Now I Understand Robinson's "Death Threats"

I occasionally have moments of clarity when I figure things out.  One of them just hit me when I saw this description of "Look At Me" Gene Robinson's media schedule at Lambeth:

"Robinson had been talking from almost the moment he woke up that morning. Before arriving at the church at noon, he had done three interviews with the BBC. Two of those were radio conversations, one for the BBC World Service and the other for a national news feed. In between, he and his friend and ally Sir Ian McKellen sat for a conversation with Andrew Marr on his influential Sunday morning program.

Once he hit the church, Robinson dove into the first of a dozen more interviews, this one with Rachel Zoll of the Associated Press. Over the next five hours he spoke with Robert Pigott of the BBC, ITN television, Sky TV, Channel 4 TV, Ruth Gledhill of the Times of London, Steve Daughty of the Daily Mail, Mary Jordan of the Washington Post, Solange DeSantis of Episcopal Life Media, a reporter from the Press Association and others.

In the midst of this media blitz–which continues tomorrow with an interview with Reuters and several other outlets–it is worth remembering that after Rowan Williams decided not to invite Robinson to the Lambeth Conference, Lambeth Palace, by way of a peace offering, offered to procure for him a single interview with a major media outlet."

So here's my moment of clarity.  Robinson has not had "death threats" in the conventional sense.  The kevlar vest, if he truly even wore one, was a publicity stunt.  What Robinson considers to be "death threats" are the many people who have variously voiced the sentiment that he should "put a sock in it", or shut up and do his job as Bishop of New Hampshire.  Of course, if Robinson were to "put a sock" in his always-open mouth, he would probably suffer major withdrawal symptoms from his addiction to media attention, which in extreme cases can cause death.  Hence, anyone who expresses the opinion that "Look At Me" Gene should "put a sock in it" has ipso facto made a "death threat", in his way of thinking.

I also read somewhere today that Robinson has spent $70,000 for security while he is at Lambeth.  So much for his concern the other day about people who supposedly live on a "dollar a day" in London.  I hope someone looks into this claim and determines whether any of this "security" funding has come from Diocesan or Church money, or for that matter, whether his presence in England has been funded by TEO or his Diocese.  If there is any church funding behind his presence in England or any aspect of it, that is malfeasance of the highest order and a presentment should be brought forthwith.  On the other hand, if "Look At Me" Gene is funding all of this from his own pocket, will he ever put his own money where his considerable mouth is and forego some media-driven travel for true Christian mission work? 

I know, I know, I followed my moment of clarity with a hallucination.   I need some Advil.

A tip o' my kepi to Dean Brian Baker for the "Look At Me" Gene information.

Comments

[Matthew]

The $70K Gene spent on security was really for missions. It's his way of expressing muscular Christianity. Seen that way, 70 grand is chicken feed for the benefit of our lonely country bishop being surrounded by hunky men.

;)

[The young fogey]

Spot on!