“Homophobic Telescope Discovers the First Hi-Res Images From Deep Space.”
First a disclaimer. This isn’t a headline taken from the Babylon Bee. This is a MSN headline from a July 13 article about some of the most amazing images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. It is homophobic!
MSN borrowed from “INTO”, which describes itself as “A Digital magazine for the Modern Queer World.”
MSN had an absurd obsession with the Webb Telescope name. While many were stunned by its images, which can see back to the very beginning of time almost as well as the Webb Telescope itself — and that is what most people found amazing — MSN’s article on the Webb Telescope was a bizarre focussed on the man who it was named for. The “crime” of James Webb — not to be confused with the one-term senator from Virginia — was that he seemed to have been present in the State Department and later at NASA as administrator when what was labeled a “Lavender Scare” was happening.
MSN has a bizarre obsession as they transmit the first images of their new telescope.
NASA has shared the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) first high-resolution images of deep space, including some galaxies pictured 13 billion years ago—not long after the Big Bang. But despite this remarkable achievement for science, the JWST continues to stand as a bitter reminder of our country’s willingness to tolerate and even memorialize queerphobia.
The JWST first came under controversy last year when it came to light that its namesake, James Webb, oversaw the Lavender Scare during his tenure as NASA’s second administrator. McCarthy-era moral panic, the Lavender Scare. In it, suspected queer workers were exposed and removed from positions in government.
Of particular concern was the firing of NASA employee Clifford L. Norton as a result of “‘immoral conduct’ and for possessing personality traits which render him ‘unsuitable for further Government employment.’” This took place after the Lavender Scare, while Webb was still administrator in charge of these kinds of security investigations.
While the story continues, the author completely ignores the success of the “homophobic observatory.” MSN hyped the story, but the author was not able to keep up with the reality. Lavender Scare exonerated James Webb:
David Johnson is a Tampa historian and author of the 2004 book. Lavender ScareWebb, he says, has not provided any evidence that Webb instigated persecutory acts. Webb attended a White House meeting regarding the threat posed by homosexual people. However, the goal of that meeting was to restrain the panicked Congressmen were causing. “I don’t see him as having any sort of leadership role in the lavender scare,” says Johnson.
MSN, INTO and other media outlets were guilty of inciting politically-motivated victimhood hysteria towards James Webb for many years. They are even willing to mock them for publishing absurd headlines.
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