Look Who's Politicizing Bullying: Team Obama

April 24th, 2012 5:35 PM

Lee Hirsch, the liberal filmmaker who made the movie "Bully," proclaimed in the latest Metro Weekly magazine "I don't like bullying being a politicized issue. I don't want right-wing people that look for any platform they can to be anti-gay a reason to not teach their kids to be empathetic. We need to get to the kids before the hate comes in."

If you believe that, you're not reading enough. Over at the "Bully Movie" Twitter page, they're delighted not only that they held a special White House screening of "Bully" and panel discussion with Team Obama, but also that Obama has now endorsed Al Franken's "Student Non-Discrimination Act," which would make bullying a federal court case.

"The real danger is how this will be interpreted," Neal McCluskey, associate director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the Cato Institute told Fox News. "The definition of harassment could be broadly interpreted that anybody who expressed a totally legitimate opinion about homosexual behavior could be made illegal. That's a violation of those kids who want to express opposition to LGBT opinions or behavior. People have a legitimate reason to be concerned about this -- not because they're 'haters' but because you're now trying to balance different rights."

Top Obama aide Valerie Jarrett issued a statement:

Earlier today, we screened BULLY at the White House.  We were joined by bullying prevention advocates from a range of communities – LGBT, AAPI, faith, disability, and others – as well as educational partners and key Obama Administration staff who work on these issues every day, including Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.  Before the film, a panel of nationally recognized experts on bullying prevention spoke from their perspectives about challenges and opportunities, and after the film, we heard from Lee Hirsch, the director and filmmaker, and several of the students and families who were directly impacted by bullying and intolerance and whose stories were featured in the film.

This film is a powerful call to action: We must do everything we can to work toward the day when no young person or family suffers the pain, agony, and loss caused by bulling in our schools and communities.

Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood mogul backing the “Bully” movie, boasted “The Obama administration sees a problem and acts swiftly. This is an incredible turn of events and shows that art can have a transcending effect. For all those families of the children who were lost, it's momentous to have the President and First Lady's support and gives them something to celebrate.”

Not that anyone’s “politicizing” bullying or anything.