Rosie O'Donnell, The Irredeemable Right, and Religious Extremists

The extreme right needed no excuse to go after Rosie O'Donnell. That she wasn't married to a man (even before she announced she was a lesbian) was enough for some to trash her. Even before she spoke out against the war in Iraq before we entered it, the rest of the extremists wanted her shut up, shipped out, and forgotten.

As long-time readers know, I'm not a Rosie fan. Oh, I don't dislike her because she's a lesbian or any of the other "popular" reasons to shun her. She's just not my style.

But I don't have to be a fan - or to even agree with her most recent comments (although I do happen to agree with these, quite assuredly) - to support her right to express her feelings. Bush and Cheney certainly express theirs, as does Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, "Dr" James Dobson and Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Ann Coulter.

The extremists now want Rosie not just forced to apologize to them, not just removed from ABC (which already did such a nice job for the extreme right with that ridiculous mock-u-mentary "The Path to 9-11") but actually lynched because she said - to paraphrase - that there is little difference between the extreme religious right in this country and the "evil" Islamic fanatics in the Middle East and elsewhere.

What's to argue there? Rarely a month goes by when Pat Robertson doesn't suggest the State Department get blown up because they aren't setting foreign policy the way he wants it run. He blames homosexuals for hurricanes, Bill Clinton's blowjob for 9-11, and often recommends violence. Coulter can barely get through the day without recommending the deaths of Muslims just because they're Muslims or to have The New York Times blown up or a jumbo jet flown into its headquarters.

Actually, I'd probably say to Rosie that there is ONE difference between Muslim extremists and Christian extremists here at home. "Our" extremists are often in bed with corporations and other avenues to their own self-interests. For example, Pat Robertson's "aid" network seems to largely exist to smuggle diamonds out of Africa where it's not unusual for workers and villagers to lose limbs or their lives for their procurement. James Dobson's in bed with a lot of strange people as is Jerry Falwell.