In the February 19 edition of Newsweek, it says the following about presidential hopeful John Edwards: “Then, last week, he refused to fire two campaign employees who’d criticized Roman Catholic and religious conservatives on their personal blogs, despite pressure from conservative leaders.”
Replying is Catholic League president Bill Donohue:
“Newsweek’s Jonathan Darman was disingenuous when he said that two employees for Edwards came under fire because they ‘criticized Roman Catholic and religious conservatives on their personal blogs.’ It is not criticism of Catholicism when someone makes a comment about the Virgin Mary being injected with semen by the Lord. Nor is it criticism when religious conservatives are called motherf—ers. It is hate speech. And these are only two of their incredibly vulgar assaults. To read what they actually said, in uncensored form, click here.
“Newsweek reeks of a double standard. In its December 11, 2006 edition, it said that Michael Richards had gotten himself in trouble for his ‘racist rant,’ and in the same article it recalled Mel Gibson’s ‘anti-Semitic remarks.’ On February 5, 2007, it said that Isaiah Washington got himself into hot water for making a ‘homophobic comment.’ In other words, when someone makes a racist, anti-Semitic or anti-gay remark, Newsweeklabels it as such. But when obscene comments are made about the Mother of God or religious conservatives, it counts as mere criticism.
“As I said last week, we will use the John Edwards matter as a springboard to a national discussion on the duplicity that colors the entire conversation about bigotry in America. Newsweek has now made its own contribution to this issue.”
