Alabama GOP senate candidate says 'homosexual activities' have ruined TV, country's moral core

[brooklynite]

The Hill

Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill (R), a 2020 Senate candidate, says that Americans are too “preoccupied with homosexual activities” and “the wife swap shows,” ruining everything from TV to the country’s moral direction.

Merrill, one of multiple Republicans looking to challenge Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) made the comments over the weekend at a town hall event in Dekalb County, according to the Yellowhammer News.

As he took questions from attendees, one asked about the culture shift and how the country’s principles have allegedly been eroded, prompting Merrill to point to what is being shown on TV, among other things.

“How have we allowed it to happen? There are no more good TV shows on like ‘Gunsmoke,’ ‘Bonanza,’ ‘The Virginian,’ ‘Andy Griffith,’ ‘I Love Lucy.’ We don’t have those shows anymore. We’re too interested in homosexual activities,” Merrill said.

Splitting the Roy Moore vote?

[tanyev]

1. Wife swap shows? What channel is he watching?

[Blue_Adept]

5. It was a primetime show a few years back. I think it's on basic cable now.

[tanyev]

8. Oh, that. It's been a few years since I watched an episode but I don't recall any bedroom swapping.

In fact, it was sometimes a very interesting experiment in walking in someone else's shoes. Maybe that's why it unnerves him so much. The only time Republicans seem to be able to manage empathy is if some unfortunate event happens to them personally.

[Dave Starsky]

2. I didn't know that John Merrill was gay.

It's happened so often, that it has now become a rule of thumb that any politician who campaigns against homosexuality is, in fact, a closeted, self-loathing homosexual himself. Particularly if they have an (R) after their name.

[yellowcanine]

3. When did The Hill start printing The Onion pieces?

[gordianot]

4. Republicans and their morality are like Mosquitoes.

Small creatures of undetermined value whose only purpose is annoyance and disease when they bite.

[yellowcanine]

6. Who is going to watch Gunsmoke over a wife swap show?

Seriously, dude.

[Tanuki]

7. Speaking of wife swapping....

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.al.com/news/2015/02/alabama_secretary_of_state_den.html%3foutputType=amp

..."The allegations stem from a deposition in the divorce of a Tuscaloosa area couple. Merrill, married 29 years, was not a witness in that proceeding. But one issue examined in a sworn deposition is the relationship between the woman in the couple and Merrill, which included a brief sexual encounter.
When excerpts from the deposition circulated anew over recent weeks, a reporter from AL.com contacted Merrill about them. Merrill came to AL.com office in Birmingham on Feb. 3 and met with four journalists. He discussed the situation in detail and freely answered questions about it. Merrill said the woman's assertion that they had a consensual encounter in September 2010 is correct. But he said, she was the aggressor, taking him by surprise, and he denied it went as far as her performing oral sex on him, as she testified.
Merrill said that he and the woman kissed, she unbuttoned his shirt, undid his belt, fondled him, and then he stopped her from going further. She testified that they both had clothing partially removed, they touched one another sexually and she performed oral sex on him. She said she wanted to have intercourse but Merrill declined.
Merrill told AL.com - and the woman's testimony confirmed -- that he became involved with her after her then-husband told his friend Merrill of an affair she was having. The two men discussed that Merrill might be able to talk to her and find a way to help fix the couple's marriage."......(more about this sanctimonious hypocrite at link)

[rurallib]

9. that is sure interesting - looks like he did some research

[BlueStater]

10. Is this guy like 100 years old?

No, he's 55 according to Wikipedia, but the "good" shows he's babbling on about are so old that they predate even his birth.

[spanone]

11. fucking moron.

[Initech]

12. No jackass, it's the Christian right that keeps ruining things.

And making things miserable for the rest of us.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

13. Who wants to tell him about Jim Nabors?

"There are no more good TV shows on like ‘Gunsmoke,’ ‘Bonanza,’ ‘The Virginian,’ ‘Andy Griffith,’ ‘I Love Lucy.’ We don’t have those shows anymore. We’re too interested in homosexual activities."

Link to tweet

.
.
.

Who wants to tell him about Jim Nabors

Link to tweet

[smirkymonkey]

14. It's just a matter of time before he is caught in a public bathroom molesting a

teenage boy.