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Sunday, January 30, 2005

Boo f'n hoo for Dr. Dobson

Posted by: Hammer / 6:51 PM

The intolerable Dr. Dobbie writes:
If you had told me a month ago that I’d be devoting my February letter to a cartoon character named SpongeBob SquarePants, I’d have said you were crazy. Nevertheless, by now you probably know that I have been linked to that famous talking sponge by hundreds of media outlets, from the New York Times to "MSNBC" to "Saturday Night Live."...

In truth, this tale has very little to do with SpongeBob himself, and everything to do with the media’s ability to obscure the facts and to direct lies and scorn toward those of us who care about defending children.

...The video itself is innocent enough and does not mention anything overtly sexual. ...But while the video is harmless on its own, I believe the agenda behind it is sinister. My brief comments at the FRC gathering were intended to express concern not about SpongeBob or Big Bird or any of their other cartoon friends, but about the way in which those childhood symbols are apparently being hijacked to promote an agenda that involves teaching homosexual propaganda to children. Nevertheless, the media jumped on the story by claiming that I had accused SpongeBob of being "gay."

Hammer tried to pound some sense into brother Churchy this weekend, but failed. Churchy asserted that poor Dr. Dobson was a victim of the media in the Sponge Bob flap. Churchy thinks, regardless of the merit of Dobson's claims, that the media reduced those claims to absurdity by focusing on whether SpongeBob is gay.

Boo f'n hoo, Dr. Dobson.

I don't consider Saturday Night Live a news source. Neither the original New York Times article nor the Keith Olbermann piece state that Dobson claimed SpongeBob is gay. Dobson, then, to claim that he is being spun in the media cites a comedy show and two news sources. Neither of the news sources makes the claim about which Dobson complains.

Precious.

What are Dobson's main complaints? That SpongeBob is a part of a "pro-homosexual video". That the organization distributing the video promotes "acceptance" of homosexuality. According to a spokesperson:

We see the video as an insidious means by which the organization is manipulating and potentially brainwashing kids. It's a classic bait and switch.
It's an ambiguous statement. It might mean that tolerance is the bait and that kids will be brainwashed into being "pro-homosexual" via the switch. It might mean that tolerance is the bait and that kids will be brainwashed into being homosexual via the switch. When an organization pimps books like " A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality", it's harder to say.

None of it should matter. Dobson is no small player in all this. His radio show reaches 7 million listeners. His weekly column is distributed to 500 newspapers. He has written dozens of books. He's got instant access to Sean Hannity to defend his views. Dobson himself claims that he had 100 interview opportunities to correct the record and defend himself. He turned down 99 of them in favor of Hannity.

But the most troubling aspect is that Dobson's empire is predicated on dishonest spin. In his whining newsletter, Dobson falsely claims that material aimed at undergraduates would be used to indoctrinate children. He wants people to be fearful that "the kids [will not be] learning about the alphabet or about exciting fairy tales; they [will be] potentially hearing incomprehensible references to adult perverse sexuality". He lies to his readers, saying that "Macy’s Department Store in New York City banned any reference to Christmas."

The last example is an exemplar of the fear-mongering pleas of the religiously correct. Macy's has banned any reference to Christmas. The man claiming he is being misrepresented by the mainstream media has the chutzpah to pimp that canard in his own defense.

Intolerable Dr. Dobbie is a bad, bad man.

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