Number 5 Bigot of the Year 2012: Mike Huckabee

Number 5 Bigot of 2012

Let’s start this year’s Bigot of the Year awards with a big thank you to all the readers who submitted nominations. We had nearly 20 well-qualified horrors make the short list, many with multiple recommendations. After careful consideration, TSM is ready to roll out the bottom five! I’ve paid special attention to those people and organizations with significant power, privilege, and influence and abuse it to oppress their fellow human beings.

At number 5, we have one of the newest entrants into Hate Radio. Since leaving the Arkansas governor’s mansion in 2007, Mike Huckabee has been a thorn in reasonable America’s side. A bloviating gasbag of toxic opinions, he has flirted with other political aspirations, always deciding instead to earn big bucks for spewing bile and demeaning as many groups of Americans as possible. In less than a year on the air with his own show, Huckabee has been the go-to place for certified hate groups like the Family Research Council to peddle their noxious ideas and work to sustain a white hetero supremacist paradigm.

Huckabee has plenty of those on his own as well. He was the creator of Chik-Fil-A Day, rewarding the sawdust sandwich empire for its homophobia and anti-equality stands. He lashed into  President Obama for supporting marriage equality. He was an early supporter of Todd Akin after his horrific rape comments. He loves to blame the LGBT community for every disaster that strikes. Pushing him over the top of his fellow “personalities” were his comments in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy. Huckabee was the first and loudest to propose that school prayer and teaching “intelligent design” would have prevented the shootings. What a charm-free ball of crazy!

Dishonorable mention at #5 goes to five old straight white guys who burned up huge amounts of money trying to meddle with this year’s elections. Karl “0% Success Rate” Rove, Sheldon “It’s MY Money” Adelson, David and Charles “Pour the Tea” Koch, and Donald “Birther #1”  Racist Trump poured hundreds of millions of dollars into post-Citizens United Super PACs, pushing the farthest right agendas. Perhaps we should be grateful that they proved that even that much money can’t buy success, but just imagine all the good they could have done if they had invested in social justice rather than selfish arrogance…

Bigot of the Week Award: July 27, Mike Huckabee and His Fellow Diners…

Bigot of the Week. (Hiiyaa!)

As the Bigoted Ship of Fools sets sail to Chick-Fil-A, we see Mike Huckabee as the captain and Rick Santorum as Cruise Director.  The gaggle of chicken-peckin’ bigots form the ghastly crew eagerly swallowing hate.  Ms. Piggy is NOT PLEASED!

As though it were not bad enough that the bigot Huckabee decided to whore himself out to Chick-Fil-A after he learned that decent people were boycotting the tainted poultry, Rick Santorum felt there was not enough crazy in the seasoning and had to add his voice of hate. Ever since Dan Cathy, the king of the rancid rooster, made his recent remarks regarding the LGBTQ community, the full scope of his company’s toxic toil has come to light. Chick-Fil-A and the Cathy family have donated millions of dollars to companies that are not just anti-equality, but that are registered hate groups. Let them put their money where they will; millions of potential customers will gladly do the same!

Huckabee has called for “Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day” on August 1; Santorum got all man-on-sandwich excited and engaged in premature mastication, tweeting from one of the restaurants earlier this week. It seems likely that the appearance of this putrid poultry pair will put diners off their feed.

Three cheers to the Jim Henson Co. for ending all relations with Chick-Fil-A. Three jeers to the chain for telling staff to pretend that Muppet toys were pulled for “safety concerns.” Cheers also to Boston Mayor Tom Menino, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, Chicago Alderman Joe Moreno, and Philadelphia Councilman James Kenney for questioning how Bigot-Fil-A “values” fit with their cities’ non-discrimination policies. Let’s chop this bigoted chain back down to its original size, the Dwarf House.

Muppets Don’t Tolerate Bigotry!

As Chick-Fil-A continues to spew its ugly venom at the LGBTQ community, The Jim Henson Company has said ENOUGH to hate and has broken ties with the homophobic fried chicken Dwarf House. Chick-Fil-A has a long-standing history of bigotry and homophobia; it is nice to see the Jim Henson Company demonstrate integrity by divorcing themselves from the squawker of oppression.

Henson Company released the following statement regarding the termination of the relationship:

The Jim Henson Company has celebrated and embraced diversity and inclusiveness for over fifty years and we have notified Chick-Fil-A that we do not wish to partner with them on any future endeavors. Lisa Henson, our CEO is personally a strong supporter of gay marriage and has directed us to donate the payment we received from Chick-Fil-A to GLAAD. (http://www.glaad.org/)

TSM also has to give kudos to Boston Mayor Thomas Menino for his strong stand by vowing to not allow the chicken peddlers to open a franchise in Boston. With each voice and each act of integrity, we move toward equality and leave those that oppress us on the wrong side of history!

Oglethorpe University: Not Safe for LGBT Students (?)

Have a Koch and some Hate

I did my undergraduate work at a small liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, Oglethorpe University. While I was there, I found a group of friends and professors who were not only accepting but often would encourage young people to find their voice and use it to do good in a larger society. Unfortunately, there did not exist a Gay/Straight Alliance and there was no safe place to go if you were part of the LGBT community. That was 21 years ago. I would have thought things at Oglethorpe would have improved exponentially. Alas, just the opposite has occurred.

Oglethorpe which calls itself a “liberal arts college” seems to have lost the identity and meaning of that illustrious concept. One friend, Brad Fairchild, a local playwright/artist and gay alum of Oglethorpe sent me some very disturbing news about a lecture series taking place at our alma mater.  Matthew Franck, the leader of a right wing think tank and a notorious homophobe who hides his bigotry under a very thin patina of academic legalese, was  invited by tenured Professor Joe Knippenberg (who equates homosexuality with incest), to deliver the lecture on March 7, 2011 from 4-5 in the Talmadge Room. I feel the need to underscore here that this particular lecture series is being funded by the Koch brothers, the same very uber-wealthy Koch Brothers who continue to fund Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-union activities in Wisconsin as well as a long list of anti-gay Tea Party Candidates.

I immediately picked up the phone to investigate what was going on at Oglethorpe. I was informed that University President Schall is out of town and would not be back until March 8. I explained to his assistant, Terry, “I’m sure he has a cell phone and I would appreciate it if he could call me as soon as possible.” Terry was quite nice and responsive. Within five minutes I received a phone call from the acting Provost, Dr. William Shropshire. I remember Dr. Shropshire from the mid 1980’s as a kind and avuncular man.  Here is our interview:

The Solipsistic Me (TSM)–Are you disturbed by Matthew Franck coming to Oglethorpe to spread hate?

Dr. Bill Shropshire (BS)–I don’t think it is hate. It has not disturbed me. This is a series of  talks about the constitution. For example there is also another talk on Health Care and the constitution and other talks all of which are based on constitutional issues.

TSM–You do realize these talks are being funded by the extreme right wing Koch Brothers Industires?

BS-Yes.

TSM–Are you not afraid of the message this sends to all of the LGBT Youth at Oglethorpe, not to mention the message it sends to any LGBT faculty?

BS–These people should be able to come here, but they can be shut down by reason from the student body.  You should be proud for having an open forum for discussions and ideas.

I wish I could share Dr. Shropshire’s optimism in the face of a not so transparent agenda. Given that the lecture series is funded by the Koch Brothers Industries, and organized and promoted by a powerful faculty member ,we are not on a level playing field.  There is a power dynamic that I was disappointed Dr. Shropshire missed.  Students may protest, but at the end of the day it is people like Professor Joe Knippenberg who decide grades and write (or do not write letters of recommendation. Dr. Shropshire pointed out that he himself has volunteered for Georgia Equality, for which I commended him. However that does not justify inviting a purportedly academic speaker to spew venom with a transparent agenda under the guise of academic inquiry.

I must also acknowledge that Dr. Shropshire was quite respectful during the interview, but not wholly aware of his status and privilege as a white heterosexual male, with the power and OBLIGATION to ensure a safe learning environment for all students.

I also questioned Dr. Shropshire on the tenured Dr. Joe Knippenberg’s  equating homosexuality with incest. Click here to see Knippenberg’s own words as he articulates his bigotry towards the LGBT community. One should also note that aside from the ties to the Koch Brothers, Oglethrope also has two board members that are tied to Chik-Fil-A, yet another HATE group. The overarching question is, how can we rely or count on any type of integrity or objectivity from organizations that have a proven record of bigotry toward the LGBT community? As I asked Dr. Shropshire: “How can any one in the LGBT community feel safe at Oglethorpe?”

Impact on LGBT Alumni: Jonelle Thomas, “I’m so disappointed that OU is allowing this stain on its reputation to persist. I’m really quite baffled by it…”  Julian Draven, “As a private institution, is it within the bounds of OU to become an ultra-conservative right wing school? Is that what they are aiming for? Perhaps I am remember my collegiate experience with rose-coloured glasses, but I do not think such a thing would have flown 20 years ago. I shudder to think that one day I might be seen as a neo-con because I attended OU.”  Madeleine Picciotto, a former O.U. faculty member on Matthew Franck: “We should not be taken in by faux-intellectualism, and Franck’s insistence on playing the victim card.”

For me, this reminds me of the FRC being offended that the SPLC called  them a hate group. Sorry, Franck, you don’t get to be both the persecutor and the victim at the same time. Finally, faculty and administrators need to realize that what they look at as lofty academic discourse is involving real people’s lives–the personal is political. From the perspective of a  young LGBT student it would appear that these academicians hide behind “intellectual” discourse without regard to the real impact on people’s lives.

I would like to thank, Brad Fairchild, Troy DeGroff, Jonelle Thomas, Julian Draven, and Madeleine Picciotto for their help and inspiration in creating this article.  As long as Olgethorpe continues to make choices that endanger LGBT students I will not donate any money.  Furthermore, I encourage all people that support equality to protest Matthew Franck appearance and STOP DONATING MONEY TO Oglethorope. I welcome comments on this blog and am still waiting to hear from President Schall.

Chick-Fil-A’s Winshape Foundation Battling LGBT Community

How special!  Chik-Fil-A has again partnered with the National Organization of Marriage (NOM) and Jennifer Roback Morse of the Ruth Institute to start the Reel Love video campaign.  Big shock!  Homos not welcome to participate.  According to Chick-Fil-A and NOM, love is reserved exclusively for heterosexual couples.  How ironic because I don’t see the LGBT community spreading hate or trying to deny people of their civil rights.  My gay marriage HAS NO EFFECT ON YOUR HETEROSEXUAL MARRIAGE!  Perhaps you all could worry more about the homeless, or those without healthcare.  Stop obsessing about gay sex!  Click here for the first article and click here for the second article.

Homos need not apply