Fox, Fags and Funerals
The Faux News Channel for once has its heart in the right place, although its style of expressing itself is, uh, unique. Check out this June 11, 2006 video clip in which Fox's Julie Banderas goes absolutely ballistic on Shirley Phelps-Roper from the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas, whose members have been picketing at funerals for soldiers killed in Iraq, saying the soldiers are being punished by God because they "voluntarily joined a fag-infested army to fight for a fag-run country now utterly and finally forsaken by God, who Himself is fighting against that country." It is quite possibly the ugliest verbal slugfest ever aired on television.
Banderas calls Roper "insane" and "the devil." They yell over each other the whole time, quoting Bible verses. It's just like Fox not only to lower itself to the level of its opponents, but to sink about 12 levels lower than that. Thanks to YouTube for the clip.
Apparently, there is some flawed thinking going on at the Westboro Baptist Church. First, I don't get the logical connection behind their hatred of gays and the soldiers killed in Iraq. Instead of military funerals, wouldn't their protests hit a more target-rich environment in, say, Fire Island, a Broadway theater, a fashion show, South Beach, or Key West? Second, attacking military families whose sons and daughters have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country, at the very funerals honoring such sacrifice, is not exactly an effective public relations strategy. Neither was the Church's recent press release, which states, "Thank God For IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices)", the roadside bombs used by Iraqi insurgents to blow up U.S. soldiers. Reportedly, the Church also thanks God for 9/11 and AIDS.
Between the illogical, mean-spirited tactics of the Westboro Baptist Church and the loony, over-the-top meltdown on the air by Fox's correspondent, it's doubtful that any hearts or minds were won over during this broadcast. Viewers would have needed an air traffic controller just to hear the message from each side. But it sure was entertaining.
posted by media concepts @ 8:26 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
saw the video, funny. went to the church site too. it's even funnier. though, i am not n american and sometime think america overdo it, but i strongly feel this lady and her followers should be thrown out from their country. booing dead soldiers' families who died for their nation is definitely an act of cruelty, which needs to be punished. morons.
Americans overdo it sometimes? Yeah, you could say that. But one thing most of us hold near and dear is the First Amendment to our Constitution, which states that even morons cannot be kicked out the country for saying moronic things. Our First Amendment is under attack by President Bush and his Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, who use the so-called "War on Terror" to try to undermine Americans' right to free speech at every turn. The American Civil Liberties Union is now representing the crazy church people, defending their right to say what they want where they want. The right wing is going to attack the ACLU very hard for defending these unpopular views, if they have not done so already. But the First Amendment is designed to protect the unpopular view, not the popular one that few people would object to anyway. As annoying and moronic as the church people are, I am so glad to live in a country where, at least for a bit longer, even the moronic people can say what they want, people who oppose them can say what they want, and it makes us all stronger, not weaker.
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