The New York Times' top-of-Page-1 obituary of the widely beloved Bob Hope featured a superb 1982 NBC photographic portrait that was a marvelous memorial.
But just underneath this obit was another full-color photograph that made many marvel at the absolutely tasteless New York Times.
Two males, in front of a third, are shown in a restaurant kissing each other on the mouth. Headlined: "Gay-themed TV gains wide audience."
ABC and NBC, who with CBS used to reach more than 90 percent of all U.S. homes with TV sets, have seen that percentage shrink to the 30s. So, they are now engaging in what Southern Baptist Convention Vice President William Merrill observed: "I believe the new effect is to forward an agenda making homosexuality appear first normal, and then desirable."
On the same day as this New York Times' placement of Bob Hope and the male mouth-kissers on the top of Page 1, the Washington Post reported that AIDS cases in the U.S. are on the rise.
And from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta came the following, as consequences of what NBC and ABC are trying to glamorize into national acceptance:
Dr. Harold Jaffe, director of the CDC's Center for HIV, STD (sexually transmitted disease) and TB Prevention, declared, "The numbers indicate the AIDS epidemic in the United States is far from over.
"New AIDS cases increased from 41,227 cases in 2001 to 42,136 cases in 2002. In the past few years there has been evidence that unprotected sex, sex with multiple partners and other risky sexual behavior has been increasing among gay men, particularly younger ones, causing the number of new HIV infections to begin to rise again in that group. Our biggest concern is what appears to be a resurgent epidemic in gay men.
"Data from 25 states show the number of new HIV diagnosis among gay and bi-sexual men increased 7.1% from 2001 to 2002, marking the third consecutive year that infections have risen in that high-risk group. HIV diagnosis among gay and bi-sexual men have increased by 17.7% since they hit a low in 1999."
The Post also reported, "During a briefing for reporters yesterday, the CDC's Ronald O. Valdiserri, who is co-chair of the conference, called the increase in infections among gay men 'very, very troubling.' He said that the 'findings suggest that the dramatic progress against AIDS ... is beginning to plateau.
"An estimated 850,000 to 950,000 Americans are infected with HIV, but only about one-fourth of them are aware that they are HIV positive, according to the CDC."
Why wasn't the New York Times responsible enough to report this news of sodomy consequences along with the two mouth-kissing males and TV glorification of what is still the leading AIDS spreader, promiscuous male homosexuality?
And why didn't the Times mention that Othniel Askew – who assassinated New York City Councilman James E. Davis in City Hall – did so, as the New York Post reported, because he thought this political rival might expose his HIV?