Re: LP Press Release: Jerry Springer

Daniel C. Burton (dan@autobahn.org)
17 Mar 98 03:23:51 GMT 

If there's no apology on this, I may once again bring up the motion to
change our affiliation from the Libertarian Party to the International
Society for Individual Liberty....

>X-Sender: dreamer@pop3.ziplink.net (Unverified)
>Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 00:53:23 -0800
>To: Steve Dasbach <announce@lp.org>
>From: dreamer@ziplink.net (Starchild)
>Subject: Re: LP Press Release: Jerry Springer
>Cc: Mark Valverde <ephebos@ix.netcom.com>, Bill Quick <iceberg@iw3p.com>,
>        Anton Sherwood <dasher@netcom.com>,
>        "Daniel C. Burton" <dan@autobahn.org>,
>        LP NEWS <73163.3063@compuserve.com>,
>        Lois Flynne <lflynne@glenn-co.k12.ca.us>,
>        Lois Allen <lallen@rigel.econ.uga.edu>,
>        Carol Moore <carolmoore@kreative.net>,
>        Mike Acree <macree@psg.ucsf.edu>,
>        Vince Miller <71034.2711@compuserve.com>,
>        Jim Elwood <jrelwood@creative.net>, Mark Pickens <mrp7@pge.com>,
>        Vin Suprynowicz <vinsends-request@ezlink.com>,
>        Justin Sobodas <jsobodas@ucla.edu>
>
>To National Chair Steve Dasbach:
>
>        Your press releases are for the most part masterfully written and
>ideologically right on target.  There is no question that TV programs,
>"educational" or otherwise should not be subsidized by the government.
>However I do take strong exception to your descriptions of the Jerry
>Springer show in the following three paragraphs:
>
>>        WASHINGTON, DC -- Battling bisexuals, pregnant strippers, and
>>transsexual threesomes -- thanks to the federal government, your tax
>>dollars are being spent to closed-caption their antics every day on the
>>Jerry Springer Show, the Libertarian Party noted today.
>>
>>        "Libertarians are fervent supporters of free speech, so we
>>don't object to such programs being broadcast," said Dasbach. "We do
>>object to the federal government forcing taxpayers to underwrite what
>>millions of Americans consider to be extremely offensive material."
>>
>>        How offensive? Over the last year, the Jerry Springer Show
>>skyrocketed to the top of the daytime talk show ratings, thanks to a
>>steady diet of Sodom and Gomorrah-style perversity -- including teenage
>>prostitutes, stage-clearing brawls between black and white racists,
>>pornographic video actresses, and four-, five-, and six-way love
>>affairs.
>
>        Besides being Chair of the San Francisco Libertarian Party and a
>loyal party member since 1990, I'm also a bisexual who appears in erotica
>(aka "porn") videos, and I am quite angered by your apparant attempt to win
>propaganda points with the right at my expense.
>
>        I happen to personally agree that the Jerry Springer show is highly
>offensive -- but not for the reasons stated.  It's offensiveness comes from
>the fact that it portrays people like myself with alternative lifestyles as
>circus freaks to be paraded in front of an audience of "normal" folks who
>adopt their best holier-than-thou attitudes in the face of this
>"perversity".
>
>        The language of your press release caters to this same bigoted,
>intolerant mentality.
>
>        You use the word "antics" to describe the activities of the show's
>guests; how about the behavior of the host and the live audience?  Still
>worse is the phrase "Sodom and Gomorrah-style perversity," words I find
>particularly loathsome coming from the head of my party.  This distasteful
>reference is better suited to a rabid, hate-mongering Christian
>fundamentalist like Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson.
>
>        I expect that an apology from the National LP to all the bisexuals,
>transsexuals, prostitutes, strippers, erotic video performers, and people
>in non-monogamous relationships whom you have offended and ostracized with
>your ill-considered and inconsiderate words will be immediately
>forthcoming.
>
>Sincerely,
>                                <<< Starchild >>>
>                      Chair, San Francisco Libertarian Party
>
>
>
>