The Kevin Jennings controversy is a lesson for the Obama Administration

According to Chris Good of the Atlantic magazine's blog, Kevin Jennings has survived the attempts to get him fired.

Good gives the credit to " Brewster," the young man in the center of the controversy:

While the fire hasn't completely died down--53 House Republicans sent a letter calling for his job last week--it has certainly lost steam. Jennings is no longer a topic du jour, mostly due to one simple fact: the boy wasn't actually underage.

. . . If the boy had been under 16, Jennings would have appeared to violate the law, and that would have placed him in a very different situation, politically. With affirmed legal high-ground, one can bet that conservative pundits, bloggers, and political groups wouldn't have backed off in the least--and that the noise surrounding Jennings wouldn't have faded as it has. And the White House would have had a much more difficult time ignoring the calls for resignation.

The boy says he had no sexual contact with the older man, after all, so it's possible the point would have been moot. But, had the "underage" label stuck, attacks on Jennings probably would have resonated louder.

Instead, criticism of Jennings has devolved into a partisan back-and-forth. Without the objective gravitas of Massachusetts law to push it beyond politics, that's where it will probably stay.


It's an excellent piece but allow me to add a coda: some people out to get Jennings fired won't leave him alone.

But I think Jennings can deal with that.

The attacks against Jennings have been reduced to silly guilt-by-association slams by Peter LaBarbera, Brian Camenker of Mass Resistance, and various right-wing blogs with their crazy William Ayers/Comrade Obama/death panels conspiracy theories.

Most likely it will be a long time before he is the victim of a huge campaign of misinformation by Fox News or negative letters by House Republicans

But here is my take on the entire thing - this controversy was never about Jennings. It was about Obama.

If Jennings had been dismissed or had to resign, it would have been another nail in the coffin of the love/hate relationship between the President and the lgbt community.

Which leads me to the following conclusion:

Those who oppose Obama can't touch his popularity so some have determined that his weakness is his relationship with supposed allies.

And in that determination, they may have hit on something.

Therefore, it would be in Obama's best interest to take the Jennings controversy as a learning experience.

By all means, have the internal discussions and the battles that are needed to forge a positive agenda.

But at the same time, don't create weaknesses your enemies can exploit by giving the impression that you have no problem deserting your friends, i.e. the people who voted you into office.

Focus on the Family pumps money in Maine and other Wednesday midday news briefs

A powerful ad on marriage equality:



An excellent appearance on Rachel Maddow




In other news briefs:

Focus on the Family Pumps Neary $100 K into Maine - Should we be surprised?

910-308-7619 - Ten simple numbers lead to an interesting war between Joe Jervis and Peter LaBarbera.

Video: 700 Clubs, all of them for bashing gays - Feeling left out, Pat Robertson adds his less than two cents worth. I guess he doesn't blame lgbts for 9/11 anymore because he is too busy blaming us for other stuff. Someone should strap him down and make him watch the ad featured here.

Secret Service overwhelmed by death threats against Obama - Look for Hannity, Beck, and other folks (i.e. John Stossel) to piss this away.

And now it's time for some fiber in our diets:

BREAKING: Obama ‘Safe Schools’ Chief Kevin Jennings Used Pro-Pedophile, pro-NAMBLA Publisher for First Two Books - Peter LaBarbera - the very definition of slime that sticks on filthy innuendoes. So I guess since I hugged my sister's mama's baby daddy's cousin at the family reunion before he robbbed that bank, I should be arrested, huh?

Family Research Council brags about ability to fool 80,000 people

It used to be that when you are caught in a lie, you either admit the truth or slink into a dark corner enveloped by your shame.

As we have seen in the recent case involving Kevin Jennings, some folks are bound and determined to push a lie even if it has been refuted.

And of course number one on this list is the Family Research Council.

I received the following email from the group regarding hate crimes legislation:

The Senate Will Vote to Silence You!

The enactment of so-called "hate crimes" legislation is a long stated objective of the homosexual agenda. It is one step closer to being law and may be voted on this week.

Senate leaders attached the hate crimes legislation to a military funding bill, knowing it would put those who oppose this dangerous bill in a precarious position, vote for giving special protections to homosexuals or vote against funding for the troops. Democratic leaders believe passing their liberal agenda takes precedence over keeping our armed services safe.

The House voted 281 to 146 in favor of extending special federal protection to homosexuals as part of the $680 billion Defense Authorization bill and it is now going to come up for a vote in the Senate-likely this week!

We need your help to stop it.

What "hate crimes" legislation does is lay the legal foundation and framework for investigating, prosecuting and persecuting pastors, business owners, and anyone else whose actions reflect their faith.

The religious liberty protections in the bill are flimsy and when Republicans attempted to strengthen them, they were voted down by Democrats.

The act would establish a new FEDERAL offense for so-called "hate crimes" and add "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" as protected classes. It will mandate a separate federal criminal prosecution for state offenses.

The American credo calls for equal justice under the law, not equal justice unless you happen to be homosexual, then you get special treatment. ALL people deserve to be protected from crime, not just certain groups.

Sign our Petition TODAY to say equal protection under the law means equal protection for ALL. Please join the over 80,000 people who have already signed this petition.

That's 80,000 people in America (if we are to believe the FRC) who have been buffaloed and cajoled to believe that if sexual orientation and gender identity are included under already existing hate crimes legislation, the "gay police" is going to break into their churches or business and arrest people who publicly say that homosexuality is a sin.

Despite the fact that this lie has been refuted more times than I care to mention, FRC insists on repeating it.

I really shouldn't be surprised. The FRC have been lying about lgbts for years.

Funny thing about petitions, though.

They tend to only work if your position hasn't been publicly and continuously refuted.

In the long run, I am hoping that the only thing FRC's petition accomplishes is wonderment on how so many people can get bamboozled at one time.