Wednesday, February 05, 2014

We connect, you decide

Shamelessly "borrowed" from Wonkette

So, this happened (picked up on January 7, as you see, by a mainstream news outlet; or not):

The Girl Scouts of America tweeted a link last month to a Huffington Post article and video panel discussion that praises pro-abortion politician Wendy Davis (D-Texas.)

The Girl Scouts of America tweet on Dec. 18 says, “Is there anyone you’d add to this list? Incredible Ladies Who Should Be Women Of The Year For 2013

The label "pro-abortion" is your first clue as to that news outlet's interests.  However, to be fair, the article does note that the GSA said this was not an endorsement of Ms. Davis' candidacy for governor:  


CNSNews.com contacted the Girl Scouts of America (GSUSA) for comment on their tweet and received this response from Kelly M. Parisi, “Our tweet simply asked our followers to share their opinion about what women should be included in a discussion about women in 2013 initiated by HuffPost Live.  Girl Scouts has not endorsed any politicians. Additionally, in the page we linked to, included is a second hand link.

“Our Twitter bio states that a retweet does not equal an endorsement. Our sharing a link was not to endorse any of the women featured, but to highlight the source's acknowledgement of women who made a mark in 2013. The title of the article was not created by GSUSA, but by the source.

“As the world’s premiere leadership organization for girls, we are charged with developing girls of courage, confidence and character.  We hope that all girls have the courage to make the their voices heard and welcome respectful discourse about what qualities a woman of the year should have.”

But still, the meaning was clear:



Anti-abortion groups angry over what they see as the Girl Scouts' support for abortion-rights advocates, including Democratic Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis, have launched a cookie boycott.

The groups have taken issue with tweets and Facebook postings that link to articles recognizing Davis, who shot to political stardom last year with a filibuster of abortion limits, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, another Democrat who supports abortion rights.

"It's very clear that they are not citing any pro-life leaders with any praise, even though their official stand is they are not taking any position on abortion," said John Pisciotta, director of Pro-Life Waco and organizer of the so-called CookieCott 2014.

But that was reported by ABC on February 4; as usual, the lamestream media was several days late to the party.  ThinkProgress had the story on January 30:


“We’re asking you to boycott Girl Scout cookies in 2014,” reads a new site dedicated to the boycott, explaining that Davis should not be lifted up as a “worthy role model for our children.” The same accusation is being leveled against the group in regard to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who was included in a different news article about influential U.S. women that the Girl Scouts shared on its Facebook page.

The controversy has been building for several weeks. At the beginning of this month, Fox News’ Megyn Kelly hosted a panel discussion about the organization’s tweet. Panelists suggested that sharing any material related to Davis violates the Girl Scouts’ policy to remain uninvolved in politics.


And yes, there was a Fox News connection; they picked up on this as soon as two weeks after the tweet went out.  Apparently, so did others, because by February 2nd (via Southern Beale):


Authorities in Temecula say a man pulled a gun on a girl scout who was going door-to-door selling cookies Sunday.

The incident took place in the 31000 block of Strawberry Tree Lane.

Police responded to an assault with a deadly weapon call.

Officials said the victim, a minor, was selling cookies door-to-door when a resident opened his door and pointed a gun at the girl.

The scout’s father witnessed the alleged incident and called police.

Coincidence?

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