What dummy chose Tony Perkins as a Congressional witness?

During Elena Kagan's confirmation hearing, one fact falling under the radars unfortunately are the witnesses invited to testify against her.

To be more specific, one witness in particular has a lot of people, including myself, asking "what the hell?"

Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Center, has been called as a minority witness against Kagan, but to put it bluntly, whoever asked him to participate in the hearings would have been better off asking Bozo the Clown.

At least Bozo would have been more truthful.

Perkins and his group pride themselves with standing up for American values and "the family." However, as past incidents show, Perkins and FRC have a deceptive way of standing up for values.

Kristin Williams of faithinpubliclife.org sent out an excellent point by point breakdown of Perkins's problems with accuracy and truth, including:

Tony Perkins falsely claimed that overturning Don't Ask Don't Tell would lead to a military that "just does parades and stuff." While interviewing Sen. John McCain, Perkins said that "...the top militaries in the world do not allow homosexuality to be openly engaged in, in the military - I mean, if you want a military that just does parades and stuff like that then I guess that's okay." In reality, three of the United States' closest allies-Israel, Canada, and the United Kingdom- "have successfully removed all restrictions on gays and lesbians in their armed forces since the early 1990s."

Tony Perkins falsely claimed that homosexuality leads to child sexual abuse. In a statement responding to the Mark Foley scandal, Perkins said: "It shouldn't be totally surprising, when we hold up tolerance and diversity as the guideposts for public life, this is what you end up getting...the real issue...is the link between homosexuality and child sexual abuse." As numerous experts have demonstrated, there is no connection between sexual orientation and likeliness of sexually abusing children.

Tony Perkins' organization made false claims about the health care votes of two Members of Congress to justify targeting them in the upcoming election. FRC Action PAC lists 20 Democratic incumbents they're campaigning against as part of a "20 in 10" campaign this election cycle. FRC claims to oppose these representatives because of their votes for health care reform. But two of the members on the list, Reps. Nye and Minnick, actually voted against health care reform and FRC refuses to correct the mistake, suggesting not only a lack of integrity, but also a strong possibility that FRC's objectives are more focused on partisan gain for the Republican party than a response to health reform.

Williams includes other points, including Perkins's 2001 speech in front of a white supremacist group.

Personally I would like to take it further. Seems to me that anyone employed with FRC, Perkins included, has no business testifying in of Congress as credible witnesses.

FRC's senior analyst, Peter Sprigg, has expressed a desire to export lgbts out of the United States and outlawing "homsexual acts."

Then there are these following items:

November 23, 2009 - Family Research Council caught falsely accusing Congresswoman of religious bigotry - While not lgbt-oriented per se, this post demonstrates just how the Family Research Council will truncate a quote to push a false image of religious persecution.

November 18, 2009 - Video: FRC invited Chai to speak; now slicing both her footage and her back - Goodasyou.org shows how FRC used spliced footage to make the case against EEOC nominee Chai Feldblum. 

October 27, 2009 - Family Research Council's coldhearted attack on lgbt senior citizens -In an ugly attack on lgbt seniors, the Family Research Council uses the work of the discredited researcher Paul Cameron (Editor's note - the Media Matters Action post inaccurately says that Cameron started the Family Research Council. While this is not true, the organization has a history of using his work, irregardless of his dubious history.)

October 26, 2009 - It's just good for FRC that crimes against truth aren't tracked - From Goodasyou.org comes  another FRC distortion. This time, it's about hate crimes statistics.

October 21, 2009 - Family Research Council brags about ability to fool 80,000 people - FRC pushes the lie that hate crimes legislation will "silence" Christians.

October 1, 2009 - Family Research Council head misrepresents credible information to hurt ENDA  -  In testimony against ENDA, FRC head Tony Perkins uses anecdotes and distorts a study on lgbt health.

And as Perkins's already published online testimony clearly shows, he is going the "Kagan supports the radical homosexual agenda so she should never serve on the Supreme Court" route.

Let me be clear here. My problem lies with not only with the consistent way Perkins and FRC have manipulated legitimate studies, created false studies, and basically out-and-out stigmatized and defamed the lgbt community but also with the fact that someone in Congress- someone who makes decisions having to do with the lives of everyone in this country, including the lives of lgbts - felt that somehow Perkins was credible enough to give an opinion and have that opinion taken seriously.

And this is not the first time it has happened.  Family Research Council employees have been Congressional witnesses as recent as last month.

It underscores just how disrespected the lgbt community are in some people's eyes.

If  Perkins had maligned African-Americans or the Jewish community with the same vigor as he maligns lgbts, no one would dare bring up his name as a Congressional witness.

But as long as he can throw out the phrase "family values" a couple of times and lgbts don't get angry enough to make any noise over this obvious show of disrespect, my guess is that Perkins will be invited for more hearings.


Hat tip to Pam's House Blend.

Will pro-gay ruling lead to 'End Times?' and other Thursday midday news briefs

Lou Engle, Continuing the Delusion, Says SCOTUS Decision May Signal End Times - Lord give me strength, part 2

U.S. Starts To Mimic Third World Conditions For Access to AIDS Meds - Folks, this aint'good.

Ban to keep lesbian partner away in custody case is struck down - This reverses the opinion of an "activist judge." Where is the religious right complaining about HIM?

Quinn signs anti-bullying legislation into law - Not bad. Not bad at all.

HUD announces policy guidance addressing LGBT discrimination in housing - Good and bad as Pam Spaulding will tell you.

Carcieri vetoes bill to expand R.I. hate crimes law - Override that $!#@

Religious right tantrums because of lgbt families

I rarely read the to-the-right-of Atilla The Hun publication The Washington Times but an item today regarding President Obama and the lgbt community caught my eye:

Mr. Obama expressed his support for such priorities by using his Father's Day proclamation to elevate the status of homosexual "families" as if they could rear our youth just as well as a traditional family consisting of a mom (female) and dad (male). "Nurturing families come in many forms, and children may be raised by a father and mother, a single father, two fathers, a stepfather, a grandfather or caring guardian," he wrote.

Kids with two mommies and two daddies happens to be the goal of the Labor Department's latest policy. The department is using the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to force companies to accept up to 12 weeks of leave every year for homosexual couples that adopt children. The Obama administration issued a ruling that modified the definition of "son or daughter" so that homosexual couples could take extra time off to "bond with that child." The change is designed to appeal to fringe, left-wing activists. "The Labor Department's action today sends a clear message to workers and employers alike: All families, including LGBT families, are protected by the FMLA," Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis explained in a June 22 statement.

Mr. Obama's policies are undermining the foundation of the family itself. For the long-term good of the country, members of Congress should take note of what's happening and act to undo the radical social agenda.

I got the item from Daily Kos who summed the piece up rather nicely:

The Washington Times editorial board is nuts.

And to me, it's not just The Washington Times. Over the past week and a half since Obama issued his lgbt family-inclusive Father's Day proclamation, conservative and religious right groups have voiced their disagreement - and not in the sly semantical terms which so many lgbts have gotten used to.

These folks have been very vocal , very ridiculous, and very rude  in terms of how they define lgbt families. It should be something which gets one upset until one realizes what's happening here.

These folks are throwing a tantrum. No matter how flowery the language they use, or how they try to fake being upstanding and moral, it all comes down to the image of a spoiled child kicking and screaming simply because he can't get his way.