Pat Robertson got himself a well deserved take down from CNN's Anderson Cooper this Wednesday evening over his ridiculous remarks about gay activists using special rings to spread AIDS.
COOPER: Time now for "The RidicuList." And tonight, we bring you a man who we usually avoid mentioning, because he's sort of like that elderly relative who you only see at Thanksgiving. He doesn't get out of bed much and he's sitting around the table and suddenly blurts out nonsensical sentences in between chewing on soft foods. I'm talking about televangelist Pat Robertson.
On his show "The 700 Club" yesterday, Robertson blurted out a warning about gay people in San Francisco, because, of course, that's where all gay people live. Now listen closely, and know that when Robertson refers to "the stuff," he's talking about AIDS.
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PAT ROBERTSON, TELEVANGELIST: You know what they do in San Francisco? Some of the gay community, they want to get people. So if they've got the stuff, they'll have a ring. You shake hands and the ring has got a little thing where you cut your finger.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really?
ROBERTSON: Yes, really. I mean, it's that kind of vicious stuff, which would be the equivalent of murder.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Really? A ring that somehow gives you AIDS. I've never seen that particular section of Zales, have you?
See, now I totally get why Pat Robertson is against same-sex marriage. He just doesn't want to give gay men a reason to wear rings.
So Robertson has since backpedaled, kind of, saying he was misunderstood, that he was talking about something he was warned about decades ago by security officers at a meeting in San Francisco, which still is all kind of baffling. All of which is surprising, because Robertson's thoughts on gay issues are very well-thought-out and very well-articulated.
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ROBERTSON: He's out having multiple affairs with men; he's picking them up on the streets. So he's obsessed. He has a compulsion. I would think it is somehow related to demonic possession.
You've got a couple of same-sex guys kissing. You like that. Well, that makes me want to throw up. But if you -- to me, I would punch "vomit" not "like."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not sure that option is there.
ROBERTSON: They don't give you that option on Facebook.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: No, they don't. Not yet.
Don't worry. Robertson also has plenty of thoughts for you straight couples, as well. He's given advice on everything from cheating husbands to what men should do when their wives will not obey them.
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ROBERTSON: Well, you could become a Muslim and then you could beat her.
Stop talking about they cheating -- he cheated on you. Well, he's a man. OK. Males have a tendency to wander a little bit. What you want to do is to make a home so wonderful that he doesn't want to wander.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Listen, I don't want you single people to feel left out either, so here's a little grab bag of Pat Robertson-isms on a wide range of topics.
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ROBERTSON: Now it looks like 30 percent of women...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
ROBERTSON: ... are involved in pornography.
Those who are involved in martial arts, before they start, are actually inhaling some demon spirits. Some of them do that, by the way.
Yoga, I think, and some of these mantras you say, definitely have Buddhist and sometimes demonic origins.
Feng Shui, forget it. Get a good decorator to make your house pretty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Thank you, Pat Robertson. You are a truth crusader. And we definitely didn't consider just permanently changing the name of this segment to "The Pat Robertson List," although it does have a certain ring to it.
