Chris Geidner is known as the blogger, Law Dork. He is a lawyer who writes about LGBT issues, policies and the fun stuff (politics). He's also very realistic which I greatly appreciate.
Today, Chris provided some interesting info that is...well interesting. John Aravosis, from AMERICAblog has been a strong critic of Obama for a hot minute (actually longer than that). However, yesterday the truth was in the pudding or rather in Chris' blog.
According to Chris, John's piece about Barney Frank throwing us under a bus is very misleading and borderline false.
I'll share:
Also...Soon thereafter, John Aravosis published a piece that just went round the bound. I have tried to keep my blog as forward-looking as possible, but it’s clear that Aravosis’s heavy popularity at his blog and media contacts have allowed his false statements about what the filing means to push the debate into the twisted, contorted view he is giving it.
The two main problems that I have with Aravosis’s coverage are:
- His continued misstatements regarding whether Justice should have filed a brief in this case.
- His “comparing us to incest and pedophilia” claim is overstated and does not withstand any serious, legal scrutiny.
The brief does not ever use the words “incest” or “pedophilia.” And, by the way, the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR), the standard for diagnosis, defines pedophilia as involving “sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children (generally age 13 years or younger).” Under that definition, there is not even a case involving pedophilia appearing in the brief at all — which is likely the reason that no mainstream publication has repeated that claim.Despite all that, this is what Aravosis concluded this evening about Chairman Frank:
Barney thinks the language of the brief was great. He even, between the lines, defends the invocation of incest and pedophilia.
No, he clearly did not think the brief was great, as his statement made clear. Moreover, he never defended anything that isn’t in the brief, despite your constant claims to the contrary.
It is Aravosis’s spreading of this continued falsity — particularly to demean the smart, legitimate statements of members of Congress — that lead me to continued reporting about why it’s false.
This was helpful and scary. AMERICAblog has a lot of readers and followers, and after I commented on other articles, I was attacked...Big time.
I had to use the Phoenix Force up in there just to survive.
Anywho, with so many folks following that blog, I hope they are checking up on the content. What Chris reveals is disturbing, however I'm glad there's someone looking out for our best interest.
Please check out his blog, here
4 comments:
Thanks for this bit of clarity. Perhaps one of the more helpful pieces I have read in a while.
I guess I'll have to reconsider my chastising the Obama administration. I'm seeing some positive stories like finally including gay couples on the census, and the meet between DOJ and the gay orgs coming up.
I think the anger at Obama is a result of the enhanced metabolism of our current generation. People expect everything to be like e-mail and think it should just happens instantly.
I think Obama will do something a lot of other President's have not done which is to really let us see every step that is necessary to accomplish something like the repeal of DOMA or DADT. I think in many ways we have lost a sense of how things work within our legal system. Obama is the President, not a King. He can't just snap his fingers and make us all happy. But what he can and is doing, is to maintain contact with the public with multiple speeches and appearances. This will make sure that we always have an idea of what he's doing and how well it's working. It puts me in the mindset of the Fireside Chats. He is already a much more visible and open President than I can remember. But I do think we need to be patient.
I don't think he lied to us in any way. But I'm sure what he thought he could do may have ended up being very different from what he found out he could. But I'm still positive that he'll find a way to make the system work towards his goals and ours. He may not be working quickly but I have great confidence that he is working smartly.
My anger at the Obama administration has very little to do with the ooh-scary pedophilia & incest stuff. It actually has more to do with Obama's refusing to extend to gay people with the respect he offered to CIA torturers months ago. His gushing in April has no counterpart in regards gay people, and I'm thinking especially of gay servicemembers who have to sacrifice personal lives in order to protect their country, a sacrifice that would destroy the military if demanded of straights.
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