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Could Fox News Go Any Lower?

Jill

It’s not entirely surprising that professional funeral-picketing bigot Fred Phelps has decided to picket the funerals of the Amish girls killed by a gunman earlier this week. His daughter explains:

Those Amish people, everyone is sitting around talking about those poor little girls — blah, blah, blah — they brought the wrath upon themselves,” Phelps-Roper said, adding that the Amish “don’t serve God, they serve themselves.”

Ok. But the Phelps’ hijinks are hardly shocking at this point. They’re attention-whores to the max, and most people, I think, have figured out that the best strategy is to just ignore them.

Fox News isn’t going that route — instead, they’re offering Phelps and his crew an hour of airtime on Mike Gallagher’s radio show.

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24 thoughts on Could Fox News Go Any Lower?

  1. I think, have figured out that the best strategy is to just ignore them.

    I think it’s harder to ignore them when they’re picketing the funerals of your loved ones.

    I’m no fan of Fox News (actually I am, but for the unintentional comedy, not the opinions), but I’m inclined to cut them some slack here. Fox News is giving them an hour of air time in exchange for not picketing the funerals of the Amish girls (apparently Phelps has signed a document that will make them liable to pay for the air time if they do protest at the funerals). On the surface at least, it seems like a noble thing to do.

    P.S. Wasn’t there a law in the works to keep Phelps away from funerals?

  2. Agree with Raging Moderate. In fact I’ll go further, I think that an hour of their raving is likely to be about as counterproductive to their cause as it is possible to be – because it will end up showing potential sympathisers in the audience just how deranged they are.

  3. Phelps & his crew often threaten to picket funerals then never show up. Several months back they announced that they were going to picket some soldiers’ funerals here in West Virginia, and the media reported it, people got outraged, then Phelps never showed up. Of course, by merely threatening to picket, he still got what he wanted — a public airing of his horrendous views. I think the “ignore” strategy is the best one.

  4. So see, Fox is giving him exactly what he wants. It’s not a good deal at all. He’s getting the media attention he wants without having to go to the trouble of traveling to the funerals and actually picketing.

  5. He’s getting the media attention he wants without having to go to the trouble of traveling to the funerals and actually picketing.

    Do you think it’s preferable for him to go through the trouble of picketing the funeral than to let him rant on the radio?

    One can turn off the radio, but how do the families “turn him off” if he goes through with his threat to picket the funerals?

    He’ll get the media attention either way. This way he doesn’t disrupt the funerals. The lesser of two evils, and all that.

  6. I know Phelps is CRAY-ZEE; nevertheless, what in God’s name does he mean when he says the Amish were asking for it?

    The Amish seem like the only people Phelps probably would approve of.

    Maybe they are provoking God’s wrath by sending their daughters to elementary school?

  8. i’m sorry; i don’t believe for a -second- that Fox had anything but the most cynical intentions here. “tune in tomorrow for the evil batshit crazy guy who makes us look almost sane by comparison!”

    Phelps should not be rewarded with airtime; and you know what, i am sorry, but here it is: i do not believe free speech includes outright harassment. at minimum there ought to be something like an automatic “free speech zone” for the likes of Phelps; somewhere AWAY from where the grieving have to pass by it and are thus forced to see it.

    hey, if they can do it to protect motherfucking Bush’s tender sensibilities, it damn well ought to be okay for people who just want to bury their dead in peace.

  9. I understand Fox is giving them an hour in return for them not picketing the funeral. Very commendable. Could Fox go any higher?

  10. There’s no way this is some grand, heroic compromise that saves the families. It empowers Phelps, and emboldens him for the future. Yes, in this one, single instance, it’s a net benefit for America. But now, Flintstone Phelps just has to talk about picketing somewhere, and he gets a radio show? You might as well just put him in the lineup!

  11. Mikey S:

    I don’t necesarily disagree with your logic, which is kind of like the “don’t negotiate with terrorists” reasoning. But the fact that there is a deal cut is, at least, relavent to the story and puts Fox in a different light than is being portrayed by Jill.

    I report, you decide.

  12. But now, Flintstone Phelps just has to talk about picketing somewhere, and he gets a radio show? You might as well just put him in the lineup!

    Until the laws changes to prevent him from disrupting funerals, I’d rather hear him on tv and radio (where we can turn him off) than see him at funerals. If every time he threatens to picket a funeral he gets air time (he’ll get air time if he carries through with the threat, too – it’ll be all over the news), that’s a compromise I’m willing to make, in the interest of not having the families victimized yet again.

    Is your own distaste for him more important to you than the suffering of the families? Are you going to be forced to listen to his hate speech? Of course not. But the families will be. This isn’t about you, or Phelps, or Fox News, it’s about the families.

  13. I don’t believe in violence and wouldn’t wish it to be used gratuitously against anyone, no matter how vile.

    That said, I predict that one day, a grieving parent/spouse/whatever will snap and wreak a horrible vengeance on the Phelpsies. And when that happens, they will be utterly shocked at the lack of sympathy they receive.

  14. The Amish seem like the only people Phelps probably would approve of.

    They’re pacifists. So no.

  15. Fox is looking to cash in on the freakshow. *sigh* At least a couple of families will be spared the Phelps venom for a few days, although at the same time, I resent the fact that he gets a platform to spread his hate across the country.

    It’s a lose-lose situation.

  16. Is your own distaste for him more important to you than the suffering of the families? Are you going to be forced to listen to his hate speech? Of course not. But the families will be. This isn’t about you, or Phelps, or Fox News, it’s about the families.

    No, it’s about legitimizing, to any degree, the guy who has preached hatred for decades now. The man picketed the Matthew Shepard funeral. That was how he achieved national promimence. This is another part of his SOP: he harasses or threatens harassment until he gets other people to stop fighting him, stop complaining. Fox is rewarding him for his customary coercive tactics. It’s wrong to give in.

    That having been said, Fox News is doing this for crass publicity reasons, not to protect the families. They don’t have any altruistic interest here at all.

  17. How many people are going to be at that funeral?

    How many people watch Fox News?

    Seriously, think about it. This is not some good deed.

  18. The man picketed the Matthew Shepard funeral. That was how he achieved national promimence.

    Again, I would have preferred to see him on Larry King than at the funeral. That way anyone who had to endure his ravings would have done so voluntarily.

    No, it’s about legitimizing, to any degree

    I don’t know anything about this Gallagher guy, but I have a feeling that he won’t be legitimizing Phelps. I just watched a clip of Phelps’ daughter on Hannity & Colmes, and Hannity called her a “sick, soulless, twisted human being” and a “religious nut”. I’m assuming that the dialogue will be similar with Gallagher. I hope you will post a follow-up on how it turns out. If the hour is mostly comprised of Gallagher and his listeners calling Phelps the hateful, vile man he is, will you still be opposed to this trade-off?

    That having been said, Fox News is doing this for crass publicity reasons, not to protect the families.

    Apparently, Fox News has nothing to do with it (check the update in the link to Gawker). Even if Gallagher is doing it entirely for the publicity value, I still think sparing the families is a wonderful side-effect (the ends justifying the means in this case, imo).

    At least a couple of families will be spared the Phelps venom for a few days, although at the same time, I resent the fact that he gets a platform to spread his hate across the country.

    Agreed. With the laws as they are, it’s the lesser of two evils. My compassion for the families outweighs my contempt for Phelps.

  19. Raging Moderate, it’s essentially emotional extortion. No, of course nobody wants the families of the Amish girls or of dead soldiers or whomever to have to put up with nutjob protestors at a funeral. But when Phelps and his daughter say “hey, we won’t protest if you give us airtime,” they are playing a game, and Mike Gallagher let them win.

    While I’m truly sorry if families have to deal with hateful picketers at a funeral, it’s just wrong to give these creeps a national platform. I don’t think the media should give them coverage when they do protest, either. These people are dying for attention and nobody should give it to them, unless it’s in the form of a punch in the face.

  21. Again, I would have preferred to see him on Larry King than at the funeral. That way anyone who had to endure his ravings would have done so voluntarily.

    But he would have been given access to a far greater number of people.

    I don’t know anything about this Gallagher guy, but I have a feeling that he won’t be legitimizing Phelps. I just watched a clip of Phelps’ daughter on Hannity & Colmes, and Hannity called her a “sick, soulless, twisted human being” and a “religious nut”. I’m assuming that the dialogue will be similar with Gallagher. I hope you will post a follow-up on how it turns out. If the hour is mostly comprised of Gallagher and his listeners calling Phelps the hateful, vile man he is, will you still be opposed to this trade-off?

    Absolutely. You see, Phelps does not care about the format of the platform. He is a Holocaust denier: all he wants is the mike. That’s why you do not give it to him, even if the format is a debate or outright condemnation of what he’s saying. It makes no difference to him. The only thing he’s afraid of is the refusal to acknowledge his presence.

    And please. Gallagher is putting him on the air because he’s a freakshow who will get ratings and because he allows the wingnuts to indulge in moral self-congratulation for their own beliefs about homosexuality. Fox wouldn’t have him any less sick and horrible for the world.

    Raging Moderate, it’s essentially emotional extortion. No, of course nobody wants the families of the Amish girls or of dead soldiers or whomever to have to put up with nutjob protestors at a funeral. But when Phelps and his daughter say “hey, we won’t protest if you give us airtime,” they are playing a game, and Mike Gallagher let them win.

    Exactly. Phelps uses the threat of demonstrations to win concessions from public officials and administrators all the time. It’s his weapon of choice.

  22. Hahaha, I loved Hannity & Colmes egging that bitch Shirley on.

    Apparently, she has 11 kids.

    Scary, huh? Those people breed like cockroaches.

  23. I don’t know how I feel about Fox New’s motives behind this (although I’m with those who think it is less than altruistic). I am, however, somewhat comforted that, by putting them on television, the one group of people absolutely guaranteed not to come across the vitriol are the families and community of the victims.

    “Brought it on themselves,” indeed. That makes me feel sick.

  24. There are other ways of separating the Phelpsholes and the grieving families. Someone elsewhere mentioned the people in angel costumes at Matther Shepard’s funeral. I’ve also heard of a motorcycle group that has promised to surround military funerals to block out the idiots. Hell, you could probabky get an effective wall of cameras and talking heads to surround the funerals, facing away from the families. Just don’t turn the broadcast equipment on. Or run all the interior fans as white-noise generators and leave the lens caps closed.

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