I know everyone is absolutely stunned at the passing (?) of the only fat mortal to denigrate the Tink of Wink...better know as TinkyWink. Sad times surely lie ahead for us all...being the degenerates that we are...or perhaps just me. I did not hear of Jerry's passing (?) with anything resembling melancholy...no sir...not me. I rejoiced in it...reveled in fact that at last a terrible discordant voice had at last been stilled.

How does one describe a man of the so called cloth that held the amount of bigotry in that empty black heart...a man of the Lord? One doesn't...because he held secrets...dark secrets in his breast that he cloaked in religion...and the Lord's work that he was compelled to perform. If there really is a God...s/he should really look into the people that claim to represent his/her Godness...because so many of them make a mockery of the very diety they claim to represent.

I'm sure on one hand he presented his God as a merciful and loving God...one that loves all people and creatures of the earth...after all...s/he created them...right? That sounds rather like the intent to treat people and creatures equally to me. Oh...I know man has the dominion over the animals and the fishes of the sea...I know the drill. But if man were created in the Divine one's image...(love, faith, intelligence and mercy...or something like that...it's been a long time for me)...then why would a professed religious leader have such hate in his heart for others that God would automatically love equally?

That brings us to Jerry's selection of his choices for evil doers. Gays, Lesbians, anyone not white and a fundamentalist, democrats, same sex marriage, abortion...and a little something called free speech. He took it into his mind that free speech guaranteed by the Constitution...and written by some of the best minds in generations before and to come...that free speech wasn't such a good thing. Of course...he was completely free to say whatever he chose about others. He called Desmond TuTu a phony. That one really sticks in my throat. But one day he thought he'd tangle with Larry Flynt of Hustler fame and found that being the God Guy didn't seem to work for him this time.

Jerry tried to sue Larry for printing an advertisement for Campari (an apertif) that talked about a person's first time. It was a light hearted attempt with celebrities in mind. It lead people down the path that ol' Jerry had done IT with his mother-in-law in an outhouse. It was a parody. Well Larry got a fine...and then took it to the Supreme Court...that's right... Flynt appealed to the Supreme Court, which ruled UNANIMOUSLY for him in Hustler Magazine v. Falwell. The opinion, written by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, found that creators of parodies of public figures are protected against civil liability by the First Amendment, unless the parody includes false statements of fact made in knowing or reckless disregard for the truth.

No one could believe that Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, William Rehnquist and others would side with what was considered a pornographer vs. a preacher. The rule of the day was for free speech. It wasn't that Larry won that day...it was that the 1st Amendment won that day in all its glory...free speech stood alone in that moment in time...and ruled the day. Falwell was the detritus left at the side of the road of truth and right. You and I won that day of days...I'll never forget it. The Justices saw what was really at stake...and did the right thing. That must have clogged at least one of Jerry's arteries that very day from disappointment...and his lack of understanding how a righteous Dude like himself could possibly lose...but lose he did...and it was a marvelous thing to behold.

So we still had years to go listening to his judgments and pronouncements on people and their lives and what abject sinners they were. Being a bigot, homophobe, hate monger, glutton, man of avarice about town, I'll throw in liar, certainly greed (because we all know the preachers always need money for God)...not sure about lust...but he sure did talk about it a lot...so I'm suspicious I admit. Now by his girth alone I think he may have had a Henry the Vlll complex or something. Let's face it...the guy was a tub of lard! I think he enjoyed a little too much steak and lobster and maybe throw in a lot of alfredo sauce...some wine...and you have a major heart attack in the making.

Now I figure that he spent most of his religious life helping to fill people's heart with hate for others not involved in their fundamentalist views...even to the point of putting down Martin Luther King Jr. So for preaching hate to his followers and intolerance of others (in soooo many ways)...I nominate Jerry for a turn with the worms of eternity. May he not rest in peace...with the kind of body fat he carried around I'd say that he'll keep the creatures of the underworld gnawing happy for some time to come.

And during that time...he might reflect on his mistakes to his fellow man...equal in the sight of his God mind you...and suffer the pangs of the damned as according to his bible...he should be tormented for not following in the footsteps of his Christ who led a simple and pure life...and looked upon all men as worthy of love and kindness...something our Jerry was not capable of...ever. Was there not a commandment of the 10...that said love thy neighbor as thyself? He must not have liked himself. People look to denigrate others in order to make themselves look good...what a very sad day for religion that is indeed.