07/12/2007
O'Reilly: San Diego Padres Gay Night is "Social Engineering"
Bill O'Reilly hissed at the San Diego Padres' decision to offer hats to kids on the same night they were having a gay night, accusing the baseball team of "social engineering".
"Chorus member Fergal O'Doherty told me: 'The crowd cheered when we marched out. Rainbow flags were visible waving in every section. There was no audible booing or hissing, to our shock and surprise. It was a breeze. [T]he Christian wackos from El Cajon were so few in number and so pathetic on TV, using worn out sound-bite platitudes like 'lifestyle' and 'protect our children,' to the yawns and boredom of all present.'"
Sphere: Related ContentPosted 9:47 AM EST by Andy in Baseball, Bill O'Reilly, Croatia, News, San Diego | Permalink
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I can tell that the "pro-gay" talking head for this piece was hand-picked because he had absolutely nothing in rebuttal. Were I speaking on Talking Points, I would have made two points very clear:
1. It has been proven that homosexuality is not a choice, it is engendered, either psychologically or genetically or both, from birth, and
2. Gay people and straight people are equals. Thus, having straight children exposed to gay people is no different than having gay children exposed to straight people, which happens constantly.
Posted by: Ben Spear | Jul 12, 2007 10:07:49 AM
WTF?
What kind of representation was that guy for the gay community? Was he a republican? Could he not say anything combative to O'Lielly? That Nazi bitch needed to be taken down a peg or two also, yet nothing from Ron DeHarte? Man, somebody needs to fire his ass and get someone with some balls in there that can speak up and out against that kind of blatant hatred.
I'm sick of the fuckin' religious Reich and their agenda to push all homosexuals back into the closet.
Posted by: Bobby | Jul 12, 2007 10:16:19 AM
Falafel.
Posted by: RP | Jul 12, 2007 10:19:26 AM
When I first viewed this, I was furious as the horrible responses, or non-responses, and stumbling from Ron Deharte. But as I thought about it, it was such a ridiculous topic and asinine line of questioning, that it really didn't deserve a response.
Posted by: Ian | Jul 12, 2007 10:22:20 AM
For those of you seeing the Ann Coulter ad popping up contextually on this post, we're working to block the URL. Sorry.
Posted by: andy | Jul 12, 2007 10:33:21 AM
First off, I agree with the first comment that DeHarte needed to say homosexuality is not a choice.
Secondly, he could have also said that yes most of the gay people did act appropriately at the game but some were not. Yes, that may be true but it happens with straight people as well but, that is considered ok.
Thirdly, I think it would be a good thing to have a child exposed to what is going on in the world. If you hide the fact that there are people that are not like you, eventually that child is going to have the world flip upside down.
Posted by: Cory D | Jul 12, 2007 10:35:35 AM
O'Reilly would have have preferred they handed out luffas.
Posted by: chrisb | Jul 12, 2007 10:39:07 AM
Why is anyone surprised at this? O'Leilly and the rest of the nuts at Faux News will NEVER put on a liberal or progressive that has any sense or can actually participate in a debate of substantive issues. O'Leilly is FAMOUS for this. He NEVER lets anyone on his show who actually could argue against his positions or ideas.
You know, actually having a knowledgeable and well-spoken gay person appear on his show and use reason and logic to tear down the neoconservative fairy tales about homosexuality would do real damage to O'Leilly. Besides, the average age of his audience is something like 72. Bill loses viewers each and every day - and not just to the Grim Reaper!
Posted by: Jonathon | Jul 12, 2007 10:40:59 AM
What about all the drunk fat guys with beer bellies? I don't want my kids seeing that either.
Posted by: downtownla | Jul 12, 2007 10:48:44 AM
do you remember when o'retard was whoring out his book to any talk-show host who would hold his/her nose and allow him on stage. this cretin was trying so hard to inject a couple of new words into the lexicon: "traditionalists" and "secular-progressives (or sp's)." it was funny how this shit-for-brains told everyone from oprah to leno that they were traditionalists. when pressed, he would never mention anyone of consequence whom he thought were sp's. why? because didn't want to hurt book sales. not only is this guy a total f'tard, he's a complete waste of oxygen.
Posted by: nic | Jul 12, 2007 10:50:57 AM
I believe it is gay night everytime my partner and I take our three kids to a game!
However, I can see all sides to this one. As a parent, I want to control what my kids are exposed to. As a gay man, I want to be free to make that choice, but there are things that are not age appropriate. In MY opinion this should not have happened on the same night! I would NEVER want to expose my kids to anyone behaving over the top sexually in public whether gay or straight! It simply is not age appropriate given that all three are under 10.
O'Reilly does have a point. He is not against us and he shut Sandy Rios down when she tried to say that the Padres were part of the "radical homosexual agenda". She is a fringe believer, but Dehart really needs to get it together! Rios is a freak, but Deharte's defense was pathetic.
Posted by: RB | Jul 12, 2007 11:12:29 AM
"He NEVER lets anyone on his show who actually could argue against his positions or ideas."
That's not precisely true. O'Reilly once made the mistake of inviting a real liberal onto his show: Bill Maher. He did this after Maher made a comment criticizing some of his "No Spin Zone" nonsense on Real Time.
During the interview...O'reilly tried to resort to his usual intimidation tactics, implying that "other people" think Maher's an anti-rligious bigot. But Maher held his ground. And when O'Reilly claimed he was an "independent" voter (and not a Republican), Maher let out a derisive laugh that pretty much stole the show.
Posted by: John | Jul 12, 2007 11:23:51 AM
Funny how I saw this differently than most of you above; Ron DeHarte did a good job IMO. And I'll tell you why.
First off, you guys have to remember this is the O'Reilly show, NOT a friendly venue. If you are in the lion's den like that, if you to play your hand very cautiously.
The opening play, right off the bat for the crazy right wing lady, was the "choice" comment. Now, keep in mind the topic here is gay night at the Padres, not choice vs. orientation. It was clearly a provactive comment, meant to bait DeHarte into the off topic debate the CRWL wanted.
And to his credit, DeHarte did not take the bait!
This obviously frustratated CRWL, and she kept "choice" baiting with each sentence, getting more shrill and hysterical as the segment went on...eventually making the ridiculous "Smokers Night at the Padres" analogy which was so patently ridiculous it simply made her look foolish.
At the end, she was apparantly so flustered her attempts hijacking the segment off topic had failed that she gets into an actual shouting match with O'Reilly at the end. Meanwhile, while the right wing nuts are shouting at each other, DeHarte is sitting there in the image on the right panel, appearing the calm voice of stoic sanity and reason. :o)
At least thats how I saw it. A very cagey play by DeHarte overall; my compliments to him!
Posted by: JIM | Jul 12, 2007 11:43:47 AM
Warning! Alert the media, cue the protest: Two gay fathers are brings their kids (ages 8 and 12) to the SF Giants game on Saturday.
Posted by: Another gay dad | Jul 12, 2007 11:50:23 AM
What's wrong with social engineering?
Posted by: Giovanni | Jul 12, 2007 11:58:37 AM
This is one of those utter display of our present-day SEGREGATION. So what difference does it make if San Diego decides to hold a night where children get to go to the ball game with a more "diverse" crowd. Bill O'Reilly is a known HOMOPHOBE and a BIGOT no less with that Sandy Rios who shares the same ideations as him.
Not exposing your children to diversity basically teaches them bigotry.
Rios being gay, bisexual, transgender is not a CHOICE. Get you facts straight you MFC!!!
Posted by: Chad | Jul 12, 2007 12:10:38 PM
Check out what this sports blog had to say about it. Pretty funny stuff:
http://migames.wordpress.com/2007/07/12/bill-oreilly-hates-the-padres-the-gays-and-luis-salazar/
Posted by: Luis | Jul 12, 2007 12:15:05 PM
Obviously you take this all with a grain of salt as it's coming from O'Reilly and the female incarnation of Satan, but I'm getting just ridiculously sick of the implication that because 'mos gather, well, anywhere, that they will immediately be having sex all over the place. And in a culture already so saturated with seeds of intolerance (ie, sports), there isn't any need to further promote these attitudes. I'm frustrated with this stuff. I've been around sports for too long, and it makes me sick that people like O'Reilly would twist a positive experience into another anti-gay rant.
I hate him. I do. I will feed him glass. Then I will do a merry jig.
Posted by: David | Jul 12, 2007 12:17:06 PM
Last time I checked they weren't on FOX when the hooters girls were out at a game, or sports event. Yet suddenly when it comes to gays and lesbians sexuality is a problem.
Posted by: Rob | Jul 12, 2007 12:53:29 PM
Andy,
I tried to email this link code for the Ann Courlter Ad to you but the tips and contact programing seems not to be working at the moment.
Here's the underlying hidden code for the Coulter Ad that you'll need to be able to block it...
http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/iclk?sa=l&ai=BOYg08GSWRvKOBqOciATylZywCrWzpyHxj6L-AsWNtwEAEAEgy9mzBTgAUNyCk9H4_____wFgyebjhsijkBmgAYfDqvwDqgEKNzkxMzIwODQwMbIBEXd3dy50b3dsZXJvYWQuY29tugEKMzM2eDI4MF9hc8gBAtoBGWh0dHA6Ly93d3cudG93bGVyb2FkLmNvbS-oAwPoA4wD6ANx6ANM6AMt9QMKAAIA9QMAAAIB&num=0&adurl=http://www.humanevents.com/offers/offer.php%3Fid%3DANN101&client=ca-ref-pub-4162187998603810
Posted by: Robert In WeHo | Jul 12, 2007 1:36:22 PM
Ok, I do agree that the gay night and the kid's under 12 free hat day probably wasn't the best move by the Padres. However, I feel the situation is getting blown way out of proportion. It wasn't like there was a huge gay pride parade or tons of sex going on every where. Plus, when and IF a 4 year old asks why two guys or two women are kissing the parent doesn't have to explain the whole gay issue to the child at that time. The child isn't going to understand anyways.
I don't see why some people would be so afraid of exposing their kids to the gay community. In an event like this, a baseball game, where most of the people acted appropriately there shouldn't be anything to worry about.
Posted by: Cory D | Jul 12, 2007 2:19:05 PM
I watched the segment last night and was more shocked at the horrible representation of the gay community Ron DeHart. Was it the first time this idiot was on television. He couldn't put a complete thought together. They railroaded him and he sat there and looked stupid. He should have known that they were going to go down this road and he wasn't prepared.
Posted by: Mike | Jul 12, 2007 2:40:07 PM
Geez,and I thought Ann Coulter was a bitch?
Sandy Rios,oh wow,what a shrew? She complains about gay day but maybe when Bad Hair day is pronmoted,she can get the first ticket.
As for Ron DeHart,I don`t like bullies but what ldon`t like even less are gay guys who can`t stand up for themselves.He basically let Bill O`Reilly scream at him,Man,even O`Reilly did DeHarte`s work by shutting Sandy Rios up.
What a disappointment!
Posted by: Toby | Jul 12, 2007 4:52:04 PM
Hmm... lost in all of this discussion seems to be the fact that a major league sports team actually acknowledged the existence of the gay community. Pro-sports is still very homophobic. I hope many people took the time to let the Padres know that our inclusion (hey! WE are family, too and I think a "family day" was VERY appropriate!) in their event.
Posted by: Dean | Jul 13, 2007 3:31:49 AM
Dean, the Padres are actually one of several Major League Baseball teams that host a "Gay Night" during the season.
http://www.gaybaseballdays.com/
Just because the players are homophobic, doesn't necessarily mean the owners are.
Posted by: John | Jul 14, 2007 5:52:27 PM