The coverage of Indiana’s decision to protect religious liberty from government coercion has given the public access to an unveiled look at the aggressive liberal media in action. Case in point is MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell, who invited George Takei, the Star Trek actor turned gay rights activist, and Stuart Milk, president of the Harvey Milk Foundation, to rage against the Indiana law for nearly eight minutes of air time.
O’Donnell kicked off the attacks against Governor Mike Pence by telling Takei, "To my astonishment...we had a governor on national television who could not answer the question 'should it be legal to discriminate against gays and lesbians.' There was no answer to that question."
Having received the green light to rant, Takei slammed Governor Pence and the Indiana law:
"It was an awkward performance, wasn't it?...That religious veil is quite transparent. It was a very clear effort to discriminate against gays and lesbians...[T]his is very personal to us, because...if my husband Brad and I go there and try to check in at a hotel or a restaurant or lunch counter, we would, we could be refused. And at a lunch counter, that brings up another echo from history. There was a time when they could have refused service to me because I'm a racial minority, maybe not Brad, but now we are married. And we're a couple. And we could be refused service on the basis of that. So, it's an Indiana law, but it affects all Americans."
Rather than offer an opposing viewpoint, O’Donnell decided to turn his news analysis show into a megaphone for smears. He allowed Stuart Milk, the nephew of the radical homosexual activist Harvey Milk, to charge that Governor Pence,
"packaged hate. He packaged discrimination. He put it into a box and labeled that box religious liberty....So what is happening is you’ve seen someone who’s retrenched himself into his position, it’s a losing position, it’s antiquated, it’s outdated. It’s simply hateful and it’s mean-spirited....And I think that what we're seeing is a ground swell of support that says that this is enough. We're not going to allow civil liberties and justice be put aside anymore in the name of religious liberty."
In between these rants against religious freedom, O’Donnell did nothing to challenge their assertions. In fact, he poured gas on the fire with statements such as,
"I just want to point out, it's not just the left and liberals who are rising up against this....George you are not alone in this. This goes across party lines, the objections to this....Stuart Milk this boycott energy does not seem to be something that’s going to disappear quickly."
While O'Donnell's reputation as a leftist precedes him, and the conduct of his guests is to be expected, the fact that he subjected his audience to an anti-religious freedom echo chamber for nearly eight minutes demonstrates how much the news media has sided against people of faith in this debate over religious freedom.
One can only imagine the outcry that would erupt if Fox News did nothing but uncritically promote the views of the religious right for almost eight minutes straight.
Full Transcript is Below:
10:17
LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: Joining me now for an exclusive interview, are gay rights activists, Actor George Takei and Stewart Milk, the president of the Harvey Milk Foundation. George, to my astonishment yesterday, we had a governor on national television who could not answer the question "should it be legal to discriminate against gays and lesbians." There was no answer to that question.
GEORGE TAKEI: It was an awkward performance, wasn't it? But he did give one very clear answer when George Stephanopoulos asked, "will you sign a law that would protect gays and lesbians from discrimination?" He said directly, "no." Explicitly, "no." He said it's not on my agenda. So I think that exposed the purpose of the so-called religious freedom restoration act. This is something that we went through last year in Arizona. The very same bill, same idea, veiled by the idea of religious freedom, but there was such pressure put on Arizona by both the corporations as well as individuals, and that's what's happening in Indiana right now, that the governor of Arizona last year, Jan Brewer, vetoed it. Governor Pence acted very, very quickly on this, because the people that were pushing this bill, were the very same people that were trying to add an amendment to the Indiana state constitution banning marriage equality. And so, you know, we see right through it. That religious veil is quite transparent. It was a very clear effort to discriminate against gays and lesbians.
O’DONNELL: Well Governor Pence maybe took to the Wall Street Journal for his op ed piece because he's getting a lot of corporate backlash over this, Tim Cook CEO of Apple, Angie's list CEO is out there, and I want to read the latest tweet we’ve just picked up on this and this goes into the boycott category, the economic boycott of Indiana, it’s from Parks and Recrs Star Nick Offerman who just tweeted "congrats Governor Pence, we are canceling Indiana Summer of 69 tour for May 16th," that’s a tour that he’s been doing. "I will play Indiana University this Wednesday and donate my money to Hillary Clinton". Stuart Milk, the boycott factor is, may be something that the governor wasn't anticipating.
STUART MILK: (President of the Harvey Milk Foundation): No, I don't think the governor, actually, Lawrence, anticipated very much. I mean what he did, as George was saying, he packaged hate. He packaged discrimination. He put it into a box and labeled that box religious liberty. And we are, we, meaning the civil society of the United States has seen through that. Now corporations have a responsibility to their employees, and they are embracing inclusiveness. They're embracing diversity, and they would be remiss if they sent employees to a state like Indiana where a same-sex couple could go into a restaurant and be denied service possibly in front of their children. So what is happening is you’ve seen someone who’s retrenched himself into his position, it’s a losing position, it’s antiquated, it’s outdated. It’s simply hateful and it’s mean-spirited. And I think you, we're seeing not only civil society but corporations and even communities of faith saying, you know, we're not going to go backwards. We've moved forward as a society. We're not going to allow Governor Pence and a legislature in a state move, move us backwards from a time that we have long ago left behind.
O’DONNELL: The, I just want to point out, it's not just the left and liberals who are rising up against this. It's, as I said, the CEO of Angie's list is a Republican, has supported Pence in the past elections, has donated $150,000 in 2012. He told NBC news, "I'm a Republican, I've been active in state politics. The legislature has completely turned a deaf ear to the business community. To most of the Republican party. It’s extraordinary." And so George you are not alone in this. This goes across party lines, the objections to this.
TAKEI: Yes, and it is really the people of Indiana that should be leading the opposition to this law. And I just got an early peek at the Indystar's editorial for tomorrow. And they are strongly urging the governor, Governor Pence, to rescind the religious freedom act or to add a bill protecting lgbt people. So the opposition is coming very strongly from the Republicans of the Indiana, of Indiana as well as corporate leaders in Indiana. So I am very hopeful that we will see a good resolution to this. And I have many friends in Indiana, and they've written me, and they are outraged and embarrassed by the behavior of their legislature and their governor. And certainly, that performance that we saw on ABC with George Stephanopoulos was a very awkward performance. And the people of Indiana are leading the charge on this.
O’DONNELL: The president of the NCAA is worried about this and how it's affecting the final four games in Indianapolis this weekend. Charles Barkley has written, "as long as anti-gay legislation exists in any state I strongly believe big events such as the final four and super bowl should not be held in those states' cities." Stuart Milk this boycott energy does not seem to be something that’s going to disappear quickly.
MILK: No, I don't think it's going to disappear. And to be honest with you, the more that the proponents for this law are speaking, we're hearing things like "Well people can, who are discriminated against in a business can go to court." So we're going to set up tribunals where people who’ve already been embarrassed, who’ve been kicked out of businesses because they're lgbt, would be going to these tribunals. I mean this is archaic. And I think that what we're seeing is a ground swell of support that says that this is enough. We're not going to allow civil liberties and justice be put aside anymore in the name of religious liberty.
...
TAKEI: Well this is very personal to us, because as I said, we have friends in Indiana, particularly in Indianapolis, and if my husband Brad and I go there and try to check in at a hotel or a restaurant or lunch counter, we would, we could be refused. And at a lunch counter, that brings up another echo from history. There was a time when they could have refused service to me because I'm a racial minority, maybe not Brad, but now we are married. And we're a couple. And we could be refused service on the basis of that. So it's an Indiana law, but it affects all Americans.
O’DONNELL: George Takei and Stuart Milk, thank you both very much for joining me tonight.
