Hate group really mis-fired.

Blogger Scott Wooledge writes about the "Million Moms" publicity campaign to try to frighten J. C. Penny to fire Ellen DeGeneris from her newly appointed position as spokesperson for their company.   It backfired, big time.   Here's how Wooledge tells it: 

"The LGBT community owes a great big thanks to the 'One Million Moms' (actually, closer to 40,000) for launching the best LGBT-friendly public relations blitz the community has seen in ages, and battering Christian conservative's image in a way the LGBT community could never hope to do."

The 'Million Moms,' who are more like 40,000 Moms, is a subgroup of the American Family Association, which is listed as a 'hate groups' by Southern Christian Poverty Law Center.  The "MM" group sent out an alarm to 'family values' conservatives nationwide, stating:

'. . .  The majority of JC Penney shoppers will be offended and choose to no longer shop there. . . . JC Penney has made a poor decision and must correct their mistake fast to retain loyal customers and not turn away potential new, conservative shoppers with the company's new vision. . . .'

 Wooledge continues:

"The irony is rich in another part of their release: 'Unless JC Penney decides to be neutral in the culture war then their brand transformation will be unsuccessful.'  JCPenney can only demonstrate their 'neutrality' by firing Ellen for being gay? If that's neutral, what's gay-hostile? . . .

"[I]t was the absolute absurdity of casting the innocuous, likable, almost painfully inoffensive DeGeneres as some sort of radical warrior in the deviant homosexuals' nefarious plan to destroy all things wholesome and American that really made America stop, take notice for just a moment and say, "WTF are these crazy people talking about?! Ellen? They hate Ellen? Really?! Ellen?!" . . . 

"J. C. Penny CEO Ron Johnson . . . called it a 'no-brainer' and dismissed that there was even a controversy to be debated. The Moms couldn't have looked smaller or more irrelevant when Johnson said, "[W]e stand squarely behind Ellen as our spokesperson, and that's a great thing. Because she shares the same values that we do in our company. Our company was founded 110 years ago on The Golden Rule, which is about treating people fair and square, just like you would like to be treated yourself."

Bravo, J. C. Penny and CEO Johnson;  and BRAVA, Ellen !!!!

Ralph