June 27, 2021

The Pittsburgh Pirates Must Be So Proud - John Rich Edition

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A day or so ago my friend Ginny tweeted:

Today, my friend Sue posted this: 

The very same week that we witnessed two huge acknowledgements from professional athletes of their status as gay folx. The very same week, the Pittsburgh Pirates social media team decided to laud their upcoming fan concert this Thursday, July 1, 2021 featuring known homophobe and anti-vaxxer, John Rich of Big & Rich. Let’s go bucs?

I haven't been to a Pirate game in years and I had to look up who "Big & Rich" were in order to start digging into this mess.

Apparently, Big and Rich are an award winning Country Music duo with lotsa record sales, lotsa CMA and ACM awards. Can't speak for Big, but Rich ain't big on smarts.

First, there's John Rich's (he's the "Rich" of "Big & Rich") mistreatment of Country Star Chely Wright some time ago. Take a look at this from Access Hollywood: 

John Rich has responded to a story told by Chely Wright in her new book, 'Like Me,' that some might argue paints him in a very unflattering light. Chely, who recently came out to PEOPLE, tells 'Access Hollywood' that when John (with whom she had performed in an Opryland show years ago) asked her point blank if she was gay, she lied to avoid embarrassment.

"[John] said, 'You're not gay are you?'" Chely recalls. "I said, 'No, John, I'm not.' He said, 'Good, thank God.' And that began a spiral for me ... I had a meltdown shortly after that."

Chely revealed to 'Today' that she nearly committed suicide over the secret life she was living, admitting that she "had a 9 millimeter gun in my mouth."

There's a bit more at Today:

Wright said she got hit over the head by the rumors in 2005 when confronted by country singer John Rich, half of the million-selling duo Big & Rich.

“John said, ‘Hey, you’ve got to hit this gay thing head on, you’re not gay, are you? If you are, people won’t have it. It’s sick, it’s deviant; it’s unacceptable to country music fans.’

A few years later, he kinda sorta walked back the sick deviant unacceptable quotation:

I would never pass judgment on any friend of mine. I feel awful that, at this time in Chely’s life, my decade old comment — ‘Good, thank God’ — was taken the wrong way. I was clumsily trying to express my relief that even a country boy like me had a one-in-a-million chance of having a beer with a woman as talented and attractive as Chely. For years after that conversation, Chely invited me to perform at charity events. In all that time, I wish she would have said something directly to me before the book’s publicity tour, especially since some of the comments attributed to me in the book are not mine. But I am happy for her and only wish her the best in her personal and professional life.

You'll note that he did not say that what he said was wrong only that it had been taken the wrong way.

And then please note what he said he was trying to say: That it was good news that Wright was straight because it meant that maybe she'd go out for a beer with someone like him. 

Ooo. Dreamy.

Didn't he say that he said that "the gay thing" is sick and deviant and unacceptable? Doesn't that mean that anyone gay is sick deviant and unacceptable?

When did he walk back that?

What John Rich said was not an apology.

And even if he did successfully address his mistreatment of Chely Wright there's still this her book:

John was a guest on a conservative talk show shortly after our "talk" in his car, and when asked on his stance on gay marriage he said: "I think if you legalize that [same sex marriage], you've got to legalize some other things that are pretty unsavory. You can call me a radical, but how can you tell an aunt that she can't marry her nephew if they are really in love and sharing the bills? How can you tell them they can't get married, but something else that's unnatural can happen?

He also tried to walk this back as well:

My earlier comments on same-sex marriage don’t reflect my full views on the broader issues regarding tolerance and the treatment of gays and lesbians in our society. I apologize for that and wish to state clearly my views. I oppose same-sex marriage because my father and minister brought me up to believe that marriage is an institution for the union of a man and a woman. However, I also believe that intolerance, bigotry and hatred are wrong. People should be judged based on their merits, not on their sexual orientation. We are all children of God and should be valued and respected. [Emphasis added.]

Just because your bigotry is Bible-based doesn't mean it isn't bigotry. But he's right: intolerance, bigotry and hatred are wrong. He just doesn't think that he's intolerant or bigoted or hateful.

And if that weren't bad enough, there's his non-LGBT+ ignorance:

And:

His views on the safety of the vaccines are evident a tweet or two later:

Meanwhile, in reality:

Nearly all COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. now are in people who weren’t vaccinated, a staggering demonstration of how effective the shots have been and an indication that deaths per day — now down to under 300 — could be practically zero if everyone eligible got the vaccine.

An Associated Press analysis of available government data from May shows that “breakthrough” infections in fully vaccinated people accounted for fewer than 1,200 of more than 853,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations. That’s about 0.1%.

And only about 150 of the more than 18,000 COVID-19 deaths in May were in fully vaccinated people. That translates to about 0.8%, or five deaths per day on average.

And:

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Tuesday that the vaccine is so effective that “nearly every death, especially among adults, due to COVID-19, is, at this point, entirely preventable.” She called such deaths “particularly tragic.”

So is not pushing everyone to get the vaccine. The Pittsburgh Pirates must be so proud to have contracted such an enlightened soul as John Rich to perform for them.

Anti-LGBT+ and Anti-vaxx all under one tragic cowboy hat.

So proud.

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