Does anyone doubt that FOX’s O’Reilly wannabe John Gibson would have mocked Heath Ledger’s death if Ledger hadn’t been in a movie that dared to say that gay people are actually people? Didn’t think so.

In case you missed it, upon hearing of Ledger’s overdose, Gibson decided to single himself out as the World’s Biggest Asshole (and Worst Person in the World) on his January 22 radio show by making fun of Ledger’s death. The entire audio is attached, but here are some excerpts:

JAKE GYLLENHAAL [audio clip from ‘Brokeback Mountain’]: I wish I knew how to quit you.

GIBSON: Well, he found out how to quit you. -snip-

GIBSON: Listen, November '07, he was talking about -- and this is a 28-year-old guy -- saying, "Well, you know, it's a whole -- give me a whole different thought about death." What? You're 28 years old, and you're thinking about death? Give me a break.

CHRISTINE: Maybe he was a deep thinker.

GIBSON: Maybe he was a weirdo.

ANGRY RICH: I'm thinking about it right now.

GIBSON: OK, anyway, Heath Ledger died, and I'm sure people will be upset. All you Brokeback Mountain fans, you want to give Christine a call, she'll be happy to talk to you.

HEATH LEDGER [audio clip]: We're dead.

GIBSON: "We're dead." -snip-

GIBSON: Maybe he had a serious position in the market.

TOM SULLIVAN: And possibly today, he looked at the window and said…

GIBSON: “Oh my God.”

SULLIVAN: His name’s not Keith Bledger, right?

GIBSON: He was depressed about yesterday’s downturn in the world stock markets. -snip-

GIBSON: Apparently Heath Ledger was suicidal and his friends saw it coming. I think he watched the Clinton-Obama debate last night. I think he was an Edwards guy, cause he saw his Edwards guy was just completely irrelevant.

There’s more of that conservative/Ann Coulter humor. And thinking about death as a 28-year-old makes you a “weirdo”? Since when? Also, notice how Gibson used Ledger’s death to imitate his hero, O’Reilly, and take an irrational swipe at John Edwards? I forgot to mention that Gibson went on to repeatedly claim that illegal drugs were involved in Ledger’s death, despite the fact that no one (including the police) had found any illegal drugs in Ledger’s apartment and no autopsy had been performed. But when you’re on FOX, the truth is an inconvenience if it gets in the way of smearing someone who had the audacity to play a gay character in a movie.

On Gibson’s show the following day, he refused to apologize.

ANGRY RICH: John, the start of yesterday's show is now prominently featured on Think Progress, the George Soros operation. Yes. It says, "John Gibson mocks 'weirdo' Heath Ledger's death."

GIBSON: Did I mock him?

ANGRY RICH: He found out how to "quit you," quote-unquote.

GIBSON: Oh that [laughter]. Well --

ANGRY RICH: A little satire.

GIBSON: Yeah, it was little Brokeback Mountain joke.

ANGRY RICH: You feel bad about it. C'mon.

GIBSON: No. I mean, I feel bad about his death, but that's --

ANGRY RICH: It's horrible.

JAKE GYLLENHAAL [from 'Brokeback Mountain']: I wish I knew how to quit you.

GIBSON: There's no point in passing up a good joke. I mean, how many months did we live off that line, Brokeback Mountain?

GYLLENHAAL [audio clip]: I wish I knew how to quit you.

ANGRY RICH: Several.

GIBSON: I mean, it went on for months and months and months. I'm not giving that up. -snip-

ANGRY RICH: You're a closet homosexual. That's the first --

GIBSON: I am?

ANGRY RICH: Apparently.

GIBSON: Well, I'm still breathing. There's a difference right there. -snip-

ANGRY RICH: "Gibson will be whining tomorrow that his words were taken out of context."

GIBSON: No. I meant them, whatever they were. I don't remember what they were, but whatever they were, I meant them.

In case you missed it, those were supposed to be jokes. If you're a conservative. 

So today on FOX, Gibson responded to the heaps of criticism he received over his mindboggling display of insensitivity and idiocy by giving a typical republican fake sort of/not really apology:

GIBSON: I’m sorry that some took my comments as anti-gay and insensitive.
-snip-
Once again, to anyone offended by my comments, I’m sorry.

Note: Gibson didn’t apologize for what he said — he was apologizing that “some” were offended by what he said. It’s as much of an apology as saying, “I’m sorry you feel that way.” And I’m sure you’ll hear him defending himself on his radio show. FOX (if you can believe it) is the toned-down version of FOX’s radio shows, where the hosts (like Gibson, Hannity, and O’Reilly) really let loose with the full force of their racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. from their protected, isolated bubbles.

If Gibson worked for any other network, he’d be in serious trouble and would at least be forced to actually apologize for repeatedly mocking Ledger’s death, making false claims about it, and repeatedly defending it. But he works for FOX. He clearly didn’t think that what he said would be frowned upon at FOX’s highest levels. He was so confident that he defended it, continued doing it, and didn’t really apologize. I’m sure Gibson felt that he was just catering to FOX’s homophobic listeners, which is consistent with FOX’s and the republican party’s credo of insulting and attacking all gays to play to their homophobic base. Ledger acted gay in a movie — that's the same as being a faggot, right?

And BTW, I’m not against mocking someone when they die or celebrating their death — if they deserve it. As Chris Hitchens noted when asked why he would dare celebrate the death of Jerry Falwell, he simply said that Falwell made it his goal in life to sow hatred and divisiveness throughout the world, attacking and condemning to hell anyone who disagreed with his Christian fundamentalist view of the world. Falwell celebrated the deaths of homosexuals, people with AIDS, and those killed on 9/11 as proof that his God was angry and was punishing sinners and those who didn’t share his intolerance. No one should be surprised that someone who commits his life to demonizing, insulting, and attacking people won’t be celebrated by his targets in death. The ill will he received upon his death was a reflection of the ill will he sowed in life.

As far as I know, Ledger did none of this. But he did play a gay man in a movie. For FOX, that’s enough.