Bless Mike Gallagher? My ass

In an otherwise outstanding column on the Amish and their reaction to the massacre of their children, Rod Dreher gets one thing terribly wrong:

The wicked Rev. Fred Phelps and his crazy brood of fundamentalist vipers even planned to protest at the Amish children's funeral, until Dallas-based radio talker Mike Gallagher, bless him, gave them an hour of his program if they would only let those poor people bury their dead in peace.

Mike Gallagher deserves no praise. He gave no peace to the mourning families. They already have the "peace that passeth understanding". What can a radio yakker add?

Any community that can collect money for the family of the man who killed their children can weather the ranting of the Fred Phelps Clan.

What Gallagher did was despicable. He tried to grab ratings by giving a microphone to the shrieking mutants from Kansas.

Fred Phelps and those who denounce him have a symbiotic relationship. They provide each other with publicity. There is nothing inherently newsworthy anymore to the "protests" at funerals. Yet the cameras still come out when the Phelps bus pulls into town.

Why?

It is just a cheap way to fill airtime. It is not news, but it will fill a spot on a news program. What Phelps says is not important, but it does give radio yakkers something to yak about.

Such is the way of the world. Publicity whores will always find a way to get publicity. But let's not confuse the issue by pretending that some of the whores are doing something noble.