Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Family Research Council's newest symbol of SPLC persecution is yet another fraud

Carol Swain, FRC's fake symbol of 'SPLC persecution'

In the mind of the Family Research Council, there is a huge rebellion of credibility against the Southern Poverty Law Center, For those who don't know, FRC has been feuding with SPLC ever since the organization called out its deliberate lies about the LGBTQ community by giving it the label of a hate group in 2010.

Since then, FRC has been taking potshots at SPLC, even falsely connecting it with a near shooting at  FRC headquarters in 2012 and the shooting in DC earlier this year which saw member of the House of Representatives hospitalized.

But try as it may, and even with the help of other anti-LGBTQ hate groups and like minded conservative groups, the only thing FRC is doing is making a complete fool of itself.

Take today's Washington Update for example:.

Retired Vanderbilt professor Carol Swain explains "What It's Like to Be Smeared by the Southern Poverty Law Center" in a strong column for the Journal, which hasn't exactly been holding back its skepticism of Richard Cohen's group. For Dr. Swain, institutionalized prejudice is nothing new. As an African-American woman, she's been threatened, protested, and verbally abused for exposing students to other views in one of academia's elite laboratories of radicalism. Now, she can add "targeted by the SPLC" to her long list of distinctions, which among other things, accuses Carol of expressing hatred toward minorities – which is ridiculous since she is a minority! 
Still, Swain insists, she "wears the SPLC's mud as a badge of honor because I know I am in the company of many good men and women who have been similarly vilified for standing for righteousness and truth." But, Carol writes soberly, the SPLC's labeling has had "has had a lasting impact on my life and career. Offers from other universities ended and speaking opportunities declined. Once you've been smeared in this way, mainstream news outlets are less likely to cite you as an expert of any kind." 
But, she continues, "Some of those vilified by the SPLC have been subjected to even worse treatment. The Family Research Council and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise have been violently attacked by individuals inspired by the propaganda the SPLC regularly dishes out -- which is often accepted without criticism and passed on by media, law-enforcement agencies and universities." Like others at the Wall Street Journal who think SPLC's "hate list" feeds the polarization it claims to be fighting, Carol knows Cohen's group has one goal (articulated, conveniently, by former staffer Mark Potok): "destroying" the groups it opposes.

First of all, the man who shot Scalise, James Hodgkinson, was not inspired by SPLC. He once "liked" SPLC's facebook page, a far cry from being inspired. So, pardon me for saying so, but Swain is a liar.

Sen Al Franken blasts Trump nominee on ties to anti-LGBTQ hate group, triggers right-wing snowflakes


This is wonderful.

 Last week, Senator Al Franken calls out Trump's judiciary nominee, Amy Barrett, on her links to anti-LGBTQ hate group the Alliance Defending Freedom. His astute series of questions sent the religious right and their allies into fits as evidenced by these headlines via conservative news sources:

Senator Franken Smears Alliance Defending Freedom with ‘Hate Group’ Label

Citing the SPLC, Sen. Al Franken Compares Alliance Defending Freedom to Pol Pot

Franken charges Trump judicial nominee with hate group ties

No matter how triggered these right-wing snowflakes became, Franken was correct in every statement he made about ADF. And it's not the first time Franken has taken religious right groups and their supporters to the "woodshed." In 2011, during another Congressional hearing, he called out Focus on the Family's Tom Minnery for misrepresenting a study.

The LGBTQ community should copy Franken's behavior in warring against these hate groups who seek to take away our equality.

1. Call these anti-LGBTQ groups exactly what they are - hate groups. DO NOT give an quarter or an inch based upon their claims about merely defending religious freedom or "personally held beliefs.

2. Educate yourselves on WHY these organizations are hate groups. In the video above, Franken broke down the nefarious activities of ADF in detail. Nothing can refute generic claims about "religious liberty" more effectively than specific details contradicting the claims.

3. Be firm and unyielding. Control the narrative always. These groups and individuals are always putting us on the defensive. Based upon their actions, they have questions to answer. Demand that they do. Turn the narrative from us to them. Every time.