Minutes ago, 101.9FM WRXP morning-show co-host Matt Pinfield revealed himself to be a right-wing, reactionary, homophobic douchebag. I’m so glad that he did, as I now understand why the sound of his voice has always (to borrow a phrase I learned from him) brought up the bile from the back of my neck.

Some setup. I was listening to his show at roughly 6:27 a.m. this morning. He and his co-host had just finished a block of music which had included “Call Me” by Blondie. Pinfield, as he so often does, free-associated his knowledge of various bits of trivia about the song, stringing them together in his stream of consciousness (which, apparently, passes for critical acumen).

He mentioned that “Call Me” was on the soundtrack to the movie American Gigolo. Then he said that his ability to enjoy that movie was forever tainted after 9/11 when he heard Richard Gere state that “we need to understand these people who are trying to kill us.” This propelled Pinfield into a rant about how Gere had to “come down to Earth from his liberal Hollywood ivory tower,” and that Gere’s statement “left a bad taste in his mouth,” after which he made a false appeal to authority by stating that he was “there on nine-eleven” and “saw a lot of death,” etc.

After his co-host offered a weak rationalization of Gere’s remarks (which were tantamount to “He was confused and didn’t know what he was saying”), Pinfield brushed the discussion aside with the remark, “From now on, whenever I think of American Gigolo, I’ll think of Gere and his gerbils” — a crude allusion to a debunked urban myth that implies Gere is both homosexual and an abuser of small animals.

First of all, Pinfield, that “bad taste” in your mouth is your own bullshit.

Second, Gere did not say we had to sympathize with, empathize with, approve of, or forgive the people who are trying to kill us. He said we need to understand them. And if you had two brain cells to rub together, you’d be aware that “know your enemy” is one of the core tenets of any viable strategic philosophy.

But what Gere was really saying, you pinheaded ignoramus, was that until we learn to see ourselves as others see us, we will continue to provoke such attacks — not with our “freedoms” but with our arrogance and hubris.

You want to pontificate about music in the morning, Pinfield? Be my guest. I ignore most of what you say, anyway. But please keep your wingnut garbage out of my “rock experience.”