In the weeks leading up to the release of The Passion of the
Christ film over two years ago,
Tim Rutten,
media columnist for the Los Angeles Times, wrote no less than
six hyperventilating columns that dealt almost
exclusively with breathless concerns over anti-Semitism in Mel Gibson's
film. At one point, Rutten attacked Mel Gibson as
"a little brat" and "an unwholesomely willful child playing with
matches." Yet when the blatantly anti-Christian and
anti-Catholic The Da Vinci Code was released a few months ago,
Rutten's
reaction was a ho-hum and a yawn; far from a concern, Da Vinci
is "only a movie," asserted Rutten! Bigotry, anyone? Of course.
As we've catalogued before (here
and here,
for example), anti-Christian and anti-Catholic prejudice is alive and
well at the Los Angeles Times.
With this as a backdrop, it was no surprise to see the shameless
Rutten juice Gibson's arrest to plaster Mel anew
in his latest column (Saturday, August 5, 2006). Especially brazen
is Rutten's implication that cheerleaders of Gibson's The Passion of
the Christ have been exposed as supporters of anti-Semitism. This is
a shameless and ugly column, folks.
Amid Rutten's baseless allegations and dubious inferences, Rutten
takes issue with a remark that Dr. William Donohue, president of
The
Catholic League, made during an August 1, 2006, segment on MSNBC's
Scarborough Country. Rutten, in his dishonesty, doesn't provide
the full quote, but we will provide more context here. From
MSNBC's
web site:
DONOHUE: ... [D]id [Mel Gibson] make an anti-Semitic comment?
Obviously, he did. It was irresponsible (inaudible) and he's
apologized for it, as he should apologize for it. There's a lot
of people who have made comments which are bigoted who are not
necessarily bigots. I myself have said that there's nobody in
the U.S. Senate who was a bigot against Catholics. However, I have
pointed out numerous bigoted comments made by people, like Senator
Schumer, for example ...
In reaction to Donohue's remark, "There's a lot of people who have
made comments which are bigoted who are not necessarily bigots," Rutten
responds with this line: "Really?"
It is this glib reaction from Rutten that exposes his bigotry and
bias. As NewsBusters publisher
Brent Bozell has highlighted in
his most recent column (August 4, 2006), scores of anti-Catholic and
anti-Christian remarks have gone essentially unreported in the
mainstream media. While fully sober, bigoted and hateful comments
and skits have been spewed by the likes of
Ted Turner,
Bill Maher,
Penn & Teller,
Ian McKellen,
Denis Leary,
the New York Press, and Comedy Central's
South Park creators. In addition, numerous television and
motion pictures have been cited for their anti-Christian and/or anti
Catholic bigotry. (Spend a real, not a bogus, 15 minutes
here, Tim.)
Some questions for Tim: Are the above actors/public figures bigots
as well, Tim? If so, how many of them have you plastered in the same
manner as Mel Gibson? There is no question that Mel Gibson's slurs were
offensive and contemptible. But where is the balance, Tim?
Tim Rutten would reap a hair of credibility if he would address
episodes of anti-Catholic and anti-Christian bigotry in the same fervent
manner that he's approached Mel Gibson.
Instead, in the midst of an effort to plaster Christians and a
Hollywood actor as misguided bigots, Rutten actually exposes himself as
one.