Another Teacher Deems American Flag Offensive
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Talbain
Overreaction.
I mean seriously, the teacher might of been crazy, but there is no indication here that there's some wider anti-American sentiment at work here. Nowhere near as big of a deal as the whole Cinco de Mayo t-shirt lawsuit. Not sure why we're even bothering debating this, it's blatantly obvious the teacher was in the wrong.
I mean seriously, the teacher might of been crazy, but there is no indication here that there's some wider anti-American sentiment at work here. Nowhere near as big of a deal as the whole Cinco de Mayo t-shirt lawsuit. Not sure why we're even bothering debating this, it's blatantly obvious the teacher was in the wrong.
Madaraki
A River of Pure Piranha
Personally I'd like to know specifically what the teacher found offensive. The way the article's worded, it makes it sound like she's a far-left, Obama-lovin', America-hatin', Godless communist (terminology of the far right; not me).
Did she object to the use of "God" in a public school?
I agree she was in the wrong on this one, but I see no reason to necessarily paint this as a culture clash here (maybe it's just me; but that's the vibe I'm getting from the way thing thing's written).
Did she object to the use of "God" in a public school?
I agree she was in the wrong on this one, but I see no reason to necessarily paint this as a culture clash here (maybe it's just me; but that's the vibe I'm getting from the way thing thing's written).
So let me get this straight, because I seem to be confused: You CAN'T draw a picture of the american flag with the words "God bless America", but you can draw a picture of the President of the United States....of America?
That teacher is in America for God's sake, she should praise that child for drawing the flag of the country they live in. That teacher should lose their job. I mean come on, what is so offensive about that? People draw the flag all the time on things.
That teacher is in America for God's sake, she should praise that child for drawing the flag of the country they live in. That teacher should lose their job. I mean come on, what is so offensive about that? People draw the flag all the time on things.
That's what I thought, but I wasn't sure, since people have been coming up with stupid shit lately.
The link was from Fox "news" radio, so there's your answer. Blown out of proportion to propagandize how California is made up of USA-hating Communists.
Both this situation and the Cinco de Mayo flag T-shirt story were non-issues that only reached national news because Fox "news" has to fill 24 hours of programming, while getting ratings, so they reach for anything they can find. And if it smacks of controversy, so much the better.
Well, why would the flag be offensive and not Obama? This is just an act of 1 individual, I'm assuming it's not school policy, but that should raise a red flag. I'll leave it at that.
As for Fox news, I'll trust them to give me ALL the stories, no matter how moronic they may be. The difference with Fox news is that they don't shy away from giving you news that may make the "president" look bad. MSNBC and CNN seem to falter in this matter in a big way because they want to throw their support behind the "president". People can have whatever opinion they want, it's no matter to me, but don't withhold news, that basically defeats the purpose. If I have a choice whether to get a bunch news and either accept it or raise the bullshit flag, or be kept in the dark with some things because I shouldn't have to know them, I'm going to pick the former.
Madaraki
A River of Pure Piranha
Given that the parents who were outraged by this apparently reached an agreement with the teacher and principal in question and were satisfied, I'd have to say it was indeed one individual and not policy.
While I'd rather avoid steering us all wildly offtopic; I must point out two things.
1: MSNBC has in fact, not backed down when Obama screws up. Olbermann and Maddow especially have called him out on moments where he (or even Democrats in general) have bungled a situation. The difference I find is; he calls Democrats out when they truly do screw something up (Health Care). He doesn't go off against them because someone totally unassociated with them screwed up or because a pundit made a sudden claim and it got reported as solid news. Does MSNBC lean left? Of course, but they don't deny it when their party's in the wrong.
2: CNN is neither left nor right in political alignment. They're middle of the road, but they're also a glorified tabloid. Whatever gets them the most attention (Remember Balloon Boy?) they'll cover the hell out of it. Obama's campaign, Palin's debut, the Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal, OJ Simpson; if it's big and flashier than an Elton John performance, they're there.
That all said; it's been largely established that the Teacher fouled up here. Mentioning President Obama's name in the article serves no purpose other than to bring him into it as a way of saying "See? This teacher likes Obama, but not God!" 'Twould have been sufficient to simply report that she found a flag and more specifically the phrase "God Bless America" "offensive".
(And I'm assuming she was objecting more to the use of "God Bless America" since the student who was praised was drawing the flag super-imposed over President Obama's face, which to be perfectly honest is just tacky.)
This. The teacher's an idiot, made a dumb decision, and was reprimanded for it. It happens all the time, in every job. But because it has to do with A) Kids; B) the American flag; C) California; and D) Obama; Fox "news" seized on it and made it more of an issue than it needs to be.
Also, the same thing happened in the Cinco de Mayo shirt thing. The School District issued a statement that the school made a mistake, and it was not the District's general policy to do what they did. Again, should never have been a story.
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All news these days actually broadcast utter non sense, I had to turn off both fox and CNN and even BBC. I just read tidbits here and there on the net these days that may be go.. hmm...
Though I will say these are automatically assumed stupid teachers for doing this. I think the whole Political Correctness thing is now used as a Veto Card for folks, it should be taken away completely. Racism will exist, because everyone is a little bit racist. Sexism will exist, because everyone is a little bit sexist. Ageism will exist, because.. everyone hates old people. (oops =)) Patriotism is just a misused word these days for the most part, though wearing American flag t-shirts should be okay any day.
Least I'm not hanging the Mexican flag upside down in Mexico and putting the American flag above it. That's asking for a whoopin.
Though I will say these are automatically assumed stupid teachers for doing this. I think the whole Political Correctness thing is now used as a Veto Card for folks, it should be taken away completely. Racism will exist, because everyone is a little bit racist. Sexism will exist, because everyone is a little bit sexist. Ageism will exist, because.. everyone hates old people. (oops =)) Patriotism is just a misused word these days for the most part, though wearing American flag t-shirts should be okay any day.
Least I'm not hanging the Mexican flag upside down in Mexico and putting the American flag above it. That's asking for a whoopin.
M1ghty Mous3
CLKWRK
I don't like this teacher. Since when is it better to draw a picture of a president then draw the flag? The flag stands for the country as a whole, the president stands for teh country over a spectrum of years. I find it sad that the country of freedom's is slowly becoming the country of restrictions. This just proves yet again that america is on a sharp decline. So much for "greatest country on earth"
Which freedom do you not have now that you/anyone had in the past?
Princess Bubblegum said:
150 years, actually. The US and its citizens didn't really start flying the flag consistently until the Civil War, when it became symbolic for the Union, as it was opposed to the Confederacy.
If you actually take the time to read the Constituion, you'll realize that it affords us fairly little in terms of individual rights. The Bill of Rights were never intended to be a restriction on the States, just the federal government (more specifically just to afford Blacks rights via the 1864? Civil Rights Act). It's a legal farce when it comes to translating this as applicable to the states through the 14th Amendment. Just a liberal movement by the Justices on the court to further their own policy goals. I mean do you know where the "right of privacy" came from? The majority rationale is that it came from the "penumbra of the emanations" of the Bill of Rights...lmao...there is really no right of privacy.
But apart from Constitutional interpretation...it's probably better the way it is now rather than strict adherence to how it should have turned it out if we actually did what was in the Constitution. It's just funny how the Supreme Court has to weasel around the actual laws to implement the actual policy.
But apart from Constitutional interpretation...it's probably better the way it is now rather than strict adherence to how it should have turned it out if we actually did what was in the Constitution. It's just funny how the Supreme Court has to weasel around the actual laws to implement the actual policy.
Really? I'm pretty sure I passed a dozen flags on my 7-minute drive i just took from the high school. Seems people are pretty free to fly that flag.
This was an isolated incident that the school district itself regarded as incorrect, and stated that it was not their policy. That doesn't mean that no one has the freedom to fly a flag and/or wear a shirt with an American flag motif.
Altair
Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.
Ok this offensiveness thing is getting a little out of control . IT IS AMERICA KIDS HAVE THE RIGHT TO DRAW THEIR FLAG IF THEY WANT TO. I could understand if it was some other country but wow. People like that should be thrown in jail. Thats just my opinion, if you find the American flag offensive than don't live here.
I don't understand what exactly would be with wrong with drawing the country's flag. Strangely enough. Isn't California in America? What's wrong with a young citizen of America drawing the country's flag to express her loyalty? That's offensive?
That's absurd, more like! Political issues aside, I think this teacher is either stereotyping the student or trying to get a....
That's absurd, more like! Political issues aside, I think this teacher is either stereotyping the student or trying to get a....
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That's fairly contradictory isn't it?
To save the village we must bomb the shit out of it etc etc.
I agree with what CassinoChips has said, the teacher made a mistake, Focks News picked up on it because that's what they do, ie cater to their right wing audience.
It's not a big deal, as far as I'm aware this isn't a nation wide iniative. All the people reacting with outraged indignation should know that they've been manipulated into doing so.
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They'll remilitarisation the Rhine next won't they?
Then they'll demand Anchluss with Austria, then demeand the sudetenland and take all of Czechoslovakia before diving Poland with the Soviets?
Reminds me of the California Uber Alles by the Dead Kennedys of their fears of a liberal Governor.
There's absolutely no proof that those two overblown incidents will lead to anything.
It's a nice bit of manipulation but not a lot else.
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And lead to what?
They gave a report on something they thought would titillate their consumers. One individual said it was offense. Who was then called wrong by the headmaster. It's an error of individual judgement. Fox have just hyped it up, into something important.
It was an individual error of judgement. There's no nasty anti-american monolith pulling the strings. It's a non-issue.