THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD
(apologies to Keith Olbermann)
Bill Donohue
The president of the Catholic League has had enough of HBO’s Bill Maher mocking his religion. Earlier this week, Catholic League President Bill Donohue sent a letter asking Time Warner to have a “serious talk” with the atheist comedian…. “There is no other entertainer in the nation who has repeatedly spoken about the Catholic Church, especially its priests, in more vile and obscene terms than Bill Maher,” Donohue wrote to Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt. “Vicious beyond belief, his remarks would be condemned - indeed he would be fired - if directed at any other demographic group. Over and over again he libels [sic] priests, portraying all of them as sexual abusers. And he does so with impunity.”…. The president of the Catholic League has had enough of HBO’s Bill Maher mocking his religion…. “Catholics need to know just how far Time Warner is prepared to play the role of spectator,” Donohue added. “From the enclosed report, it is evident that Maher’s bigotry is not merely visceral, it is relentless.”…. “Time has come for someone in a position of responsibility to sit down and have a serious talk with this man.”
I’ve never made any secret of my abject disdain for the walking meat sack that is Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League. As intolerant and hyper-sensitive to anything even remotely smacking of criticism as Donohue is, you’d think he’d have busted an artery out of pure unfiltered rage by now. Donohue is an advertisement for Christianity in the same way Ted Bundy was for healthy male-female relationships. His God is an angry, rage-filled, mean-spirited SOB…the irony and sadness of which seems completely lost on him.
Maher’s “crime” was in calling out Donohue for what Maher calls “shit-kicker inflation, which is the problem of all things conservative being portrayed as way bigger than they really are.” Donohue has an unfortunate habit of creating the impression that the Catholic League speaks for the faithful as some sort of umbrella advocacy organization. Truth be told, Donohue is the President of an organization noted for making itself appear larger, and thus more influential, than it really is. Maher describes it this way:
“The Catholic League is another group constantly in the news because they love to get freaked out about nonsense that would make even Pat Robertson go, ‘Oh for Christ sake, relax.’ But just as there aren’t a million moms in One Million Moms, there is no league in the Catholic League. It’s one guy with a fax machine.”
I don’t know, nor do I particularly care, how many folks are dues-paying, card-carrying members of the Catholic League. A letterhead, a logo, and the ability to garner face time on cable news aren’t proof of a sizable or even influential organization. I’ve seen Donohue on television many times, and I don’t recall ever seeing him in a good mood or even smiling. Virtually every appearance is defined by barely-contained, vein-popping rage. His schtick > is that Catholics are an oppressed minority and the Catholic League are the knights in shining armor charged with protecting the honor of the faithful. It’s as arrogant as it is disturbingly hypocritical.
What Donohue fails to understand is that in a country where freedom of speech is guaranteed things can sometimes get ugly. If I’ve said this once, I’ve said it a thousand times…but it’s still true: free speech can be- and very often is- disturbing and offensive speech. By raging against Maher’s strong opinions about the Catholic Church, what Donohue is doing is attracting attention to them. He may not like- and he may well be offended by- what Maher has to say, but then he doesn’t have to. The 1st Amendment means that Maher has the right to state his opinion…and Donohue has no standing to demand that Maher’s free speech rights be proscribed.
Maher’s employer could certainly ask him to tone it down, but the fact that they haven’t tells me two things:
They respect Maher’s right to express his opinion and are willing to allow him the latitude to do so. It IS HBO, after all.
HBO recognizes that Maher may be controversial and outspoken, but he has the ability to draw ratings sufficient to justify keeping him on the air.
There’s a very simple solution available to Donohue: Ignore Maher. By raging against Maher’s alleged anti-Catholic intolerance in front of every camera that will have him, Donohue is simply providing more fodder for Maher. What Donohue fails to understand is that Maher isn’t anti-Catholic; he’s anti-religion. Catholicism and the Catholic Church just happen to provide easy targets. Rather than railing against Maher calling out the Catholic Church, perhaps Donohue would be better to served by examining the reasons why the Church he loves provides such a big target.
Then again, when you break things down, Donohue’s self-righteous bluster is more about attracting attention (and by extension donations to the Catholic League). I think he loves it when talking heads treat him as a Serious Person with Something Important To Say. Would that he actually had something- anything- of value to add to the public discourse.
