And They Named it John Gibson

I guess it's my duty, as one of the biggest traitors in the conservative Blogosphere, to turn on John Gibson as quickly as possible. So here I go.

What the hell was he smoking when he made fun of Heath Ledger?

I couldn't believe the audio recording. I had always thought Gibson was a kindly old guy who loved everybody. Is he a completely different person on radio, or was the Ledger thing a momentary bout of psychosis?

Everybody is calling his cracks "homophobic." Whatever. I didn't notice that. All I noticed was that he seemed to think Ledger got what was coming to him. Was that because of Brokeback Mountain? I'm not exactly a homosexuality booster, but I don't get all giddy when a gay celebrity dies. And this guy wasn't gay, as far as I know. He was divorced, and he had a young daughter. Good thing she's too young to understand what Gibson said.

I had no idea who Heath Ledger was until today, but it sounds like he was a miserable human being with a horrible drug problem. It's one thing to snort coke and shoot heroin with your friends, for fun, like Keith Richards. That's frivolous and irresponsible and immoral, and I can understand a person who would criticize it. It's another to use drugs alone on the floor of your apartment, because you can't stop. I know so little about Heath Ledger, I can't even form a mental picture of his face, and I can't say I'm torn up about what happened to him, or even that it bothers me. But I wouldn't make fun of him on a nationwide broadcast, before they put him in the ground.

Seems like Fox steps in it pretty often these days. But this is the last person I would have expected to go all "Rachel Marsden" on them. Somebody needs to go in there and give Ailes an intervention. If Fox doesn't clean up its act and make some effort to self-monitor, it's going to turn into what liberals pretend it is. Hell, they're halfway there. Good God, if they run aground and get taken over by liberal management, what are we going to do for news?

Gibson needs a suspension. This is like a hundred times worse than the Imus kerfuffle. Two weeks of "vacation" would show that Fox isn't completely adrift. If Fox weren't a news network, maybe they could get away with a public apology. But they have to be held to higher standards than entertainers, if Fox expects to be taken seriously.

On the other hand, they did hire a bikini model and allow her to give her opinions on the war in Iraq.

I just can't believe this is the same responsible, mature guy I've seen on cable year after year. Maybe they should hold him for observation and have his coffee mug tested.