[Vision2020] It Sounds Official, So It Must Be True

[Phil Nisbet]

Hansen

The trouble with an article like this one is that it makes the same sorts of 
assumptions about 'conservatives' as the Group it condemns makes about gays 
and lesbians.

Barry Goldwater, the Grandfather of the American Conservative movement, was 
not anti-Gay.  You should read some of the things that he wrote about the 
drift toward gay bashing prior to his death.

There are many conservative Gays and Lesbians.

The reality is that there are as many gay bashers in the ranks of the 
Democratic Party as in the GOP.  Social Conservatives, those whose ideas fit 
into the anti-Gay mold, are pretty evenly distributed between the economic 
and foreign policy conservatives and liberals.

Look at the votes in Oregon.  They have a fairly liberal state, yet reject 
any and all forms of Gay marriage by wide margins.

Blacks are not exactly the most conservative friendly group in America, 
voting overwhelmingly for Democrats and liberals, yet the same people are 
more likely to oppose gay marriage than members of the GOP.

Yet using the terms 'conservative' when Social Conservative is what is 
actually being stated is just as much an official sounding pronouncement.  
The real politics of this issue are simply not that easy.

Phil Nisbet



>From: "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com>
>To: "Moscow Vision 2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>Subject: [Vision2020] It Sounds Official, So It Must Be True
>Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2006 14:51:29 -0800
>
> >From today's (February 8, 2006) Lewiston Tribune with a special thanks to
>Tom Henderson.
>
>It is almost humorous, and definitely sad, how low some people (or blogs)
>will go merely to exhibit a false sense of authenticity.
>
>I am certainly glad that nobody I know would cite such an unethical source.
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>"It Sounds Official, So It Must Be True"
>
>By Tom Henderson
>Lewiston Tribune
>February 8, 2006
>
>This just in: Homosexual parents are evil -- evil!
>
>Don't take my word for it. The American College of Pediatricians reached
>this conclusion after an in-depth analysis of its own beliefs.
>
>Forget what you read in books like "Heather Has Two Mommies." That
>nice-looking lesbian in the anti-nuke T-shirt? She probably watches Heather
>take showers.
>
>God only knows what happens to Heather's little dog.
>
>It gets worse. The study noted a higher rate of domestic abuse among
>homosexual partners. (But you know gays. It probably just involves slapping
>each other and making cruel remarks about the drapes.)
>
>Homosexuals are also shamelessly frisky. Unwilling to control themselves,
>the study concluded, they will parade armies of lovers into the home and
>perform wanton acts of carnality.
>
>"Given the current body of research, the American College of Pediatricians
>believes it is inappropriate, potentially hazardous to children and
>dangerously irresponsible to change the age-old prohibition on homosexual
>parenting, whether by adoption, foster care or by reproductive
>manipulation," the study insists.
>
>"This position is rooted in the best available science."
>
>Leapin' lizards!
>
>These are shocking revelations from an official-sounding group with a crest
>and everything. And words like "science" and "research" are used several
>times.
>
>Many a social conservative is naturally flopping about the floor in a
>convulsive fit. But just as naturally, the mainstream liberal press has
>virtually ignored this story.
>
>Why? Glad you asked. It's five pounds of B.S. in a four-pound bag.
>
>The American College of Pediatricians was founded just three years ago. Its
>dinky membership got bent out of shape after the American Academy of
>Pediatrics -- with 60,000 members, many of them leaders in the field --
>found no difference between children raised by gay and straight parents.
>
>In reality, the so-called college is as much a professional organization as
>the Partridge Family is a rock band. Its staff consists of one person to
>answer the phone.
>
>But it gets a lot of attention from conservatives desperate for something 
>--
>anything -- with an official-sounding name to back up their prejudices.
>
>The American College of Pediatrics gets a lot of its manure from teeny tiny
>think tanks like the Family Research Institute and its founder, Paul
>Cameron.
>
>Cameron prides himself on getting articles like "Gay Foster Parents More 
>Apt
>to Molest" published in academic journals. There are a lot of misnomers
>flying around at this point.
>
>First of all, take Cameron's think tank. In terms of size and depth, it's
>more like a birdbath than a tank.
>
>Then there are these academic journals that print Cameron's work.
>
>Psychological Reports, a small journal based in Montana, says its studies
>are peer-reviewed. However, editor Doug Ammons says no reviewer has veto
>power.
>
>Ammons calls this a "scientific manifestation of free speech." Well, it's
>not quite free. The journal typically charges $27.50 per page to print an
>article.
>
>At real academic journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, any
>article is rejected if a reviewer raises serious objections.
>
>The American Psychological Association dropped Cameron as a member in 1983
>after he refused to cooperate with an investigation of his methodology.
>
>"We are concerned about Dr. Cameron because we do believe that his
>methodology is weak," Rhea Faberman, a spokeswoman for the association, 
>told
>the Boston Globe.
>
>And the American Sociological Association issued a resolution saying:
>"Cameron has consistently misinterpreted and misrepresented sociological
>research on sexuality, homosexuality, and lesbianism."
>
>People like to have their prejudices confirmed. So when people or
>organizations come along with a cool-sounding titles, the gullible snap at
>the bait.
>
>Thank goodness for the Internet. Anyone who spends more than 30 seconds 
>with
>Google would know not to take horror stories about gay parents at face
>value.
>
>What kind of rube could possibly be taken in by this hokum?
>
>"Studies have shown that the ideal is where a child is raised in a married
>family with a man and a woman" -- President Bush, Jan. 27, 2005
>
>Yikes.
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Take care, Moscow.
>
>Tom Hansen
>Moscow, Idaho
>
>****************************************************
>"People call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that distinguish 
>me
>from a doormat."
>
>- Rebecca West (1913)
>****************************************************
>
>
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