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| Santa Barbara Shooter |
Leave it to Fox News , a/k/a Faux News, to air a piece that sought to depict the mentally ill shooter in the Santa Barbara knifing and shooting spree to be gay. It's yet another example of Fox News deliberately fanning the prejudices and bigotry of its base of viewers who surveys have shown to be among the least informed of American citizens. The New Civil Rights Movement looks at the fast damage control efforts of Fox News' Dr. Robi Ludwig. Here are highlights:
Dr. Robi Ludwig, facing a firestorm, late this morning took to Facebook and claimed that her provocative homophobic comments about Santa Barbara killer Elliot Rodger had been “misunderstood.” Ludwig this weekend had gone on Fox News and told millions of viewers that Elliot Rodger, the 22-year old who allegedly killed six people near the University of California Santa Barbara Friday night might have been fighting “against his homosexual impulses,” and implied they could be responsible for his rage that resulted in the deaths of three of his roommates, three others, and himself.
Rodger had left a 141-page manifesto and several YouTube videos angrily lamenting that he had consistently been rejected by women and promising he would “slaughter every single one of” them. He also belonged to several misogynistic “men’s rights” groups and had posted racist remarks in an online forum.
But nowhere and at no time did Rodger suggest he was gay, or unsure of his sexuality. There is not one clue, one suggestion — not one iota of proof that Rodger might have been gay. There is also not one study that finds men who are fighting “homosexual impulses” would turn violent and go on a killing spree.
“When I was first listening to him, I was like, ‘Oh, he’s angry with women for rejecting him,’” Ludwig told the millions of Fox News viewers. “And then I started to have a different idea: Is this somebody who is trying to fight against his homosexual impulses?’”
Ludwig claims she was “misunderstood.” No, she was not. She chose to introduce into a discussion and news report that gay people can be overcome with rage and cannot control their unwanted impulses — when homosexuality had nothing to do with the story because Rodger was not gay.
Note also she chooses to use the word “homosexual,” not “gay” — a common choice by those who are homophobic or anti-gay.
Dr. Ludwig might have violated the rules of the American Psychological Association, which prohibits members from diagnosing patients or public figures they have not personally
examined.
Hopefully, the APA will investigate Ludwig and, if appropriate, take disciplinary action against her. The ultimate irony, of course, is that time and time again it is the conservative Republicans, not gays who seem to have problems with their sexual impulse. Just ask GOP Senator David Vitter about his use of prostitutes in New Orleans and Washington, DC. I would also add that as one who fought my sexual orientation for decades, women were NEVER the target of my anger. It was always self-directed.
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