MSNBC’s Chuck Todd today interviewed Family Research Council (FRC) leader Tony Perkins. Perkins heads the SPLC-certified anti-gay hate group FRC, and is responsible — directly and indirectly — for volumes of anti-gay bigotry and hate speech. Todd, however, treated Perkins as if he were a vaunted political and religious leader — not a man responsible for marginalization, responsible for espousing and enabling hate speech, responsible for attacks so vicious, vile  — and untrue — that would sicken most fair-minded Americans. There’s a line between being a fair-minded journalism and supporting a group that is on the same list as the KKK — and, for that matter, supporting a group that has financially supported the KKK.
Chuck Todd ignored all that Perkins has said about the LGBT community, and actually shared laughs with him.
The idea that a journalist is obligated to put on a perch and give a nationwide platform to someone like Tony Perkins is like says it’s OK to invite David Duke on TV to find out what “the other side” of racial unrest is, or neo-Nazis to find out “the other side” of Jews. There is no difference.
Perkins, who has paid the KKK over $80,000, and/or his Family Research Council hate group have accused gays of terrorism, have said homosexuality is “abnormal,” and drives LGB teens to suicide, have said gays, “will not be satisfied until those who hold a traditional, natural view of marriage are completely silenced,†have equated homosexuality with pedophilia, have — contrary to his lie denying it — said gay behavior should be outlawed, have said gays, “thrust their bedrooms into the public square,†have blamed the economy on America’s high rate of divorce, have rushed to support Michele and Marcus Bachmann’s dangerous “ex-gay” therapy practices, have suggested military leaders lied to Congress to get Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repealed, have ignored the 6000+ U.S. service members who died in Iraq and Afghanistan and claimed that repeal of DADT was the military’s “most difficult mission yet,” for starters.
Want more?
Jeremy Hooper at Good As You adds:
Tony Perkins heads an organization that is responsible for positioning gays as a kid-threatening disaster in need of “ex-gay” therapy, churning out brochures that compare same-sex marriages to those bonds which might exist between a man and a horse (complete with horse photo), directly likening equality activists to terrorists, calling LGBT rights a battle of “good versus evil,” saying DADT repeal proponents are “willing to jeopardize our nation’s security to advance the agenda of the radical homosexual lobby,” claiming gay teens kill themselves because they know that they’re “abnormal,” saying the gay activists who challenge FRC are “held captive by the enemy,” writing that same-sex marriage will be “opening the door to all manner of moral and social evil, tweeting that gays don’t need to “be a slave to feelings,” and fundraising around the idea that gay kids are immoral and telling them otherwise is “disgusting,” and calling for U.S. gays to be either “exported” or criminalized (to name just a few of FRC’s more recent attacks). And all of these things came down in the name of religion.
Of today’s “interview” by Chick Todd of Tony Perkins, Carlos Maza at Media Matters writes,
Following what has become a pattern with Perkins’ media appearances, MSNBC’s Todd failed to identify Perkins as the leader of a hate group, failed to mention Perkins’ ties to white supremacist organizations, and failed to even acknowledge Perkins’ history of extreme homophobia.
In August, MSNBC invited both Perkins AND Jeffress – within hours of one another – to discuss their thoughts on Rick Perry’s entering into the presidential race. Jeffress even referred to Perkins as a “friend†during his interview.
Despite Jeffress having made a number of damaging anti-gay remarks, including claiming that homosexuality “is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands every year through AIDS,†MSNBC found no need to address either of its extreme guests while relying on them for political insight.
In other words, MSNBC turned to an anti-gay hate monger to explain away the remarks of another anti-gay hate monger after treating both of them as legitimate sources of conservative commentary on national television.
If Todd is really so interested in figuring out why people like Jeffress get away with making outrageous remarks, maybe he should focus on the major news outlets’ consistent failure to hold them accountable for what they’ve said.
Had enough?
Tell the main stream media. Sign this petition at Change.org. Then share this post with everyone you know. Let’s get Tony Perkins and his ilk out of our homes once and for all.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640
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