I picked up on this story by way of Anonymous Liberal's excellent summary from last night. Apparently, the right-wing blogosphere is up in arms over the idea that Barack Obama would advocate answering kindergarteners' basic questions about sexual reproduction honestly and openly. The ABC article takes quite some time to get to the the substance of Obama's position: "to update Illinois' sex education standards with "medically accurate" information." It then goes on to state that he supports educating children about "inappropriate touching" – clearly the first step in identifying instances of child abuse. Of course, the article doesn't elaborate on the justification for that last position, but any reasonable and thoughtful person who read the whole article ought to have inferred that.
The idea that our teachers should lie to children about basic scientific facts could only arise from a movement that brought us such absurd things as the Creation Museum. Furthermore, the idea that so many bloggers stand against giving children the tools to prevent sexual abuse suggests either complete moral bankruptcy, or that many of them neither read nor understood the ABC article. And while I do not find the former possibility unfathomable, the nature of the right-wing blogosphere's "echo chamber" mentality suggests the latter to be the case.
The idea that our teachers should lie to children about basic scientific facts could only arise from a movement that brought us such absurd things as the Creation Museum. Furthermore, the idea that so many bloggers stand against giving children the tools to prevent sexual abuse suggests either complete moral bankruptcy, or that many of them neither read nor understood the ABC article. And while I do not find the former possibility unfathomable, the nature of the right-wing blogosphere's "echo chamber" mentality suggests the latter to be the case.
