Asshat Smackdown! for June 10, 2009

You might be familiar with our regular Friday feature, Battle of the Network Gays, where we ask you to crown the Gay of the Week.

You folks seem to enjoy crowning people a lot. Hence our new feature: Asshat Smackdown!

Every Wednesday we'll ask you to select from a current crop of schmucks, jerks, demagogues and harpies to see who is most deserving of the week's coveted Asshat Crown! We'll announce the results right here on the blog on Friday, and that asshat will reign supreme until a new challenger is crowned the following week.

Curious to know more about the challengers this week!? Check them out after the break, and vote for your favorite!

This week's contenders:

1. Pat Robertson. The 700 Club's grand poobah pontificated on the origins of "so-called homosexuals"  and placed the blame on abusive coaches and guidance counselors...

"I am not at all persuaded that so-called homosexuals are homosexuals because of biological problems. There may be a very few, but there are so many that have been made homosexuals because of a coach or a guidance counselor or some other male figure who has abused them and they think there's something wrong with their sexuality. So you need to get deep into why he is what he is, instead of just saying, 'Well, he's a homosexual so how do I handle him, and how do I be Christian?' Well, I think you ought to tell him, 'Listen, son, you know, here's what the Bible says about this, and it's called an abomination before God, so I've got to tell you the truth because I love you'...I mean, if somebody's on their way to hell, they'll -- I mean, you've got to love them to rescue them." 

2. Democrats had a slim majority (32-30) in the New York Senate, but New York State Senators Pedro Espada Jr. of the Bronx and Hiram Monserrate of Queens, in a surprise asshat move, jumped ship and voted with their GOP colleagues to return control of the state senate to the minority Republicans. These two Dems' defection on the leadership vote makes it much less likely that gay marriage legislation will get through the NY Senate any time soon. Boo!

3. Those pro-Rob & Arnie trolls who registered here at AfterElton.com to defend their favorite talk show hosts on First Amendment grounds. Nothing wrong with that in itself, but then they proceeded to make ridiculously juvenile ad hominem attacks against regular readers who disagreed with them. Stick around guys, your asshat-ish company is a joy!

4. Jon Voight. True, he hasn't done anything in particular to the gay community, but his recent, rambling turn as master of ceremonies at a Republican fundraising dinner (their biggest of the year) was so batsh*t crazy that we felt he merited a mention.

In jaw-dropping hyperbole, Voight blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, billionaire George Soros, and senior White House aide David Axelrod “and their ilk for the downfall of the country,” and called Obama a "false prophet.”

Last time we checked these were politicians, not the Anti-Christ and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Midnight Cowboy needs to get a grip.

Vote for your favorite asshat by 8 AM EDT on Friday, June 13. And be sure to check back Friday afternoon to see which asshat our readers have carried to glory! Note: Write-in candidates (other than AfterElton.com staff!) are encouraged.