Topic: WorldNetDaily
In his May 2 screed, WorldNetDaily managing editor David Kupelian lists among the things we "could expect" in the "toxic cultural/governmental environment" that would flourish should Hillary Clinton -- "the queen of darkness" -- be elected president: "Or maybe more 'bug-chasing' – that's where people actively try to get infected with AIDS."
But that story isn't even true. As we detailed the last time Kupelian threw this out as a scare tactic, the bug-chasing story originated in a 2003 Rolling Stone article on the subject that has been debunked; its central claim that 25 percent of new gay male HIV infections are due to bug-chasing merely one doctor's estimate and not substantiated by research. Further, the Rolling Stone article quotes only "a grand total of two" self-proclaimed bug-chasers, "one of who is undeniably mentally disturbed and quoted under a pseudonym -- hardly representative of a trend."
Kupelian has never been one to let the facts get in the way of a good story -- odd behavior for someone claiming to manage a "news" organization. He has blamed Andrea Yates' killing of her children on the antidepressant she was taking, ignoring her history of mental illness that predates her use of the drug and the extremist fundamentalist preacher that she and her husband followed whose precepts may have exacerbated her illness. He has also, among other things, repeated dubious statistics about teacher-student sex and a discredited attack on sex researcher Alfred Kinsey.
