They also put fluoride in the cookies

source: http://earlgrayscale.tumblr.com/post/5685924922/soviet-era-girl-scouts-youll-buy-the-cookies-if

Bob Morris, Indiana Lawmaker, Calls Girl Scouts A 'Radicalized Organization' (VIDEO)

This guy Morris also claims that Girl Scout role models are all "feminists, lesbians, or Communists"....this might come as a surprise to the overwelmingly vast majority of women (and men) involved with the Girl Scouts who are none of the above.  That said, if a (quite liberal) friend of mine who once worked at a Girl Scout Summer camp is to be trusted (she is), than at least two of those labels could have been accurately applied to any number of her co-counselors and staffers at the time (ten + years ago).

None of that bothers me in the slightest. Being a lesbian, Communist, or feminist doesn't disqualify anyone from being a good person, role model or leader, imho, although that's clearly a point of view not shared by Mr. Morris.

I was a Boy Scout for years (Life Scout, Order of the Arrow), summer camp counselor and then a youth leader. I eventually grew away from Scouting; after the response I witnessed by many Scouters towards a young friend of mine who'd been fondled in his sleep by a respected adult, I soured on the program altogether. For the record, the perpetrator was a loud and proud, macho-acting, ostensibly heterosexual Republican.

Which means diddly-squat, really, except that political beliefs and views on gender and/or sexuality are not the ultimate definition of character. Again, not a particularly unique point of view, but there are many who would vehemently disagree.

One weird note, Morris said he plans to withdraw his two girls from Girl Scouts, which makes me wonder why he hadn't done that already before going public with his views.  I'm not judging Morris nor the GS; the latter is a private organization and they can do what they want. Ditto Mr. Morris. I'm sure there are plenty of groups which are stridently anti-left and thoroughly straight for him to choose from.

Anyway, this is my simplified take on the issue, with a small apology if I come across as preachy or self-righteous. The latter isn't my intention; I'm not trying to convince anybody of anything. It's just that as these Santorum-types continue to capture a national audience and make their stand, I feel compelled to come down on one side or the other.

A Girl Scout response to Morris.

On a related note, which just goes to show no organization is perfect, A Wisconsin volunteer Girl Scout leader was given the boot because of her affiliation with a "goth" website called "Wisconsin Sickness"....a site dealing with the darker side of the state with an interest in its serial killers, crime, cannibalism....not your usual cookies and camping, in other words.  So maybe Morris can rest easy after all.  Her removal comes after the complaints of some squeamish soccer moms whose tolerance for the dark side is just about zero.  Not exactly the commie lesbo men-haters Morris is on about, eh?