Here’s some crazy news from Scott Swenson at RHReality Check:

Using membership dues paid in part by federal tax dollars, the National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA) hired the Washington, DC, public relations firm, Creative Response Concepts, best known for the 2004 "Swift Boat Veterans" ads against John Kerry, to launch a public relations effort supporting the failed and unpopular abstinence only education policies.

Whoa! Well, I guess when your programs fail and put teens at risk, you have to do something. As Earl Pike, executive director of the Cleveland-based AIDS Task Force, says in Swenson’s post: "It begs the question: If abstinence-only programs are actually effective in reducing long-term rates of sexually transmitted disease and unplanned pregnancy, why hire a PR firm to spin the message?"

Swenson thinks—and I agree—that the spin won’t be about promoting abstinence as much as it will be about attacking supporters of comprehensive sex education.

Specifically, the membership recruiting letter from NAEA outlines "unlimited legislative lobbying" and mobilization in "key Congressional Districts" as well as a "Rapid Response" initiative that is intended to "counter attack negative attacks on abstinence education". That last part makes one wonder if at one time a memo circulated outlining the Swift Boat ads as "rapid response to negative attacks on George Bush's military record", broadly interpreting "negative" as John Kerry simply discussing his exemplary service in Vietnam.

Never mind that advocating for silly things like the truth isn’t attacking abstinence-only education. It’s fighting for a sex education that’s honest and that works.

3 Comments

April 5, 2007 2:17 PM

[0+|0-]  Doug S. said:

Nitpick: It "raises" the question, not "begs" the question. "Begging the question" means to assume what you are trying to prove as one of your premises in your proof.

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April 5, 2007 5:30 PM

[0+|0-]  ccall said:

I agree, it seems like this outfit is who you call in when your own platform is failing...to smear the other side, truth be damned.

We should start seeing the inane distortion campaign this summer I would guess.

Thanks for the link to nomoremoney.org, I can't believe that over $1 billion has been funneled into abstinence-only in the past 10 years.

Coulda rebuilt 10,000 houses in New Orleans with $1 billion. Or done a zillion other things that would have produced *results*.

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April 6, 2007 10:02 AM

[0+|0-]  bean said:

Good week for the swift boaters, eh? One gets a recess appointment and others get a big new gig.

The losers in this one? Young women in America. But my sense is the swift boaters don't care who loses, so long as they win.

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