They who doth protest too much

Leonard Pitts, a Pulitzer-winning columnist who helped get a turd of an editor fired, once more earns my respect. This time, he's taking on Fred Phelps, a turd of a pastor, who organizes protests at soldiers' funerals. His basic thinking is that American boys and girls are dying in Iraq because God is punishing America for supporting homosexuals. Pitts doesn't seem to be a fan:

Allow me to share with you an epiphany. I think Fred Phelps is gay.

Not that I'd have any way to know for sure, and not that there's anything wrong with that. But it seems obvious to me that Freddie has spent a little time up on Brokeback Mountain, if you catch my drift. I'm thinking he's secretly into show tunes, interior decorating and man-sized love.

He continues on for a bit, before concluding:

Of course, the Fredster will deny all this. He might even call me unpleasant names. Hey, that's his right. We may not see eye to eye on much, but on one thing we agree.

Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing.

Dan Kennedy over at Media Nation has been focusing on England's efforts to quash the speech of London's mayor (who compared someone to a Nazi prison guard) and a "historian" that denies the Holocaust happened. It's worth a read.