In a somewhat stunning segment for America’s “best political team on television,” CNN anchor Kyra Phillips had guests debate whether homosexuality needed a cure in a broadcast Tuesday.

“Homosexuality: Is it a problem in need of a cure?” Kyra asks. “Grabs your attention, doesn’t it?”

To be fair, the CNN anchor poses the question in the context of discussing a 1950s-era California law which requires health experts to seek a “cure” for gayness. But the segment elevates discredited author Richard Cohen as a serious defender of the law despite the fact he was kicked out of the American Counseling Organization and practices without a license of any kind.

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Cohen was expelled from the American Counseling Association in 2002 for repeated violation of the organization’s ethics code. CNN also presents Cohen as a “psychotherapist,” which suggests he’s a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist — though he is neither.

The liberal blog ThinkProgress writes:

Clearly, Ã¢â‚¬Å“the best political team on televisionÃ¢â‚¬Â was just not at its best, proving that CNN canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t be Ã¢â‚¬Å“trustedÃ¢â‚¬Â to do even the most preliminary background research on its guests. The network provided the self-proclaimed former homosexual with a platform to promote his organization, the International Healing Foundation, without once challenging his credentials or claims of rehabilitation. In reality, Cohen has been kicked out of the The American Counseling Association and currently operates without any professional license or accreditation. His views on homosexuality have been discredited by every established medical organization and his ideas about gays are apparently only taken seriously by CNN bookers and producers.

Cohen also claims to be a “reformed” gay man, and is a member of Sun Myung Moon’s “Unification Church.”

This video is from CNN’s Newsroom, broadcast April 6, 2010.

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