The Brawler admits it: He felt no wave of joy over the passing of Jerry Falwell. He didn't crow, he didn't laugh, he didn't do anything. He was actually at work, so he continued working.
That said, the Brawler is somewhat stunned that the Journal Sentinel, in an unsigned editorial, is leaning over backwards to praise a man who opined that "AIDS is the wrath of God upon homosexuals" or "AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals." (via Atrios.)
The Journal Sentinel says:
On more than one occasion, that vision was divisive and impolitic. Falwell's views on abortion, stem cells and gays, in particular, and his apocalyptic vision - which included blaming Sept. 11, 2001, on America's sins and claiming that the Antichrist was already on Earth in the form of a male Jew - were prime and legitimate targets of critics. But while he apologized for his more inflammatory statements, he never apologized for his beliefs or for a message that gave hope and meaning to millions of people.
How inspirational! Hey JS: when someone repeatedly makes "inflammatory statements" you stop taking their apologies seriously. And are we supposed to be inspired by the fact that he didn't apologize for a message that demonized millions of people, from gays to Jews to feminists to "secularists"?
And why say his hateful comments about Jews, about feminists, about gays, about these mysterious "secularists" were "prime and legitimate targets of critics"? Why not say they were "vile"? That's how the Journal Sentinel -- appropriately -- described Michael McGee Senior's remarks about Charlie Sykes' mother.
From the JS's editorial about McGee:
He's right. McGee's appalling lack of decency was in full bloom on Thursday, when he used the death of Sykes' mother in a fire this week as the springboard to attack the WTMJ-AM (620) talk show host. It was a vile, heartless display that should have no place on any radio show.
While McGee had some particularly ugly things to say about Sykes, his comments about Sykes' mother were most egregious - "a woman that had a fool like that deserves whatever's comin' to her, 'cause she raised a sure enough idiot."
For McGee to call Sykes names when he is grieving is offensive enough. But to say on the air that a woman who died tragically somehow deserved it for no other reason than being the mother of someone with whom you often have publicly sparred is something else. That goes beyond what most people, no matter who they are, consider acceptable behavior.
WNOV suspended McGee two years ago for uttering an obscenity on the air. This incident is far worse.
Falwell's remarks demanded similarly strong language. The fact he's dead doesn't change that. The fact they're wrapped in religious rhetoric that purportedly nurtures the souls of millions doesn't change that. And why the moral certainty with McGee and not with Falwell?
The JS also notes his political impact without discussing how Falwell's political activities ran afoul of the law more than once. Steve Benen offered a rundown of his mendacity, hate and lawbreaking on his blog, the Carpetbagger Report:
March 1980: Falwell tells an Anchorage rally about a conversation with President Carter at the White House. Commenting on a January breakfast meeting, Falwell claimed to have asked Carter why he had “practicing homosexuals” on the senior staff at the White House. According to Falwell, Carter replied, “Well, I am president of all the American people, and I believe I should represent everyone.” When others who attended the White House event insisted that the exchange never happened, Falwell responded that his account “was not intended to be a verbatim report,” but rather an “honest portrayal” of Carter’s position.
August 1980: After Southern Baptist Convention President Bailey Smith tells a Dallas Religious Right gathering that “God Almighty does not hear the prayer of a Jew,” Falwell gives a similar view. “I do not believe,” he told reporters, “that God answers the prayer of any unredeemed Gentile or Jew.” After a meeting with an American Jewish Committee rabbi, he changed course, telling an interviewer on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “God hears the prayers of all persons…. God hears everything.”
July 1984: Falwell is forced to pay gay activist Jerry Sloan $5,000 after losing a court battle. During a TV debate in Sacramento, Falwell denied calling the gay-oriented Metropolitan Community Churches “brute beasts” and “a vile and Satanic system” that will “one day be utterly annihilated and there will be a celebration in heaven.” When Sloan insisted he had a tape, Falwell promised $5,000 if he could produce it. Sloan did so, Falwell refused to pay and Sloan successfully sued. Falwell appealed, with his attorney charging that the Jewish judge in the case was prejudiced. He lost again and was forced to pay an additional $2,875 in sanctions and court fees.
October 1987: The Federal Election Commission fines Falwell for transferring $6.7 million in funds intended for his ministry to political committees.
February 1988: The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down a $200,000 jury award to Falwell for “emotional distress” he suffered because of a Hustler magazine parody. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, usually a Falwell favorite, wrote the unanimous opinion in Hustler v. Falwell, ruling that the First Amendment protects free speech.
February 1993: The Internal Revenue Service determines that funds from Falwell’s Old Time Gospel Hour program were illegally funneled to a political action committee. The IRS forced Falwell to pay $50,000 and retroactively revoked the Old Time Gospel Hour’s tax-exempt status for 1986-87.
March 1993: Despite his promise to Jewish groups to stop referring to America as a “Christian nation,” Falwell gives a sermon saying, “We must never allow our children to forget that this is a Christian nation. We must take back what is rightfully ours.”
1994-1995: Falwell is criticized for using his “Old Time Gospel Hour” to hawk a scurrilous video called “The Clinton Chronicles” that makes a number of unsubstantiated charges against President Bill Clinton — among them that he is a drug addict and that he arranged the murders of political enemies in Arkansas. Despite claims he had no ties to the project, evidence surfaced that Falwell helped bankroll the venture with $200,000 paid to a group called Citizens for Honest Government (CHG). CHG’s Pat Matrisciana later admitted that Falwell and he staged an infomercial interview promoting the video in which a silhouetted reporter said his life was in danger for investigating Clinton. (Matrisciana himself posed as the reporter.) “That was Jerry’s idea to do that,” Matrisciana recalled. “He thought that would be dramatic.”
November 1997: Falwell accepts $3.5 million from a front group representing controversial Korean evangelist Sun Myung Moon to ease Liberty University’s financial woes.
April 1998: Confronted on national television with a controversial quote from America Can Be Saved!, a published collection of his sermons, Falwell denies having written the book or had anything to do with it. In the 1979 work, Falwell wrote, “I hope to live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won’t have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them. What a happy day that will be!” Despite Falwell’s denial, Sword of the Lord Publishing, which produced the book, confirms that Falwell wrote it.
January 1999: Falwell tells a pastors’ conference in Kingsport, Tenn., that the Antichrist prophesied in the Bible is alive today and “of course he’ll be Jewish.”
February 1999: Falwell becomes the object of nationwide ridicule after his National Liberty Journal newspaper issues a “parents alert” warning that Tinky Winky, a character on the popular PBS children’s show “Teletubbies,” might be gay.
September 2001: Falwell blames Americans for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the Pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say, ‘You helped this happen.’”
November 2005: Falwell spearheads campaign to resist “war on Christmas.”
February 2007: Falwell describes global warming as a conspiracy orchestrated by Satan, liberals, and The Weather Channel.
Inspiring stuff!
Patrick McIlheran pours on even more praise, with the obligatory "sometimes he made controversial remarks" caveat. He also heaps scorn upon people who cheered too loudly about Falwell's passing.
The Brawler didn't think too much of that, until he recalled a piece McIlheran wrote a little more than a year ago upon the passing of about John Kenneth Galbraith, economist, liberal and a long-time public servant who helped manage the nation's economy during World War II:
Reason Magazine takes the opportunity of John Kenneth Galbraith’s death to take a sledgehammer to his legacy, particularly “the secular guilt-trip that questions every motive and denies every choice.”
Hat tip on this to Marquette Warrior’s John McAdams, who sums up Galbraith: “Like most leftists, (he) was an elitist who resented the fact that American society is so egalitarian. It is so egalitarian that people are allowed to make choices of which he disapproved.”
The McAdams piece (headlined "The Sordid Legacy of John Kenneth Galbraith) to which McIlheran approvingly links concluded thusly:
A self-proclaimed socialist, he lived to see his ideas crash and burn. If he died a bitter man, it was a just reward.
As Catholic a sentiment as the Brawler has ever seen!
Last year, Paddy smears (as opposed to intellectually engaging) a man who tried to serve his adopted country in the way he thought best. Now he is shocked that a hatemonger like Falwell is reviled upon his passing. Instructive.
Also, Paddy! Sure, Falwell struck political alliances with Catholics and Jews. That didn't mean he didn't think they weren't going to hell!
I agree with you. but I'd include the Demobloggers in the contradiction too. With McGee there was a universal public spanking but with Falwell just lot of joy. Now I care little for either, but neither are they news for me.
Posted by: Nate | May 16, 2007 at 03:55 AM
Wow. You really laid it on the line. You've earned your title "the Brawler". Nice job on the well thought out summation of Falwell's positions.
Posted by: Watchdog Milwaukee | May 16, 2007 at 07:42 AM
Nate ... Huh?
btw: What is a Demoblogger ... blogger auditions?
Posted by: Tim | May 16, 2007 at 08:09 AM
Good job summarizing Falwell's view of Christianity in the world. I'm reminded of pictures of people holding signs saying, "God hates fags" and thinking, how can God hate anything? Hate seems to be a human construct to me. I have a hard time imagining a "celebration in heaven" over the "annihilation" of anything. I found the best exposition (exegesis?) of the God I was taught about in the Onion article following 911. As you may recall, it is the transcript of God's press conference. After becoming very angry about the idea of violence done in His name, he wept. Jerry Falwell and his ilk are windbags who, in my opinion, have twisted the original idea of Christianity. According to a once-common bumper-sticker, "Jesus is returning and boy, is he pissed!"
Posted by: ray | October 18, 2007 at 07:23 AM