Something Is Seriously Wrong In Tennessee: School Board Member Fesses Up To "Good Ole Boys", Violence And Murder!

"They leave, forced to shut up, or are killed."

Just'a good ol' boys

Never meanin' no harm.

Beats all you never saw

Been in trouble with the law

Since the day they was born 

Staightnin' the curves

Flatnin the hills

Someday the mountain might get 'em

But the law never will 

lyrics - theme song - The Dukes Of Hazzard 

Daniel Thornton, a member of the Haywood County School District in Brownsville Tennessee has sent the most disturbing email to petitioners of the Dorothy Bond affair: an email so chilling that it may make him a target for the "good ole boy" network that he fears. 

Backtrack: last week, Wayne Besen and Truth Wins Out called for the termination of high school principal Dorothy Bond who warned gay students that they were "not in God's path." Although Bond resigned within hours of the fracas, the petition went through to members of the school board. The following was the email response Daniel Thornton sent to Truth Wins Out and other petitioners:

Mr. _____, Thank you for your email. I appreciate you taking the time to write about your concerns. Unfortunately, I don’t believe anything else will be done. Haywood County, Tennessee has many issues bigger than this and they haven’t been dealt with either. The good ole boy system is alive and well in our community and has created haven for the select to operate. Several have tried for a long time. They leave, forced to shut up, or are killed. I wanted to respond to your email so that you know it was received. I also wanted to give you more insight into our community.

Respectfully,
Daniel Thornton

The possibility of a hoax via hacked email exists, but so far, Thornton hasn't spoken out about it. I spoke with Wayne Besen, the recipient of the email, who feels that the email is genuine.

Nevertheless, "They leave, forced to shut up, or are killed" is too strong to be dismissed.* The shocking sentiment is there: Haywood County is still stuck in the violent era of blatant, violent racism and bigotry fueled by Right Wing Christof*scism.

"Every Child, Every Teacher, Every Community Deserves Excellence"

(motto on the Haywood County School District website)

Then again, Haywood still reflects much of what we have seen in Tennessee in the past months regarding gay teens and bullying: from the "Can't Say Gay" bill to a proposed bill protecting bullying on religious grounds, Tennessee has held its head high in bigotry. And while the teen suicide rate in Tennessee is (slightly) on the decline, the efforts of religious groups to keep "gay" out of the classroom are still virulent enough to overturn any inroads made in suicide prevention.




Beyond Gay Teen Suicide and Bullying
The Thornton email goes beyond the issue of teen suicide, bullying or overly righteous principals: the "good ole boy" network seems to be alive a well and such a network always impact a good many community areas. The subjects of racism and rampant political cronyism are definitely on the table. What further stories lay in the background, shading Haywood County's past are likely to make the County look more like a scene from "Deliverance" than from The Dukes of Hazzard. The implications of the email are no comedy.

The "good ole boy" network has national political implications as well: we all knew it was part and parcel of the George Bush legacy. And certainly know that New Gingrich is part of such a network: the network has been a substantial part of the GOP for more than half a decade. The extent to which is has been weakened may simply distract us and lull us to thinking that it no longer exists.

Tennessee has shown us that it exists. Maybe just as violently as it ever has. Which brings us to the man of the moment: Daniel Thornton. Research shows him to be a local realtor with a probable family history (the local airport is named Thornton Airport). Beyond that, who he is and if he indeed wrote the (now infamous) email will come to light within the next hours. Has he put his life and life of his family at risk?

Only Tennessee knows.

*If it hasn't already gone viral, hopefully, this article will help it to.

Homoerotic Pics By A Homophobic Self-styled "Youth Analyst": Why Catching Hypocrites Is Sooo Sweet!

Truth Wins Out Wayne Besen's latest discovery is a pip! Former "Youth Analyst" for Exodus International (the ex-gay "pray away the gay" group), Michael Ensley, is now a photographer in Orlando, Fla with a penchant for homoeroticism like you wouldn't believe!


This is why I like exposing hypocrites, because he really deserves an outing: while in his job at Exodus, he told parents to "distance" themselves from their children and to eschew legitimate therapy for Exodus, where everything would be made right with God. The crock of BS never stops overflowing with people like Ensley. 

George Rekers Vs The Nashville Flood: The Media's Decisions

Which is more important? 

We all have our passions ...

and they must be made known.

Anderson Cooper has HUMANITY. Janet Porter hawks DOMINION over everything,   Lou Engle SANCTIONS UGANDA and Tony Perkins' favorite words are CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION. With me, it's HYPOCRISY.

But on his CNN program, Anderson Cooper 360,  taught me a valuable lesson: good journalism concentrates on the truly important things. At times, those things may seem frivolous, even salacious, but they are important for people to know.

As I watched his fervor in relating what the city of Nashville was going through and the determination of its people to immediately help one another to recuperate and rebuild, I realized that he was doing what he believed should be done: tell the rest of us about the whole story no matter how horrendous or tragic, mawkish or even numbing it may seem. By now, everyone knows that Cooper loves being in the middle of the conflict or disaster: his coverage of Haiti continues even though some news sources have dropped it all together. Cooper's coverage, however, does not go for the sensational, but instead earnestly attempts the real. 

I covered the George Rekers scandal from the moment I read Wayne Besen's account. Wayne's report came immediately after the Miami New Times piece (within one hour, actually) and I submitted mine to OpEdNews within the next several hours. I looked anxiously for any other news sources. Over a period of 24 hours, I found only Joe  Jervis   (Joe.My.God), Alvin McEwen (Huffington Post), and Stephen Colbert. The Miami New Times gave updates, followed immediately by first-hand interviews by Joe  Jervis. I waited another 12 hours and discovered Jay Leno, Craig Ferguson, Rachel Maddow, and Joy Behar along with continuing updates by Besen and Jervis  upon which I wrote another piece and submitted it to OpEdNews. However, I was getting frustrated. I must have googled "George Alan Rekers" a thousand times in 24 hours, almost always coming up with nothing (yes, there was a small interview with the gay online magazine, Unzipped, but it wasn't publicized very well) Then I found out that Rekers' rentboy, Julien, acquiesed to an interview on Anderson Cooper 360. 

I was definitely anxious to see how the scandal and the rentboy would be treated. I was not let down: the story was told in a very straightforward manner, Julien was treated with respect and Cooper's ending included the formal statement by the Family Research Council. Yes, it was fair and balanced (ahem). 

Watching CNN's other stories impacted me in a way I had not expected: Cooper and CNN gave as much time and attention to Rekers' story as they did to the looming epidemic in Haiti and the murder of UVA student Yardley Love. And while the reporting was done in several different styles (Julien's interview was with CNN's Randi Kaye), each report was given its own impetus ... and its own stature among the rest. The message was clear: this was an IMPORTANT story and people should know about it. The focus was not placed entirely on Julien. That would have been too tempting for any other newscast; instead, the focus was on Rekers and his hypocrisy. 

And here I thought that only a few investigators and late-night comics considered it newsworthy.

Of course, other people (namely people like Tony Perkins and James Dobson) will put down CNN and Cooper because they consider anyone placing them in a bad light (or under a microscope) to be "anti-Christian." Janet Porter will point out that it's another reason  why America's Christian community should have "dominion" over the media. Lou Engles will try to blame Julien and all gays. And Pat Robertson will say, well, ah, something stupid.

Joe Jervis thought that CNN's coverage of the scandal (including Lucien's interview) was a disappointment and that Rachel Maddow's comments rocked. I liked both: Cooper 's job was to present the news while Maddow's job was to analyze the news and comment on it. 

Inmany case, the story is now "world class" thanks to sound investigative reporting. BTW, FOX "News" has not covered it. Go ahead and google it. Go to Fox's website and search. Unless it has done something between the time that I'm writing and the time you're reading, I'll venture a guess that you will find ... nothing. 

It doesn't matter, really. You know that FOX will end it with their (now) ubiquitous, but lame piece of political philosophy: "Blame Obama."

Just a thought.