Monumentally dumb, even for The American Spectator. Or, more from the Kevin Jennings Witch Hunt
October 06, 2009 4:10 pm ET by Eric Boehlert
It's to the point where you can't even make it through the first paragraph of one of the fringe pub's posts without running into massive, skyscraper-like misinformation:
Here's the Spectator's latest installment, courtesy of Jeffrey Lord, in the official Kevin Jennings Witch Hunt:
Why is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi so quiet about Kevin Jennings? Jennings is in the news because he is the Obama administration's Safe Schools czar, in bureaucratese the assistant deputy secretary of the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools inside the Department of Education. And because he has now admitted that when, as a teacher, he was sought out by a 15-year-old boy asking for advice about an affair with an older adult male, Jennings suggested wearing a condom.
As anybody who's been following the Kevin Jennings Witch Hunt knows, the boy in question was at least 16 years old, the legal age of consent in Massachusetts where the incident occurred. This has been known for days. The Spectator however, just doesn't like that fact, so it opts for its own version of the truth.
Meanwhile, love that opening line:
Why is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi so quiet about Kevin Jennings?
The Spectator pretends the radical right's Kevin Jennings Witch Hunt demands the attention of our nation's leaders. Interesting notion. Let's turn the tables and ask, why is Sen. Mitch McConnell so quiet about Kevin Jennings? And why is Rep. John Boehner quiet about Kevin Jennings. Indeed, why is the entire GOP leadership so quiet about Kevin Jennings? (Could it be because they just don't care?)
I'm sure the Spectator, with its ace reporting skills, can get to the bottom of this political whodunnit.
UPDATED: Parallel Universe Alert! In the comment section of the Spectator piece, a reader notes that the boy is question was 16 years old, not 15, and wonders if the Spectator ought to correct the story.
Ha!
Here's what author Jeffrey Lord wrote back:
Remember that the source for this story is Kevin Jennings himself. He has, as noted, said he should have handled this differently. Something he presumably would not believe if the student were of legal age. I am aware of no statement by Jennings that the boy was of a legal age. If Jennings provides that fact and can document it we will be happy to correct.
We're through the looking glass here, folks. And that's how the Spectator, and the right-wing blogosphere, likes it.
HAH!!
Suuuure they'll correct it -- and if Obama would just produce his birth certificate, they could finally put to rest all those nagging questions about his citizenship and never bring up the subject again!
Lying sack of garbage.
The year was 1988, and saw the AIDS epidemic at it's worst. That same year saw the start of AIDS prevention advertisements and the endorsement of then U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C Everett Koop, promoting the phrase "Help stop AIDS. Use a condom."
Considering 1988 also saw the first ever World AIDS Day, and was the first time an American ad campaign used the word "condom", and that the nation saw an increase of adolescents diagnosed with AIDS, Jennings' conversation was the appropriate measure at the time, and regardless of what had gone on, there are some additional facts that need to be taken into consideration when passing judgement. This was a moment that had taken place 21 years ago. It was a completely different environment...
Not only did the teacher do nothing wrong, and did not cover up any rape, he was also in line with the U.S. Surgeon General at the time, educating on safe sexual practices to help prevent the spread of a deadly disease. If you all remember, homosexuality was deemed one of the 4-Hs of AIDS proliferation.
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The Midnight Review
Mum Is The Word
that all the facts keep getting ignored is really the story here..and while the wrong wing nut-jobs see a gay agenda behind every tree and bush..their anti-gay agenda is far more insidious and destructive than anything they can make up about the other side..
Of course. My world=my rules. Happy wingnut land is opening it's own universe right next door. Applicants will be carefully screened, and required to sign loyalty oaths to Rush Limbaugh. Facts will be far more flexible, and irony will be so prevalent as to condense into a new element: ironymium. Durable and useful items will be crafted from it by illegal immigrants to help keep costs down, and the items will be exported at a profit to help support the lifestyle of the rich and greedy who are expected to be the only residents that matter. Or can vote. Or own things...
It'll be like Candyland, but evil.