Boy Scouts

CNN anchors dropped journalistic integrity and went into full attack mode against supporters of the ban on gay Boy Scouts on Wednesday morning.

When the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins questioned why the Scouts should change their long-standing policy, anchor Soledad O'Brien blurted out "Because it's discriminatory," before adding "Because they think it's discriminatory." She then asked "My final question for you, do you worry you are on the wrong side of history on this?" [Video below the break. Audio here.]

No good (or at least spineless) deed goes unpunished. As the news broke that the Boy Scouts of America is considering allowing local charters to decide whether  to admit homosexual scouts and leaders, the left just won’t let up. Networks like ABC and NBC have already called for more inclusivity this week and so has Washington Post guest writer Herb Silverman, a self-described “Jewish Atheist” and “founder and President Emeritus of the Secular Coalition for America”

If the Scouts do adopt that policy, Silverman suggested that the next “step forward” is to admit atheists as well. He wrote, “I look forward to a day when the Boy Scouts become as tolerant as the Girl Scouts, who have refused to discriminate against any girl for any reason because they regard lesbian and atheist girls as equals.”

"Welcome to this century, Scouts," cheered liberal Washington Post columnist Petula Dvorak in her January 29 column headlined "Boy Scouts can, belatedly, set an example of courage." Dvorak hailed the announcement on Monday by the National Council of the scouting organization that it would propose doing away with a national ban on openly gay members and leaders, instead allowing local chapters to set policy on the matter.

Hailing the "righteousness" of the move, Dvorak hailed how the Scouts had earned a  "courage badge" for the move. In truth, however, the maneuver comes after intense lobbying by gay rights advocates that dried up previously reliable streams of corporate funding. Dvorak failed to mention this, but gay rights activists have been hard at work of late pushing corporate boardrooms from ending donations to the Boy Scouts of America. Thus far drug manufacturer Merck, computer process manufacturer Intel and parcel shipping giant UPS have ended their donations to the 102-year-old organization in large part due to petition drives by gay activists.

The three networks on Monday night and Tuesday morning hailed a "historic" potential change by the Boy Scouts that would lift the ban on gays in their organization. ABC compared the move to a famous Norman Rockwell painting. NBC featured voices complaining that the decision doesn't go far enough.

On Monday's World News, Diane Sawyer trumpted that change is "afoot in an iconic American institution." She lamented, " For generations, becoming a Boy Scout was an American tradition. But not for all." Regarding the move to allow gays in, Sawyer prompted her colleague, reporter David Muir, "But we were talking earlier about the Norman Rockwell painting, the classic painting of the Cub Scout dreaming one day of becoming a real Boy Scout. And you were saying, the caption to that painting is?" "Can't wait," he solemnly responded. "Can't wait," Sawyer marveled. [See video below MP3 audio here.]

CNN is known for being an activist network on the subject of gay rights, so it comes as no surprise that their newest target is the Boy Scouts of America.  As Newsbusters’ Matthew Philbin recently pointed out, CNN has close ties to GLAAD (Gays and Lesbians Allied Against Defamation) which might explain its decision to attack any organization that does not support its gay agenda.

The Boy Scouts organization, which does not allow openly gay individuals to join its organization as employees, volunteers or members, has been attacked viciously by CNN since it reaffirmed its position in June of this year. Since then, CNN has brought on numerous guests critical of the Scouts policy, including on Tuesday when it hosted Martin Sizmar, a former Eagle Scout who returned his medal because of their policy on gay individuals serving in their organization. The cable network allowed no one to defend the Scouts.  [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

CNN continues its brazen support of gay activists upset with the Boy Scouts. On Wednesday afternoon, anchor Don Lemon gave the sappiest of  interviews to former Cub Scout den leader and lesbian Jennifer Tyrell, booted from the organization because she is openly-gay.

Lemon asked saccharine questions like "You doing okay?" and "do you feel disrespected?" and "You sound a little sort of downtrodden." CNN boasts of itself as "The Most Trusted Name In News," but what kind of "news" are people getting with sentimental Oprah-style interviews during an election season? [Video below the break. Audio here.]

Once again CNN is cheerleading the fight for gay rights, this time within the Boy Scouts. An effusive Starting Point panel welcomed gay activist Zach Wahls on Wednesday and celebrated his cause of pushing the Boy Scouts towards acceptance of openly-gay scouts and leaders.

Wahls is no stranger to CNN, as back in May he was lauded as a "very powerful" activist during a soft interview. On Wednesday, the CNN panel oozed admiration for him. "I'm a big fan. I've followed you for a little while," Starting Point regular Margaret Hoover told him. "You're a wonderful spokesman for the effort for equality." [Video below. Audio here.]

CNN continued to show its unvarnished support for the GLAAD cause on Wednesday. Anchor Kyra Phillips was dripping with sympathy for a lesbian mother recently removed by the Boy Scouts as local cub den leader because of her orientation.

Phillips fawned over the subject's son as she asked him such questions as "tell me what makes your mom such a great den leader" and "Do you think it's pretty cool to have two mommies?" CNN claims to be a serious news network, but Phillips' "interview" could have passed for Oprah any day of the week as she helped Jennifer Tyrrell carry out her "mission" of changing the Boy Scout protocol of no gay den leaders. [Video below the break.]

President Barack Obama, the honorary chairman of the Boy Scouts of America, will not speak in-person before the group on Wednesday at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, as part of the organization's 100th anniversary celebration. However, the president is sending a videotaped message to the scouts for Wednesday, the same day he will be in Manhattan to tape an appearance for ABC TV’s talk show “The View.”
 
Bob Dries, chairman of national news and media at the Boy Scouts of America Jamboree – a gathering that happens every four years and attracts thousands of scouts from around the world – told CNSNews.com that the organization was told on Monday that the president had scheduling conflicts and would not be speaking in-person at the week-long event.