Home / kevinjennings
Showing posts with label kevinjennings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kevinjennings. Show all posts
Kevin Jennings back in the news

Kevin Jennings back in the news

The books that Kevin Jennings thought should be read by 13 year olds is pretty surprising.

Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings was the founder, and for many years, Executive Director of an organization called the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). GLSEN started essentially as Jennings’ personal project and grew to become the culmination of his life’s work. And he was chosen by President Obama to be the nation’s Safe Schools Czar primarily because he had founded and led GLSEN (scroll for bio).

GLSEN’s stated mission is to empower gay youth in the schools and to stop harassment by other students. It encourages the formation of Gay Student Alliances and condemns the use of hateful words. GLSEN also strives to influence the educational curriculum to include materials which the group believes will increase tolerance of gay students and decrease bullying. To that end, GLSEN maintains a recommended reading list of books that it claims “furthers our mission to ensure safe schools for all students.” In other words, these are the books that GLSEN’s directors think all kids should be reading: gay kids should read them to raise their self-esteem, and straight kids should read them in order to become more aware and tolerant and stop bullying gay kids. Through GLSEN’s online ordering system, called “GLSEN BookLink,” featured prominently on their Web site, teachers can buy the books to use as required classroom assignments, or students can buy them to read on their own.

According to GLSEN’s own press releases from the period during which its recommended reading list was developed, the organization’s three areas of focus were creating “educational resources, public policy agenda, [and] student organizing programs”; in other words, the reading list (chief among its “educational resources”) was of prime importance in GLSEN’s efforts to influence the American educational system.

The list is divided into three main categories: books recommended for grades K-6; books recommended for grades 7-12; and books for teachers. (The books on the list span all genres: fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, even poetry.)

Out of curiosity to see exactly what kind of books Kevin Jennings and his organization think American students should be reading in school, our team chose a handful at random from the over 100 titles on GLSEN’s grades 7-12 list, and began reading through.

What we discovered shocked us. We were flabbergasted. Rendered speechless.

We were unprepared for what we encountered. Book after book after book contained stories and anecdotes that weren’t merely X-rated and pornographic, but which featured explicit descriptions of sex acts between pre-schoolers; stories that seemed to promote and recommend child-adult sexual relationships; stories of public masturbation, anal sex in restrooms, affairs between students and teachers, five-year-olds playing sex games, semen flying through the air. One memoir even praised becoming a prostitute as a way to increase one’s self-esteem. Above all, the books seemed to have less to do with promoting tolerance than with an unabashed attempt to indoctrinate students into a hyper-sexualized worldview.

We knew that unless we carefully documented what we were reading, the public would have a hard time accepting it. , , , ,


I am not going to post the passages from the books that Mr. Jennings, Obama's "safe school czar," thinks should be read by 13 year olds, but for those interested the link is here.
Kevin Jennings member of "ACT UP"

Kevin Jennings member of "ACT UP"

WND has this report.

The man chosen by the Obama administration to head the Department of Education's Office of Safe Schools was an activist with the radical pro-homosexual organization Act Up, known for its aggressive badgering of those who don't support the homosexual lifestyle, according to a new report.

Mass Resistance, a pro-family organization in Massachusetts that has battled over homosexual agenda points there, has posted online a report and video documenting Kevin Jennings' participation in the extremist organization.

The video shows Jeff Davis, Jennings' "partner," addressing a banquet and saying of Jennings, "He was a member of Act Up. Act Up! So it's like – you know – here's a big gay activist. BIG gay activist!." . . .


Much more information is available here.
"53 House Republicans call on Obama to fire Kevin Jennings"

"53 House Republicans call on Obama to fire Kevin Jennings"

Here is a copy of the letter that the Congressmen have sent.

We respectfully request that you remove Kevin Jennings, the Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, from your Administration. It is clear that Mr. Jennings lacks the appropriate qualifications and ethical standards to serve in this capacity.
As the founder of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Mr. Jennings has played an integral role in promoting homosexuality and pushing a pro-homosexual agenda in America’s schools—an agenda that runs counter to the values that many parents desire to instill in their children. As evidence of this, Mr. Jennings wrote the foreword for a book titled Queering Elementary Education: Advancing the Dialogue About Sexualities and Schooling. Throughout his career, Mr. Jennings has made it his mission to establish special protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students to the exclusion of all other students. The totality of Mr. Jennings’ career has been to advocate for public affirmation of homosexuality. There is more to safe and drug free schools than can be accomplished from the narrow view of Mr. Jennings who has, for more than 20 years, almost exclusively focused on promoting the homosexual agenda.
Equally troubling is Mr. Jennings’ self-described history of ignoring the sexual abuse of a child. In his book, One Teacher in Ten, Mr. Jennings recounts a 15-year old student confiding in him that he had a sexual relationship with a much older man. Mr. Jennings’ only response was to ask if the underage boy used a condom. As a mandatory reporter, Mr. Jennings was required by law to report child abuse, including sex crimes. Mr. Jennings cannot serve as the “safe schools” czar when his record demonstrates a willingness to overlook the sexual abuse of a child.
As the “safe schools” czar, Mr. Jennings is also charged with ensuring our schools and students are drug free. It is clear that Mr. Jennings is unfit to serve in this capacity, as well. His own history of unrepentant drug and alcohol abuse indicates that he is of the opinion that getting drunk and high as a young person is acceptable. In his memoir, Mama’s Boy, Preacher’s Son, Mr. Jennings describes his use of illegal drugs, without expressing regret or acknowledging the devastating effects illegal drug use can have on a person’s life.
Everyone that deals with the education of the most vulnerable must be a positive role model. Our children are not blessed with the wisdom to discern and reject. Children presume the adults who educate them are approved by the larger society and their parents. Kevin Jennings cannot gain the approval of parents who want their children safe and their schools drug free. You should replace him with someone who has a record of educating children in a safe and moral environment.
Given these very serious issues with Mr. Jennings’ record, we urge you to remove him immediately.
More Problems for Kevin Jennings

More Problems for Kevin Jennings

Here is the middle of a new piece on Kevin Jennings in the Washington Times. I wonder how Media Manners is going to try to distort this.

Mr. Jennings tells one thing to one audience and then contradicts himself to others. In a 2000 speech to a Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network conference in Iowa and other talks, Mr. Jennings related how difficult it was to be homosexual back in September 1987: "I was a very scared young gay teacher. I had been fired at my first job for being gay. And in my second job, I wasn't quite sure how to deal with that.... My best friend had just died from AIDS the week before." He brought up his friend's death, and when it occurred, to transition into the events involving Brewster. The event is supposedly what encouraged him to tell the sophomore, "I hope you knew to use a condom."

In his 2006 autobiography, "Mama's Boy, Preacher's Son," Mr. Jennings has a completely different explanation for what happened at his first teaching job at the Quaker Moses Brown School in Providence, R.I. Contrary to being fired for being a homosexual, Mr. Jennings concludes the chapter discussing his time at the school by writing, "My days at Moses Brown ended, without my ever having been asked or having answered the Question [about whether he was homosexual]. For two years I have lied, letting my students and myself down in the process. I vowed I would never do it again." . . .


The next paragraph goes into something even more bizarre by Jennings, but I will let you all click over there yourselves.
Can Media Matters and Ana Marie Cox get almost anything straight?

Can Media Matters and Ana Marie Cox get almost anything straight?

This is apparently the type of news discussion that Media Matters regards as accurate. Two major errors within just a couple of sentences.


The Nine Voting Lives of ACORN's Darnell Nash
. . . . The conviction of Darnell Nash, apparently known by several aliases including Serina "Sexy Slay" Gibbs, is hugely significant for several reasons, not least of which is the fact that ACORN has long maintained that vote fraud, as opposed to the lesser crime of voter registration fraud, essentially never happens. . . . .


As to the claim that Fox News and the Washington Times are going Kevin Jennings because he is gay, Ana Marie Cox apparently missed straightforward discussions such as this:

Last week, Brewster accused those raising concerns about this issue of engaging in "homophobic smear attacks." That's not the case. A teacher ignoring a female sophomore's confession that she met an older man in a bathroom and then went home with him raises similar concerns. When Obama administration officials can't explain Mr. Jennings' comments, it is time for Mr. Jennings to answer some of these questions himself.


If Ana Marie Cox or Media Matters can explain why most people wouldn't be concerned about the safety of a 15 year old girl (to take Kevin Jennings' claim how old he thought Brewster was) or to take the fact that Brewster had probably just turned 16 a month earlier (if Jennings' claim of when the incident occurred is correct), it would be greatly appreciated. Does Ana Marie Cox or Media Matters have any evidence that Cox's claim that people wouldn't get upset about this happening to a girl if an "older man" was involved?
Media Matters just makes things up

Media Matters just makes things up

For their note: "Washington Times backtrack: Regardless of age, conversation "should have raised alarm""

Media Matters keeps on repeating that Fox News and the Washington Times lied about Brewster's age, the age of the boy who talked to Kevin Jennings about the man that he met in a bus station bathroom and had sex with. The media had reported that the boy was 15 years old, but Fox News and the Washington Times didn't make up this number. They got it from Kevin Jenning's own statement. For some reason Media Matters in all their attacks on Fox News and the Washington Times seem to have missed mentioning that one fact. Kevin Jennings believed that Webster was 15 years of age and thus he believed that statutory rape had occurred and he hadn't responded appropriately. The question is what Media Matters thinks Jennings should have done if he believed Webster was 15. Obviously they don't think that he should have done anything if the sophomore was 16 years old.

UPDATE: By the way, Media Matters won't post comments that I have offered on their website.
Kevin Jennings "Links" Him To NAMBLA

Kevin Jennings "Links" Him To NAMBLA


Here is a detailed discussion of Harry Hay, who was a leader in the NAMBLA movement.

From the Washington Times on Sunday:

On Oct. 25, 1997, at a conference for the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, Mr. Jennings stated, "One of the people that's always inspired me is Harry Hay." The late Hay was a "gay-rights" activist most notorious for supporting the North American Man Boy Love Association. In 1983, speaking in support of NAMBLA, Hay claimed: "[I]f the parents and friends of gays are truly friends of gays, they would know from their gay kids that the relationship with an older man is precisely what 13-, 14-, and 15-year-old kids need more than anything else in the world." . . .


Hannity and Stephanopoulos debate Jennings here.
Kevin Jennings raised in White House Press Briefing

Kevin Jennings raised in White House Press Briefing

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs
October 5, 2009

Q: Robert, The Washington Times editorial headline, "Obama's lewd schools czar." Your response?

MR. GIBBS: I think -- I don't have anything on that right now.

Q: Is the President unconcerned about Kevin Jennings' salute of Harry Hay, who publicly praised NAMBLA?

MR. GIBBS: I'm happy to talk to you about this. I don't have anything on this right now.

David.


Press Briefing by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs
October 1, 2009

Q: On a different subject, the right went after Van Jones for statements that he had made in the past. He lost a job. This guy Yosi Sergant at the National Endowment of the Arts was their next target. He lost his job. Now conservatives are going after Kevin Jennings at the Department of Education for what they say is, I don't know, facilitating -- I can't tell what it was -- but anyway, something bad. (Laughter.) It was facilitating statutory rape. And I'm wondering, first of all, if you guys -- are you aware of this latest campaign? Do you have anything substantive to say about what they are saying about this guy, Kevin Jennings, and when does -- what do you think of this hop-scotching from appointment -- Obama appointment to Obama appointment?

MR. GIBBS: Well, I think the Department of Education had a statement on this. I would point you to that. I think there are many good people from every political persuasion that seek to serve their country and serve in government. I think it's a sacrifice, but one that people do voluntarily because they love their country.

I think it's a shame to watch what they do -- I think it's a shame -- I hope that as people watch, they'll match up some of the actual truth to what is being said on some of these occasions and start to provide a little reality check to some of what's going on.
Kevin Jennings' inconsistencies pile up

Kevin Jennings' inconsistencies pile up

Obama's elusive 'safe schools czar': Kevin Jennings' inconsistencies pile up

Kevin Jennings hasn't come clean. There are still many unanswered questions about how he handled a high-school sophomore who he said confessed to a homosexual relationship with an older man.

On Friday, Brewster came forward and gave a statement to Media Matters, a group with clear partisan ties to Democrats, in which the former student corrected Mr. Jennings' statement of his age and denied any sexual relationship. That, CNN and the Obama administration claim, is the end of the controversy.

Hardly.

The new information creates as many questions as it answers. . . .
Was there a second student that Kevin Jennings gave bad advice to?

Was there a second student that Kevin Jennings gave bad advice to?

The Washington Times has a very long piece on Kevin Jennings that starts this way.

The Obama administration isn't adequately vetting important presidential appointees. When it was exposed that former "green jobs czar" Van Jones believed in crazy conspiracies about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, it was questionable whether anyone had even bothered to Google individuals before they received presidential appointments. In that case, the White House strategy was to refuse to answer questions and hope interest faded away. That approach worked for most of the media, which carried water for President Obama's scandal-plagued pick. Stonewalling scandal is not what Americans were expecting from an administration that promised to usher in an "unprecedented level of openness in government." Instead, a pattern of presidential obfuscation is developing.

For more than a 1 1/2 weeks now, The Washington Times has tried unsuccessfully to get the Obama administration to answer questions about the controversies surrounding Kevin Jennings, the president's "safe schools czar." On Wednesday, Mr. Jennings released a five-sentence statement regarding his knowledge about the sexual abuse of a high school sophomore named Brewster when he was a teacher at the teenager's school. After repeated denials and backpedaling, Mr. Jennings finally halfheartedly admitted this week that perhaps covering up sex between an adult and a high school student might not have been totally appropriate. "I can see how I should have handled this situation differently," he said.

This week's meager statement answered no important questions . . . .


This is how the press at the White House briefing asked about the Kevin Jennings case. This is the extremely weak, almost apologetic, questioning that Robert Gibbs got this last week on the Jennings case.

Q On a different subject, the right went after Van Jones for statements that he had made in the past. He lost a job. This guy Yosi Sergant at the National Endowment of the Arts was their next target. He lost his job. Now conservatives are going after Kevin Jennings at the Department of Education for what they say is, I don't know, facilitating -- I can't tell what it was -- but anyway, something bad. (Laughter.) It was facilitating statutory rape. And I'm wondering, first of all, if you guys -- are you aware of this latest campaign? Do you have anything substantive to say about what they are saying about this guy, Kevin Jennings, and when does -- what do you think of this hop-scotching from appointment -- Obama appointment to Obama appointment?

MR. GIBBS: Well, I think the Department of Education had a statement on this. I would point you to that. I think there are many good people from every political persuasion that seek to serve their country and serve in government. I think it's a sacrifice, but one that people do voluntarily because they love their country.

I think it's a shame to watch what they do -- I think it's a shame -- I hope that as people watch, they'll match up some of the actual truth to what is being said on some of these occasions and start to provide a little reality check to some of what's going on.

Q But some in your camp would say that it's -- the White House has the power to stop it simply by no longer pushing these guys out of their positions. Is there any truth to that?

MR. GIBBS: I think in previous occasions that you mentioned are people that resigned on their own volition. . . . .
Kevin Jennings admits that he knew about 15-year-old boy's sexual relationship with older man and did nothing to report or stop it

Kevin Jennings admits that he knew about 15-year-old boy's sexual relationship with older man and did nothing to report or stop it

Jennings released this statement on Wednesday afternoon.

“Twenty one years later I can see how I should have handled this situation differently. I should have asked for more information and consulted legal or medical authorities. Teachers back then had little training or guidance about this kind of thing. All teachers should have a basic level of preparedness. I would like to see the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools play a bigger role in helping to prepare teachers.”

-Kevin Jennings, Assistant Deputy Secretary, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools

Education Secretary Arne Duncan also released a statement. Read it below:

"Kevin Jennings has dedicated his professional career to promoting school safety. He is uniquely qualified for his job and I am honored to have him on our team."

-Arne Duncan, Education Secretary


From ABC's Jake Trapper:

That Jennings knew of a sexually active 15-year-old, of any gender, involved with “an older man” and didn’t take steps to report that relationship to the student’s parents or to authorities has made him a target for criticism -- long before he was put in charge of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools. . . . .
Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh talk about the Jennings case

Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh talk about the Jennings case



Sean Hannity: "As The Washington Times said, 'At the very least, statutory rape occurred,' and he didn't report it."

A partial transcript of Limbaugh's September 28th show (Italics are not in the transcript linked to here):
LIMBAUGH: Today the Washington Times has an editorial that has more news in it than most articles. A teacher -- remember, this is a one-year-old story -- well, yeah, about that. "A teacher was told by a 15-year-old high school sophomore that he was having homosexual sex with an older man. At the very least, statutory rape occurred. Fox News reported that the teacher violated a state law requiring that he report this abuse. That former teacher, Kevin Jennings, is President Obama's 'safe school czar.' "

Now, stick with me on this. "In this one case in which Kevin Jennings had a real chance to protect a young boy from a sexual predator, he not only failed to do what the law required, he actually encouraged the sophomore kid to continue having the relationship. According to Mr. Jennings' own description in an audiotape discovered by Fox News, the 15-year-old boy met the 'older man' in a 'bus station bathroom' was taken to the older man's home that night. When some details about the case became public, Mr. Jennings threatened to sue another teacher who called his failure to report the statutory rape 'unethical.' Mr. Jennings' defenders asserted there was no evidence he was aware the student had sex with the older man. However, the new audiotape contradicts his claim. In 2000, Mr. Jennings gave a talk to the Iowa chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, an advocacy group that promotes homosexuality in schools. On the tape, Kevin Jennings recollected that he told the student make sure to use a condom when he's with the older man. Then he actively encouraged the relationship. It is reinforced by Mr. Jennings' own description in his 1994 book, One Teacher in 10. In that account, the teacher boasts how he allayed the student's concerns about the relationship to such a degree that the 15-year-old" boy, quote, 'left my office with a smile on his face that I would see every time I saw him on campus for the next two years until he graduated,' " close quote.

He's now the safe school czar. Kevin Jennings is now Obama's safe school czar. And this story is actually a year old. It came out last year when he was appointed czar, but it got very little attention. And the Sweetness and Light.com has a link to audio MP3 of his comments about statutory rape, the bottom of the piece. So if you wonder why the libs are really ticked off that Roman Polanski might be extradited to face the music on that long-ago act with the 13-year-old girl, Quaaludes and rape, understand that Obama's safe schools czar is a guy promoting homosexuality in the schools and encouraged a 15-year-old kid to have a homosexual relationship with an older man, and even facilitated it.
What news coverage would Kevin Jennings be getting if he were a Republican?

What news coverage would Kevin Jennings be getting if he were a Republican?

Sex scandal double standard: What if Kevin Jennings were a Republican?

When Republican Rep. Mark Foley was caught chasing congressional pages, he got exactly what was coming to him. In a blizzard of coverage (1,400 stories, according to Google news), Mr. Foley's creepy behavior was examined from every possible angle. Nobody wanted to hear that the congressman's stupid and objectionable behavior was confined to e-mails and text messages. His immediate resignation didn't quiet the furor. When two years of investigations found no crime, the results got barely a peep.

Whether the press feeding frenzy around Mr. Foley's disgrace was justified or not, the explosion of coverage was certainly understandable, even predictable. That reality is what makes coverage of Kevin Jennings, President Obama's "safe school czar" something of a mystery.

Mr. Jennings brings all the sleaze of Mr. Foley. Sex and the underaged? Check. An older man? Check. Potential misbehavior by a government official? Check. . . .
A real problem with Obama's "Safe School Czar"

A real problem with Obama's "Safe School Czar"

"At the president's pleasure: 'Safe school czar' encouraged child sex with an older man"

A teacher was told by a 15-year-old high school sophomore that he was having homosexual sex with an "older man." At the very least, statutory rape occurred. Fox News reported that the teacher violated a state law requiring that he report the abuse. That former teacher, Kevin Jennings, is President Obama's "safe school czar." It's getting hard to keep track of all of this president's problematic appointments. Clearly, the process for vetting White House employees has broken down.

In this one case in which Mr. Jennings had a real chance to protect a young boy from a sexual predator, he not only failed to do what the law required but actually encouraged the relationship.

According to Mr. Jennings' own description in a new audiotape discovered by Fox News, the 15-year-old boy met the "older man" in a "bus station bathroom" and was taken to the older man's home that night. When some details about the case became public, Mr. Jennings threatened to sue another teacher who called his failure to report the statutory rape "unethical." Mr. Jennings' defenders asserted that there was no evidence that he was aware the student had sex with the older man.

However, the new audiotape contradicts this claim. . . . .
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)