Outraged Parents of Children Featured in Latest Yes on 8 TV Ad: Take Commercial Off Air Now

[Newsjock]

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/outraged-parents-children-featured-latest/story.aspx?guid=%7BF948DDB4-460C-4176-8910-F3235C5A1D84%7D&dist=hppr

Today, the parents of the two children most prominently featured in the latest multi-million dollar Yes on 8 political spot termed those ads "distasteful and exploitative" and demanded that the ads be taken off the air immediately. Both sets of parents -- Laura Hodder and Matt Alexander and Jen Press and James Moore -- sent two hand- delivered letters this morning. The first letter is to the Yes on 8 Campaign demanding the ad be removed from its television and its Web site where it is being used as a fund raising tool. The second letter to the San Francisco Chronicle asks them to intervene on their behalf. The Yes campaign manipulated video that the Chronicle has posted on its Web site.

In their letter to the Yes on 8 campaign, the parents wrote: "We are absolutely outraged that you have chosen, without permission, to shamelessly hijack the images of our innocent children to promote a cause that we in no way, shape or form support. It is even more maddening that you have willfully and calculatingly edited the images of our children, with menacing music in the background, in a way that is completely contrary to their nature and harmful to them."

The footage manipulated by the Yes campaign, without authorization from either the parents or the Chronicle, was originally captured on Oct. 10 when the children took a field trip with their classmates and several parents to share the moment of their teacher's wedding to her longtime partner. All parents were notified well in advance of the trip which was organized by some parents, and, in fact, two families chose to have their children not participate under California's broad opt out law.

"I'm a school principal so I know something about education and parents' rights," said Matt Alexander whose son, Ben, is featured in the ad. "And the opt out law is something we readily apply all the time. So, let me join every other educator in the state and ask Prop 8 to also stop lying about the opt out law."

[Ian David]

1. I fucking hate the "Yes on 8" chrisTo-fascist nazi scum god-washing their bigotry. n/t

[Ian David]

2. Let's videotape Mormon children going into church and use it for distasteful purposes. n/t

[Hekate]

3. KnR. That's monumentally disgusting and dishonest. I thought the ad used hired actors...

... not hijacked video from someone's happy occasion. Ew. Ew. Ew.

Hekate

[Richard Steele]

4. Fucking scumbags. GRRRecommended.

[ColbertWatcher]

5. The "Yes men" of the fundies haven't convinced everyone ...

... http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4311474&mesg_id=4311474

[tblue]

6. Good for those parents! I would've done the same thing.

Yes on 8 is mainly funded by the Mormon church in Utah. This is California, dammit. If we wanted to live under Mormon precepts, we'd move to fucking Utah!

A man who came into the Dem office today told me the Mormon church treats Mormon gays worse than trash. He told me he knew a gay Mormon man who committed suicide, it was so bad.

[barbtries]

7. i don't know if it's true

but i heard the other day that some people - apparently primarily mormons - were cleaning out their bank accounts to pay for these ads.

[Raster]

10. The mormon church has been clandestinely pumping money into just about every state campaign

the involves gay marriage. Millions and millions of tax-exempt dollars have gone to prevent gay marriage. It should also be noted that the mormon church was one of the big bank rollers of the anti-E.R.A. movement. Again, millions and millions of tax-exempt religious dollars were spent to influence politics. The mormon church has meddled in national politics FOR YEARS.

[Hepburn]

8. I live in California...and I FUCKING hate these YES on PROP 8 assholes.

I am female, a senior and straight...and for some reason, the YES assholes seem to think that automatically I would be on their side. I have blistered a few ears when approached. They truly are a bunch of bigoted, Nazi, homophobic jerks. Last I saw, the NO votes were ahead ~~ thank gawd. I hope to hell my progressive, normally blue state is not over run by the likes of the religious scum coming from out of state to screw around with our values. It is NO ONE's business but the two people involved when two consenting adults decided to get married. I could not care less if they are both of the same sex or opposite sex. It's THEIR business and not mine or anyone else's!

JMHO

[bbernardini]

9. Do you suppose this blunder will help the No on 8 folks?

If the media does its job, and enough normal, yet misguided people realize what nutjobs they may be aligning themselves with...