After reading the November Catalyst, Catholic League members let Tom Snyder know exactly how they felt about his little Catholic bashing exchange with Cyndi Lauper. Snyder was so incensed about the criticism we dealt him (in his September 12 show, he baited Lauper as she made disparaging remarks about Catholicism) that he called the Catholic League to complain. But he also didn’t help his case very much.
Snyder talked to Catalyst editor Susan Fani and explained that he was upset with the negative mail he was getting as a result of Catalyst article. He said that he was a Catholic who loves the Church and found the exchange he had with Lauper to be humorous. But then he tried to be cute by rhetorically asking Miss Fani whether black patent leather shoes really reflect up. Snyder also admitted that he baited Lauper, thus confirming our objections.
There is reason to believe, however, that Snyder may have gotten our message. For example, on November 30 Snyder hosted John Laroquette (we’ve had our problems with him as well), and when the subject of Catholicism came up, nothing negative was said. Also, on December 20, Snyder greeted the anti-Catholic writer Christopher Hitchens, and did not bait him quite the way he baited Lauper. In fact, at one point Snyder said that he had to be careful not to get into this matter (of criticizing the Catholic Church) too much lest he be deluged with the kind of response he incurred when hosting Cyndi Lauper.
