Writing on the Fox News website, numbnuts extraordinaire Roger Friedman comments that Steve Martin’s joke that Oscar night gives the world the impression that all of America is gay is actually coming true and is a “curse”
How is it that Friedman knows that WWII-duty-shirking Marion Robert Morrison was homophoic and would hate Brokeback Mountain? Did he ever make negative comments about WWII veteran Gore Vidal?
I have no idea how John Wayne felt about gays.
But how did he shirk his duty? He was 3-A during the war.
And wasn’t Vidal an “America First” guy that believed we should stay out of World War II? I’m honestly asking – I seem to recall this, but maybe I’m thinking of someone else.
I’m still trying to figure out exactly what about the fact that I’m attracted to people of my own gender and carry relationships with them makes me something bad.
Because God says so! Right here in this here Bible! And you want to destroy marriage, and corrupt our children, and bring the wrath of the Almighty down upon America! Everybody knows that.
And you’re icky, too.
He was, to the extent that somebody in his late teens, had fixed political opinions, but he served in the Navy in the Aleutians in 1945.
I thought his middle name was Michael.
There’s a really old book that has bunch of rules in it, and some people seem to think they must follow some of these rules or end up burning in fire for all eternity. But not all of the rules.
As if that wasn’t strange enough, they think you and I and everybody else needs to follow those rules too.
The book, of course, is “Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution”.
Sorry, I need to correct myself. He was a lieutenant in the Army Transportation Corps in the Aleutians, on the ship FS-35. His first book, “Wiliwaw” was based on his experiences.
But…do the gay cowboys eat pudding?
-Joertman
Yes, I’ve noticed Fox News’ antipathy for Brokeback Mountain. Not having seen this movie myself, I assume it’s because somewhere in the dialogue someone say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.”
BTW, Wayne wasn’t attracted to other men. His attraction was to bitchy Mexican women, which, unlike homosexuality, is still listed in the DSM-IV as a legitimate psychological disorder.
I’m sorry, but nowhere does Cecil say that Wayne “shirked his duty”. I don’t agree, and I’m sure you don’t think, that someone has a DUTY to volunteer for armed service… do you?
Certainly Wayne could have done so, and certainly that move would have been more in keeping with the image he cultivated, but he didn’t breach a duty by not doing so.
Cecil relies on the Garry Wills book John Wayne’s America: The Politics of Celebrity (1997). I note that this bio at the Medal of Freedom site claims:
It’s unclear to me which version is correct. Even crediting Garry Wills’ version, I don’t see anything that is fairly described as “shirking duty.”
Do you?
That’s admirable. Even though he personally felt that the war was wrong, he stepped up and participated in armed service to benefit his country. I admire that greatly.
I can just see The Duke sitting in Heaven right now in front of his TV (one of the big console jobbers) and loving (he’s the only one) Michelle Rodriguez on “Lost”.
-Joe
There’s not an objective answer to this questions. It depends on what your definition of ‘you’ is. 
I know lots of people who believe there is an implicit duty for able-bodied men to serve their country by volunteering for the military.
This duty (to hear them tell it) is even greater in wartime.
You and I may not feel this way. (To quote A. Whitney Brown, “I come from a long line of cowards”).
But a person espousing a belief shouldn’t be surprised if they are assumed to adhere to it more closely than are those who don’t espouse it.
Cite: From the Duke’s appearance on Laugh-In:
"A poem, by John Wayne.
"The sky is blue
"The grass is green.
"Get off your duff
“And join the Marines”
Who gives a shit what John Wayne would think anyway? He was at least a hypocrite, not to mention a racist and a drunk. I agree with Public Enemy. Fuck John Wayne.
Steve Martin is a prophet, then!
What grated on some people’s nerves was, Wayne was a big big warhawk during Vietnam. America right or wrong, kill the Commie bastards, don’t criticize the preznit, all that. BUT he had never fought during World War 2, despite that being more of a clear cut war - there was a valid reason to join up and a LOT of people did. Here he was, the big bad hawk, he had made lots of money on war movies, but when it came down to it, he had done nothing near what he was expecting of everyone else. We call that hypocrisy.
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