Worst Human Being in the World: Andrea Peyser

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Okay, okay, so this pathetic little right-wing runt of a columnist at the New York Post isn't quite as bad as, say, Ratko Mladic. But this... this is just appallingly ridiculous, and it says far more about Peyser than it does about Weiner:

She is so out of here.

On the day Anthony Weiner needed his wife the most, she vanished -- poof! -- like his harem of feisty Twitter chippies during a power outage.

The gorgeous and furious Internet cuckold Huma Abedin refused yesterday to stand by her man. She did not show up to walk the plank of public humiliation, the way doormat Silda did for her whoremonger husband, Eliot Spitzer.

And she did not stand like a potted plant, cowering beneath her hair, the way wife and beard Dina did when her hub, Jim McGreevey, announced he was a "gay American."

Yesterday, the anniversary of D-Day, Weiner, 46, threw a little sneak invasion of his own. He stood behind a podium -- sobbing, blubbering and begging for forgiveness for his fetishistic fixation with phone sex, e-mail sex and sexting gross photos to a half-dozen chicks, many young enough to be his children. And Huma was gone.

"Mr. Weiner," I asked him. "Are you splitting up?"

His reply was most curious, even for a liar and cheat. He tried to avoid the question altogether.

"I love my wife very much," he said, sidestepping a direct "no."

First, who writes like this? One can only imagine that her casual use of dirty language, lobbing it at her chosen targets, gives her a massive erection.

Second, what the fuck does she know about Weiner's sexuality? How does she know that he has a "fetishistic fixation" with any of those things? Playing around on the Internet the way Weiner did hardly amounts to a fixation, let alone a fetishistic one. Does Peyser know anything about sexuality at all, about how human beings interact, about what turns them on, particularly in this virtual age? Apparently not.

Third, what the fuck does she know about the Weiners and their relationship, about what goes on behind their closed doors?

Fourth, it's none of her fucking business why Huma wasn't there. She may very well still love her husband. Is that so hard to believe? Maybe their love is deeper than his transgressions? And maybe she didn't want to stand there only to be bombarded by the media's self-righteous, hypocritical moralizing.

Fifth, it's none of her fucking business if the Weiners are splitting up or not, and Anthony didn't owe her an answer. Maybe they're just trying to work things out, the way so many couples do when they face problems.

Sixth, how is what Weiner did so horribly wrong? He was an idiot to use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to do what he did, and for the sake of his relationship he shouldn't have done what he did, but other than that, what? Is he a raving hypocrite like "family values" conservatives David Vitter, Larry Craig, and Mark Sanford, not to mention Newt Gingrich, among so many others? No. Did he commit an act of sexual violence? No. Did he commit a crime at all? No. Did he prove himself incapable of being a congressman? No. What he did was a private matter, and he and his wife should be allowed to deal with it in private without the glare of the likes of Andrea Peyser.

Seventh, there are far more important things going on in the world than "Weinergate." Not that you'd know that from the media's mouth-frothing.

Eighth, Peyser, with whom I am thankfully not familiar, is evidently -- and I use this column as all the evidence I need -- a reprehensible human being. I suppose she must be perfect. I suppose she has never done a thing wrong. Even so, she should shut the fuck up.

Ninth, let's add her to the list of Worst Human Beings in the World. Where she belongs.

Worst Human Being in the World: Rush Limbaugh

By Michael J.W. Stickings

He could be our Craziest Conservative of the Day, but I think he's actually much worse than that. (Our newest contributor, Nicholas Wilbur, will have more on Rush this afternoon.)

On his radio show yesterday, Dear Leader Rush actually said -- I kid you not -- that Arizona shooter Jared Lee Loughner has the full support of the Democratic Party:

What Mr. Loughner knows is that he has the full support of a major political party in this country. He's sitting there in jail. He knows what's going on, he knows that... the Democrat party is attempting to find anybody but him to blame. He knows if he plays his cards right, he's just a victim. He's the latest in a never-ending parade of victims brought about by the unfairness of America... this guy clearly understands he's getting all the attention and he understands he's got a political party doing everything it can, plus a local sheriff doing everything that they can to make sure he's not convicted of murder -- but something lesser.

This, of course, is completely made up, and, in typical blowhard manner, all he's trying to do -- as usual, he is utterly transparent -- is deflect the justifiable blame (not specifically for the shooting directly but for feeding the right-wing culture of violence, hate, and paranoia) that has been directed at conservatives the past few days.

It may very well be that he can't quite grasp this intellectually, but Democrats aren't actually trying to blame anybody else for the shooting but to supplement the blame that must obviously directed at Loughner with a deeper sense of the socio-political context of right-wing extremism that underpinned the shooting. (He may grasp this, of course, but, even if he does, he certainly doesn't care. For him, this isn't about the truth, about coming to terms with what happened and why, but about defending his right-wing ideology at all cost, and about trying to score partisan political points by lashing out and hoping his idiocy sticks. Which of course it does, with the idiots who follow him.)

As Andrew Sullivan notes, responding to Rush's comments:

Very very very few people have contributed more poison and hatred and extremism to the culture than Rush Limbaugh...

Again, the statement is so offensive and absurd one has to pinch oneself to believe someone actually said that about a mass murderer. No one has said something that crudely partisan about Loughner and the GOP. So this is actually a classic example of what some of us have long been worried about in "conservative" discourse. Limbaugh is not mainstream, you say? National Review just approvingly reprints excerpts from Limbaugh's show. He is untouchable; and his tone will not change.

And neither will the increasing right-wing extremism of conservative politics.

Candidate for worst human being in the world: Mel Gibson

By Michael J.W. Stickings

It's hardly breaking news that Mel Gibson is a racist, anti-Semitic thug, among other things, but now we have another piece of evidence to add to the ever-growing pile:

In one of the most explosive, racist and vile outbursts by a celebrity ever caught on tape, Mel Gibson told the mother of his love child that the way she was dressed would get her "raped by a pack of n***ers," RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively.

It's a shocking and blockbuster development in the couple's bitter legal battle, and Mel's disgusting words are on audio tape. His racist, misogynist statement is one of the secrets lurking in his war with his former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva.

RadarOnline.com has heard the tape, which also includes Mel telling Oksana he will burn down her home.

Charming.

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I just realized we haven't done a new entry in this series in some time. In fact, this is just the third. Mel joins Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson.

Which is pretty much the right company for him.

"Tough shit"

By Creature

Your GOP:

As Democratic senators asked again and again for unanimous consent for a vote on a 30-day extension Thursday night, Bunning refused to go along.

And when Sen. Jeff Merkely (D-Ore.) begged him to drop his objection, Politico reports, Bunning replied: "Tough shit."

It's not like people are suffering, or anything. What an ass.

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For today, let's annoint him our Worst Human Being in the World. HuffPo has more. -- MJWS

Candidate for worst human being in the world: Rush Limbaugh

By Michael J.W. Stickings

So incensed am I, I'll let Think Progress explain what happened:

[On Wednesday], hate radio host Rush Limbaugh attempted to attack President Obama for responding to the devastation in Haiti. "This will play right into Obama's hands -- humanitarian, compassionate," Limbaugh argued. "They'll use this to burnish their, shall we say, credibility with the black community — the both the light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country. It's made to order for them."

Dear Leader Rush also said the U.S. shouldn't support Haiti, or send any humanitarian relief:

We've already donated to Haiti. It's called the U.S. income tax.

Yes, he's anti-Obama, but he's also deeply racist. Do you really think he would have said the same things had such a natural disaster befallen a predominantly white country?

Steve Benen is right:

While the remarks have generated some criticism, including some pushback from the White House, no one seems especially surprised by Limbaugh's callousness. Limbaugh spews bile on a daily basis, and is richly rewarded. This is just who he is.

But Kevin Drum asked the same question I always ponder every time the right-wing, drug-addled radio host crosses the decency line: "I wonder what it takes to get the conservative movement to disown this guy?"

I wonder the same thing, but it simply never happens. On the other side of the ideological divide, when a Democratic lawmaker works with MoveOn.org or appears at Netroots Nation, there's ample criticism from the right about Dems associating with "liberal extremists."

And yet, no matter how loathsome a figure Limbaugh becomes, top Republican officials not only reach out to the right-wing talk-show host, but effectively treat him as the de facto head of their political party. Indeed, in the rare instances in which a Republican actually offers subtle disapproval of Limbaugh, they invariably apologize to him and kiss his proverbial ring.

The GOP effectively lets Rush Limbaugh call the shots, and when he says disgusting things, Republicans don't dare disagree with their boss.

And so Rush gets away with being... what?... what's the right word for him? Let's just say that, like Pat Robertson, on whom we focused yesterday, he's a leading candidate for Worst Human Being in the World.

He was that already, of course, but he significantly bolstered his candidacy with these comments. Even some conservatives pushed back:

-- Joe Scarborough: "The insensitivity is stunning, the words are deplorable... [It's] indefensible."

-- Pat Buchanan: "They're deeply insensitive, no doubt about it. I think the President of the U.S. speaks for the country when he stands up there... I think Rush's comments were cynical."

No, they were far worse than cynical, but they did, once more, expose Rush -- along with his supporters and admirers, and what he stands for -- in all his naked inhumanity.

Candidate for worst human being in the world: Pat Robertson

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Maybe this should be a new ongoing series here at The Reaction. We'll see.

For my initial post on the disaster in Haiti, see here. For J. Thomas Duffy's post on Robertson and Haiti, see here.)

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No natural disaster is complete without some insane Christian fundamentalist coming out and saying something unfathomably insane.

(Although, come to think of it, it's all quite fathomable when this happens, given that it happens all the time.)

I've called Pat Robertson a number of things before, including "dangerous idiot" here, here, and here, but I just can't think of the appropriate word or words to use in response to what he said today on his show The 700 Club about the earthquake in Haiti:

The Rev. Pat Robertson, on his CBN broadcast today, offered his own explanation of the earthquake in Haiti:

"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it," he said. "They were under the heel of the French... and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you'll get us free from the French.'

"True story. And the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal,'" Robertson said. "Ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after another."

That's right, Robertson said that the earthquake happened because the Haitians are "cursed" as a result of a long-ago pact with the devil to free themselves from French oppression.

Insane? You betcha, even by the extreme standards of fundamentalist Christianity, even by the standards of Robertson's own insanity, which would seem to include admiration of French (i.e., white European) tyranny and a desire for non-white peoples to be subjected to such godly bondage.

Now, Robertson also said that "right now we're helping the suffering people and the suffering is unimaginable," which is fine, but also, rather disturbingly, that "we need to pray for them a great turning to God and out of this tragedy I'm optimistic something good may come."

Sure, over 100,000 people are dead, sure, the country lies in ruins, sure, it's a humanitarian catastrophe, but if those "cursed" Haitians turn to Jesus and accept the Christian yoke, then, hey, it was all for the best, right?

You know what? Fuck you, Pat Robertson, you fucking piece of shit.

You're one of the worst human beings in the world, a shameful embarrassment to humanity, to America, even to Christianity. You're a disgusting, despicable man with disgusting, despicable beliefs.

And you, dear reader, if you believe this nonsense, you're fucking insane as well.

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If you want to watch Robertson in action, here's the clip: