Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyAugust 28th, 2013
If you tried watching the YouTube clip this morning put up yesterday by Right Wing Watch in which Pat Robertson claimed that gays in San Francisco were walking around wearing rings that will cut you and infect you with AIDS if you shake hands with them, you’ll see a notice that the video has been removed “due to a copyright claim by CBNOnline+vid.” Funny how that’s the only clip that CBN objects to. That’s why I painstakingly transcribed the clip for posterity. You’re welcome. Meanwhile, in a statement emailed to Joe Jervis, Robertson is doubling down on the claim:
“In my own experience, our organization sponsored a meeting years ago in San Francisco where trained security officers warned me about shaking hands because, in those days, certain AIDS-infected activists were deliberately trying to infect people like me by virtue of rings which would cut fingers and transfer blood.
“I regret that my remarks had been misunderstood, but this often happens because people do not listen to the context of remarks which are being said. In no wise (sic) were my remarks meant as an indictment of the homosexual community or, for that fact, to those infected with this dreadful disease.”
Robertson indicted gays of using special jewelry specifically designed to spread AIDS, but that wasn’t an indictment. Got that?
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Patrick
August 28th, 2013
The man is a doddering fool and if the board at CBN had any sense, they’d stop letting him broadcast live. It won’t be today or tomorrow, and it might not even be this year, but he’ll start being a liability soon – even to that crowd.
Just a note – I believe the word Robertson used is “nowise”, a rather antique synonym for “in no way”. Robertson’s constant use of centuries-old English is part of his circus act.
Andrew
August 28th, 2013
Someone should be able to sue for slander. I think we should start a vicious rumor about how some folks at CBN kill kittens on the weekend. Not Pat Robertson directly, because that would be slander, but just “some people at CBN”. The station should be pulled off the cable line-up.
Timothy Kincaid
August 28th, 2013
Trained security officers in the 80’s warned me not to take my kittens to CBN on the weekends.
Priya Lynn
August 28th, 2013
So, I wonder: Did the AIDS infected person wearing the ring keep a cut open at all times to allow the transfer of blood, or did the ring magically cut the wearer at the same time as he shook hands with the victim?
TomTallis
August 28th, 2013
It’s been clear for years that Robertson is suffering from dementia. His family should really take him in charge and get him the care he needs.
He’s a trainwreck, but as long as the suckers keep sending those checks they’re going to put him on live TV. I expect that when he dies they’ll have his stuffed corpse on the set of The 700 Club.
Sir Andrew
August 28th, 2013
An editorial note: “In no wise” is correct and does not require ‘(sic)’ after it. It is an antiquated way of saying “In no way” but is not wrong.
Timothy Kincaid
August 28th, 2013
Priya Lynn,
It was a super-magic ring. Not only did it cut both people at the same time, it forced the blood to comingle AND it also caused a case of momentary amnesia in which the victim magically forgot to notice that they had been cut or report it to authorities.
Richard Rush
August 28th, 2013
“I regret that my remarks had been misunderstood, but this often happens because people do not listen to the context of remarks which are being said.”
CBN then forced the removal of the video so that people can’t hear the very context which would prevent Pat’s statements from being “misunderstood.”
Am I missing something?
Priya Lynn
August 28th, 2013
“It was a super-magic ring. Not only did it cut both people at the same time, it forced the blood to comingle AND it also caused a case of momentary amnesia in which the victim magically forgot to notice that they had been cut or report it to authorities.”.
Right! Its so obvious why didn’t I think of that? Okay, case closed, the story is obviously true. Move along people, nothing to see here.
Ben In Oakland
August 28th, 2013
” I expect that when he dies they’ll have his stuffed corpse on the set of The 700 Club.”
I thought that was already what they were doing. Disney can work magic.
Neil
August 28th, 2013
Good Lord! He’s the Stepford Christian.
Hunter
August 29th, 2013
Sir Andrew — thanks for the editorial note. That’s been bothering me for days, and I kept forgetting to comment on it.
As for Robertson/CBN: of course they’re doubling down on it and removing the video — they can’t admit that he’s a liar and/or senile, so they just remove the evidence. Unfortunately (from their point of view), HuffPo has the segment in one of its own video reports.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/27/pat-robertson-aids-rings_n_3824401.html
Hunter
August 29th, 2013
PS — DailyMotion also has it:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x13u6sj_robertson-uncensored-gay-rings-give-people-aids_news
Marcus
August 29th, 2013
@Timothy: I think I saw that in a James Bond movie once.
TampaZeke
August 29th, 2013
And yet tens of millions of people watch him every day and hang on his every word as if it were straight from the mouth of a god.
Russ
August 29th, 2013
The essential part of the Robertson clip is now preserved forever in this segment of Anderson Cooper’s Ridiculist:
http://youtu.be/gpgoOhqRT6w
And to second Sir Andrew’s motion, “in no wise” is a bit old fashioned, but still very good English.
Jon
August 30th, 2013
Is this why we often see Pat wearing condoms on his fingers when he’s living it up in San Fran.
revchicoucc
September 2nd, 2013
What was misunderstood was Mary’s question. If Robertson and Meeuwsen had actually addressed her question (see the transcript) about whether or not the man’s health condition should have been disclosed, it would not have been so strange.
But, you know, a homophobe can never pass up an opportunity to make something up about the gays.
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