I looked at HUFFPOST first thing this morning because I usually like to see what they choose as their top story even before I look at The NY Times and The Washington Post. I clicked on the story out of curiosity not having the slightest notion it would lead me to consider writing about it.
Hallmark Yanks Same-Sex Wedding Ads After Conservative Group Pushback, The move triggered calls to “boycott Hallmark” on Twitter.
The site noted in an update that the CEO of Crown Media Family Networks, which owns the Hallmark Channel, confirmed in a phone call that the first ad singled out by the group had been pulled, and that it was aired “in error.” He also assured members that the Hallmark Channel will “continue to be a safe and family friendly network. Praise the Lord,” the statement added.
On my XFinity station there have been numerous commercials combining a plus for the Hallmark channel and the TV newest remote which you can talk commands to. The tag line is “show me the Hallmark channel.” I have no interested in the fare the channel shows but I know many people do especially around Christmas time.
On the other seemingly unrelated matter
I have been doing some thinking about what would prompted Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Democrat from a red district in southern New Jersey to meet with Trump and is reported to be planning to switch parties (Slate).
This is how a New Jersey newspaper describes him:
Van Drew, one of only two Democrats to vote against proceeding with the impeachment inquiry, has repeatedly said he' will vote 'no' on impeaching Trump. He has said it would be too divisive for the country, and voters should decide Trump's fate in the election next year.
He has faced the likelihood of a Democratic primary fight because of his impeachment vote, and prominent Democrats such as Senate President Steve Sweeney have declined to support him for re-election until they see how he votes next week.
"Congressman Van Drew has long voted against core Democratic values," Gov. Phil Murphy said in a Tweet. "Betraying our party by siding with Donald Trump is the final straw, as grassroots activists, local party leaders in his district, and I have made clear in recent weeks."
“At the end of the day Jeff Van Drew is a coward with a capital ‘C’,” said Atlantic County Democratic Chairman Michael Suleiman, who last week sent van Drew a letter warning he would lose party backing if he didn't vote for impeachment next week.
But if he couldn't vote as his base wanted, Suleiman said, "instead of just voting no and facing the music with our party, he switches parties.”
Van Drew represents a district which was one of 105 congressional districts that intersected with one or more Pivot Counties. These 206 Pivot Counties voted for Trump in 2016 after voting for Obama in 2008 and 2012. Reference
Clearly this man who cares far more about getting re-elected than anything else. He worked long and hard in local and state politics for over 30 years to get to where he is today.
Dr. Drew is a dentist who worked in the field for 30 years. He is a former president of the New Jersey Dental Society, and was a board expert of the New Jersey Board of Dentistry.
Since he is 66 years old my math suggests he retired from dentistry at about the time he ran for Congress and prior to that combined his practice with numerous elected political position.
“Van Drew served on the Dennis Township Committee in 1991, and as Mayor from 1997 to 2003 and from 1994 to 1995. Van Drew served on the Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1994 to 1997. He was a Dennis Township Fire Commissioner from 1983 to 1986.” Wikipedia
He entered state politics in 2002 as a Democrat and achieved his first national office as a member of the freshman House class as a Democrat in their sweep of the House election in 2018 in a district that went for Trump in 2016. During the campaign he promised voters that if elected, he would not support Nancy Pelosi to be the next Speaker of the House. His first vote in Congress was "no" for Speaker which was recorded as "present" under the rules. Wikipedia
As this all demonstrates, this is a man who was at least as interested in politics as he was in being a dentist.
I don’t know anything about New Jersey politics so I don’t know for sure why Drew decided he stood his best chance of winning by running as a Democrat though I have my suspicions that this is a result of knowing that his voters were far more conservative than the typical New Jersey Democrat. Perhaps the Republicans he ran against were considered as too far to the right by the voters so he became a the Democratic equivalent of a RINO.
Wiki tells us that “In his run for state senate in 2007, Van Drew remarked, "I’m proud to be a Democrat because to me it always represented working people, middle class people and issues of compassion." Van Drew represented Republican-leaning Cape May County in the assembly, and accordingly took politically moderate positions.”
Consider his numerous positions which are more typical of a Republican (highlighted bold for Republican and italics for Democratic).
- 100% rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA).
- In 2007 and 2008, Van Drew received $2,700 from the National Shooting Sports Foundation Inc., and in 2008, Van Drew received $1,000 from the NRA
- In 2013, Van Drew voted as the only Democrat against a series of 10 gun control bills following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
- Van Drew also voiced support for expanded background checks and the regulation for silencers. Despite his pro-gun stance, the gun-control group Moms Demand Action designated Van Drew a "Gun Sense Candidate".
- voted against a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in New Jersey, one of two Democrats in opposition.
- From a flyer: "supports traditional marriage and letting the people vote on the definition of marriage," while his Republican opponent Susan Adelizzi Schmidt was in favor of same-sex marriage.
- voted against raising the state minimum wage above the federal minimum wage of $7.25,
- On his campaign website, Van Drew highlighted his support for fully funding the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and protecting net neutrality.
- Van Drew opposes offshore drilling on the Atlantic coast; in 2019 he joined Republican John Rutherford to introduce the Atlantic Coastal Economies Protection Act, which would prohibit seismic air gun testing in the Atlantic Ocean.
- The state senator previously voted to withdraw from Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative,
- supported the construction of a pipeline through the Pinelands.
Reading the above you can see how he could just as easily run as a moderate Republican. While some of his positions are Democratic most are favored by Republicans. My impression is that every position he took was the result of cold political calculation.
How is he like the Hallmark channel?
This is by now a rhetorical question because it is so obvious. Both make decisions based on what they believe will please their constituents.
Hallmark and Van Drew say by their actions that support traditional marriage and are against same sex marriage. Unfortunately we will never know what they really believe because of the calculations involved. Hallmark calculated what they thought would offend their viewers balanced against what would inspire them. They came down on the side of bigotry.
It has always been true in politics that you can never tell for sure whether what a politician says and does how they vote and what a politician are consistent with their true beliefs. The same goes I think to a lesser extent to the decision makers in the entertainment business.
Political hypocrisy has always existed but in this era of Trump it seems to have reached an ignominious pinnacle when you have a man who is the antithesis of Christian values being venerated, if not defied, by evangelicals.