(Ron Futrell) – I did not think things could get any crazier after I called out Bill Maher last week, but they have.
Now a Las Vegas writer has compared my actions to those of the Santa Monica shooter. You know, the guy who killed 4 people.
What I did was confront Maher during a live show at The Palms, Las Vegas after he did a joke where he referred to Sarah Palin’s 5 year old son with the “r word,” then used Trig Palin to go after his mom. Down syndrome has now become fodder for this leftist “comedian.” As I have explained many times, I was in the back of the room and moved towards the front after my disgust over the joke and by that time, the topic had changed to something else, and I engaged Maher. Palms security asked me to leave and I had no problem complying.
As a parent of a special needs son, I have explained my motives. They could not be more clear nor more pure. Still, my motives have been questioned over and over again, and in this column by Mike Weatherford of the Las Vegas Review Journal, he ignores the fact that I have a special needs son and he questions my motives once again. Absolutely pathetic. Why did you leave that out of your column, Mike?
Maher has never been asked about what he said and why he said it. Oh, perhaps the media have tried, but when his publicist gives “no comment” they move on give up. Don’t want to put Billy on the spot for using special needs kids as fodder for jokes. We are the mighty media and we are here to protect everybody (except a 5 year old Down syndrome child when he is used to by a leftist to go after Sarah Palin.)
Another point; before Weatherford wrote his column I let him know how he could contact me if he wanted to talk, he did not. Not only is that awful “journalism” it clearly shows his motive. When you fail to try to reach the subject of a story you are doing, you have an agenda and you certainly do not want anything to get in the way. No, talking on Twitter with 140 characters does not an interview make, especially when I made the offer to talk with Weatherford. What, pray tell, could have been his reason for not wanting to talk to me before he did a column comparing me to somebody who killed 4 people?
Perhaps the most egregious point, Mike Weatherford, you were at the show, you heard the Maher joke, you may have laughed, I don’t know. It certainly had no effect on you. You attack me and ignore Maher. Am I to conclude that you have no problem with special needs kids being used as fodder for jokes? You are the entertainment reporter at Nevada’s largest newspaper and you see no story there with Mahers joke? What other conclusion can I come to? You have the power of the pen and you choose to use it on me and let Maher skate.
People in Las Vegas know me well enough to know that I have never been afraid to speak out. As a sports reporter I went after plenty of people in power while they were in power. When an athletic director at UNLV used racist and sexist terms to describe athletes, I went after him. The rest of the local media sat on the sidelines and eventually followed and substantiated my story. That’s what I did as a journalist, and there are plenty of examples of this. This is not my first rodeo and it won’t be my last.
I know when liberals speak out they are heroes, and when conservative speak out they become targets, but the response I have gotten since this story first came to light has been stunning. I am grateful for the support of most, but many have taken occasion to attack me, and even my 27 year old special needs son. Quite pathetic. Attack me all you would like, I get that, hell—I’ve been compared to a murderer in the Las Vegas Review Journal—could it get much worse than that?
I’m curious what the Review Journal’s stance is on special needs children. Will they defend them when they are verbally attacked? So far they have not, in fact, one of their writers attacks me for drawing attention to it. It’s been more than a week and I have seen nobody in the media try to find out exactly what Maher said and hold him accountable. What about the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, do they condone verbal attacks by their entertainers on special needs children?
Still, Bill Maher goes forward with support from the media. The silence of Mike Weatherford and others has given Maher the go-ahead to continue to use a special needs child as fodder to make people like him laugh. Funny stuff.
