Share with Friends | October 9, 2009 | Permalink

Democrats Mask-a-Raid on Troop Bill

The American military is trying to win two conflicts abroad, so the last thing it needs is to be deployed in a culture war to legitimize homosexuality. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop House leaders from piggybacking on a military funding bill to pass their pet project: “hate crimes.” Yesterday, the House voted 281 to 146in favor of extending special federal protection to homosexuals as part of the $680 billion Defense Authorization bill, a maneuver that Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) called a “disgrace.” The Democratic majority “should be ashamed at the way it has used the needs of our men and women in uniform as a platform for a partisan agenda,” he said. Republicans tried to stop Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) from hijacking the bill on Wednesday but failed by 56 votes from stripping hate crimes from H.R. 2647.

Under the charge of House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), 131 Republicans and 15 Democrats opposed the bill, but in the end it wasn’t enough to stop Nancy Pelosi. After the vote, Rep. Boehner was frank in his disappointment–not only because hate crimes passed, but because liberals used an otherwise popular military bill to infringe on the very freedom our soldiers are fighting for.” This is radical social policy that … is being put on the defense authorization bill, on the backs of our soldiers, because they probably can’t pass it on its own,” he told reporters. The first prize on a very long wish list for homosexuals, “hate crimes” now heads to the Senate for approval. Contact your Senators today and ask them to stop the real crime: leaders who abuse their power to advance irrelevant special interests.

Media Matter for America has been keeping track of and debunking the reports about Jennings, which so far seem unabated.

Smears of “sick and immoral” “pervert” Jennings: the worst of the worst

In recent weeks, the right-wing media have embarked on a witch hunt against Department of Education official Kevin Jennings, often advancing the repeatedly debunked falsehood that Jennings failed to report or even encouraged a 15-year-old student’s relationship with an adult or the baseless smear that Jennings has “advocate[d]” for the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA). Media Matters for America has compiled some of the most egregious attacks on Jennings that conservative media figures have made based on these smears, including calling Jennings “sick and immoral,” a “pervert,” someone who “facilitated” statutory rape, and “a zealous advocate of NAMBLA.”

I expect Jennings will get a mention or two at tonight’s annual fundraiser for GLSEN – which is honoring HBO, Shonda Rhimes of “Grey’s Anatomy,” and David Bohnett of the David Bohnett Foundation.

Pictures and story tomorrow.