Editore"s Note
Tilting at Windmills

Email Newsletter icon, E-mail Newsletter icon, Email List icon, E-mail List icon Sign up for Free News & Updates

October 1, 2009

FROM ONE TARGET TO THE NEXT.... The Conservative Attack Machine seems to have a new hobby. In the wake of Van Jones' departure, every day is a game of "which administration figure can we target this week?" The latest target is the Department of Education's Kevin Jennings.

Regular readers may recall that the right initially went after Jennings in July, in large part because he's gay. The criticism didn't go anywhere, and Jennings got to work without controversy.

But that was before conservatives started hunting for scalps.

Fox News launched something of a crusade against Jennings, apropos of nothing, about a week ago. Soon after, Lou Dobbs and the Washington Times were on board, and joined the attack.

This week, the campaign went into over-drive. Fox News is claiming Jennings "cover[ed] up statutory rape." Pat Buchanan and Rush Limbaugh followed suit. Politico's Mike Allen suggested that Jennings may have broken the law. Sean Hannity demanded on the air, "I want him fired!"

The crusade is more than a little unseemly.

Today, Media Matters for America condemned the latest Fox News-driven smear campaign, in which right-wing media figures have called for Department of Education official Kevin Jennings to be fired. Conservative media have promoted the made-up charge that Jennings "cover[ed] up statutory rape." They have painted him as a "radical" "gay activist" and have misrepresented and distorted Jennings' previous comments.

"Fox News' allegations about Kevin Jennings covering up a statutory rape are wholly unsupported by the facts," said Eric Burns, president of Media Matters. "But Fox has already proven that facts don't matter in its campaign against Jennings. Who needs facts when your reports are built on made-up charges and anti-gay bigotry?"

What's the real story here? Apparently, Jennings wrote a book 15 years ago, and shared an anecdote about a student he met while teaching in 1987. The student, a 16-year-old young man, told Jennings he was involved with an older man in Boston.

For the lynch mob, that means Jennings was aware of statutory rape and didn't report it. In reality, the student was of the age of consent in Massachusetts, and there was nothing inappropriate about Jennings' conduct.

This is about targeting administration officials the right considers vulnerable. Next week, it'll be someone else. The week after, someone else. This anecdote from Jennings' book has been around for quite a while, but it's become a "story" now because conservatives got bored with their last target and needed a new one.

Hopefully, the White House will ignore the cries.

Steve Benen 4:50 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (28)
 
Comments

# Alan David Berlin, 40, a longtime staffer for a Republican state lawmaker, was charged on May 29, 2009 with a first degree felony for unlawful contact with a minor. He is also charged with criminal attempted sexual exploitation of children, criminal solicitation to commit sexual abuse of children, all second-degree felonies, and other offenses. authorities say Berlin suggested dressing up in animal costumes during online sex chats with a 15-year-old boy. During a search, agents found wolf- and cat-type costumes in his home.

# Republican sex offender & former Regent University law school assistant dean Stephen L. McPherson, who was indicted June 7, 2008 on 13 felony sexual assault charges involving two girls, has entered a guilty plea to two counts of forcible sodomy and two counts of object sexual penetration. He is set to be sentenced May 22. There was no agreement on a potential sentence, except that prosecutors will recommend a cap of 18 years and six months.

# Republican sex offender and former North Country assemblyman and current state Parole Board member, George "Chris" Ortloff, 61, was arrested on Monday, Oct. 13, 2008 on federal charges that he used the Internet to solicit sex with minors. He was arrested following a sting operation at a Colonie motel and had allegedly arranged for a date with a minor he met on the Internet. '' The New York Post reports that he had child pornography and sex paraphernalia in his possession when he was arrested. State Police reportedly searched Ortloff'''s home in Plattsburgh and a computer had been seized from his Lake Placid real estate office, officials said. Ortloff, married with two sons, retired from the Assembly in 2006 having represented the 110 th District. '' He was appointed to the part-time position on the Parole Board, a six year term which expires in 2012, a position paying him $102,000 a year.

# Republican sex offender & Missouri State Rep. Scott Muschany, (R)-Frontenac, was indicted today, Aug 6, 2008, in connection with a reported sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl on May 17, the day after this year’s Legislative session ended. The alleged victim is the daughter of a state employee. The girl’s mother and Muschany, a married father of 2 children, were romantically involved, the woman said. (Aren't "Family Values" a wonderful thing?) In a morbid twist of irony, Muschany was a co-sponsor of legislation that toughened sex offender laws in 2006. According to his legislative biography, Muschany and his wife were licensed as foster parents with the Division of Family Services.

# Republican sex offender & longtime stalwart Republican operative Peter Hong was arrested July 23, 2008 for solicitation of prostitution. Police spokesman Peter Panos said that the arrest came during the first day of a two-day sting operation during which "johns" and prostitutes responded to ads placed on the Internet and in print. Thirty-five people were arrested Wednesday and Thursday, Panos said today.

# Republican sex offender & candidate for Mineral County (W.Va.) Commission Wilton Frederick Bland, 30, of Bayberry Place, was arrested March 23, 2007, after police received a complaint concerning a juvenile boy who said Bland had wanted him to appear nude on the Internet. Bland charged last year with 136 counts related to sexually based crimes against children has been sentenced to a possible total of 85 years after pleading guilty in both Grant and Mineral counties. was charged at the time with 73 counts of possession of child pornography, 45 counts of sexual assault in the first degree for allegedly having sex with a child under age 11, nine counts of use of obscene matter with intent to seduce a minor, seven counts of display of obscene matter to a minor and two counts of employing a minor to do sexually explicit conduct, according to the West Virginia State Police.

# Republican Delegate Robert McKee, known as an advocate for children's rights, is the focus of a child pornography investigation after officers searched his Hagerstown, Md home. McKee is not facing any charges right now, but as of today, Feb 15, 2008, he has resigned his position as both a state delegate and as executive director of the Big Brothers Big Sisters Club of Washington County. In a statement, McKee said he is entering treatment to, "get well and stay well." Shock waves echoed through Hagerstown, as the news that he was being investigated for child pornography spread like wildfire.
**We will be keeping an eye on this story for further developments**
***UPDATE*** - Robert Mckee entered a guilty plea of possessing child porn on September 6, 2008. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison on November 21, 2008. McKee's journals document that he simultaneously printed images of child pornography from the Internet and printed stories describing sexual acts between young boys and other young boys or adult men. Someone from McKee's home called the Washington County Sheriff's Department to tip off authorities and provided them with printed images from a computer.

# Republican sex offender & Department of Children & Families press secretary Al Zimmerman, 40, was arrested Friday, Feb 1, 2008 and charged with eight felony charges of using a child in a sexual performance. According to an arrest report, Zimmerman offered two teens money in exchange for photographing them in sexual acts. The victims were ages 16 and 17 at the time of the crime, and at least one may have been in the care of DCF at one point, according to the report. Authorities believe some of the images date back to December 2005, the arrest report showed. Zimmerman is suspected of taking photos as recently as Friday, the report showed.

# The Republican Mayor, who is also the Pastor of the Temple Lot Church in Collins Missouri, a town in St. Clair County, is accused of trying to convince someone whom he thought was a teenage girl to meet him for sex. Diamond police say Allen D Kauffman is charged in Newton County with four counts of enticement of a child after an online investigation that began in mid-November.
Diamond Police Detective Jim Murray says he posed as a 13-year-old girl named Cindy and was approached by a man who used the screen name duke dukeadk on Nov. 15 about noon in an online chat room.
Murray says Kauffman discussed meeting her to take nude photos and to have sex. Over the course of seven conversations during the past two months, transcripts show each chat was sexually graphic. Murray say Kauffman recognized the girl’s age, and even showed some hesitation, teasing the girl about whether she could be a cop.
Police say Kauffman repeatedly asked the girl to use a webcam, and didn't wait long to use his. The detective saved some photos from a webcam on Kauffman's computer in his home in Collins.

# Republican Party Chairman Donald Fleischman, 37, of Allouez, Wisconsin was charged last month with two counts of child enticement, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child and a single charge of exposing himself to a child for allegedly fondling a 16-year-old Ethan House runaway and providing the boy with beer and marijuana late last year.

# Republican U.S. Justice Department official John David R. Atchison, 53, an assistant U.S. attorney from the northern district of Florida, has been arrested on suspicion of traveling to Detroit over the weekend to have sex with a 5 year old child. An undercover officer posed as a mother offering her child to Atchison for sex, according to police. In deposition, detectives said Atchison suggested the mother tell her daughter that "you found her a sweet boyfriend who will bring her presents." The undercover detective expressed concern about physical injury to the 5-year-old girl as a result of the sexual activity. Detectives said Atchison responded, " I am always gentle and loving; not to worry, no damage ever, no rough stuff ever. I only like it soft and nice." The undercover detective asked how Atchison can be certain of no injury. He responded, "Just gotta go slow and very easy. I've done it plenty," according to detectives.
**UPDATE: John Atchison has killed himself. Detroit police confirmed Atchison's suicide death at 10:14 a.m. Friday, Oct. 5, 2007.

# Republican city councilman John Bryan killed himself after police began investigating allegations that he had molested three girls, including two of his adopted daughters, ages 12 and 15.

# Republican Homeland Security deputy press secretary Brian J. Doyle , 55, was arrested Tuesday night, April 4, 2006 and charged with trying to "seduce'' a 14-year-old Polk County girl with graphic talk over the Internet. On March 12, Doyle contacted a 14-year-old girl whose profile was posted on an AOL Web site, according to the Sheriff's Office release. Initially, detectives thought Doyle was posing as someone working for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. But they soon learned otherwise when he sent a picture to the girl over the Internet wearing an official ``DHS tag'', Judd said.

# The former head of the Michigan Federation of Young Republicans, Michael Flory, admitted Tuesday that he sexually abused a colleague during a national convention in Cleveland last summer

# Republican legislator Ted Klaudt was charged with raping girls under the age of 16.

# Republican city councilman Joseph Monteleone Jr. was found guilty of fondling underage girls.

# Republican Township Supervisor Robert Holland stepped down amid accusations that he sexually assaulted a 92-year-old nursing home resident in 2006. Holland, a 77-year-old Republican, pleaded guilty to aggravated indecent assault and related charges and is now serving a two- to four-year prison sentence in Bucks County.

# Republican congressional aide Jeffrey Nielsen was arrested for having sex with a 14-year old boy.

# Republican County Commissioner Patrick Lee McGuire surrendered to police after allegedly molesting girls between the ages of 8 and 13.

# Republican prosecutor Larry Corrigan was arrested for soliciting sex from 13-year old girls.

# Republican Mayor Jeffrey Kyle Randall was sentenced to 275 days in jail for molesting two boys -- ages ten and 12 -- during a six-year period.

# Republican County Board Candidate Brent Schepp was charged with molesting a 14-year old girl and killed himself three days later.

# Republican Congressman Mark Foley abruptly resigned from Congress after "sexually explicit" emails surfaced showing him flirting with a 16-year old boy.

# Republican executive Randall Casseday of the conservative Washington Times newspaper pleaded guilty to soliciting sex from a 13-year old girl on the internet.

# Republican chairman of the Oregon Christian Coalition Lou Beres confessed to molesting a 13-year old girl.

# Republican County Constable Larry Dale Floyd pleaded guilty to charges of soliciting sex from an 8-year old girl. Floyd has repeatedly won elections for Denton County, Texas, constable.

# Republican judge Mark Pazuhanich pleaded no contest to fondling a 10-year old girl and was sentenced to 10 years probation.

# Republican Party leader Bobby Stumbo was arrested for having sex with a 5-year old boy.

# Republican petition drive manager Tom Randall pleaded guilty to molesting two girls under the age of 14, one of them the daughter of an associate in the petition business.

# Republican County Chairman Armando Tebano pleaded guilty to fondling a 14-year-old girl.

# Republican teacher and former city councilman John Collins pleaded guilty to sexually molesting 13 and 14 year old girls.

# Republican campaign worker Mark Seidensticker is a convicted child molester.

# Republican Mayor Philip Giordano is serving a 37-year sentence in federal prison for sexually abusing 8- and 10-year old girls.

# Republican Mayor Tom Adams was arrested for distributing child pornography over the internet.

# Republican Mayor John Gosek was arrested on charges of soliciting sex from two 15-year old girls.

# Republican County Commissioner David Swartz pleaded guilty to molesting two girls under the age of 11 and was sentenced to 8 years in prison.

# Republican legislator Edison Misla Aldarondo was sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping his daughter between the ages of 9 and 17.

# Republican Committeeman John R. Curtain was charged with molesting a teenage boy and unlawful sexual contact with a minor.

# Republican anti-abortion activist Howard Scott Heldreth is a convicted child rapist in Florida.

# Republican zoning supervisor, Boy Scout leader and Lutheran church president Dennis L. Rader pleaded guilty to performing a sexual act on an 11-year old girl he murdered.

# Republican anti-abortion activist Nicholas Morency pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography on his computer and offering a bounty to anybody who murders an abortion doctor.

# Republican campaign consultant Tom Shortridge was sentenced to three years probation for taking nude photographs of a 15-year old girl.

# Republican racist pedophile and United States Senator Strom Thurmond had sex with a 15-year old black girl which produced a child.

# Republican pastor Mike Hintz, whom George W. Bush commended during the 2004 presidential campaign, surrendered to police after admitting to a sexual affair with a female juvenile.

# Republican legislator Peter Dibble pleaded no contest to having an inappropriate relationship with a 13-year-old girl.

# Republican advertising consultant Carey Lee Cramer was sentenced to six years in prison for molesting two 8-year old girls, one of whom appeared in an anti-Gore television commercial.

# Republican fundraiser Lawrence E. King, Jr. organized child sex parties at the White House during the 1980s.

# Republican lobbyist Craig J. Spence organized child sex parties at the White House during the 1980s.

# Republican Congressman Donald "Buz" Lukens was found guilty of having sex with a female minor and sentenced to one month in jail.

# Republican fundraiser Richard A. Delgaudio was found guilty of child porn charges and paying two teenage girls to pose for sexual photos.

# Republican activist Mark A. Grethen convicted on six counts of sex crimes involving children.

# Republican campaign chairman Randal David Ankeney pleaded guilty to attempted sexual assault on a child and was arrested again five years later on the same charge.

# Republican Congressman Dan Crane had sex with a female minor working as a congressional page.

# Republican activist and Christian Coalition leader Beverly Russell admitted to an incestuous relationship with his step daughter, Susan Smith, who later drowned her 2 children by strapping them in their car seats and plunging them into a lake in South Carolina and blamed it on a black man. Beverly Russell admitted abusing Smith when she was 15 and continuing an incestuous relationship with her until shortly before she drowned her children in John D. Long Lake.

# Republican Judge Ronald C. Kline pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on his home computer.

# Republican congressman and anti-gay activist Robert Bauman was charged with having sex with a 16-year-old boy he picked up at a gay bar.

# Republican Committee Chairman Jeffrey Patti was arrested for distributing a video clip of a 5-year-old girl being raped.

# Republican activist Marty Glickman (a.k.a. "Republican Marty"), was taken into custody by Florida police on four counts of unlawful sexual activity with an underage girl and one count of delivering the drug LSD.

# Republican legislative aide Howard L. Brooks was charged with molesting a 12-year old boy and possession of child pornography.

# Republican Senate candidate John Hathaway was accused of having sex with his 12-year old baby sitter and withdrew his candidacy after the allegations were reported in the media.

# Republican preacher Stephen White, who demanded a return to traditional values, was sentenced prison after offering $20 to a 14-year-old boy for permission to perform oral sex on him.

# Republican talk show host Jon Matthews pleaded guilty to exposing his genitals to an 11 year old girl.

# Republican anti-gay activist Earl "Butch" Kimmerling was sentenced to 40 years in prison for molesting an 8-year old girl after he attempted to stop a gay couple from adopting her.

# Republican Party leader Paul Ingram pleaded guilty to six counts of raping his daughters and served 14 years in federal prison.

# Republican election board official Kevin Coan was sentenced to two years probation for soliciting sex over the internet from a 14-year old girl.

# Republican politician Andrew Buhr was charged with two counts of first degree sodomy with a 13-year old boy.

# Republican legislator Keith Westmoreland was arrested on seven felony counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition to girls under the age of 16 (i.e. exposing himself to children).

# Republican anti-abortion activist John Allen Burt was found guilty of molesting a 15-year old girl.

# Republican County Councilman Keola Childs pleaded guilty to molesting a male child.

# Republican activist John Butler was charged with criminal sexual assault on a teenage girl.

# Republican candidate Richard Gardner admitted to molesting his two daughters.

# Republican Councilman and former Marine Jack W. Gardner was convicted of molesting a 13-year old girl.

# Republican County Commissioner Merrill Robert Barter pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual contact and assault on a teenage boy.

# Republican City Councilman Fred C. Smeltzer, Jr. pleaded no contest to raping a 15 year-old girl and served 6-months in prison.

# Republican activist Parker J. Bena pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on his home computer and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and fined $18,000.

# Republican parole board officer and former Colorado state representative, Larry Jack Schwarz, was fired after child pornography was found in his possession.

# Republican strategist and Citadel Military College graduate Robin Vanderwall was convicted in Virginia on five counts of soliciting sex from boys and girls over the internet.

# Republican city councilman Mark Harris, who is described as a "good military man" and "church goer," was convicted of repeatedly having sex with an 11-year-old girl and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

# Republican businessman Jon Grunseth withdrew his candidacy for Minnesota governor after allegations surfaced that he went swimming in the nude with four underage girls, including his daughter.

# Republican campaign worker, police officer and self-proclaimed reverend Steve Aiken was convicted of having sex with two underage girls.

# Republican director of the "Young Republican Federation" Nicholas Elizondo molested his 6-year old daughter and was sentenced to six years in prison.

# Republican president of the New York City Housing Development Corp. Russell Harding pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography on his computer.

# Republican benefactor of conservative Christian groups, Richard A. Dasen Sr., was found guilty of raping a 15-year old girl. Dasen, 62, who is married with grown children and several grandchildren, has allegedly told police that over the past decade he paid more than $1 million to have sex with a large number of young women.

# Republican Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld authorized the rape of children in Iraqi prisons in order to humiliate their parents into providing information about the anti-American insurgency. See excerpt of one prisoner's report here and his full report here.

http://www.republicansexoffenders.com/

Posted by: moxo on October 1, 2009 at 4:58 PM | PERMALINK

To quote a famous expression from the last Post

"Read a book? I'm not a fag!
SHUT UP! I'm watching Ow My Balls!"

Speed

Posted by: John R on October 1, 2009 at 4:58 PM | PERMALINK

Wow, moxo's got moxie! Per the direct point: isn't Jennings the guy who said to a student revealing a gay episode with an older man: ~ "At least I hope you used a condom"? If so, Steve, it would help for you to have reminded us about that context. In any case, that saying about a condom no more actually condones the act that asking a person describing getting drunk, "I hope you asked someone to drive you home" etc. Given something already happened, it is ethically OK and makes sense to wonder if some corrective was applied.

So now conservatives can't complain anymore that e.g. Ted Kennedy should have at least called someone right away after the Chappaquiddick incident - if so, they are condoning Ted getting drunk (if so) in the first place, etc.

Posted by: Neil B ♪ ♫ on October 1, 2009 at 5:11 PM | PERMALINK

"Hopefully, the White House will ignore the cries."

WRONG!!!!!

Hopefully the White House will take a page out of Grayson's book and FIGHT BACK!

You have to get a sledge hammer out to fight the lying machine. The Repugnant Ones have no morals, no values, and absolutely no integrity. It won't stop until they are hammered into the ground every time they try this crap.

Posted by: Mark-NC on October 1, 2009 at 5:12 PM | PERMALINK

Unless you broke the law or either killed or maimed someone, I'm not sure anything you did 22 years ago should disqualify you for anything. On the other hand, I'm not sure there's anything wrong with having a discussion about sex and ethics and what we've learned about them over the last 2 decades.

Mike

Posted by: MBunge on October 1, 2009 at 5:15 PM | PERMALINK

I think they're overreaching this time.

Posted by: mcc on October 1, 2009 at 5:16 PM | PERMALINK

The inbreds have to scream about something. Otherwise, how will they pretend to be human?

Posted by: JM on October 1, 2009 at 5:25 PM | PERMALINK

BTW, is failing to report a possible crime a crime itself? I don't think so, but if: look at all the people in the Bush misadministration who should have reported all kinds of transgressions, and so on with corruption in Iraq, with lobbyists, etc. - it goes on and on. Don't just push back, use their own words against them!

Posted by: Neil B ♪ on October 1, 2009 at 5:25 PM | PERMALINK

A BS malprisonment charge? Does Massachussets even have malprisonment laws? It's virtually impossible to convict on malprisonment, juries almost always nullify on it anyway.

Posted by: soullite on October 1, 2009 at 5:38 PM | PERMALINK

err, misprisonment. common mistake, but still.

Posted by: soullite on October 1, 2009 at 5:41 PM | PERMALINK

I couldn't find that word in an online legal dictionary, but it's in various threads ... what's the story? I hear, it isn't just failing to report crime, which is almost never a crime (in everyday practice, but some people are expected to of course ...)

Posted by: delver on October 1, 2009 at 5:55 PM | PERMALINK

People like Rush Limbaugh, who get high on oxy and make secret trips to parts of South America notorious for child prostitution should not make such claims.

If ever there was a guy on the DL it's Lou Dobbs.

Posted by: Trollkiller on October 1, 2009 at 5:55 PM | PERMALINK

Republicans aren't upset about the statutory nature, they're upset about teh ghey.

If that boy was having sex with another 16 y.o. boy, the right would like the teacher to call the parents and tell them about it.

But even Republicans recognize they would be knuckle dragging troglodytes to make that argument in public.

Posted by: inkadu on October 1, 2009 at 5:57 PM | PERMALINK

The White House is fighting back with Reality Checks:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/

Though I think they need to make this much more prominent and give the reality checks their own page with a link on the home page. I don't think the Democratic leadership quite understands how much we love it when they smack down the Fox gasbags.

Posted by: hells littlest angel on October 1, 2009 at 5:57 PM | PERMALINK

Steve, you should have included the entire excerpt from Jennings' book, One Teacher In 10 that has Sean Hannity frothing on the TeeVee:

JENNINGS: And I said, "Brewster, what are you doing in there asleep?" And he said, "Well, I'm tired." And I said, "Well, we all are tired and we all got to school today." And he said, "Well, I was out late last night." And I said, "What were you doing out late on a school night?" And he said, "Well, I was in Boston." Boston was about 45 minutes from Concord. So I said, "What were you doing in Boston on a school night, Brewster?" He got very quiet, and he finally looked at me and said, "Well, I met somebody in the bus station bathroom and I went home with him." High school sophomore, 15 years old. That was the only way he knew how to meet gay people. I was a closeted gay teacher, 24 years old, didn't know what to say. Knew I should say something quickly, so I finally -- my best friend had just died of AIDS the week before -- I looked at Brewster and said, "You know, I hope you knew to use a condom." He said to me something I will never forget. He said "Why should I, my life isn't worth saving anyway."

Somehow, I disbelieve that in the late 1980s, amidst a terrifying AIDS crisis and rising levels of anti-gay violent hate crimes, it would have been safe for either Kevin Jennings or his student if Jennings had reported that the student had sex with an older man. The fact that this kid was ready to commit suicide via AIDS complications because his life as a young gay man wasn't worth living just breaks my heart.

Thanks to people like Kevin Jennings, gay teens are now safer in their own schools and their own homes than they were 20 years ago.

Posted by: Keori on October 1, 2009 at 6:06 PM | PERMALINK

Bigotry.

That's all the repugnacans have left.

And to think I thought our species was evolving!

I'm pretty dam tired over gay-bashing. You can't just miraculously make millions of people on this planet vanish simply because you are offended by their sexual preference(s).

Live and let live.

Eco-systems thrive on diversity, why shouldn't human societies?

Posted by: Tom Nicholson on October 1, 2009 at 6:32 PM | PERMALINK

Now, wait a minute. What about all those Republicans who know about Mark Foley and his fondness for underage male pages? By this standard, aren't they guilty of condoning statutory rape as well?

Oh, wait... IOKIYAR.

Posted by: eeyore on October 1, 2009 at 6:36 PM | PERMALINK

"The fact that this kid was ready to commit suicide via AIDS complications because his life as a young gay man wasn't worth living just breaks my heart."

I'm glad to have seen this fuller context, it is heartbreaking as you say. But that's how Republicans (including the gay ones) must want things. Miserable gay kids are easier to bully or exploit than healthy, happy ones.

Posted by: Half Elf on October 1, 2009 at 6:41 PM | PERMALINK

Honestly, at what point do you go after these people for slander or defamation of character. Sue them into oblivion everytime they spread a lie about you on ait.

Posted by: saint Zak on October 1, 2009 at 7:17 PM | PERMALINK

The Washington Times is putting out criticism of statutory rape??

That is really rich, given that the WT owner and messiah, the one who funnels billions in overseas cash into the his money draining propaganda organ, enabled his son's rape of a 15 year old girl.

Nansook Hong was 15 when Moon had her shipped from Korea to the USA to be "matched" by Moon to his drug addled now deceased son, Hyo Jin.

Scoobie has more here. http://tinyurl.com/y9vsksb

You can see Moon's "sinless" son and some of what Nansook went through here.
http://tinyurl.com/2a5awm

Nansook said they never actually got proper legal paperwork to marry. Moon believes he is above man's laws which just get in his way.

Quoting Nansook from her book, "In the Shadows of the Moons"
"As members of the church, they knew of my marriage to Hyo Jin Moon, but they must have assumed it had not been consummated. That was not such a foolish assumption, I realize now. The age of consent in New York State is seventeen. Hyo Jin could have been arrested for statutory rape. That summer the Moons decided I could not return to Irvington High School. They worried that public school officials could get too curious about the cause of my extended leave of absence, that there would be rumors about the baby. I was still below the age of consent in New York when she was conceived. They did not need their son accused of child abuse or even rape."

Nansook btw, also attested that on Moon's co-Messiah wife's orders she smuggled cash - in excess of legal limits - into the country in her make up case.

Posted by: Yancy Derringer on October 1, 2009 at 7:39 PM | PERMALINK

I think the only appropriate response to something so stupid as this latest hissy fit is, "The people who are raising doubts about Mr. Jennings are just jealous of his Jeopardy winnings."

It mocks the people who are making this charge while mirroring their own incomprehension of the facts. If we're going to be forced into some Dadaist controversy, let's at least have fun with it.

Posted by: biggerbox on October 1, 2009 at 8:39 PM | PERMALINK

Mr. Benen, Jennings described "Brewster" as being 15. That would mean that he was NOT of the age of consent, which in turn would mean that Jennings broke the law by failing to disclose to the police an act of statutory rape.

Posted by: daniel rotter on October 1, 2009 at 9:04 PM | PERMALINK

WaTi - yeah, I heard Mike Savage's replacement tonight (Connor?) from Washington Times. He was griping about Obama in grotesquely hypocritical ways. First, as if Obama is responsible for the men dying there, when Bush let Afghanistan go down for his Iraq adventure. Second, he complained that Obama and his fans consider him "a messiah" - hah, that from a guy working for the newspaper owned by a nut who really, really, does think he is the Messiah.

Posted by: Neil B ♪ on October 1, 2009 at 9:18 PM | PERMALINK

Daniel, is it really against the law to just not report such a thing - maybe if the guy is a teacher ... But you know that infidelity is usually against the law too, so Mark Sanford, John Ensign et al should be prosecuted for it?

Posted by: N e i l B ♠ on October 1, 2009 at 9:20 PM | PERMALINK

It's not about statutory rape, it's about homophobia. If Jennings had been straight and it had been a 15 year old girl who had told him she met someone and had sex with him, there's no way that these bozos would be complaining that Jennings didn't report it to the police. They might complain that he didn't report it to the parents, but not the police. And if it were a 15 year old boy who'd had sex with an adult woman? There'd be no complaints whatsoever.

The homophobia is obvious in Michelle Malkin's formulation, that this was Jennings's "failure as a young gay teacher to protect a 15-year old student from a homosexual child predator." Note the inclusion of "young gay teacher", which is entirely irrelevant. And, of course, the very loaded "homosexual child predator". The subtext is, sadly, that Jennings may himself be one such.

This is an evil smear campaign prosecuted by evil people.

Posted by: Keith M Ellis on October 1, 2009 at 9:58 PM | PERMALINK

And whom exactly would be charged with this statutory rape, daniel? An anonymous guy in a bus station bathroom whose name the kid didn't know or wouldn't give up? I'm sure that would be just peachy with law enforcement. "Sorry, officers, I don't know exactly where it happened or the guy's name, but SOMEONE in a city of half a million people had sex with this kid! Find him and bring him to justice!"

Stop lying to yourself, daniel. Kevin Jennings is a convenient target for the hysterical right because he's gay, intelligent, successful, and happy. (Just like Van Jones is black, intelligent, successful, and happy.) He's everything the "take back America" crowd can never be, and they hate him for it. And did we mention he's GAY? He's gaygaygaygaygayGAY! Oh, and he said less than complimentary things about christians who hate him and want him dead or quarantined in a concentration camp. Poor jebus-humping snookie ookums got their feelings hurt, and we just can't have that, can we?

Hysterical christians can fuck right off. Kevin Jennings saved that kid's life, and through his work to make schools safer, has saved other lives as well. Too bad the Republicans, and Catholic and mormon churches are too busy raping children, covering it up, and stripping law-abiding gay families of their rights to follow Jennings' example

Posted by: Keori on October 1, 2009 at 11:35 PM | PERMALINK

Even if the boy was below the age of consent, what the hell was Jennings supposed to report? That the boy had made remarks implying that he had sex with an unknown adult in another state? The police would laugh at him.

Do we really want the rule to be that if a high school teacher has resson to suspect that one of his students is having sex before reaching the age of consent, he should call the police?

Posted by: rea on October 2, 2009 at 6:01 AM | PERMALINK

Did you mention the racist remarks by Republican Pres. Nixon as played on this new film - Maafa21?

Get Maafa21 see more- www.maafa21.com

Posted by: Rapnsum on October 2, 2009 at 12:09 PM | PERMALINK
Post a comment









Remember personal info?










 

 
Email Newsletter icon, E-mail Newsletter icon, Email List icon, E-mail List icon Sign up for Free News & Updates

Advertise in WM

2009 College Guide & Rankings






Search Now:
In Association with Amazon.com


Place Your Link Here

---Paid Advertisements---

Free Credit Score

Addiction Treatment

Personal Loan

Payday Loans

Personal Loans

Addiction Treatment

Phone Cards

Less Debt = Financial Freedom

Addiction Treatment Programs

Credit Cards & Debt Consolidation

Bad Credit Loans

Vacation Rentals