Video from the Fire Dave rally

I thought I was done with this story, but the woman in yellow so offended me with her ugly, vicious mind, I couldn't let it pass unchallenged... A person like that ought not to be seen or heard in public (& I really hope that wherever she works, she isn't.)...



Wow.

Among the more alarming lines of attack -- particularly given that the rally was held because Letterman supposedly made a joke about Sarah Palin's teenage daughter Willow -- was that Letterman's son Harry was born out of wedlock (he recently wed Regina Lasko after dating for over a decade).

"Should we talk about his son?" one protester asked Green. "I believe his son was born out of wedlock. I believe there's a term for that."

"Is someone making jokes about his child?" asked another. "Especially, you know, when he had a daughter out of wedlock himself" (he didn't; 5-year-old Harry is his only child).

"How dare he?" asked yet a third, the most offensive of all. "When he has a bastard son, and a slut for a wife" (Letterman's wife Lasko has kept a notoriously low profile).

It should be noted that Sarah Palin's teenage daughter Bristol gave birth to baby Tripp (out-of-wedlock) in December and broke up with the baby's father, Levi Johnston, in March. -- "Fire David Letterman" Protest Becomes Hatefest, Draws More Media Than Protesters

The Joan of Arc, and/or Joe the Plumber of the Anti-Gay Marriage Movement

Ruthlessly stolen from Donald Douglas' friend Andrew Sullivan. I too, love that cat.

The Myth of Bigotry

When did it become almost impossible to disagree with an individual, a group, or a government without being labeled a bigot?

Many of those who didn't support Hillary in the 2008 election (or later, for Secretary of State) were labeled "sexist." Question whether we want a man named to the Senate by a potential criminal, and you just may be a "racist." Disagree with anything Israel has ever done, and you're obviously "anti-Semitic."

Can I call bullshit, now?

In the same way as some on the right trivialize the awful acts of Stalin & some on the left trivialize the awful acts of Hitler by carelessly using the terms "Stalinist" & "Nazi" to describe the parties & people with which they don't agree politically, this intentional and foolish misuse of the terms of bigotry trivializes real gender, racial, & religious bigotry and those who suffered under them.

Yes, just as there are still real Nazis, there are real sexists, racists, and anti-Semites, and yes, I've little doubt that a few (at least) were/are opposed to Hillary, Roland Burris, and Israel's recent actions in Gaza. But there are also many reasonable, intelligent people who're opposed to these same people or activities for reasons that have nothing to do with gender, race, or religion, and it's a pretty safe bet that these folks, whether right or wrong on the issue itself, far outnumber the bigots.

Don't be fooled by those who so easily play the bigotry card. They are cowering behind these hateful terms in an effort to avoid having to make a substantive argument, trying to shame you away from your well-thought-out position (unless you actually are a bigot, of course), and in the process, trivializing those who really have suffered from religious, racial or gender bigotry. It's a cheap trick, and those who choose to engage in it are generally just as aware of it as you & I.