I'm sorry WBC: Picketing Bernie Mac's funeral... we're through

They used to be phresh and phun, but the WBC is just phoning it in these days. I hate to admit it, but there’s no more zing in our hatred of them. With Bernie Mac they’ve jumped the shark- maybe it’s the stress of the multimillion dollar verdict or maybe it’s just old and they want to move onto new projects, but if this were on VH1 they’d be at the “but backstage things were phalling apart” music.

They became superstars for their irrational hatred and harassment of gays. Gays MADE them- and now they’ve abandoned us. They’re not even trying to find a gay angle anymore; they’re like some comedians who start out edgy and hilarious but end up self-indulgent and masturbatory and just acting weird. Case in point: Bernie Mac’s funeral.

Okay, Matthew Shepard’s funeral- well, they were pieces of shit for picketing it obviously, but at least there’s a gay connection. Same with any hate crime victim. Heath Ledger- ended up not picketing it (due to airfare and the desire not to be shat from dingos when their remains are et in the outback) but thereagain- he made Brokeback and he’s in a faggy business like movies, I can understand it.

The servicemen funeral was really really contrived and strained and an obvious ratings booster ploy. Picketing the first world’s most anti-gay army for being… too pro gay… what exactly? Excuse me? But… okay, they’re our WBC, and he’s our Phred, and we’ll kind of overlook the obviously plotholes- they felt they had to do something phresh I suppose and at least they didn’t do something really disgusting and tasteless like bringing in Ted McGinley as a hot cousin you never heard of or having some obnoxiously adorable kid join them who goes from birth to 3 in one year and utters lines that no 3 year old would ever say, so, whatever floats your boat.

But Bernie Mac? WTF?

I didn’t mention it during his obit threads as it seemed neither the time nor the place, but while I enjoyed his stand-up act in general, I was bothered by his homophobia. The man referred to his 6 year old effeminate nephew- in an admittedly often hilarious routine- as “the faggot”. Six year old kid mind… and then says “Oh don’t get me wrong, I love him… but he’s a little faggot…”- that’s despicable, especially when you know what hell effeminate boys go through, and this coming from someone in his family and a father figure (assuming the kid exists- I know he really took in his sister’s kids, no idea how autobio the act is).

So anyway, WBC boycotts the funeral of a guy who calls kids faggots…

No, I’m sorry Westies, but I stayed with you when you wanted to picket hate crime victims. I kind of just went along when you wanted to picket service men funerals as a cheap ratings ploy- business is business. Even when you picketed Mr. Rogers funeral… well, let’s be frank, he may never had knocked puppets with the boys but none of us would have been surprised to learn he had some “experiences” in his youth, and any excuse to picket Jerry Falwell’s funeral is fine. But Bernie Mac- he was a responsible husband and father with no major scandals I know of regarding women/drugs/anything else and was even homophobic… Westies, I’m sorry, but I can’t go on this one. You’re just attention whoring. You’ve jumped the sharkie.

I hate to stop supporting my favorite crazed fanatical exhibitionist performance artists, but I’m really seriously looking to better deal the Phelpses now. I’m hoping for something in a bipolar Scientologist maybe, or nudist closeted Pakistani Sikh wannabes, or even some Fundamentalist Mormon cheerleaders all married to the same man who support themselves between demonstrations by streaming porn (nothing in the Bible or Book of Mormon against WebCams). But I want some hate filled religious nuts who know who they are and who they want to picket.

Bookmarked.

I thought they jumped the shark when they announced that they were going to picket Tim McLean’s funeral… and then didn’t show up. Yup, they’re definitely phoning it in. PETA’s more on the ball these days.

Kreist, where was I to miss this?

Aside from the the hypocrisy (I know - imagine) isn’t it just about time WBC just went the fuck away? A nice plane crash - of course with no innocents involved, except maybe a few don’t tell-ers for good measure.

These puzzle me more than enrage me. Fine. God hate fags. Fabulous, but God hates B-Mac?

I’m doubting that a lot. Much of lots.

Kanye West was right. God hates black people, and God talks to Bush, so Bush hates black people too, right?

It’s simple - they know they will get their church’s name and agenda in the papers and posted all over the internets, so they make these announcements. BTW Fred thanks you for spreading his good work to the SDMB.

Exactly. What they believe isn’t notable enough to generate any fame on its own, so they can only live parasitically off the fame of others. They’re the remoras of notoriety.

They have been doing this for several years.

They noticed that announcing in advance that they are going to inflict their presence on a particular city & event gets them all kinds of publicity. And follow-up publicity about semi-hysterical reactions from opponents in that city.

So they’ve got what they want – the publicity. Actually showing up and picketing doesn’t add much more publicity, but it has costs (airfare, hotel rooms, etc.) and the risk of actually being arrested if they violate a local law, or of being beat up if they get some local person mad enough. (Though either of those could probably be used to generate new publicity.)

Personally, I think the WBC jumped the shark when they went rap*. I mean, yeah, exploring new artistic directions is always laudable, and a brave move especially if one is so entrenched in a wholly different medium, but come on – did it have to be such a blatant publicity grab?

*Does anybody know if this video is, indeed, what it purports to be?

With all respect, Sampiro, you may be missing the point. WBC needs to picket the funerals of homophobic personalities. Otherwise, when Phelps dies and they picket his funeral, it won’t make any sense. They don’t want to get caught looking foolish.

Fred Rogers was a reverend, and yet he taught kids that being different isn’t anything to be ashamed of! And he was on the TV every day! I never thought about it before, but that must have driven some people crazy.

Wait a minute, WBC went rap?

Dude, that is so gay.

Winner!
And I hope to God that video is authentic Phelps girls because, really, how serious can they be about it? They may be just doing it to make Grampa happy.

Or to keep Grampa from going into a screaming rage for 20 minutes straight.

But having the WBC picket your fueral is an indicator of your Q-factor. It means that when you die, you’ve really arrived. Soon deathbed-ridden celebs will be harranging their publicists to get the WBC to committ to their funeral, dammit or it’s back to the mailroom for you!

Dontcha hate when a once-noble institution loses its original vision?

I hope and wait eagerly for when the WBC decided to protest some actual “from the street, with problematic connections to same” rapper’s funeral.

A drive by that wipes out a goodly number of them would be just fine by me. Not that I’m advocating violence against them, heavens no, but I would certainly have some of that german “schadenfruedenvolksenwagonschnitzel” going on.

What’s with substituting “ph” into half the f-words?

Fred Phelps -> Phred -> phunny

Eventually they’re going to come full circle and start picketing the KKK.

I noticed when they picketed soldiers’ funerals it was always of white kids from small towns, never inner-city Black kids who joined the Army to get away from hood culture, a lethal quotient of which would be on hand at their graveside services.

(so if anyone would say “I destest their views but I admiit they have the courage of their convictions,” I ask “courage?”)

I think I’m going to invite the Phelps’s to picket MY funeral. Dude, that would be so fucking cool.