Amendment, the Catholic League works to safeguard both the religious freedom rights and the free speech rights of Catholics whenever and wherever they are threatened.”
As Donohue charged on the February 7 edition of the MSNBC show “Tucker” (hosted by Tucker Carlson):
“If you take a look at some of the stuff on the blogosphere that's said about Christians in general, Catholics in particular, it's absolutely mind-boggling. Muslims are given more respect. Look I don't want Muslims to be disrespected. I'm simply saying that in a country that's 85 percent Christian -- that was founded by Christians -- you would think that we might at least be able to catch up with Muslims. I mean, it's -- that's because, you know, there's the cultural left in this country, which sees Christianity because of its sexual reticence, as the enemy -- and the Catholic Church in particular. And the kind of respect that is afforded to everybody else is not afforded to us.”
The last line is particularly interesting – “And the kind of respect that is afforded to everybody else is not afforded to us.” Looking at the history of what William Donohue has said in the past few years, that statement qualifies as a “Do as I say, not as I do.”
Donohue himself has quite a history of hate speech. Below are a few examples of Donohue’s “greatest hits” (and a nod to Media Matters for America here for some of these examples):
April 11, 2004 edition of “Scarborough Country”: “The fact of the matter is it's due to the behavioral recklessness of gay men in New York City, that they're endangering the lives of everybody. So, you want to talk about the Catholic Church intervening in other people's lives? The gay community has yet to apologize to straight people for all the damage that they have done -- for contaminating the blood supply in New York City and around the country. And I find it amazing that, when people are acting so morally delinquent, that they're asking for more rights at the same time.”
December 8, 2004 edition of “Scarborough Country”: "We've already won. Who really cares what Hollywood thinks? All these hacks come out there. Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. It's not a secret, okay? And I'm not afraid to say it. ... Hollywood likes anal sex. They like to see the public square without nativity scenes. I like families. I like children. They like abortions. I believe in traditional values and restraint. They believe in libertinism. We have nothing in common. But you know what? The culture war has been ongoing for a long time. Their side has lost."
February 9, 2006 edition of “Scarborough Country”: “Well, look, there are people in Hollywood, not all of them, but there are some people who are nothing more than harlots. They will do anything for the buck. They wouldn't care. If you asked them to sodomize their own mother in a movie, they would do so, and they would do it with a smile on their face.”
July 31, 2006 press release from the Catholic League: “What Mel Gibson apparently said is indefensible. The remark attributed to him, ‘The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world,’ is anti-Semitic and irresponsible. Fortunately, he has apologized for his bigoted outburst. Unfortunately, his apology is being rejected by some who should know better. To wit: Abraham Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League, has branded Gibson’s apology ‘unremorseful and insufficient.’ Moreover, Foxman concludes that it shows what a ‘sham’ it is for Gibson to portray himself as the ‘tolerant, loving person’ who made ‘The Passion of the Christ.’ …
But Mel’s enemies will never cut him a break. Their real goal is to discredit ‘The Passion of the Christ,’ and that is why their propaganda machine is in full gear.”
October 2, 2006 press release from the Catholic League: “[Rosie] O’Donnell, and the other panelists [on the ABC ‘The View’], err again by talking about the ‘pedophile’ scandal in the Church: it’s been a homosexual scandal all along, as the data make painfully clear.”
October 4 2006 press release from the Catholic League: “Foley knows that the public is prepared to believe the worst about priests in today’s environment—they can count on Jay Leno to bash priests one more time—even though only .02 percent of the 42,000 priests in the U.S. had a credible accusation of sexual abuse made against him in 2005. But he will stop at nothing to mitigate his actions.
As for the alleged abuse, it’s time to ask some tough questions. First, there is a huge difference between being groped and being raped, so which was it Mr. Foley? Second, why didn’t you just smack the clergyman in the face? After all, most 15-year-old teenage boys wouldn’t allow themselves to be molested. So why did you?”
I’m not defending the statements made by Marcotte and McEwan against the Catholic Church. Based on the above quotes, however, I hardly think that Mr. Donohue possesses the moral authority to lead a campaign against their ouster.
As Donohue charged on the February 7 edition of the MSNBC show “Tucker” (hosted by Tucker Carlson):
“If you take a look at some of the stuff on the blogosphere that's said about Christians in general, Catholics in particular, it's absolutely mind-boggling. Muslims are given more respect. Look I don't want Muslims to be disrespected. I'm simply saying that in a country that's 85 percent Christian -- that was founded by Christians -- you would think that we might at least be able to catch up with Muslims. I mean, it's -- that's because, you know, there's the cultural left in this country, which sees Christianity because of its sexual reticence, as the enemy -- and the Catholic Church in particular. And the kind of respect that is afforded to everybody else is not afforded to us.”
The last line is particularly interesting – “And the kind of respect that is afforded to everybody else is not afforded to us.” Looking at the history of what William Donohue has said in the past few years, that statement qualifies as a “Do as I say, not as I do.”
Donohue himself has quite a history of hate speech. Below are a few examples of Donohue’s “greatest hits” (and a nod to Media Matters for America here for some of these examples):
April 11, 2004 edition of “Scarborough Country”: “The fact of the matter is it's due to the behavioral recklessness of gay men in New York City, that they're endangering the lives of everybody. So, you want to talk about the Catholic Church intervening in other people's lives? The gay community has yet to apologize to straight people for all the damage that they have done -- for contaminating the blood supply in New York City and around the country. And I find it amazing that, when people are acting so morally delinquent, that they're asking for more rights at the same time.”
December 8, 2004 edition of “Scarborough Country”: "We've already won. Who really cares what Hollywood thinks? All these hacks come out there. Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. It's not a secret, okay? And I'm not afraid to say it. ... Hollywood likes anal sex. They like to see the public square without nativity scenes. I like families. I like children. They like abortions. I believe in traditional values and restraint. They believe in libertinism. We have nothing in common. But you know what? The culture war has been ongoing for a long time. Their side has lost."
February 9, 2006 edition of “Scarborough Country”: “Well, look, there are people in Hollywood, not all of them, but there are some people who are nothing more than harlots. They will do anything for the buck. They wouldn't care. If you asked them to sodomize their own mother in a movie, they would do so, and they would do it with a smile on their face.”
July 31, 2006 press release from the Catholic League: “What Mel Gibson apparently said is indefensible. The remark attributed to him, ‘The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world,’ is anti-Semitic and irresponsible. Fortunately, he has apologized for his bigoted outburst. Unfortunately, his apology is being rejected by some who should know better. To wit: Abraham Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League, has branded Gibson’s apology ‘unremorseful and insufficient.’ Moreover, Foxman concludes that it shows what a ‘sham’ it is for Gibson to portray himself as the ‘tolerant, loving person’ who made ‘The Passion of the Christ.’ …
But Mel’s enemies will never cut him a break. Their real goal is to discredit ‘The Passion of the Christ,’ and that is why their propaganda machine is in full gear.”
October 2, 2006 press release from the Catholic League: “[Rosie] O’Donnell, and the other panelists [on the ABC ‘The View’], err again by talking about the ‘pedophile’ scandal in the Church: it’s been a homosexual scandal all along, as the data make painfully clear.”
October 4 2006 press release from the Catholic League: “Foley knows that the public is prepared to believe the worst about priests in today’s environment—they can count on Jay Leno to bash priests one more time—even though only .02 percent of the 42,000 priests in the U.S. had a credible accusation of sexual abuse made against him in 2005. But he will stop at nothing to mitigate his actions.
As for the alleged abuse, it’s time to ask some tough questions. First, there is a huge difference between being groped and being raped, so which was it Mr. Foley? Second, why didn’t you just smack the clergyman in the face? After all, most 15-year-old teenage boys wouldn’t allow themselves to be molested. So why did you?”
I’m not defending the statements made by Marcotte and McEwan against the Catholic Church. Based on the above quotes, however, I hardly think that Mr. Donohue possesses the moral authority to lead a campaign against their ouster.
posted by Rod Carveth at 3:44 PM
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