http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/bookman/index.html;COXnetJSessionID=172UyKmKDfFBulmTM2SHv2CCMNclipoXg6QTmOZn78lMK7rGIYzE!-1754280005?urac=n&urvf=10650557643290.04919195004482091Vitriol sullies Boy Scouts' 'patriotic rally'
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Unfortunately, something's gone awry in the Boy Scout movement I knew and loved. Last weekend, I went to a Scout fund-raiser in Lilburn billed as a patriotic "rally for America." It certainly had all the trappings of such an event, from a row of American flags across the stage to prerecorded patriotic music and polite, fresh-faced Boy Scouts, draped in merit badges.
In reality, though, this was a strident political rally, run by and for the Boy Scouts, in which the beliefs, patriotism and moral decency of roughly half the American people were considered fair game. That wasn't a surprise, though -- not when the evening's star attractions were syndicated columnist Ann Coulter and Fox News star Oliver North.
"The cowards and quislings of the Democratic Party have been exposed as the Neville Chamberlain of their day," Coulter said, setting the tone with her discussion of Iraq. "That will be the historic legacy of the Democratic Party. Apparently they think that's worth a warm handshake by Susan Sarandon."
Such rhetoric is hardly noteworthy in today's culture, but what made it sting was the fact that it came at an official Boy Scout event, with the Boy Scout emblem displayed prominently behind Coulter. Sitting in the audience, surrounded by cheering adults, I couldn't help wonder how the sons of "cowards and quislings" could possibly feel welcomed in the Northeast Georgia Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
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Coulter went on to say: "At the fund-raiser, Coulter addressed the issue with her usual tact, talking of gays as perverts wanting to lure little boys into the woods."
and North said: North also noted that he found gay Americans "personally offensive."
what gets me is that the boys in the audience were "surrounded by cheering adults."
do you feel sick yet?