As Twitchy reported a few days back, Washington Post opinion columnist Paul Waldman sent out an alert that right-wing sites were “universally” referring to the “Don’t Say Gay” bill as the “Anti-Groomer Bill,” using as an example a headline from The American Conservative that read, “Disney Goes Groomer.” Note that Waldman had no qualms referring to the Parental Rights in Education Bill as “Don’t Say Gay.” It’s true that conservatives have been pushing back against opponents of the now-law by calling them groomers. CNN’s Oliver Darcy has written that “it is difficult to ignore the QAnon factor at work.”
NRO fellow Nate Hochman warns conservatives against throwing the “groomer” word around because it makes us sound like the crazy ones:
Broadly speaking, left-wing teachers aren't "grooming" kids. Gender ideology in schools isn't the same thing as "pedophilia." The mainstreaming of these ideas on the Right is a great way to lose an otherwise very winnable culture war issue. It makes us sound like the crazy ones.
— Nate Hochman (@njhochman) April 5, 2022
The vast majority of the inappropriate sexual/gender identity instruction in schools is driven by ideology – a harmful, destructive ideology, to be sure, but an ideology that many people sincerely believe. Those people are wrong, but that doesn't mean they want to diddle kids
— Nate Hochman (@njhochman) April 5, 2022
David French posted a similar thread but also brought Donald Trump into it. You probably don’t remember CNN’s October surprise: the unearthing of Donald Trump in a Playboy video from the ’90s:
Scoop from @CNN's own @KFILE: Trump took Polaroids, interviewed models in 1994 Playboy video https://t.co/3fL0j4qTI5
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) October 5, 2016
“The scenes featuring Trump do not contain nudity or sexually explicit content,” but the story has apparently stuck with French, who brought another Playboy video into his argument:
The slinging of the word "groomer" or insinuations of sympathy for pedophilia by the same people who spent *years* stanning for the man who appeared in "Playboy Video Centerfold: Playmate 2000 Bernaola Twins" (and that might be the least worst thing he did) is just too much. /1
— David French (@DavidAFrench) April 5, 2022
I mean these guys relentlessly attacked folks who held Trump to the same standard they held Bill Clinton. The American Family Association even launched a petition against me because I said we should hold Trump to the same standards we held Clinton: /2 https://t.co/7jISoMgtsW
— David French (@DavidAFrench) April 5, 2022
Sign it! You can add your name to more than 66,000 others! And never forget this classic Federalist piece–from a Christian philosophy professor(!)–that actually contained this paragraph: /3 pic.twitter.com/MCJyoWjuac
— David French (@DavidAFrench) April 5, 2022
If that gets cut off, it’s about Roy Moore.
And most importantly, this dumbing-down of the term "grooming" is deeply harmful to actual victims of sexual predation. Grooming is a real thing, just ask the victims of one of the worst sexual abuse scandals you've never heard of: /4 https://t.co/MVXCRAEjoZ
— David French (@DavidAFrench) April 5, 2022
Redefining grooming and slinging false accusations of sympathy for pedophilia is pure malice. Blue checks doing it on this website know better, but lots of ordinary folks don't. They hear the words and apply their ordinary meaning. That's incredibly dangerous. /end
— David French (@DavidAFrench) April 5, 2022
So, what do you say? Should supporters of the Parental Rights in Education law stop casually calling their opponents “groomers”?
You know why the “groomer” tag sticks?
Because it’s TRUE.
— RBe (@RBPundit) April 5, 2022
You seem a little defensive.
— Stephe96 (@Stephe96) April 5, 2022
Predictable comment
— alf cengia (@alcengia) April 5, 2022
Typical David French take.
1) Identify an important issue for conservatives.
2) Find conservatives on this issue who may not be 100% logically consistent
3) Ignore issue
4) "We should really be focusing on why some conservatives aren't 100% consistent!"— King Jehu (@KingJehu10) April 5, 2022
I never stanned for him. I think the insinuations of sympathy for pedophilia have merit. Paradigm broken.
— J. Chase Davis (@jchasedavis) April 5, 2022
Salon, Slate, and USA Today have all published pieces trying to normalize pedophilia as just another sexual orientation that doesn’t necessarily make one a bad person.
Methinks thou protest too much.
— Soused Sunrise (@sousedsunrise) April 5, 2022
It’s extremely telling that your focus is this aspect of the discourse and not, ya know, protecting children from inappropriate sexualized material & contents.
It’s like your true priority is flaunting your “hey I’m a moderate!”bona fides – not actually what is best for kids.
— Matt Bilinsky (@mattbilinsky) April 5, 2022
Ok, nuanced groomer
— Dennis Jordan (@DennisMJordan) April 5, 2022
You’re not wrong. But it’s also true that your “nothing to see here,” centrism is so pitch perfect as to be off key.
— John O’Connor (@o_connorisme) April 5, 2022
Did I miss you publicly denounce the left for calling it the “don’t say gay” bill or is it only conservative hyperbole you find distasteful?
— Nicolás (@ApellidoNicolas) April 5, 2022
Do you have any views on social issues that don’t amount to “but Trump”?
— Bill Zeiser (@BillZeiser) April 5, 2022
So because people didn't call out Trump they no longer have the moral authority to call out the sexual indoctrination of students by teachers and guidance counselors? You seem to be upset by the wrong thing and at the wrong people.
— Scott (@flippytimebomb) April 5, 2022
Pedophilia might be bad and all but what about mean tweets?
— RDub 🇺🇸 (@RBoxer74) April 5, 2022
This is a definitional example of a genetic fallacy.
— Mostly Peaceful Neighbor (@aeknipe) April 5, 2022
Too much? Is it more or less than the dude who spent years attacking the morals of the man who appeared in a Playboy video now suddenly finding nuance in kids' drag queen story hour and corps and teachers who want to talk sex with six-year-olds? Is that too much too, or nah?
— Ipso Fuckto (@WalterS45574617) April 5, 2022
Is this pedo-splaining? Just trying to play this label game correctly.
— Cloudy_Judgement 🏴☠️ Ð/₳ 💎 (@Cloudy_Judgemnt) April 5, 2022
Let’s face it: “OK, groomer” has the Left on defense, and they’re defending something that’s unpopular with most of the country.
Shorter David French:
"They're over the target! Repeat, they're over the target! Begin Operation Obfuscate! Begin Operation Obfuscate! And, quick, somebody, for the love of Baal, get some pants back on that kid!"
— Ipso Fuckto (@WalterS45574617) April 5, 2022
Does French follow @libsoftiktok we wonder? He should.
* * *
Update:
We said in another post that one of the emerging themes of the day on Twitter was to push back against the “groomer” label; we’ve done French, but here are a few more examples, all from today:
The hot new smear: everybody who disagrees with the GOP is a "groomer" now https://t.co/KVBpo7gYN5
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) April 5, 2022
It was bad enough when anyone who disagreed with your politics was a “racist” or “Nazi.”
Now, we’ve got people accusing others of being “pedophiles” if their politics don’t match.
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) April 5, 2022
I've got some things to say about the truly despicable "pro-pedophile" slander that has become a mainstream conservative talking point at the top of tonight's show.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) April 5, 2022
“Mainstream.”
Related:
Researcher finds that early grades are the best time to introduce gender identity before ‘cisnormative’ values become ingrained https://t.co/VDMQjzCa1I
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 2, 2022
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