It’s been a while since the last time I wrote about Shithead Hall of Fame® Inductee™ Jack Krier. Too long, in fact. I wish I hadn’t lost my write up of the“editorial” of “his” that claimed that the Plymouth Pilgrims discovered and then rejected socialism. That alone was worth writing about, but then to discover that he had plagiarized the work from a Rush Limbaugh book was even better. His ensuing “I’m an old man what don’t know how the e-mail forwards work and what whence they came” shtick that followed when a reader wrote to him about it was nothing less than to be expected from Old Man Jack.
It’s doubly so if you happen to read Jack Krier’s one black friend, Thomas Sowell. You’ll literally hear an echo if you read Dr. Sowell, then wait a week to read Jack Krier. On more than one occasion, a similarly minded articled was birthed by both men, even down to a book to read selection. So either Dr. Sowell is ripping off Jack Krier, they share an odd ability to intercept the echo chamber, or Jack Krier is just "rephrasing" Thomas Sowell.
But that’s not why we’re here today. Michael Sam, a University of Missouri football player, came out recently. What’s more The Westboro Baptist Church came to Columbia MO with about fourteen people to protest against Michael Sam, they were greeted by large number of his supporters. I couldn’t have been more proud of those students/supporters. Jack Krier doesn’t see what all the fuss is about.
The title of Mr. Krier’s article is “What difference does it make?” Not only is it a super clever Benghazi jab, it’s also the thesis of his editorial. But you’d think that if it didn’t make any difference then why dedicate an entire editorial to it? Espousing not only how you don’t care what difference it makes, but then stating for the record that you believe it’s morally wrong (and that marriage is between and a man and a woman...blah blah blah)? Then The two ideas leap frog over one another as Mr. Krier’s article shambles on.
Right-wing boogeyman roll call: Mainstream Media loves anything to do with homosexuality. “Masses of liberals, led by Michelle Obama, loudly proclaimed Mr. Sam’s bravery.” This leads to Mr. Krier’s assumption that “[…] the media and progressives are obsessed with people’s sexuality and those who decide to publicly come out, praising their actions, like homosexuality is the new “it” thing to be.” Wait, who’s REALLY obsessed with people’s sexuality here? The people who support a man for coming out, or the people obsessed with his sexuality and how it doesn't fit their religious worldview? Mr. Krier’s assumption that people are looking for the conservatives to “lambast (sic) the homosexuals for ‘coming out’” is pretty absurd. Trouble is, we don’t have to, they more than help themselves at any and every opportunity. I mean look like Jack Krier slings around the word "homosexual" as a poorly veiled epithet.
Mr. Krier states that conservatives “don’t give a rats behind” about anyone’s sexuality, but then here he is writing about how much of a rat’s behind he does give. It’s an odd conundrum. To say the least of his mistaken assertion that liberals and the media put those who do come out on a pedestal. Can we not lend mass support to someone, a public figure, when they need it most, regardless of their sexuality?
“Why is embracing your sexuality such an act of bravery?” Jack Krier asks, using the idea that if being gay is natural, and the way someone is born, then why is coming out something to be praised? I assume he thinks that this is clever. Trouble is, it’s not…by far. You see, being gay is still a difficult thing to navigate in this day and age. And while yes, culturally we have made great strides for our gay brother and sisters, as a society we have much further to go. That Michael Sam, a Texas born, Missouri educated man came out is a marvelous thing to behold. He is attempting to enter a venue such as the NFL that seems unfriendly at the least to a gay man. He needs all the love and support he can get.
Reaching back for any strand of a hope to mask his bigotry as a thought piece, Mr. Krier latches on to when Tim Tebow entered the draft. According to Jack, Tebow “ […] encountered a rain of hate from people worried for the sport, people who resented having to hear about the personal beliefs of “Saint Timmy.”” Except, none of that happened. If anything people were hoping for failure because he was overrated at a position he couldn’t play at a higher level than college and was inexplicably drafted in the first round. And I don’t remember Michael Sam’s mother having a commercial (paid for by evangelical conservative think tank Focus on the Family) air during halftime of the super bowl.
Now, if Jack Krier could’ve couched his bigotry with his false equivalency to Tim Tebow’s “coming out” as a Christian better, he could’ve made a point: both Sam and Tebow were/could be distractions to an football organization, regardless of talent level. But I’m of the mindset that Michael Sam will be a lot like Manti Te’o than a Tim Tebow, and by this time next year, no one, on either side, will care.
This line toward the middle of his article struck me: “Just as the person has the right to stand up in front of the world and say, “I’m gay and I’m proud,” so, too, do others have the right to stand beside them and say, “I think it is morally wrong and I don’t approve of it.”” But what difference DOES it make? You’ve lost. No one really cares that you think it’s “morally” wrong and don’t “approve” of it.
Not so long ago, what people’s religious views were no one’s business. You kept it to yourself. It only started mattering when the GOP right-wing needed fresh voters to help stem the tide of the electorate towards their regressive socioeconomic agenda. Suddenly, religion mattered, in the very place it shouldn’t: our federal government. We even have entire chunks of pundit class who ONLY cover religious elements in our government, and sadly, their articles aren’t in the religious sections. They stand toe to toe with other “substantive” opinion pieces. These people have kept the “debate” of a woman’s constitutional right to her body going for over four decades. So too will they keep the flame for their regressive ideas about what is morally “right” and “wrong”. Unfortunately, time is not on their side. Because of Michael Sam’s bravery, many more will follow in his footsteps and not be trepidatious about coming out. And yes, Jack Krier, we will laud, love and support them as well.
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