The feasting on the dead of Charlie Hebdo continues. Just when you thought the State of the Union couldn't get any tackier comes news of the latest phony-baloney pen-is-mightier-than-the-sword pseudo-solidarity:
Members of Congress will honor the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack during the State of the Union by holding up yellow pencils.
A spokeswoman for Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin said that she will hold up a pencil and that they have confirmed that other lawmakers will do so as well.
"Rather than divide and intimidate us, these brazen and barbaric attacks have united the international community and prompted a global response in defense of the freedom of expression," said Eric Harris, press secretary for Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-WI).
It would be hard to think of an institution more antithetical to freedom of expression than the modern Democratic Party and its constituent identity groups. Consider one of Charlie Hebdo's fellow funnymen, Billy Crystal. He's a big-time Oscar host and limousine liberal, but yesterday he made the mistake of wandering off-script:
Billy Crystal: 'Stop Shoving Gay Sex Scenes in My Face'
The usual solipsistic dweebs of the LGBTQWERTY crowd didn't care for the cut of his jib. So the enforcers of Big Gay swung into action and in nothing flat Billy was forced to "clarify". Now it's sex "of any kind (gay or straight)" he doesn't want shoved in his face.
Maybe that'll be enough. It was certainly quick enough - less than 24 hours. So maybe they'll let him still appear in movies and TV shows occasionally. Or maybe the taint of "homophobe" will linger. Crystal knows what he meant, and so does Big Gay. And they don't care whether his "clarification" is sincere; they're teaching a lesson to the broader citizenry: You can be a big star, and a Democrat, and a supporter of gay marriage; you can have played one of the first gay characters on TV, a third of a century ago, back when that sort of thing took a measure of courage as opposed to being the lamest bandwagon in town. And none of it matters if you make one infelicitous remark.
I'm relatively relaxed about having gay sex shoved in my face. But I'm totally bored with having Big Gay compliance shoved down my throat. Why not just yell "Allahu Gaybar!" and get your scimitar out? Who the hell would want to be liked by bullies like that?
~I'll be keeping my fortnightly date with John Oakley on AM640 in Toronto, live at 8.30am Eastern on Wednesday, and I have the feeling he'll want to ask me about the State of the Union. So I must make a point of not watching it. Maybe one of those Democrats with pencils can take notes.
