Kevin Jennings To Critics: "You Completely Failed"

[Swede]

"Despite all of your lies, despite all of your attacks, we managed to galvanize a national campaign against bullying that culminated with the president himself convening a summit on it in the East Room of the White House, which he personally keynoted," he says. "So despite your best efforts to derail what I was brought here to do, we were able to bring an unprecedented level of attention and energy to fighting bullying in a way never before done in this country.

"So, in the end, anybody looking back over the last two years would have to conclude that it is a complete and total victory for us and a complete and total defeat for our opponents, because they tried to derail -- and they used defamation to try and derail the work I was brought here to do, and they completely failed to do so. They completely and totally failed. And I want them to know that."

Jennings isn't exaggerating when he refers to "defamation."

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201106170002

[Swede]

1. An interesting comment -

by CoolSlaw (June 17, 2011 6:42 pm ET)
You bring to mind another aspect of this story, and one that I think is overlooked and overshadowed by other recent and unfortunate incidents involving right wing media bullies.

Van Jones resigns early because of a continued smear campaign from Glenn Beck, and Shirley Sherrod is fired almost as soon as the Breitbart smear hits. NPR, Acorn and other organizations buckle under the pressure of targeted right wing smear campaigns, and in the end they never gain back what they lost. Just like a schoolyard bully, giving in and showing weakness only makes them bolder.

On the other hand, Planned Parenthood and Kevin Jennings are examples of those who not did give in and quit when the right wing attack machine was aimed at them. They have persevered in the face of some of the most ugly false allegations and elaborate misinformation campaigns in recent history.

Let this be a lesson to all of those who stand in the way of the radical right wing agenda of division and politics of personal destruction. If you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear. If you give in and acquiesce to try and end the attacks, it only enables and empowers them.