Defending my sista

I have fixed the Mandy Carter, Pepper LaBeija, and Dorian Corey links that weren't working. I wasn't aware of it until it was brought to my attention. I also added a new link that gives a list of lgbts of color via wikipedia.

Okay, this isn't an lgbt issue, but it is an issue.

Everyone in the blogsphere has gone election crazy while I have chosen to stay focused on ways to throw wrenches at the anti-gay industry (and I mean in a figurative sense. I want to make that clear. Otherwise, Peter and company will be sending out an email about the "radical gay activist" who wants to injure "pro-family" folks with wrenches.)

However, I simply have to defend journalist Gwen Ifill.

Apparently McCain feels that the election is slipping away so he is getting so desperate that he is relying on nonsense by sites like Free Republic.

To recap: There are rumblings that Ifill will not be impartial in tomorrow's vice presidential debate because she is the author of a book that looks at the impact of African-Americans on the political process.

Some are even construing the book as a "pro-Obama" tome.

And it hasn't even come out yet. Here is what the summary says. Judge for yourself:

In THE BREAKTHROUGH, veteran journalist Gwen Ifill surveys the American political landscape, shedding new light on the impact of Barack Obama’s stunning presidential campaign and introducing the emerging young African American politicians forging a bold new path to political power.

Ifill argues that the Black political structure formed during the Civil Rights movement is giving way to a generation of men and women who are the direct beneficiaries of the struggles of the 1960s. She offers incisive, detailed profiles of such prominent leaders as Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, and U.S. Congressman Artur Davis of Alabama, and also covers up-and-coming figures from across the nation. Drawing on interviews with power brokers like Senator Obama, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Vernon Jordan, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and many others, as well as her own razor-sharp observations and analysis of such issues as generational conflict and the "black enough" conundrum, Ifill shows why this is a pivotal moment in American history.

THE BREAKTHROUGH is a remarkable look at contemporary politics and an essential foundation for understanding the future of American democracy.

We all know what's going to happen. Conservative bloggers and phony news sites are going to dig up anything that can be construed as anti-conservative bias on Ifill's part.

Hell, it's happening now via the Media Research Center:

As we learned in the first debate, moderators can help shape the outcome. PBS host Jim Lehrer asked tough questions to President Bush about his record, but failed to do the same for John Kerry. He asked Kerry to list Bush's “colossal misjudgments,” and then to list the President's lies. But he never once asked Kerry about his 20-year Senate record. Will PBS’s Gwen Ifill do better in the running-mate debate? The evidence suggests here comes liberal moderator number two . . .

How fitting. The Media Research Center now houses Robert Knight. For years, Knight made his bones conducting the same tactics against the lgbt community. If you breathe in deeply, you can smell his odor on this smearing of Ifill.

There will probably be more attempts to pile on. I see that Michelle Malkin (who seems to always be curiously at the front of the pack when conservatives take the guise of attack dogs) is trying to get her shots in.

For the record, I have enjoyed watching Ifill for years and she has never shown a bias. She reminds me of what journalism was like before Hannity, O'Reilly and the rest of the pundits took over.

And I know that tomorrow night, she will continue to show America what a true journalist should be like irregardless of this pathetic attempt by conservatives to "work the ref."

UPDATE - Ifill responds and becomes one of my heroes

PBS journalist Gwen Ifill, moderator of the upcoming vice presidential debate, dismissed conservative questions about her impartiality because she is writing a book that includes material on Barack Obama.

Ifill said Wednesday that she hasn't even written her chapter on Obama for the book "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama," which is to be published by Doubleday on Jan. 20, 2009, the day a new president is inaugurated.

"I've got a pretty long track record covering politics and news, so I'm not particularly worried that one-day blog chatter is going to destroy my reputation," Ifill said. "The proof is in the pudding. They can watch the debate tomorrow night and make their own decisions about whether or not I've done my job."

More here . . .

That's class defined.