the devil's recipe secret

Why anyone takes that steaming turd of a man Bill Donohue seriously is beyond me.  But like all Right Wing extremists, it seems all he has to do to get on TV is show up at the studio and it's lights, camera, action, and the paleo-pundits of the traditional media just sit by and chuckle benignly while Donohue spews his hateful bilge about Jews, gays, women, movies he's never seen, music he's never heard, and the perils of liberal bloggers, who are one of the greatest threats to our society, yes!  Right behind Lipton Onion Dip:

Prior to Bill Donohue leading his Republican smear campaign against John Edwards, the President of the Catholic League was most famous for accusing the Lipton corporation of perpetrating an anti-Catholic "atrocity" in the form of--an onion dip commercial.

For those who missed it, Lipton ran a print ad in the June 13, 2001 edition of The New York Press featuring a person holding a bowl of onion dip while waiting in line to take communion--the implication being that this person planned to dip the Eucharist in the onion dip.

Reasonable humor?  Clever Madison Avenue marketing?  Not according to Bill Donohue.  In his eyes, the onion dip ad was an anti-Catholic "atrocity."   

In a sternly worded press release, Donohue claimed that the ad offended "the [central Catholic] belief that the Eucharist is the body and blood of Jesus Christ," and then referred to Lipton's parent company Unilever as a "monster," adding that "For the elites at  Unilever to allow their ad department at Lipton to insult Catholics like this is the height of corporate arrogance. And stupidity."

Donohue later claimed that the onion dip ad was one of the "Ten Worst Anti-Catholic Atrocities of 2001."

That's not a joke, gang.  The only thing more dangerous to our society that the netroots is a mixture of sour cream and onion soup mix.  Damn.  Who knew?

Okay, actually, I sort of knew, because each time I eat onion dip, I feel a sudden urge to rush out and desecrate something Catholic, anything.  The last time it happened, I had to settle for tearing up photos of Mel Gibson, but next time, if I'm anywhere near a Catholic church or cemetery, watch out!

When are the chucklefucks who book this bigoted blowhard on national television going to get a goddamn clue that he's an American mullah, what with his rank religious extremism and hatred of women?  Fran Kissling of Catholics for a Free Choice has Donohue's number.  She's been pushing back against his home-grown fatwahs for years:

There is something about this man and his attacks on women that is frightening. There was a while when I refused to go on air with him [for television appearances] because -- you know I am a very strong person -- but I felt physically threatened by this man. He never physically threatened me, but I felt like I was in the presence of an abuser. So for a long time I just refused because it was too degrading to be in his presence. I got over it eventually and have done a few things with him since. I understand that he is so offensive that he does himself damage; as long as I can maintain my equilibrium with him attacking me in the most vicious ways possible -- that only does me credit and makes him look like the abuser that he is. But the glee with which he went after Vanderslice and the glee with which he has gone after these women marks him as an abuser.

Today brings us the news that both bloggers hired by the Edwards campaign have resigned, not because of their consideration for the campaign, but out of concern for their personal safety since Donowhore called out his and Michelle MalKKKin's flying monkeys.  Jesus' General points us to a collection of death threats (and worse) that  Amanda Marcotte has been getting from some Good American Christians who love Our Lord enough to threaten rape and murder in His Holy Name.

To wit:

Problem with women like you, you just need a good fucking from a real man! Living in Texas myself, I know you haven't found that real Texan yet. But once your liberal pro feminist ass gets a real good fucking, you might see the light. Until then, enjoy your battery operated toys b/c most real men wouldn't want to give you the fucking you deserve b/c the shit that would come out of you ears.

And even more charmingly:

YOU RACIST WHORE. FAT UGLY BITCH. SUCK MY LONG COCK ASSHOLE I HOPE YOU KIDS NEVER LIVE AND YOUR PARENTS DIE A TRAGIC DEATH YOU ASSHOLE BITCH!
I HOPE YOUR WOMB IS BARREN AND YOUR CAREER PLUMMETS TO HELL YOU BITCH 

It appears that punctuation and grammar are Not Family Values anymore.  (If they ever were.)

So, the message here is apparently that being a net activist is fine as long as you don't mind getting your life (and the lives of those you love) threatened by a passel of Psychotic Christianist Jihadi.  It's okay if you don't mind going into hiding like Salman Rushdie, but otherwise, know your place, you dirty liberal blogger.  Conservatives are allowed to openly fantasize about killing people in this country (see Morgan, Melanie...), but GAWD FORBID some uppity woman blogger should make the case that militant 16th-century-style Crusader Catholicism might not be the best form of birth control and AIDS prevention on the planet.  Clearly the only Christian thing to do is tell her you'll kill her if she doesn't shut up.

There may be some good news here, however, in the form of the IRS.  Lindsay at Majikthise has the scoop:

I predict that the biggest loser in all this will be Bill Donohue's Catholic League. In the process of hounding a couple of bloggers, the so-called civil rights organization may have jeopardized its vital 501(c)(3) status. As a tax-exempt organization, the CL is forbidden by law from interfering with political campaigns.

Our taxes should not be subsidizing lobbying by religious extremists.

Jeffrey Feldman at Frameshop has more.  I think this could be an absolutely marvellous opportunity to fight hysterical religious extremists over here so we don't have to fight them over there. 

Oh, and pass the onion dip. 

UPDATE: Stalwart Firedog Phoenix Woman has posted instructions for contacting the IRS about Donohue:

Here’s what you do:

Download Form 3949-A from www.IRS.gov. Fill out with the pertinent info on Donahue’s org under #2 (the “business name” side). (Put “N/A” in the individual-name fields under #1.) Here’s the info:

2. Business Name: Catholic League
2a-b. Address: 450 Seventh Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY 10123

2c. Emp. ID Num: 23-7279981

2d. Principal Bus. Act.: Non-Profit Political Advocacy

Skip to 4. Check off “Other”.

5a.(Describe violation)

“In his role as President of the Catholic League, a 501(c)(3) organization, William Donohue made national television appearances calling for the firing by the John Edwards for President campaign of two campaign employees. The Catholic League has issued press releases on Feb. 9 (http://tinyurl.com/2dx4h4) and Feb. 12 (http//tinyurl.com/ywrcr5) of 2007 specifically pressuring the Edwards campaign to fire these two employees, thus violating FS-2006-17, which instructs 501(c)(3) groups not to intervene in political campaigns. Donohue’s group has also done similar interventions against John Kerry’s political campaign in 2004; On Feb. 7, 2007, Donohue boasted to Tucker Carlson of MSNBC that he caused two Kerry campaign employees to be fired (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17049495/). Again, this violates FS-2006-17.”

5e — Provide cites.

Then finish w/your name/address/etc. at the bottom.

Kiss your tax-exempt status goodbye, Donohue!