Somewhere at Comedy Central, there’s a short-ish Jewish guy, who’s really fabulous at making people laugh, not shaking in his shoes. Why is he not shaking in his shoes? Because the official Catholic League boycott led by Bill Donohue has begun.
In a statement released on their website, Donohue threw a hissy-fit because Jon Stewart did not prostrate himself before the sacred altar of Pedophiles R Us and apologize for his recent comments on the Mommy Wars:
Jon Stewart refused to apologize last night for the unprecedented assault on Christian sensibilities he launched on April 16. In that episode, “The Daily Show” featured a naked woman with her legs spread and a nativity scene ornament placed between her legs; with the picture on the screen, Stewart laughed at what he called the “vagina manger.”
Our effort against Stewart includes asking his most consistent sponsors to pull their advertising (if necessary, we are not ruling out a boycott of their products), and a lengthy public relations campaign. The goal? To get him to apologize. If that doesn’t work, we can guarantee that his reputation will never be the same.
Today we will contact Kraft, one of whose products, MiO Energy, was one of the five sponsors that advertised on both the April 17 and April 18 episodes. Moreover, we will contact those on our “Allied Organizations” list (over two days) to join this campaign. They will be asked to contact Steve Albani, Senior VP of Comedy Central Communications, and Kraft.
This is just the beginning. Over the next several weeks, we will contact every major Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Mormon and Muslim leader and organization in the nation; they will be sent the picture, along with Stewart’s remarks. We will contact Viacom (which owns Comedy Central, home to “The Daily Show”) making sure that all board members and senior management know about Stewart’s anti-Christian and grossly misogynist attack. We will take out ads in newspapers, etc. We are not going away.
What Jon Stewart did ranks with the most vulgar expression of hate speech ever aired on television. His incivility cannot go unanswered.
So, let me get this straight…
Bill Donohue wants to crucify a Jew (yes, I said that) for defending the rights of women to have sovereignty over their own bodies, through the use of what Stewart termed “vagina mangers.” It was very funny and hardly misogynistic, but I guess I didn’t realize that the Catholic Church held the trademark on mangers and/or the baby Jesus. And if you want to talk gross misogyny and hate speech, let’s just take a look at some of Donohue’s “finer” moments:
- “Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. It’s not a secret, okay? And I’m not afraid to say it … Hollywood likes anal sex.”
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Bill Donohue
“After all, 15-year-olds, they go to abortionists. They get their babies killed without parental consent. The new Puritans [those criticizing The Passion of the Christ] don’t seem to worry about that. They like gay sex.”
- “Name for me a book publishing company in this country, particularly in New York, which would allow you to publish a book which would tell the truth about the gay death style.”
- “The idea of two men marrying is so bizarre and so anti-marriage that it is a great tribute to the American people that they continue to respect the right of gays to participate in American life without harassment while simultaneously rejecting the extremist gay agenda.”
- “Well, first they said it [The Passion of the Christ] was anti-Semitic. That didn’t work. Then they said it was too violent. That didn’t work. Then they said it was S & M. That didn’t work. Then they said it was pornography. That didn’t work. Now they’re saying it’s fascistic queer-bashing. That kind of language would ordinarily get somebody taken away in a straitjacket and — put you in the asylum. I don’t know what about — the queer-bashing is all about. I’m pretty good about picking out who queers are and I didn’t see any in the movie. I’m usually pretty good at that.”
- “The fact of the matter is the media elite have an aversion to religion. Some of them even have a phobia and some of them are obviously anti-religion. … They want Tom, Dick, and Harry to get married. They want “under God” out of the pledge of allegiance.”
- “No institution, religious or secular, has less of a problem with the issue of sexual abuse today than the Catholic Church.”
- “There is something sick about Friendship Trees, Winter Solstice Concerts, Holiday Parades and Holly Day Festivals. The neutering of Christmas extends to the banishment of Nativity Scenes from the public square, the expulsion of baby Jesus from crèches not otherwise forbidden, the banning of red and green at school functions, the censoring of “Silent Night” at municipal concerts, etc…. By celebrating Christmas we are celebrating diversity. Don’t let the cultural fascists get their way this year.”
Like I’ve said before about “those who protest the most,” I think Donohue has some issues of his own, and he should really seek professional help.
The Catholic League’s website provided the email to the VP of Comedy Central, Steve Albani – steve.albani@cc.com – urging their supporters to contact him and voice their outrage. But now I’m challenging you, fantabulous Stew Readers and Supporters, to do the same in support of Stewart.
I did a search over at The Daily Show’s website for Donohue, and there were only a few videos that came up, but they’re worth noting:
The Daily Show’s “Pray It Forward” — April 26, 2005
The Daily Show’s ”Film Threat” – February 16, 2006
About Beth
Bill Donohue is a professional victim and, I suspect he loves every minute of it. He see’s a threat to the church everywhere he looks while simultaneously burying his head in the sand when it comes to the church’s own history.