Garbage In, Garbage Out: The Lost Ogle Gets It Wrong

Rep. Sally Kern's remarks about homosexuals have spurred numerous attacks on her, including the false accusation that she has a gay son and today, a local blog titled "The Lost Ogle" perpetuates the lie by quoting an out-of-state blog that specializes in publishing garbage.

The assertion that Kern has a gay son surfaced in Oklahoma on the Democrats of Oklahoma Community Forum, http://www.demookie,com/, last week, when posters claimed a court document from Shawnee proved it and attempted to portray Kern as a hypocrite. The 19-year-old document, however, concerns a man who was an adult at the time and not Kern's son, who was not yet even a teenager in 1989, a check of the record (from the Oklahoma Supreme Court Network) shows.

To DemoOkie's credit, administrator Tim Reese finally checked into the assertion (as did TMRO and found it to be untrue) and essentially ended the string by reporting, "I think the OSCN.com link is a different one. I think Sally's son is Jessa A Kern , 31 from Shawnee. The OSCN Link is for a different Jesse Jacob Kern...." To Reese's discredit, he's the one who started the string in the first place by posting the assertion without checking it out.

In other words, a careless assumption that the record involved Kern's son, without determining it to be true, has resulted in a black eye not for Kern but for those who attack her and her family. ~ Mike McCarville

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