Friday, May 13, 2022

Selective outrage

 Hypocrisy is the food of the gods in American politics, or some similar tortured metaphor. You can't throw a congress critter's inconsistent stance in Washington without hitting a congresscritter who's throwing your inconsistent stance back at you.

Some people are just more inconsistent than others.

Which brings us, obliquely, to what the Blob wrote about yesterday regarding Greg Norman and his blind eye. 

The Blob took to task Norman and his blood-money association with journalist-dismembering Saudis. Norman made the task-taking easy by dismissing that little Jamal Khashoggi deal by basically saying "mistakes were made." And haven't we all made mistakes?

Lots of media folk jumped all over that, as well they should have. Except, of course, for the media folk who reside in what the Blob likes to call FOX Land. 

Those folk said, essentially, "Yeah, well, where is the lamestream media's criticism of the NBA for crawling in bed with the United Arab Emirates, which hates gay people?"

The Blob has two responses to that:

1. I didn't know about the UAE thing until certain Republican congress critters, and their mouthpieces in the media, started caterwauling about it.

2. But I've already bashed the NBA for abandoning principle for profit. See: Here, and here.

OK, I lied. I have a third response:

3. You mean certain Republicans suddenly care about gay people? When did this happen?

And by "certain Republicans," I mean specifically Sen. Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee, one of our less distinguished public servants. She had nothing to say about Norman and those PGA golfers who are looking to get all pal-sy with Saudi butchers. Instead she bashed the NBA for scheduling games in the UAE, because it's just awful the way they treat gay people, isn't it?

Obligatory response: Seriously? I mean ... seriously??

Because this is the same Marsha Blackburn who scorched Disney for opposing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis "Don't Say Gay" law, which marginalizes gay people (and their kids) by forbidding schoolteachers from even breathing the word "gay." DeSantis has since gone on to try to jackboot Disney for daring to criticize Fearless Leader and his pet measure.

Now, it takes a special kind of stupid to make Disney your enemy in Florida. But that's another rant for another day.

Point is, Sen. Blackburn seems to have no issue getting behind anti-gay laws in her own country. It's only when other countries do it that she gets her outrage up -- and, of course, when it involves the NBA, a favored target of Republican ire. 

You can't do hypocrisy better than that. Seems the good Senator has absorbed the culture of her habitat well.

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