Posted on 10/1/2001, 11:35:18 PM by LibertyPunk
Some People Are So Damn Stupid
Most days I wake up not expecting to be dumbfounded by the morning news. Yet this is exactly what happened on Monday. I turned on my computer (the Internet is a much cheaper form of media than a newspaper subscription) and as I was scrolling through the day’s stories, a small paragraph caught my eye. I started reading, still weary from the few hours of sleep that I had. Yet with every word I read, my sleepiness quickly turned into disbelief.
In Fort Wayne, Indiana, Jefferson Middle School’s Minuteman mascot seemed a little different when students walked into school one morning. A mural of this national symbol, which had welcomed students to the school for years, had his musket stolen. The principal of the school had the firearm painted over, saying that “guns have no place in schools.” So the defender of liberty, at least in this school district, is left defenseless.
I know, I know. It’s just a stupid mascot. And not even a high school or college mascot at that. Shouldn’t I be more worried about Colgate’s now neutral-tone Raider? Well, I am upset about the new apparently transparent school colors (don’t the athletes find them a little too revealing?), the disarming of the Minuteman is deeply disturbing.
My eighth grade American History class was quite a learning experience for me. I learned about the struggles our forefathers went through, about the battles fought and the victories won both on and off the battlefield. What will the children of Jefferson Middle School learn? That the battle of Yorktown was a best out of seven series of rock-paper-scissors? That the blood of patriots was not spilled to obtain our freedom, but that we asked pompous King George pretty-pretty please with a cherry on top? I truly hope that the superficial changes made are not representative of what the youth of our generation is learning.
President Bush has been talking a lot about protecting American freedom. The administrators of Jefferson Middle School don’t seem to understand that arms are necessary to defend the very freedom that the President is alluding to. Could we have made a stand at Lexington and Concorde if the Massachusetts Minutemen went to pick up his musket and found it missing? This is the historical theft that happens whenever educators block out the image of a firearm when teaching the story of our nation. And it prepares our future citizens to bend to the will of the enemy, be it terrorists, invading armies, or tyrannical government – be it the government of a foreign nation or of our own. The message that Jefferson Middle School is sending is that defending one’s liberty is not an honorable thing to do, that the bravery of such men and women should not be recognized, and that stopping tyranny is not a struggle, that keeping our freedom is not worth the inherent risk. These are bad lessons to teach citizens, but good lessons to teach subjects.
To see what effect disarming the Revolutionary Minutemen would have had on our past, all we need do is look at our present. If a Minuteman were on call at Columbine. If proud citizens were prepared to defend our country on the ground, in the air, or wherever liberty needed protection during the past month. Perhaps Jefferson Middle School will have the need for protection from enemies, foreign or domestic. Perhaps the principal will have the strength and ability to protect his students any minute of any day. But hey, don’t worry. If anything does go wrong we can just paint over that part of our history, right?
Just had to do it. Nuff said.
Leni
That principal in his position of power is enforcing his will on(and infringing on the rights of) not only every parent and child in the school, but people like you. Conservatives,for far too long, have shrugged off this incrementalsm because it didn't directly affect them. They have been afraid to be the one "wacko" to raise hell. But remember, all it took was one wacko to take the gun out of the hands of your minuteman; rendering him as useless and emasculated as Barney Frank at the Mustang Ranch.
I fear lemmings like this educator as much as a limited Nuclear weapon.
If everyone were smart there wouldn't be anyone to teach.
When was the last time you were held up by a person wielding a painting of a ---? People like this can only bring derision on themselves. How can we teach children to have respect for their elders when those placed in responsibility over them are so obviously fuzzy in their thinking processes.
Are they going through the history books and whiting out any pictures containing ---s they find in them? Or are they simply going to burn any books in the library that even mention ---s?
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