Donohue compares Sam Bee’s mean words to police brutality

Bill Donohue

Samantha Bee got into hot water last week when she called Ivanka Trump a “feckless c—t” on her show. Much of the ensuing outrage was ginned up by Right-wing trolls happy for any opportunity to stick it to a Left-wing firebrand, but there was enough genuine offense that both Bee and parent company TBS apologized, and she addressed the issue in full on last night’s show, explaining that her attempt to reclaim the word crossed a line. For most people, that’ll likely be enough.

It wasn’t enough for Bill Donohue, though. Not that it particularly matters what the President of the Catholic League and the country’s top professional whiner not named Todd Starnes thinks, but he went ahead and released a statement on the matter – one that compares a comedian’s use of a bad word to police brutality. No, really:

Bee ended by saying, “If you are worried about the death of civility, don’t sweat it—I’m a comedian.”

This is exactly the problem. A comedian has no more right to obscenely insult people than a cop has a right to randomly beat a person up. Neither should be allowed to take cover hiding behind his status.

I have to ask what Donohue thinks a “right” is. Insulting people is allowed under the law. Law enforcement officers brutalizing random people is not (not that it’s ever stopped them). Nor is Bee trying to hide behind her status as a comedian (and what status would that be? Comedians are criticized and penalized for saying dumb things all the time). She explicitly apologized for what she said, even as she explained why she said it. Compare that to cops, who routinely protect their own and rarely face consequences for even the most egregious misconduct.

Honestly, how can anyone say stuff this dumb and not be laughed out of every room they’re ever in from now on?

He continues with a veiled threat – or what he thinks is a threat, anyway:

We have ways to deal with trespassing cops, but no remedy to deal with trespassing comedians. Save for boycotts. Don’t push us, Bee. There are a lot of activist groups monitoring your next move.

Ooh, yes, Bee had better watch out, or her show may end up just like Jon Stewart’s did when Donohue pitched a fit over his “vagina manger” joke in 2012, wherein a handful of busybodies got one sponsor to quit and then Stewart addressed the nonevent for about ten seconds on the air before everyone forgot about it altogether. Victory!

Bill Donohue and the Catholic League: An impotent one-man-show designed to fool pearl-clutchers into thinking the times haven’t passed them by.

(via Right Wing Watch)