On Monday morning, CNN interviewed 10-year-old Kameron Slade, who's the toast of New York liberals and The New York Times (pardon the redundancy) for wanting to give a speech in his class in favor of "marriage equality." School officials said the subject was inappropriate for ten-year-olds, but Slade's speech was videotaped and then went viral through...the liberal-Democrat blog Think Progress, which is becoming a regular source of "news" for CNN.
Christian students have been forbidden in some public schools to offer projects that profess Christianity or Christian themes, but that's not as attractive a controversy to CNN. Slade was invited to speak before the New York City Council, and The New York Times devoted a whole story to this activist PR event with no troublesome dissent whatsoever. Unsurprisingly, CNN anchor Carol Costello didn't offer a skeptical or discouraging word:
COSTELLO: Why did they tell you, you weren't able to do it?
SLADE: They say it was too inappropriate for kids like me to know about.
COSTELLO: I'm just going to read an excerpt from your speech just to show an excerpt from your so everybody knows what we're talking about. This is from Kameron's speech that he was to give at the school contest. This is part of the speech, quote, "President Barack Obama recently talked about same-sex marriage with his wife and two daughters. Some people are for same-gender marriage while others are against it. Like president Obama, I believe all people should have the right to marry whoever they want. Marriage is about love, support, and commitment, so who are we to judge?"
Since this was a "hero" interview, Costello wasn't going to ask for more rhetorical precision: if the principle is "all people should have the right to marry whoever they want," does that include marriages of siblings or other relatives? Does it include marriages of more than two people? She merely asked:
SLADE: Me and my mother, we were sitting at the table, we didn't want to do anything common for the speech contest. So my mom, she brung up, hey, let's do same-gender marriage, because she thought about Barack Obama approving of it.
COSTELLO: And why are you into this particular subject?
SLADE: Because it's everyday life.
COSTELLO: And do you see it often in New York City?
SLADE: I bet I do, but sometimes I just don't notice it.
COSTELLO: Yes. So how did you hear about your invitation to speak before the city council?
SLADE: I think they called my mom or my dad. And they told me that you're going to speak at the city council. Do you want to do it? I said yes.
COSTELLO: So on YouTube, your speech got something like 600,000 views. Is that amazing to you?
SLADE: Yes, it is.
COSTELLO: How many people did you expect would watch it?
SLADE: I expected a lot that would watch it.
COSTELLO: But 600,000?
SLADE: I never thought of 600,000, but yes. Pretty much.
Naturally, Costello wrapped up with "So what do you want to do when you grow up? Are you thinking about a career in public speaking or politics?" Slade replied: "Maybe. God will take me wherever."
