Greg welcomes guests Tom Shillue, Chris Bedford and Jonna Spilbor.
GLAAD Gives Alec Baldwin a Pass on Homophobic Rant, Andrew Sullivan Says It's Criminal
GLAAD, the organization dedicated to defending the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, acted swiftly after learning of Alec Baldwin's latest homophobic rant.
The group allowed Baldwin to use its web site to apologize and/or attempt damage control, essentially shouting, "you're already forgiven." Here's the group's official response to Baldwin's apology over his hateful Tweets directed at a British journalist:
Alec Baldwin is making it clear that the intent behind his tweets does not excuse his language, especially at a time when there were 11 incidents of violence against gay men in New York City just last month. As we all work to end such senseless acts of violence, allies like Baldwin are right to use these moments to reinforce support for the community and LGBT equality.
Compare that to the group's reaction when director Brett Ratner said, "rehearsal is for fags" during a press interview. Ratner lost his coveted gig producing the Oscars and subsequently went through a GLAAD-approved re-education process culminating in a PSA shoot on behalf of gay rights.
Here's GLAAD's official statement regarding the Ratner incident:
Following meetings with GLAAD as well as outrage from community members and allies, Ratner issued an apology and today resigned as producer of the 84th Annual Academy Awards. GLAAD and Ratner are working to convene public discussions featuring leaders in the entertainment industry about promoting fair and accurate inclusions of LGBT people and stories. The discussions will address anti-LGBT jokes and slurs in films and on television today as well as their trickle-down effect into popular culture. The first event will take place in coming weeks with additional discussions to take place over the next three years. Additional details to follow.
Let's not forget how GLAAD handled CNN anchor Roland Martin's case. Martin, who is black, was castigated by GLAAD for a series of Tweets regarding a soccer player that were likely meant as humorous, not mean spirited.
Martin apologized. He also lost his job at CNN thanks, in part, to pressure from groups like GLAAD.
Not everyone who supports gay rights is following GLAAD's lead in the Baldwin case. Andrew Sullivan called out Baldwin in no uncertain terms on his web platform.
This is not just hate speech; it's a specific call for other people to physically attack a gay man. It's a call to violence against a specific person, which, last time I checked, was a crime. He's a pro-gay liberal, so he may get a pass for this. He shouldn't.
Sounds like Baldwin just did. Meanwhile, a Texas teenager is still in jail for making a threat on Facebook he said was an innocent joke.
Baldwin deleted his offensive tweets and briefly shut down his account (it's been restored). Nevertheless, here is the rant in full:
The Today Show downplayed the homophobia from Baldwin rant, as did CNN. However, on his personal Twitter account, Anderson Cooper pointed out the obvious, well-known hypocrisy regarding how these kinds of incidents are dealt with in the media.
While acknowledging the hypocrisy is a step in the right direction, Cooper isn't exactly innocent himself, as Michelle Malkin pointed out on Twitter.
One of the revelations coming out of last week's Netroots annual moonbat jamboree was their confusion and dismay at the fact that we Conservatives repeatedly kick their collectivist asses all over Twitter. In their view the person most responsible for this phenomenon is none other than Michelle Malkin who, among so many great things, is the creator of Twitchy.
At Netroots Nation – a progressive conference for bloggers and activists that is coincidentally being held in the heart of Silicon Valley this year in San Jose, Calif. – the general consensus of panelists and convention goers alike is that the Right is killing it on twitter. Liberals at the conference have zeroed in on one conservative activist as example of how to effectively get your message out on twitter: Twitchy creator Michelle Malkin.
Malkin's name has repeatedly come up at the conference and in one instance prominently where her ability to "amplify" and bring attention to issues that would otherwise go ignored was dubbed the "The Michelle Malkin effect."
At a panel Thursday on "Fighting Together to Block the Right-Wing Agenda" attendees were advised to court influential tweeters on their side similar to Malkin if they wanted to bring the maximum amount of attention to their issue organizations’ issues.
The panel lamented how hard it is to push back on conservative messaging on issues like abortion when conservative Twitter power users like Malkin are constantly tweeting and their side is not.
"The truth is, it's pretty hard when Michelle Malkin's tweeting literally on the minute on this stuff," said Heather Holdridge, director of digital strategy at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, noting that Malkin's numerous followers make her "an incredibly effective amplifier."
"We have to figure out ways to rally our supporters to push back, understanding that there's a Michelle Malkin effect that I'm not certain I've figured out either," Amy Runyon Harms, executive director of ProgressNow Colorado, added later.
