NOMAS Leader Kimmel Criticizes Men's Equality Conference, Calls Movement 'Whiners'

June 22, 2005

The promo for this week's His Side--"NOMAS Leader Kimmel Criticizes Men's Equality Conference, Calls Movement 'Wimps'"--is below. Author and sociologist Michael Kimmel, National Spokesperson for the National Organization for Men Against Sexism (NOMAS), is America's leading male feminist.

We invite you to call the show live at 1-800-439-4805 (lines open this Sunday from 5-6 PM PST).

For those who are outside of our radio stations' coverage ranges, you can listen to the show live this Sunday (6/26/05) via our station's excellent Internet stream at Listen Live. To find out where to listen to His Side with Glenn Sacks on the radio, click here.


My Opinion of Perry Manley's 'Suicide by Cop'

Many of you have written to me asking my opinion of Perry Manley's 'Suicide by Cop' Monday in Seattle. Manley, angry over a family court matter, entered the courthouse with what appeared to be a grenade. According to police, Manley refused to surrender or negotiate, and made a sudden move, after which police fired, killing him. The grenade turned out to be a fake--Manley was unarmed.

As for Manley's family court grievance, the facts, as far as I can ascertain them, are:

Manley divorced in 1990 from his wife, with whom he had 3 kids.

Manley claimed the child support system had treated him unfairly. I don't know if this is true, but it certainly is a common problem for divorced dads.

Manley claimed that his ex-wife interfered with his visitation with his kids and alienated them against him. Again, I don't know if this is true, but it certainly is a common problem.

Manley claimed that paying child support in and of itself was unconstitutional and a violation of his human rights. He made this his central issue, as opposed to the alleged violations of his custody and visitation rights.

Manley claimed that a judge who had ruled against him had violated the constitution in his dealings with him, thus violating his oath of office and committing "treason" which, Manley said, is punishable by death.

I have received many letters telling me that Manley is a hero, and even that I should honor him (or his memory) on my radio show this Sunday. I'll pass. Manley was unarmed, and that certainly counts in his favor, but his actions were reckless and needlessly put innocent civilians in harm's way. It served no constructive purpose but instead makes it easier for our many enemies to portray divorced dads as violent nuts.

While many divorced dads are abused by the child support system, it is unclear whether the child support demands upon Manley, who had three children in need of support, were unreasonable. Manley made child support, not his rights as a father, his central issue.

Had Manley done what David Chick did, I could support him. David Chick is a hero.  Gary LaMusga is a hero. Jolly Stansby and Ron Davis and Gary S. and Edgar P. and John Brumbaugh and Benoit Leroux are heroes. Manley may (or may not) have been a victim of a family law system which has torn millions of fathers and children apart. But either way there was nothing heroic about his actions this week.


The audio of  last week's His Side--Not the Era of the Deadbeat Dad but the Era of the Hero Father--can be heard by clicking here.


California Military Parents Assembly Judiciary Committee Unanimously

SB 1082, the military parents' bill, just passed the California Assembly Judiciary Committee unanimously.  The bill will help end the bureaucratic child support nightmare faced by many deployed reservists. To learn more about the bill, see my co-authored column California's Military Reservists Need SB 1082 (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 4/14/05).

In April the Sackson Horde helped jolt SB 1082 out of the California Senate Judiciary Committee. Thanks to all of you who supported our campaign, and special thanks to lobbyist Mike Robinson for his great work. I often receive letters from servicemen in Iraq and Afghanistan who are struggling with custody and child support issues.

 

New Column: 'Not the Era of the Deadbeat Dad but the Era of the Hero Father'

My new co-authored column "Not the Era of the Deadbeat Dad but the Era of the Hero Father" was published on Father's Day in the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram and the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star.  To comment on the article, write to the Star-Telegram concerning "Let's honor the 'hero father'" at letters@star-telegram.com and to the Free Lance-Star concerning Dads get a bad rap, but they can be heroes, too: Not the era of the deadbeat dad but the era of the hero father at letters@freelancestar.com.  


New Column: 'This Year Daddy Began a Comeback'

My new column, "This Year Daddy Began a Comeback" (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 6/19/05), discusses some of the progress the men's and fathers' movement has made over the past year. The Press-Enterprise is a 200,000 circulation newspaper in the greater Los Angeles area. To comment on the column, write to the Press-Enterprise concerning Fathers 4 Justice: Progress for dads at letters@pe.com.


His Side with Glenn Sacks on CBS News Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood

CBS News Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood did a nice Father's Day special on father bashing in TV sitcoms and advertising. CBS showed live footage of my June 12 broadcast, an in-studio interview with me, and brief clips of my children. We discussed the His Side Campaign Against Anti-Father Verizon Commercial and the way children's books such as the Berenstein Bears series portray fathers as idiots. To watch the video, click here.  To comment on the show, write to sundays@cbsnews.com.

The CBS piece featured some excellent commentary from Warren Farrell, author of Father and Child Reunion, who noted that were aliens from another planet to view our TV shows, they would come away with the impression that fathers are a roadblock that children must overcome. Arianna Huffington also made an appearance and contradicted my assertion that men are bashed on TV in part because it is not socially acceptable to criticize women. Huffington said that we shouldn't be unhappy because it's only TV.

The show also highlighted a perfect example of the problem--Alan Kirschenbaum, Executive Producer of CBS' Yes, Dear, and one of the directors of Everybody Loves Raymond. Describing dads past and present, Kirschenbaum said "we don't want to be fathers like our fathers were--very quick to not bear any responsibility for raising their kids, always off doing what they wanted to do instead." Kirschenbaum said modern fathers are different--that we want to father for about 20 minutes and then hand the kids off to our overworked wives and go off and play.

As one could tell from listening to Sunday's His Side, the trashing of fathers of previous generations is one of my pet peeves. I defended the "old" father in my column Hate My Father?  No Ma'am! (World Net Daily, 4/8/02).


Glenn, Ned Holstein Spar with NOW leader on NPR

Ned Holstein of Fathers & Families of Massachusetts and I debated Terri O'Neill, vice president of membership for the National Organization for Women, and law professor David Meyer on NPR's AirTalk with Larry Mantle on Friday, June 17. To listen to the audio archive of the show, click here.

Some of you may recall that I debated O'Neill on the Kobe Bryant trial in the San Francisco Chronicle last summer--see my column Kobe Bryant Ruling a Step Towards Equity in Rape Trials as well as O'Neill's co-authored Survivors must not be twice victimized.

The best part of the show was when Ned defended shared parenting, saying "ask a 6 year-old which parent they don't want to see for a month and they'll be terrified."

O'Neill threw out whopper after whopper on the show but there was little opportunity to respond. At one point she claimed that 37% of women's emergency room visits were due to domestic assaults by their husbands or male intimates. I wanted but did not get the chance to inform her that, according to the Centers for Disease Control, less than 1% of women's emergency room visits are due to domestic violence, and that more visits are due to animal bites than male violence.


Glenn Appears on the Paul Coughlin Show

I appeared on the Paul Coughlin Show on KDOV in Southern Oregon on Wednesday, June 22. Paul is the author of the new book No More Christian Nice Guy.


Will I See You at the Men's Equality Conference 2005?

I will be speaking at the 2005 Men's Equality Conference July 15 and 16 in Washington D.C.--to attend, click here. Also speaking will be Warren Farrell, Stephen Baskerville, Jack Kammer, Carnell Smith, and Dave Burroughs.  The 2005 Men's Equality Conference will be held 3 blocks from the US capitol.  For more information, visit www.TrueEquality.com.

Last year's conference was exceptionally well-done. My speech to the conference last year was The Future of the American Father.


Family law attorney Peter Walzer was one of the heroes of our successful campaign to save the crucial LaMusga decision last summer. Peter specializes exclusively in Family Law and handles Marital Dissolution, Spousal and Child Support, Custody and Visitation, Tax Issues in Marital Dissolutions, Interstate and International Family Law Disputes, Bankruptcy and Divorce, and Paternity.

Walzer is a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and is the past president of the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists. He takes a proactive role in each of his cases to handle the matter in the most cost effective and efficient way to better serve his clients. He can be reached at 818-591-3700 or at www.California-Divorce.com.

David R. Burroughs, President of Fairhill Financial Services LLC, has been offering guidance to individual investors for 18 years. Dave specializes in working with individuals to develop a comprehensive investment plan that meets their short-term needs while building a nest egg for the future. He prides himself in providing personal service to his clients which includes ensuring clients know all the pluses and minuses of the investment options available to them. If you're looking to invest and you need a source for stocks, bonds or mutual funds, Dave Burroughs can be reached at 410-392-8244 or via his website here.
Securities and advisory services offered through Commonwealth Financial Network, Member NASD, SIPC. A registered investment advisor.

The Coalition of Fathers and Families of New York is leading the fight for fathers in New York state. Go to www.fafny.org or contact FaFNY VP Mr. Randall L. Dickinson at Dickins895@aol.com  / (518) 899-3302 or FaFNY coordinator Debbie Fellows at DAFellows2001@yahoo.com / (518) 381 6948.

 

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As always, all information about the show can be found at HisSide.com. I welcome your comments and suggestions.

Best Wishes,
Glenn Sacks
Listen to His Side with Glenn Sacks
GlennSacks.com

 

NOMAS Leader Kimmel Criticizes Men's Equality Conference, Calls Movement 'Whiners'

Sponsors of the 2005 Men's Equality Conference, to be held July 15 and 16 in Washington D.C., believe that males are often disadvantaged, and that feminism is part of the problem. Among the grievances cited by the conference are unfairness or inequity in Family Courts, Education, Health, Domestic Violence policies, Paternity Fraud, Criminal Law, and in Reproductive Rights.

 

Author and sociologist Michael Kimmel, National Spokesperson for the pro-feminist men's group the National Organization for Men Against Sexism (NOMAS), disagrees, to put it mildly. In his book Manhood in America Kimmel, America's leading male feminist, calls the men's movement "whiners." According to Kimmel:

 

"Fathers' rights groups use a language of equality to take their revenge against women to court, to demand mandatory joint custody without demonstration of father's prior involvement. Most advocates of men's and fathers' rights are disgruntled and divorced dads who blame their wives and their wives' lawyers..."

 

Kimmel says the men's movement analysis of gender issues is "so misguided, its inversions so transparent, its anger is displaced onto those who have traditionally been excluded, that it can hardly offer any man of reason a convincing picture of men's situation." To Kimmel, those who assert that the tables have been turned against men in the gender wars are looking at the world "through a funhouse mirror."

Kimmel will join Glenn on His Side with Glenn Sacks on Sunday, June 26 at 5 PM PST/8 PM EST.  For those who are outside of our radio stations' coverage ranges, you can listen to the show live via our station's excellent Internet stream at Listen Live.  

You can call the show and join the discussion in progress at 1-800-439-4805 (lines open this Sunday from 5-6 PM PST).

To learn more, see:

His Side with Glenn Sacks can be heard on WSNR AM 620 in New York City and North-Eastern New Jersey, and on WWZN AM 1510 in Boston on Sundays at 10 PM EST. The show can also be heard in Southern California on KTIE AM 590 at 5 PM PST. To listen live via the Internet from anywhere in the world, go to Listen Live. Both radio and Internet listeners are encouraged to call and participate in the show live and on the air at 1-800-439-4805 (lines open Sundays from 5-6PM PST).

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