Michael Lucas and the Huffington Post

Sunday on the Huffington Post was an educational experience for me, as after "watching" the Huffington Post for over a year I thought it would run out of ways it could possibly surprise me. After publishing a news article on Sunday, though, the HP surpassed itself.

The Huffington Post published an article about a man named Michael Lucas. I did not know who Michael Lucas was, but the HP article, which was copied without editing from a blog called The Village Voice, informed me who he is. Both articles describe Lucas as "conservative" and talk about how he "single-handledly" shut down an anti-Israel event at a NYC LGBT center. Lucas lobbied hard for the center to not host the event, and the event was eventually canceled.

Now, as always, I did a little more digging about Lucas. The HP article admits he is gay and a porn star. He strongly supports Israel and opposes radical Islam, both from a gay rights perspective. His Wikipedia page points out that he is a strong advocate for the gay rights movement, sponsors public awareness of the dangers of unprotected sex, supports same-sex marriage and supports the pornography industry (obviously). So the question that leaps to my mind is why is the Huffington Post calling Lucas "conservative"? He seems to fit the image of a liberal in every aspect save his affinity for Israel, which as we all know even if the HP doesn't like to admit it lots of liberals share. Just goes to show, you can be the most liberal person on the face of the Earth, but if you support Israel, you might as well have clocked in at Fox News and tattooed an elephant on your forehead from the perspective of the Huffington Post.

Beyond that, of course, the Huffington Post and the Village Voice spin the facts of the event to make it seem like the mean old Zionists are shutting down dissent. Here's a quote from the article,

"By the end of the week, Lucas became known for flexing his political muscle: He intimidated New York's LGBT Center into canceling its hosting of another group's Israeli Apartheid Week event scheduled for next month. And it took him only a few hours of emails and phone calls, plus a little more than $1,000, to do so."

 As always, it's not the choice of the LGBT center to cancel their own event. No, they, like the Palestinians, are just victims of Zionists and are not responsible for their own actions.  Here's how a more objective news source, the Jerusalem Post, phrased their description of the event.

"On Tuesday, Lucas issued a press release threatening to boycott the center if it took part in Israeli Apartheid Week, a seven-day series of lectures and protests organized by pro- Palestinian supporters that compares Israel’s treatment of Arabs and Palestinians to minority-rule in South Africa.

Lucas told the Post that an Israeli friend had drawn his attention to the planned LGBT center event. He said in his Tuesday statement that “I’m preparing to organize a boycott that would certainly involve some of the center’s most generous donors.”

 After Lucas issued his statements, the LGBT center announced on the same day that it would not host the March 5 event called Party to End Apartheid, and would bar the group that had planned the gathering from meeting on its premises."

Headline of the HP article: "Michael Lucas: The Zionist Porn Impresario Waves His Political Muscle in the Left's Face".
Headline of the Jerusalem Post article: "NY gay center pulls plug on Israel-Apartheid event".

Isn't it about time the HP gave up the pretense of being a newspaper?