Same-sex marriage

Is the White House Correspondents' Dinner the proper venue to make gay jokes about the husband of a current female member of Congress?

NBC's Jimmy Kimmel certainly thought so as he took a page out of vulgar comedian Bill Maher's playbook claiming Keith Olbermann "has more pink slips than Marcus Bachmann" (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

Dan Savage, the controversial sex advice columnist and noted anti-bullying activist, caused quite a commotion at a high school journalism convention in Seattle two weeks ago when he actually cursed at the youth audience as he spoke negatively about the Bible.

Citizen Link reported August 18 (video also follows with commentary, serious vulgarity warning):

CNN continued to show its unvarnished support for the GLAAD cause on Wednesday. Anchor Kyra Phillips was dripping with sympathy for a lesbian mother recently removed by the Boy Scouts as local cub den leader because of her orientation.

Phillips fawned over the subject's son as she asked him such questions as "tell me what makes your mom such a great den leader" and "Do you think it's pretty cool to have two mommies?" CNN claims to be a serious news network, but Phillips' "interview" could have passed for Oprah any day of the week as she helped Jennifer Tyrrell carry out her "mission" of changing the Boy Scout protocol of no gay den leaders. [Video below the break.]

Former New York Times executive editor Bill Keller wrote on how four Republican state senators put gay marriage over the top in New York State for the Times Sunday Magazine, "When Is a Flip Not a Flop? -- The Fate of the Republicans Who Supported Gay Marriage." Keller stated righteously that "It is difficult to construct an argument against marriage rights for gay people that doesn’t sound like an argument against gay people." He included his version of a conversation he had with New York Conservative Party chairman Mike Long in which he comes off cool and Long comes off snappish.

Openly gay MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts wore his bias on his sleeve on Wednesday during a segment in which a conservative guest, Maggie Gallagher, failed to show up to defend the National Organization for Marriage in a segment entitled "Anti-Equality Agenda Exposed." "Documents expose ugly anti-LGBT marriage plot," blared the on-screen graphic. Roberts groused about Gallagher's no-show, showing viewers her empty chair in the Seattle studio. "As you can see, she is missing in action, although we did confirm an hour ago that she was supposed to be in that studio. I would say, 'Hi, Maggie,' but you're not there," Roberts snarked.

Closing that interview, Roberts again showed the empty chair and complained that "Maggie Gallagher... decided not to show up for this interview." But today, in a debate segment on the same issue, Roberts informed us, Gallagher's no-show was a simple booking error. Roberts acknowledged the mix-up but  failed to stipulate it was MSNBC's error, not Gallagher's. What's more, Roberts failed to apologize for trying to shame Gallagher two days earlier on the presumption that it was she who backed out. [MP3 audio here; video embedded below page break]

CNN's Piers Morgan and conservative actor Kirk Cameron are still clashing over their March 2 interview where Morgan pressed Cameron on his views of gay marriage and Cameron replied that  homosexuality was "ultimately destructive" to civilization. That comment provoked a sharp outcry from liberal celebrities.

Later on in an interview with the Daily Beast, Cameron called Morgan's interview tactics "heartless" and claimed that the actual interview was 10 minutes longer than what actually aired. "They didn't hear everything I said," he insisted, referring to the CNN audience. "[W]hat I said isn’t a full representation of how I feel about the topic as a whole." [Video below the break.]

If you were wondering about CNN's objectivity on liberal issues like gay rights, the lines became a whole lot more blurred recently as anchor Don Lemon received a "Visibility" award from the pro-gay Human Rights Campaign at its North Carolina gala, where Obama's HHS secretary Kathleen Sebelius spoke and stumped for the President's re-election.

Then on Friday, Sebelius addressed middle school students at an anti-bullying event where Lemon served as the moderator of an anti-bullying panel. His appearances at events with an Obama cabinet member blur the lines of objectivity and his receiving an award from a gay-rights organization makes his liberal bias all the clearer.

Leading off an interview with conservative Christian actor Kirk Cameron on Tuesday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry immediately attacked him for recent comments he made to CNN's Piers Morgan: "I'm going to ask you about this firestorm that you set off...on the topic of gay marriage....Many people are suggesting that this is hate speech. Are you encouraging people to feel hate towards gay people?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Curry plucked out a single sentence from Cameron's CNN interview: "...you said, quote, 'I think that it's unnatural. I think that it's detrimental and ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization.'" Cameron called out her selective framing of the topic: "I love all people. I hate no one. And, you know, when you take a subject and you reduce it to something like a four-second sound bite, and a check mark on a ballot, I think that that's inappropriate and insensitive."

CNN's Kyra Phillips asked a Catholic bishop on Thursday "why not get on board" with dissenting Catholics who favor gay marriage. Given CNN's past support for LGBT causes, they clearly would not question the motives of a religious minister favoring gay marriage.

In fact, in 2010 Phillips fawned over a Christian pastor who publicly began accepting the lifestyle of gays and lesbians. [Video below the break. Audio here.]

Seattle-based New York Times reporter William Yardley reported melodramatically from Boise Saturday on the retirement of a gay state lawmaker, Nicole LeFavour, raising her gay rights priorities over those of every other legislator in Idaho: "Idaho Senator to Push Gay Rights Bill From the Outside."

On his Monday night show, CNN's Piers Morgan branded Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) as "one of the most judgmental people in American politics." Bachmann shot back that he was being "absolutely rude."

Morgan's interview with her was relatively tame until he broached the topic of homosexuality, where he promptly accused Bachmann of being "judgmental" and "vociferous" in her views. [Video below the break.]

Bill Maher unsurprisingly took some vicious cheap shots at Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on HBO's Real Time Friday.

In his final New Rule segment, Maher said, "If Rick Santorum is your youth minister, you’d ask your parents to switch you to the one who just molests" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Just days after Maryland's state legislature passed same-sex "marriage," the Washington Post trumpeted on its front page how a "deep in grief" woman in a long-term lesbian relationship had been denied Communion by a Catholic priest during her mother's funeral in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The woman accused the cleric of playing "politics...and you will pay dearly on the day of judgment for judging me."

It took writer Michelle Boorstein seven paragraphs to finally give a statement from a representative of the Archdiocese of Washington, who criticized the pastoral approach of the priest, but not necessarily his defense of Catholic teaching, which states that those living in mortal sin cannot approach the Eucharist. It took the journalist another four paragraphs to reproduce a comment defending the priest's actions from an anonymous blogger.

New York magazine's Frank Rich on Monday stereotyped folks who back ballet as defacto supporters of gay rights.

This came during a lengthy segment on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show wherein the host absurdly told viewers that it's wrong for wealthy people who appear to be socially liberal to fund conservative candidates that don't completely support same sex marriage (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Conservative author S.E. Cupp didn't take kindly to Bloomberg's Margaret Carlson calling Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum a zealot on CNN's Reliable Sources Sunday.

"Rick Santorum is not a zealot," scolded Cupp. "He happens to be a Christian and a conservative. That's it, end of story" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Rick Santorum had a bit of a testy exchange with NBC's David Gregory on Sunday's Meet the Press.

After Gregory asked if Santorum was going to "rail against areas of our culture that [he] disagree[s] with" if elected president, the former senator smartly replied, "It's so funny. I get the question all the time, 'Why are you talking so much about these social issues'...as people ask me about the social issues" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Apparently the Washington Post's website editors have little patience for African-American ministers who pledge fidelity to the Bible over that to their usual political allies like Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D).

"Black pastors take heat over stance against Maryland gay-marriage bill," reads a teaser headline on the washingtonpost.com front page. "As Maryland legislature passes bill, church members warn clergy that they're on the wrong side of history," the subheadline adds [see screencap below page break]. "Black pastors take heat for not viewing same-sex marriage as civil rights matter," reads the online version's headline.*

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and the Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart got into quite a heated debate about same sex marriage on MSNBC's Morning Joe Thursday.

When Capehart aggressively tried to grill Christie, the Governor scolded, “I used to be a prosecutor. I don’t know if you did too, but I’m not going to be cross-examined by you this morning” (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

Christian evangelist Franklin Graham made some comments about President Obama on MSNBC's Morning Joe Tuesday that have liberals across the fruited plain hopping mad.

So angered is MSNBC's Chris Matthews that on Tuesday's Hardball he said, "I think we should stop inviting this guy to talk about politics...he ain’t his father’s son" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

CNN host Piers Morgan joined comedian David Steinberg in mocking the Republican field on Monday night. On his prime time show, Morgan teed up Steinberg to rip the field as a "ship of fools." [Video below the break. Click here for audio.]

On Tuesday morning, the anti-Republican abuse continued on CNN as Muslim comedian Dean Obeidallah quipped that "There are people in the Taliban who would call Rick Santorum a radical conservative. I'm not even kidding."

Republicans are deceitfully playing with words to avoid being slammed as homophobes, racists, and bigots, claimed CNN contributor L.Z. Granderson on Tuesday morning's Newsroom. Anchor Kyra Phillips simply let Granderson air his liberal diatribe without any challenge, and no conservative guest was brought on to respond.

Republicans "aren't fighting for Muslims and mosques," said Granderson of their claims of "religious freedom," but simply "fighting for Christianity." [Video below. Click here for audio.]

CNN's Don Lemon on Sunday asked viewers, "Why are there so many more examples of gay conservative closet cases?"

In a segment about homosexual scandals in the Republican Party, Lemon answered his own question saying, "Perhaps the GOP’s own repressive platform is the very thing that forces gay members to live a lie" (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

In the wake of the controversy surrounding the Obama administration's edict on contraceptives, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting some press member claiming Republican views on such matters are extreme.

Countering this nonsense Wednesday was MSNBC's Joe Scarborough who on the show bearing his name correctly stated, "America is much more conservative" when it comes to social issues than the media think (video follows with transcript and commentary):

There was a surprisingly positive consensus on Rick Santorum on today's Morning Joe.  Most remarkable was the observation by Obama fan Mika Brzezinski, who said "I don't agree with anything he says, but I like the guy." H/t  to NewsBusters reader D.B. for audio assistance.

Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist were also upbeat on Santorum, Scarborough astutely observing that "90% of Americans don't obsess on social issues," so that what some would cast as controversial past statements by Santorum won't hurt him nearly as much as might be imagined.  Video after the jump.

UPDATE AT END OF POST: The Confederacy's Jefferson Davis railed against "the tyranny of the majority" wanting to end slavery.

Al Sharpton on Friday said something that every American on both sides of the aisle should totally fear.

"You cannot have rights voted on," the MSNBC anchor actually said on HBO's Real Time. "You have tyranny by the majority" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

The idea that marriage is a sacred institution is apparently a joke to Jay Leno and CBS.

Leno declared that those who wish to defend the sanctity of marriage should "ban Kardashian weddings." CBS apparently thought that Leno's crack was too good to pass up, highlighting Leno's quote on at the start of its February 8 "CBS This Morning" show.

CNN host Randi Kaye was eager to provide same-sex marriage supporters with a stately platform on Wednesday afternoon. In her interview of the plaintiffs in the case to overturn California's ban on same-sex marriage (Proposition 8), she gleefully asked them about their wedding plans. Then Kaye teed them up again with this softball question: "Are you considered heroes by those who support same-sex marriage? What are you hearing from people?"

At the end of the interview, the couple invited certain GOP opponents of same-sex marriage over to their house for a conversation on the matter. Kaye promised CNN would cover it and quickly added "And, we'll bring the meal." [Video below the break.]

Hawking his new novel on Wednesday's NBC Today, author Josh Bazell launched into a rant against the GOP and Rick Santorum specifically: "If I were to create a character who, say, had been the senator from Pennsylvania...get up at a debate and say that global warming was a hoax and that we had to change the Constitution to limit the rights of gay people. No one would believe that." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Bazell, son of NBC medical correspondent Robert Bazell, further proclaimed: "And if I said then, you know, that the entire Republican establishment sat quietly through this, no one stood up and said, 'You know, that's a crazy man talking,' it would just seem like I was being biased." For his part, weatherman Al Roker simply nodded along with the liberal screed, offering no objection.  

On the February 7 edition of MSNBC's Now with Alex Wagner, panelist John Heilemann, who writes for New York Magazine, thought it appropriate to equate the gay marriage debate in California to racial bigotry experienced by African-Americans in the 1960s. 

During an interview with openly gay former Lieutenant Dan Choi, Heilemann asked former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele the following bigoted and offensive question: “Michael I’m curious about whether you think it would be okay in modern America, for there to be some states where black men could not marry white women?  If local standards where that were unacceptable.” [MP3 audio here. See video below.]