Erick Erickson, is a douche
In the event that you’re merely familiar with the sound of the name itself and not the differentiation in spelling…I don’t mean this one; in my opinion he actually contributed to society. I mean this one. Besides generally disagreeing with his conservative mental filter that spits out opinions that make me want to poke my own eyes out with a fork (eg. global warming is a fairy tale, it’s not okay to dissent against the Pope because good God-fearin’ Christians should hate them gays, eliminating co-payments for mammograms and pap smears is bad, and my personal favorite… feminists hate Pam Tebow and are all pro-abortion because they’re offended that a pro-life commercial (sponsored by an anti-choice, anti-gay organization) was allowed during Superbowl, To provide just a few examples.
I am capable of respecting someone despite whatever disagreement I may have with their opinions/views, etc. Erick Erickson appears to be an intelligent person, I’ve read his blog which contains his political views and he relays them in a well-formed way. I didn’t dislike him; until I read these ‘tweets’ in response to the Focus On The Families (note that I did not specify it as the “Pam Tebow” or “Tim Tebow”) ad for Superbowl:
I have big fat zero respect for someone that resorts to this kind of primitive and obtuse method of responding to what someone else believes. Put simply, it makes someone sound like an absolute idiot regardless of how edited and polished they might come across in a blog.
I had read a pretty significant selection of varying articles, blogs, etc. about the whole F on the F ad drama prior to actually watching the ad. I did the same after watching the ad. Not one single thing I read decried either of the two actually involved in the ad for anything. In fact much of what I read had nothing to do with Pam Tebow at all; the “feminists” that even mentioned her specifically, applauded her for exercising her choice that was made despite medical opinion, about her own body and pregnancy (even though she’s a spokesperson for an organization that would love to take that very same choice away from women).
Via twitter Erickson simply demonstrated (in the most blockhead and imbecilic way possible) his ignorant inability to recognize the ad for what it actually was. A manipulative and duplicitous conduit (because it was portrayed in a very easy-to-swallow pill for all those watching the ‘big game’) to say the following:
- We are against abortion
- If you are a woman and you choose an abortion you are weak (you are not “tough”) regardless of the reason(s) why you might choose it
- We were privileged for various reasons and the choice to have a baby worked out for us…therefore new life is a miracle and you should make it work for you despite whatever you might be struggling with and despite the circumstances that found you with new life
The ad in the way it was done was actually more ‘offensive’ to anyone than it might have been had the Tebows just been scripted to come out and say, “we’re against abortion”. That’s honestly beautiful…their story that began with a seemingly sad beginning and was probably very harrowing, has a happy ending and it’s a wonderful thing to share. But how easy is it to put that in a package that people want to open to serve F on the F’s agenda? Pretty easy.
I’ve been to the F on the F website and watched their videos of people’s stories and “miraculous” endings.
I’d respect the organization a whole lot more if they had a video about a woman that was raped and ended up pregnant and turned it into a “miracle” by having a baby. Or maybe if they had a video about a teenager that ended up pregnant that didn’t have such a supportive family that thought babies are a “miracle”. At the very least depict it realistically, because unintended pregnancies are not always the result of “misguided” teens that have loving, caring families to help make it a happy ending. And it’s not always a happy ending for women.
I 100% support another person’s right to have a different belief. But I have a lot more respect for it when it’s 1. realistic, and 2. not given in a way that disregards (see Focus on the Family) some and belittles (see Erickson) others.
Long story short…Erickson, you are a douche.
