Profiling The Propagandist

The video above is about The Propagandist, a report released last week by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). It’s an in-depth investigation of Bryan Fisher, one of the most powerful people in the US’ anti-gay industry—despite his rabidly anti-gay and anti-Muslim rhetoric. Every major Republican presidential candidate appears on the radio show he hosts for the American “Family” Association, as does pretty much everyone who is anyone in rightwing politics in the US.

The profile of Fischer was written for the report by Idaho journalists Jody May-Chang and Jill Kuraitis, both of whom have closely followed Fischer's activities for many years. They present and in-depth look at his history from Idaho to his becoming a major rightwing political player in the US. (A PDF of the SPLC report can be downloaded from Jody May-Chang’s site, as can an audio file of the entire interview excerpted in the video above).

The report also looks at the American “Family” Association, categorised by the SPLC as an anti-gay hate group, and presents its hatred in its own words.

An added feature of the report is “10 Tall Tales Debunked”, in which the SPLC takes on the 10 myths the anti-gay industry uses to demonise gay people, and presents the truth and facts. Similarly, they point out the truth about anti-gay violence.

The SPLC has been especially active in recent months documenting the anti-gay industry’s methods, tactics and inter-connections, and this report fits right in with that. If truth and information really are power, then all of this may finally produce force sufficient to counter and balance the enormous power of the anti-gay industry.

However, that can’t happen until the mainstream newsmedia stops coddling the bigots and treating their lies and defamation as valid viewpoints. Those of us living in the reality-based world, where facts and truth matter, have quite awhile to wait for the level of discourse to be raised.