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Anti-gay right advancing new smear against Jennings

December 04, 2009 2:08 pm ET by Matt Gertz

In the latest in a long line of smears conservative media figures have hurled at Department on Education staffer Kevin Jennings, Scott Baker of Breitbart-tv.com takes to the blog Gateway Pundit today to claim that Jennings' organization, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), recommended books to students which include explicit sexual passages. Baker states that the information comes from "team of independent researchers that I have known for some time and have come to trust." Baker goes on to falsely claim that "these are the books that GLSEN's directors think all kids should be reading."

Somehow, Baker missed the following note at the bottom of the GLSEN BookLink website, in bold red type, recommending that adults review the books before adolescents read them:

All BookLink items are reviewed by GLSEN staff for quality and appropriateness of content. However, some titles for adolescent readers contain mature themes. We recommend that adults selecting books for youth review content for suitability. The editorial and customer reviews listed at Amazon.com often provide information on mature content.

CORRECTION: Buried in the 13th paragraph of his post, Baker does acknowledge that "GLSEN does advise adults to 'review content for suitability.'" He does not acknowledge that this undermines his entire point.

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    • Author by NiceguyEddie (December 04, 2009 2:17 pm ET)
         
      OMG! Adolescents might read about SEX!

      OH NO! The humaity!

      THE HORROR!

      OMG, these people are sofa king stupid.

      ------------------------------------------------------------------
      Haven't they ever heard of the internet?!
      (It's for porn! ~Trekkie Monster)
      Report Abuse
      • Author by epkklk851 (December 04, 2009 2:37 pm ET)
           
        I'd much rather they read about it than experiment with someone else.
        Report Abuse
      • Author by pointofview (December 04, 2009 3:41 pm ET)
        2 8
        So according to MMFA, Jennings is now a
        Department on Education staffer
        Wow. Talk about your liberal spin!!
        Report Abuse
        • Author by NiceguyEddie (December 04, 2009 3:59 pm ET)
          2  
          He's the Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools at the U.S. Department of Education.

          So... What's your problem?

          Weak tea, my friend, weak tea.

          ------------------------------------------------------------------
          FAIL
          Report Abuse
        • Author by aBeck in 10-O-C (December 04, 2009 5:09 pm ET)
          4  
          "So according to MMFA, Jennings is now a
          Department on Education staffer           "

          Shocking ain't it. Listening to Fox you would think he was a "czar" or something, huh?
          Fox would go after a lowly Whitehouse intern if they thought it would hurt Obama. And you would probably think he or she was a "czar" or something.
          Report Abuse
        • Author by wzwriter (December 04, 2009 5:53 pm ET)
          4 2
          Well, well, well - POV slithered out from under his rock to grace us with his "wit" and "wisdom". He's about as enjoyable as a root canal without novacaine - and his posts are just as painful to read.
          Report Abuse
          • Author by pointofview (December 04, 2009 6:02 pm ET)
            2 4
            this is from the site listed, and apparently the kind of thing WZ loves to read when he is under his rock. Makes ya wonder.

            We were unprepared for what we encountered. Book after book after book contained stories and anecdotes that weren’t merely X-rated and pornographic, but which featured explicit descriptions of sex acts between pre-schoolers; stories that seemed to promote and recommend child-adult sexual relationships; stories of public masturbation, anal sex in restrooms, affairs between students and teachers, five-year-olds playing sex games, semen flying through the air.
            Report Abuse
            • Author by pointofview (December 04, 2009 6:09 pm ET)
              2 4
              Cant wait to hear all of you here defend this kind of material written about kids, for kids to read in public schools. Lets hear it.
              Report Abuse
              • Author by center-right (December 04, 2009 6:21 pm ET)
                3 1
                wzwriter:

                Do you honestly defend that kind of stuff? I hope not, those "stories" are pretty vile.
                Report Abuse
              • Author by Don Hussein Fabuloso (December 04, 2009 9:07 pm ET)
                2  
                Which public schools are providing these books, Pointy?
                Report Abuse
              • Author by aBeck in 10-O-C (December 05, 2009 8:51 am ET)
                   
                Cant wait to hear all of you here defend this kind of material written about kids, for kids to read in public schools. Lets hear it.


                I can only say that this material exists, and it is in books that must be put into the hands of kids by their parents. That's a fact not in dispute by Scott Baker's article.

                I can think of no other endeavor so pointless as trying to defend the existence of this material to you. There simply is no conceivable statement of fact or opinion that would have any effect other than to say, "POV, you are absolutely right in all things and in every way" That is what you believe and that is, as they say, that.

                The best and the brightest minds at this website could not convince you of anything or budge you one inch from your entire framework of convictions on any conceivable subject. Your mind is one of two things: either an impenetrable monolith or it is a gauntlet of incomprehensible faith in certitudes developed over your lifetime. I concede that you are in the human majority and your learning days are over.

                When you say, "Let's hear it" what you are thinking is,
                "Bring in the clowns" You are not here for debate, discussion, or exchange of ideas. You are here for entertainment. This site is your little ant farm. You like to watch the liberal critters--the mindless drones--building a tiny ediface of sand. You tap on the glass and delight in the ensuing disruption within.

                You are the almighty termite and this show is over.
                Ya'll come back.
                Report Abuse
            • Author by Don Hussein Fabuloso (December 04, 2009 7:27 pm ET)
              1  
              this is from the site listed, and apparently the kind of thing WZ loves to read...


              I agree that Gateway Pundit is a pretty filthy site, but I think it's unfair to accuse WZ of loving to read it unless you show some evidence.
              Report Abuse
      • Author by center-right (December 04, 2009 6:23 pm ET)
        1 1
        NiceguyEddie:

        Why dont you actually read some of those stories, and then come back and tell us if you would agree they are ok for some one who is 11 to read. Do you have no humanity, or just no kids to worry about?
        Report Abuse
    • Author by bintx (December 04, 2009 2:29 pm ET)
      3  
      Reminds me of my preacher friend who warned me about the graphic "sex" scenes in "Schindler's List." Warned me not to let my 12 year old son and 14 year old daughter watch it. I watched and decided that it was something they NEEDED to see. My 12 year old son had more insight into those graphic "sex" scenes than a 45 year old man.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by epkklk851 (December 04, 2009 2:38 pm ET)
           
        Yes, my children were also about that age. Some things need to be seen.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by bintx (December 04, 2009 3:11 pm ET)
          2  
          My son was devastated by the selection scene [that graphic sex scene warned of by my friend]. He turned to me with tears in his eyes and said, "Why are they doing that to those people, Mom?" My 12 year old understood the humiliation better than a 45 year old with a Ph.D.
          Report Abuse
          • Author by epkklk851 (December 04, 2009 3:18 pm ET)
            2  
            You can't explain that kind of inhumanity, but you have to know that it is out there, and I think if you expose a child, and their gut instinct is instant revulsion, it will make it much harder for them to ever do something like that as an adult. I think my exposure to the news during the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King made me a life long pacifist.
            Report Abuse
            • Author by ReasonAndResolve (December 04, 2009 5:18 pm ET)
              1  
              Amen.

              I was in fifth grade when a teacher showed us some very graphic film of the holocaust - film that some teachers recently have gotten fired for showing to kids. It was horrifying and it was revolting and it sent some of my classmates running out of the classroom, but it made it real. I will never forget, and I will always be grateful to my teacher for having the courage to show us that film.
              Report Abuse
              • Author by Don Hussein Fabuloso (December 04, 2009 8:02 pm ET)
                2  
                I went and read some of the excerpts from the books, and some seem too graphic for Jr. High.

                I also read some of the comments at Gateway Pundit, which were as offensive as some of the accounts of elementary school sex. There's at least one suggestion that we go back to segregation, because of Obama and his "pedophile Czar".

                There's also a focus on the "pre-shool sex". I didn't see the excerpt, but judging by the others, I would guess it's some sort of autobiographical recollection, not the promotion of pedophilia that GP is implying.

                I would also take with a grain of salt the sites claim that they chose a few books at random. More likely is that an exhaustive search took place to find the most sensational bits that they could frame as "the tip of the iceberg". ( Right wing SOP, as seen in the CRU emails; cherry pick, then claim there are thousands more like this!)

                Even considering the advice for parental review, groups like GLSEN need to show better judgment on these, not just because the parents can't always be counted on to be responsible, but because the racist homophobic fanatics are working around the clock to jump on anything they can use to fire up their minions.
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                • Author by epkklk851 (December 04, 2009 8:14 pm ET)
                  3  
                  My daughter was reading Stephen King in the 5th or 6th grade. I had to give permission to read one of his books, and I told her I didn't want to and I explained why, I had read the book. She said she understood, and she moved on to a different author. She was really into Anne Rice (for years!) and I talked to hear about some of the sexual tensions in the book and the graphic violence, but she would pop out with interesting historical questions or information, and she would say she learned them from Anne Rice, but was asking if they were true or she researched their truth. She got older and I came to accept her taste in books. I think that parents and children should talk about movies or books and then decide what to do next. It has worked really well in my family.
                  Report Abuse
      • Author by pointofview (December 04, 2009 6:14 pm ET)
        1 4
        What you decide to show at home is one issue, but having this material shown in the public schools is another. Teachers have, and should continue to get fired for making pornography involving kids in pre-school available. Not only that, but they should face criminal charges as well.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by Ruby (December 04, 2009 7:59 pm ET)
          5  
          The website plainly says, in red print, for parents to review the material and determine for themselves if they think it's appropriate for their children. Where exactly are you getting the "shown in public schools" thing? This list of books is clearly a list of suggested books. No one is forcing anyone else's children to read any of the books on this list.
          Report Abuse
          • Author by Don Hussein Fabuloso (December 04, 2009 8:05 pm ET)
            1  
            Ruby, if you read the comments at Gateway Pundit (Warning: contains hysterical racist and homophobic pornography) you can see that most of the wingnuts have been fooled as easily as pointy to think that these are mandatory reading materials.

            Report Abuse
    • Author by laxmatt (December 04, 2009 4:32 pm ET)
      1 2
      I tried to post some of the material in question from the books recommended for children as young as 11. Media Matters posted an automatic message stating "Please express yourself without using profanity". I think that in itself is telling.

      Also telling is the fact that there is no link to the Gateway Pundit story at issue. Instead, MM posted a highly misleading executive. I would urge you to read the material in question. It is sheer pornography - recommended for preteens.

      http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2009/12/breaking-obamas-safe-schools-czar-is-promoting-porn-in-the-classroom-kevin-jennings-and-the-glsen-reading-list/
      Report Abuse
      • Author by Don Hussein Fabuloso (December 05, 2009 1:34 am ET)
           
        The link to Gateway Pundit is in the second line of this item, in the words "takes to the blog".

        The books are from a list recommended for 7-12 grades, so up to age 17 or 18, with a strong advisory for parents to review the content. If a parent is going to buy a book intended for adults or near adults and give it to their 11 year old, I think you might worry about that parent more than GLSEN.

        Many parts of books I read in Jr. High and high school wouldn't make it past the filters at this site.

        You seem to see a lot that's "telling" in things you're just confused about.

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