Savage on the Dumb Bitch

From this week's Savage Love (what? you STILL don't read it religiously? what's it going to take, people??):

I've enjoyed your column for years and always found you to be well reasoned. That's why your agreement with Perez Hilton on Miss California was so shocking. I'm a straight guy totally for gay rights in all respects. Still, it's beneath you to call someone who disagrees with your position a "dumb bitch." You're better than that, Dan! Don't you see that you and Mr. Hilton are promulgating hatred against a person for that individual's beliefs, something you both claim to abhor?

Basically On Your Side

I don't think Miss California is a dumb bitch for her beliefs, BOYS, but for her actions. ("Love the sinner/dumb bitch, hate the sin/dumb bitchery.") For the record: There are lots of reasonable folks out there who oppose same-sex marriage, and I can interact with them in a civil fashion. Heck, I voted for an opponent of marriage equality back in November.

What sets Miss CA apart from reasonable opponents of marriage equality, BOYS, is her opportunism coupled with her stupidity.

I thought Perez Hilton went too far when he called Miss CA a "dumb bitch" after the pageant—and said so on my blog. But I started to come around to Hilton's POV after Miss CA, despite having said at the pageant that she thought it was "great that Americans are able to choose" gay marriage or "opposite marriage," joined a political campaign to deny marriage rights to gays and lesbians. Miss CA is leveraging her spat with Hilton for her own personal financial gain. Ghostwritten books, speaking gigs at evangelical churches, a potential guest-host gig on The View—beats work, huh? And so what if it oppresses gays and lesbians?

And that's when I thought, "Hmm, I guess she is a bitch."

And then came her interview on Fox News: "You know what, Greta? I don't have the answers to everything," Miss CA told Greta Van Susteren when asked about civil unions. And when Van Susteren followed up by asking Miss CA "what [she] thinks" about civil unions and gay people adopting children, Miss CA responded, "I'm not a politician, so I can't give you an answer to that." So seeing as she's not a politician, Miss CA can't be expected to know what she herself thinks about adoptions and civil unions.

And that's when I thought, gawd, she's dumb, too—and that's when I had to concede that Hilton was right.