Hurricane I

Sometimes, I'm ashamed of my country. It doesn't happen often, but everytime some crazy fundie decides that a Muppet or a cartoon character has a secret gay agenda, then yes, I am ashamed of my country. What makes it even worse is that someone feels the need to issue a statement from the character's creater, reassuring the public that the Teletubbies, Bert and Ernie, and now, SpongeBob Square Pants not only lack organs, the ability to breathe, think or do anything else that real people do, they also lack a sex drive. In light of that, why is this statement necessary?

SpongeBob's creator, Stephen Hillenburg, 43, said the allegations are far-fetched and his agenda does not go beyond fun and entertainment.

Um, duh. But as Andrew Sullivan noted (I have yet to figure out how to link to him beyond the general website, sorry kids), the worst part about this whole deal is the claim that SpongeBob et al are being "exploited to promote the acceptance of homosexuality" (emphasis mine). I would mock them even if they were content to lable random cartoons as gay. But that doesn't seem to be good enough anymore. Now, it seems we're supposed to be against acceptance of gay people, witnessed also by Education Secretary Margart Spellings v. "Postcards from Buster". Thus, I am ashamed of my country.