Catholic League Tries to Shame ABC into Canceling The Real O'Neals in NYT Ad

You know how crazy, crackpot, Bible-thumping conservatives love to jump down the throat of a network about a show that has yet to premiere because of its perceived attacks on their cherished morals and values that they only use to apply to themselves and not to the world at large? Well, it's happening again: the Catholic League is facing off against Disney/ABC over its new LGBT-themed sitcom The Real O'Neals, which premieres this week.

The show, based in part on executive producer Dan Savage's life, follows a Catholic Irish-American family with a gay son, played by newcomer Noah Galvin. But Savage's track record--this is the man that gave us the gift of the Santorum, after all--didn't sit well with the Catholic League, so they came out swinging.

And how did the Catholic League launch its strike on the as-yet aired show? Why, with the time-tested, always successful and completely still relevant medium of print. The Catholic League took out a full-page ad in The New York Times denouncing The Real O'Neals, Dan Savage and his "maniacal hatred of Catholicism."

Well, they tried to take out a full-age ad, but it was "turned down" by The Times because the "obscenities" that they quoted from Savage were "deemed too incendiary" for readers--"even with the use of asteriks in place of letters." That italicized emphasis is all theirs. Though the only thing the NYT deprived us of was the chance to fill in the blanks, a la Wheel of Fortune. One guess what's missing from "************* Power-Hungry, Self-Aggrandized Bigot."

The Catholic League argues, with no trace of irony or...sanity, that Dan Savage producing a show about a Catholic Irish-American family is akin to former KKK leader and Donald Trump bestie David Duke producing a show about African-Americans. Actually, it's worse, because Savage is a potty mouth, while Duke is just a raging white supremacist. So he gets a pass because his hatred is family friendly.

ABC has won awards from the gay and black communities for Modern Family and Black-ish (respectively), the League of Gloom posited, and worked with the Asian-American community to make sure Fresh Off the Boat wasn't offensive, but "when it comes to Catholics, ABC delivers Dan Savage."

Because, as we all know, Dan Savage is the antichrist. Sent here to violate every orifice of our bodies with his "sick bodily fluids."

Perhaps we should get a few things clear here, kids. First of all, Dan Savage is a lot of things--a lot of them not great--but "worse than David Duke" is not one of them.

Second, last I checked, gays, blacks and Asian-Americans were minorities whereas there are, like, a billion Catholics in the world. If The Real O'Neals was that offensive to Catholics, ABC wouldn't air it. They couldn't air it. As much as religious conservatives like to think that their rights are constantly under attack in this country, the constitutionally-mandated separation of church and state is basically a rumor at this point.

Third, Savage and ABC should send a big old "Thank You" Edible Arrangements to the Catholic League for this gorgeous free publicity. Lest we forget, "ABC, which is owned by Disney, will launch a new show on March 8, The Real O'Neals."

[h/t] Joe. My. God.