As NewsBusters previously reported, MSNBC's Alec Baldwin went on another homophobic rant Thursday.
This led Andrew Sullivan to take on the hypocrisy of the liberal media which will likely once again ignore Baldwin's behavior:
Baldwin keeps revealing his own anti-gay bigotry. These outbursts reveal who he actually is.
I should add that this is a free country and he has an inviolable right to use these words. But he has no right to pretend in any way to be a tolerant liberal when he is anything but, when it comes to gay people.
So many liberals, of course, give him a pass when they would never dream of doing so with anyone who was conservative or Republican. Even after his bigotry was on full display, MSNBC hired him for a new show as a liberal pundit. For too many of them – especially gay establishment liberals, like the tools at GLAAD or the terminally naive like Hilary Rosen – there is a glaring double standard here. It seems to me that this double standard cannot stand any more. And this raging, violent bigot cannot be defended any longer.
Sullivan provided a follow-up:
What a bunch of hypocrites and phonies on that propaganda network. They’re almost as bad as GLAAD, which has finally – finally – criticized the bigot. But, of course, they haven’t called on MSNBC to fire him. Baldwin, for his part, actually tried to claim he said “fathead” instead of “fag”! And then – no, I’m not making it up – insisted that he had no idea that the word “cocksucker” had a gay connotation. For a litany of his deranged tweets, check this page.
There will be no consequences. With liberal homophobes, there never are. If you’re a conservative and are caught yelling these slurs at random people, you’d be fired pronto or buried in an avalanche of gay protest. If you’re a self-entitled liberal, you’re fine. What, I wonder, will MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Thomas Roberts and Jonathan Capehart say about this? Nothing, I’ll bet you.
According to LexisNexis, Sullivan was correct. I can find absolutely no comments about Baldwin in any of the prime time MSNBC transcripts from Thursday evening.
But why limit the hypocrisy to MSNBC?
CNN and sister HLN did three lengthy segments about Baldwin's stalker being found guilty Thursday, but didn't say one word about his homophobic rant.
The three broadcast network evening news programs also ignored the rant.
Only Fox News's The Five decided to take it on.
As such, if Sullivan wants to accuse the media of hypocrisy concerning this issue, he should point his finger at ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC AND MSNBC while praising Fox.
But don't hold your breath.
