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AIM apologizes for Jennings falsehoods -- then tries to smear him again

December 11, 2009 1:06 pm ET by Terry Krepel

Accuracy in Media begins a Dec. 11 blog post by apologizing for the falsehoods in its previous smear of Kevin Jennings, as well it should:

Accuracy in Media regrets the publication of a blog entry accusing Department of Education official Kevin Jennings, a homosexual activist, of being a pedophile and personally teaching perverted sexual practices to young people. We have no evidence to support those specific charges. The blog entry was posted by an intern without permission, and has been taken down.

But AIM seems to have learned nothing from getting caught spreading outrageous lies about Jennings, for it continues by hurling more smears:

We continue to urge the media to vigorously investigate Jennings' background, which includes praise for homosexual activist and communist Harry Hay, a supporter of the North American Man-Boy Love Association. Jennings' role in promoting the homosexual agenda and exposing children to discussions of dangerous sexual practices through his organization, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), should also continue to be investigated. For the facts on Jennings, we suggest three important websites: www.missionamerica.com, where Linda Harvey has broken many stories about Jennings and GLSEN; www.AmericansforTruth.com, where Peter LaBarbera writes regularly about the controversy; and www.massresistance.com, where Brian Camenker has covered the scandal of Obama's appointment of Jennings in much detail.

Linking Jennings to Hays is nothing more than a guilt-by-association smear -- Jennings has never praised NAMBLA. If that's a game AIM wants to play, then it's fair to note AIM's appreciation for convicted felon and unrepentant domestic terrorist G. Gordon Liddy.

As we've detailed, MassResistance is an anti-gay organization declared a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center that has been the springboard for numerous instances of right-wing falsehoods and misinformation about Jennings, and Camenker has not only likened the gay-rights movement to Nazis, he has denied that gays and lesbians were a target of the Holocaust.

The other two organizations AIM cites are no better.

How anti-gay is Mission America's Linda Harvey? She has advocated (in her column located, naturally, at WorldNetDaily) that parents remove Harry Potter books from their children's collections because author J.K. Rowling revealed that Dumbledore is gay, asserted that "Open or suspected homosexuals should never be elected" because they are involved in "[w]eird sex, public displays of "affection" and nudity, and sex with youth," and complained that activists who opposed a bill to allow same-sex marriage in Maine weren't anti-gay enough. Mission America's attacks on Jennings and GLSEN are little more than warmed-over smears from other right-wing groups -- i.e., repeating claims about the explicitness of GLSEN's list of recommended books without noting that GLSEN also recommends that "adults selecting books for youth review content for suitability."

Peter LaBarbera, head of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, has been unambiguous in declaring that his attacks on Jennings (also based on recycled smears) are rooted in hatred of homosexuality:

One more point: it is now common for conservatives - especially non-religiously-affiliated media leaders like Sean Hannity (who should be applauded for his yeoman's work exposing Jennings) -- to make the odd disclaimer that the GLSEN/Jennings controversy (or whatever "gay"-related culture-war story they are discussing) "is not about homosexuality." Baloney. This is all about homosexuality and the "gay" activist agenda whose singular goal is to normalize homosexuality as a "civil right."

[...]

The politically correct "not-about-gays" caveat is about as illogical as claiming that the effort to expose systematic human rights abuses in China and North Korea "has nothing to with Communism." Anyone who calls himself "conservative" should know better. Besides, true conservatives should not be ashamed of enthusiastically conserving the age-old Judeo-Christian sexual/marriage ethic -- which has served mankind well and which rejects all efforts to approve of unnatural and destructive sexual behaviors condemned by God.

These are the people from whom AIM believes you can get "the facts on Jennings." Is it any wonder that an AIM intern felt comfortable enough with spreading falsehoods and smears about him to post them on the AIM website?

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    • Author by rwmacdonald2091 (December 11, 2009 2:12 pm ET)
      1  
      Now there's an apology no one can believe in !
      Report Abuse
    • Author by aBeck in 10-O-C (December 11, 2009 2:13 pm ET)
      1  
      The apology translated:

      Accuracy in Media regrets the publication of a blog entry accusing...Kevin Jennings...of being a pedophile and personally teaching perverted sexual practices to young people. We have no evidence to support those specific charges.

      However we do recommend the following organizations who, with no regrets, are quite happy to make these accusations without evidence to support those specific charges.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by wzwriter (December 11, 2009 3:43 pm ET)
         
      I'm still wondering when that intern who wrote yeaterday's smear is going to start working for Faux News.......
      Report Abuse
    • Author by angels4light (December 11, 2009 4:30 pm ET)
         
      I decided to see what AIM is reporting. It reads like propaganda, rather than "Accuracy in Media". I understand that people have their opinions and perspectives, and that is fine - people are free to believe what they want. I will even defend to my death their right to believe what they want, even if they believe the clouds are made of cotton candy. When people try to indoctrinate others into believing as they do under the guise of accuracy in media, I start to have a problem.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by journeyor (December 11, 2009 7:00 pm ET)
        1
      http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2009/12/fistgate-barack-obamas-safe-schools-czar-promoted-fisting-to-14-year-olds/#comment-29958

      This is said to be Jennings speaking. Is it?

      At any rate, why is this being said by any person in a school?
      Report Abuse

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