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The firing of Roseanne Barr is a cultural watershed—a major victory for the progressive left and political correctness. It also exemplifies the hideous hypocrisy and double-standard at the heart of modern liberalism. Decent people everywhere should be outraged.
ABC executives canceled the hit sitcom, “Roseanne,” after its star sent out a racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett, former President Obama’s senior political adviser. In an Ambien-fueled Twitter rant (probably aided with the generous consumption of alcohol), Roseanne tweeted, “Muslim Brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.” She was referring to Jarrett. Even though Roseanne apologized repeatedly, saying her tweet was a “bad joke,” ABC was quick to drop the axe—firing her as well as over 200 staffers, producers, writers and cast members who worked on the popular and highly rated show.
ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey said in a statement, “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.”
ABC’s parent company, Walt Disney, also weighed in. Disney CEO Robert Iger personally called Jarrett, before Roseanne was even told she was fired, and apologized, saying that “bigotry and racism” has no place in his company.
Really? I have two words for ABC: Joy Behar. If that’s not enough, I have another two: Whoopi Goldberg. Yet, Iger and his fellow leftists deliberately turn a blind eye when the vile bigotry comes from one of their own.
Don’t get me wrong: What Roseanne said was despicable and odious. But the fundamental question is: Should she have been fired? What did she say that was worse than what passes for commentary or comedy among the rabid anti-Trump “resistance”—especially, in Hollywood and much of the mainstream media? How come an apology wasn’t sufficient for Roseanne, but is perfectly fine for establishment liberals? The PC hypocrisy is so thick you can choke on it.
For example, Behar openly mocked Vice President Mike Pence and his Christian faith. She recently said on ABC’s “The View”—not on her personal twitter account, but on her own show with the roaring approval of her co-hosts and the audience—that Pence is a “mentally ill” man because he is a Christian. According to Behar, Christianity equals insanity. Despite her blatant anti-Christian bigotry, Behar—a rabid anti-Trump liberal—not only has her job. She is lionized by the Hollywood left. Iger also never called Pence to apologize.
Moreover, Whoopi has repeatedly engaged in repugnant attacks on President Trump and his supporters. She routinely calls him a “white supremacist,” and demonizes all Trump voters as inherently bigoted and racist. In other words, she is simply channeling her inner Hillary: Middle Americans are “deplorables”—fascist, xenophobic scum who are not just evil but “irredeemable.” Think about it: For Whoopi and her ilk, entire classes of Americans—Christians, whites, rural folks, conservatives, blue-collar workers—are morally and, in some ways, genetically inferior human beings who are beyond redemption. This is much worse than any tweet comparing Jarrett to some fictional apes in a movie. Again, Iger has never called Trump to apologize.
Yet, it’s not just ABC or Disney. The left’s hypocrisy is everywhere. Alec Baldwin on “Saturday Night Live” has repeatedly called Trump a gorilla and an ape, ridiculing his physical appearance from his face to his hair to his weight. Liberal comedian Wanda Sykes, a producer of “Roseanne,” indignantly announced she was resigning from the show after Roseanne’s tweet. Sykes, however, in her comedy routine calls Trump an “orangutan.”
Bill Maher regularly slanders Christians and Jews as Medieval religious lunatics responsible for most of the violence and wars in history. He has openly praised the 9/11 Islamic terrorists who slaughtered over 3,000 Americans. He has used disgusting racial slurs, including referring to himself as a “House N****r.” He still works for HBO. And liberals adore him
Michelle Wolf mocked Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ physical appearance to her face at the White House Correspondents Dinner. She degraded Sanders. Wolf also used vile profanity and countless obscenities not just against Trump and his supporters, but unborn babies killed by abortions—literally laughing at infanticide. The audience of liberal media personalities and Hollywood celebrities lapped it up. Wolf now has a show on Netflix, which was recently praised by CNN. This smut-merchant is glorified while Roseanne’s career is destroyed.
And then there’s Joy Reid. The MSNBC host is a militant leftist and staunch Trump hater. She is also a rabid homophobe. For years, she posted blogs on her website denouncing gays and homosexual sex as an “abomination” and a moral “perversion.” When her homophobic rants were discovered, she first lied, claiming her website had been “hacked.” When that proved to be false, she then admitted that, well, yes, she did write all those despicable, nasty things about homosexuals. But, Reid claims now, she’s a “different person.” MSNBC didn’t even force her to apologize. Reid’s virulent homophobic rants make Roseanne’s tweet look like Mother Theresa. Translation: If you’re an anti-Trump ideologue you can spew venomous bigotry and hatred. There will be no real consequences.
Roseanne was fired not for what she said, but for who she is—or rather, for who she voted for. In an interview, Roseanne admitted to Jimmy Kimmel that she pulled the lever for Trump. In Hollywood, this was not only scandalous. It was a crime. Her show actually dared to portray Trump supporters—like her—in a positive, real world light. The soaring success of “Roseanne” caught ABC executives and our liberal cultural elites off guard. They were stunned—and petrified. The longer the show went on, the greater the possibility that the popular culture could be pierced with a pro-Trump, pro-America First sitcom. The show set a dangerous precedent: It could become culturally acceptable to actually support and even admire Trump’s agenda. For Hollywood leftists, this was too much. Roseanne had to go.
Unfortunately, she gave them the ammunition to tear her down. Her career is in tatters; she is professionally finished. What is in deeper trouble, however, is freedom of speech. The downfall of Roseanne signifies another key victory for liberal fascism. Leftist censorship and intolerance is on the rise. The thought police are slowly restricting the basic freedoms of conservatives: Liberals can be blasphemous and bigoted, as long as they’re targeting the right groups. Conservatives can’t. It is part of a larger progressive war on traditional America. Their goal is to purge all dissent to liberalism and Democratic rule. Today, it is Roseanne; tomorrow, it will be you.
-Jeffrey T. Kuhner is host of “The Kuhner Report” on WRKO AM-680 in Boston.