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I blogged about this wretched professional bigot the other day, “Credibility FAIL: FRC’s Tony Perkins to testify during Kagan confirmation hearing,” but Kristin Williams of faithinpubliclife.org, wanted to pass along some other tidbits about a man whose rank homophobia and dishonesty is clearly not an obstacle to the GOP. They are welcoming him to the hearing as a minority witness in opposition to the nomination of Elena Kagan. Class.
Tony Perkins, Family Research Council: Minority Witness at Kagan HearingsA record of false claims. Out of the mainstream.
This week, Senate Republicans will call Tony Perkins, president of religious right group Family Research Council, to testify at the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Solicitor General Elena Kagan. Perkins, whose group has attacked Kagan’s nomination because of her views on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and other issues, has a well-established track record of making false claims and espousing positions well outside the mainstream on civil rights, religion and race. Perkins and his organization claim to promote family and religious values, but his rhetoric and actions paint a different picture. The following are just a few examples.
A record of false claims.
Tony Perkins falsely claimed that overturning Don’t Ask Don’t Tell would lead to a military that “just does parades and stuff.” While interviewing Sen. John McCain, Perkins said that “…the top militaries in the world do not allow homosexuality to be openly engaged in, in the military – I mean, if you want a military that just does parades and stuff like that then I guess that’s okay.” In reality, three of the United States’ closest allies-Israel, Canada, and the United Kingdom- “have successfully removed all restrictions on gays and lesbians in their armed forces since the early 1990s.”1
Tony Perkins falsely claimed that homosexuality leads to child sexual abuse. In a statement responding to the Mark Foley scandal, Perkins said: “It shouldn’t be totally surprising, when we hold up tolerance and diversity as the guideposts for public life, this is what you end up getting…the real issue…is the link between homosexuality and child sexual abuse.” As numerous experts have demonstrated, there is no connection between sexual orientation and likeliness of sexually abusing children.2
Tony Perkins’ organization made false claims about the health care votes of two Members of Congress to justify targeting them in the upcoming election. FRC Action PAC lists 20 Democratic incumbents they’re campaigning against as part of a “20 in 10″ campaign this election cycle. FRC claims to oppose these representatives because of their votes for health care reform. But two of the members on the list, Reps. Nye and Minnick, actually voted against health care reform and FRC refuses to correct the mistake, suggesting not only a lack of integrity, but also a strong possibility that FRC’s objectives are more focused on partisan gain for the Republican party than a response to health reform.3
Tony Perkins falsely claimed health care reform led to federal funding of abortion. During the health care debate, Perkins’ organization, Family Research Council, falsely alleged that proposed reform would include full federal funding of abortion, a provision that was neither proposed nor part of the final legislation. Nevertheless, FRC continues to claim that the law funds abortions, a claim that has been consistently debunked by independent fact-checking organizations and experts.4
Tony Perkins falsely claimed the Mexico City Policy uses taxpayer funds to pay for abortions. In a 2009 CNN appearance, Perkins said, “I mean, I think it’s kind of ironic that in a week that the president outlawed interrogation tactics that are called torture on terrorists that he also passed a measure, signed a measure, that will take taxpayer funds to promote abortion overseas. …Apparently he sees unborn children in places like Honduras or maybe even Kenya as more of a threat to this country than terrorists who kill Americans.” The Mexico City Policy allows funding to groups that provide reproductive health services, but the Helms Amendment explicitly bars the use of any federal funds for abortion.5
Extreme.
Tony Perkins gave a speech at a white supremacist group event. In 2001, Perkins spoke at a meeting of the Louisiana chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens, a white nationalist group which has called blacks “a retrograde species of humanity” and is considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.6
Tony Perkins believes discrimination against gays and lesbians is justified because they have “given us an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases.” In response to Elena Kagan’s statement that discrimination is “not just,” Perkins said, “To… ‘discriminate’ — between the only type of sexual relationship that can reproduce the human race and a non-procreative type of relationship that has given us an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases is ‘not just’? I would argue that failing to make such a distinction is not realistic, not honest and not credible.”7
Tony Perkins suggests American Muslims are not loyal citizens. Responding to an event organized to bring American Muslims to Washington, DC to pray and “inspire a new generation of Muslim to work for the greater good of all people,” Tony Perkins publicly wondered, “Will any of the expected 50,000 attendees affirm loyalty to the U.S. and our constitutional liberties? Or will they pray for shari’ah law to come to America?” He has also said, “the soil of the Islamic faith just does not work with democracy.”8
4 Comments
Just one timeI wish that someone on one of these shows that Perkins goes on frequently would ask him these questions about his bigotry.
It would be telling for Mr. Perkins elucidationif ALL THE DEMOCRATS ON THE PANEL GOT UP AND WALKED OUT WHEN HE SITS DOWN TO TESTIFY. But they don’t have the balls to do it.
When?Anyone know when he will be on? I’d like to see what kind of crap he tries to pull out…..
Some D. senator’s aide needs to enlarge that picture of Perkins giving the speech to the white supremacy groupand persuade the senator to whip the picture out, describe the event, and ask Perkins to affirm that he was the speaker at this event, courting the vote of the white supremacists. CCC was the “gentleman’s” (upper and upper-middle class) version of the KKK; the CCC ran Jim Crow with “clean hands”, while the KKK were the enforcers.
Even better would be if a transcript of the speech could be found.