Demagogue

Matt Drudge must be running out of material when he starts trying to feign the role of gay-rights watchdog. In today's Washington Post, Donna Britt puts Drudge in his place:

As manufactured media "news" goes, the right-wing Internet curmudgeon's effort to scuttle Chris Rock's appearance as host of the Oscar telecast Feb. 27 hasn't gained much steam.

... The Feb. 13 edition of his Drudge Report featured a screaming all-caps headline: "HOST CHRIS ROCK SHOCK: ONLY GAYS WATCH OSCARS; ACADEMY MEMBERS ALARMED OVER CHOICE OF COMIC." The "exclusive" report describes how "concerned" some conveniently unnamed members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are over the choice of Rock as host.

Members' concern supposedly deepened after Rock joked to Entertainment Weekly that the only black men who watch the Oscars are gay. Of course, Drudge upped the ante by suggesting that Rock said that only gays, period, tune in. Rock's actual quote: "Come on, it's a fashion show. What straight black man sits there and watches the Oscars? Show me one!"

To which Rock added: "Awards for art are [expletive] idiotic."

Rock's words did stun me -- with their frankness. The telecast has always been a celebration of expensive attire. And it's always been slightly absurd. Oscar often rewards popular and/or profitable films while ignoring brilliance. The 1941 film "Citizen Kane" -- the choice of countless critics and the American Film Institute as the greatest-ever film -- lost Best Picture to "How Green Was My Valley," and won only for its screenplay.

Everyone knows Oscar is a culturally fascinating crock. But what host has admitted it, even in jest? A statement by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation pointed out what Drudge apparently missed:

"Chris Rock isn't making fun of gays -- he's poking fun at the Oscars," GLAAD executive director Joan Garry said.

Drudge has a hard enough time trying to portray himself as a journalist. Perhaps he should try to master that role before he attempts to assume the persona of Michelangelo Signorile.