Yesterday, blogger John Aravosis, writing at AMERICAblog Gay, suggested Brian Camenker, the leader of MassResistance — a group the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has labeled a “hate group” — is “a few fries short of a happy meal.”
Aravosis is absolutely correct.
While rejected by the majority of so-called Christian conservatives, Camenker has close ties to career homophobes like Peter LaBarbera, who refers to Camenker as “our good friend,” and Paul Madore of the Maine Grassroots Coalition. The trio dragged their bigoted butts up to Maine shortly before the last election and staged a major press event that drew about a dozen people, many of whom were curious gays. The trio left Maine with their tails between their legs, loudly whining that Maine’s anti-marriage-equality campaign, Stand for Marriage Maine, failed to roll out the red carpet for them. In fact:
“We disavow anything said today as being in any way connected to the Stand for Marriage Maine campaign,” said spokesman Scott Fish. “Whatever was said today was simply the words of the people speaking at the press conference.”
Ouch! It appears some anti-gays just don’t hate on the gays hard enough for the likes of LaBarbera, Madore and Camenker.
In response to their dog-and-pony in Maine, blogger Pam Spaulding noted, “These clowns cannot possibly add credibility to the other side.”
Camenker’s latest obsession is Kevin Jennings, an Obama appointee to the Department of Education and founder of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). Despite an avalanche of claims bordering on libel, the mainstream media (sorry Porno Pete, but the Washington — Moonie — Times doesn’t count) is having none of it.
Aravosis credits the media’s rejection of Camenker’s calumnious crapfest to diligent counter-reporting by Media Matters for America. Media Matters has debunked each and every half-baked defamation that flies out of Brian Camenker’s bigoted little brain.
Eric Boehlert, writing at Media Matters for America, observes:
The supposed brains behind the right-wing blogosphere went bonkers this week hyping the latest chapter in its wild hate campaign against Kevin Jennings, the openly gay “Safe Schools Czar” currently serving in the Obama administration. The latest charges, which highlighted the creepy right-wing fascination with gay sex, were rolled over days and presented as the ultimate take-down of Jennings. But alas, the serious press has been singularly uninterested in the story. A check of Nexis shows not one serious national news outlet picked up the story this week, despite the fact that right-wingers, led by Andrew Breitbart, hailed it as a sensational blockbuster.
[ ... ]
But you can start to see the right-wing frustration bubbling up. With the launch of ‘Fistgate,’ this was supposed to be the week that the White House had to scramble to contain its Jennings controversy, as it spread like wild fire. Instead, it’s Friday and it’s crickets regarding Jennings beyond the secluded world of right-wing media.
Essential reading:
- Media Matters: Anti-gay “hate group” MassResistance is source for right-wing media attacks on Jennings
- Media Matters: The Jennings smear = the latest right-wing “scandal” to flop in the mainstream
- Chris Good (The Atlantic): How Kevin Jennings Survived
- Think Progress: FACT CHECK: The Right-Wing Smear Campaign Against Kevin Jennings
