Again!
This is cross-posted from my Rivrdog Blog.
Typepad is fixed, so I write...
So now I can scribble my sweet nothings about Saving The Culture again! Oh, goody!
Bragging Humble: Yes it is possible for a little fish in a big ocean to matter, all you have to do is migrate upstream to a smaller water body, to wit:
Gresham, Oregon. I live in the 4th largest city in Oregon, and all of the other Cities bigger than Gresham are far more liberal. Portland being the best example of a lib-town.
Gresham is over 100,000 now, but there are enough conservatives (relatively-speaking, the citizens are "conservatives") living here to actually cause the City Administration and other functionaries of Government to have to plan to accomodate our points of view.
Example: Recently, a wrong-headed school Principal sent a lad home for wearing a tee shirt depicting the "Battlefield Cross", or combination of boots, rifle and helmet that has come to symbolize a soldier who fell in battle, making the ultimate sacrifice for his country. This caused an immediate outrage in Gresham, an outrage which spurred the liberal Oregonian newspaper to opine:
Common sense deficit: The subject of firearms is a sensitive one these days, particularly in schools. Even so, the treatment an eighth-grade student in Gresham’s Dexter McCarty Middle School almost beggars belief. Alan Holmes wore a T-shirt to school last week that featured an image of a rifle. No, Holmes wasn’t wearing promotional NRA gear. On his shirt, rather, was an arrangement of helmet, boots and rifle widely used to indicate respect for fallen soldiers. Lest anyone mistake the arrangement for anything but a memorial, the shirt also read, “Standing for those who stood for us.” Holmes was told that his shirt violated the school’s dress code, The Oregonian/OregonLive’s Laura Frazier wrote. His choices: Change it or go home. He went home, and the district has since promised to review its dress code. We’ll see where that goes. The code, as Frazier reported, prohibits clothing with, among other things, “violence related references.” To cram Holmes’ shirt within this definition is a stretch, to say the least. But if a memorial arrangement that contains a rifle is too disturbing a thing for Gresham’s eighth-graders to witness, district officials might want to reconsider Gresham High School’s fight song too. It begins as follows: “March, march on down the field/ Fighting for Gresham High/We’ll back the blue and white/With the spirit of do or die.” March, fight, do or die. That’s awfully martial. And talk about “violence related references.”
Well, then. If Liberal Portland can opine, conservative Gresham might feel a tad stronger. The Gresham Outlook published my letter on the subject, a letter in which, as a Veteran, I demand redress of insults to me and all local Veterans, as well as the child directly affected. Note how the Editor dressed it up with a bold sidebar of my demands:
Folks, this business of Saving The Culture can get into some conflict. I am laying MY creds on the line here, and demanding, as a citizen, that the culture be protected from the erosion of the faceless liberal zombies. In MY day, this erosion would never have happened, because respect for veterans who fell in battle was automatic, and never questioned. Maybe we can't go all the way back to that time, but we can and MUST demand the respect due our heroes of war.war.
I am shortly going to have major surgery, and will miss the next meeting of the School Board, in which I would, in the normal course of events, have presented these demands in person. I am working on a surprise for the School Board, though, and my message should still get through. Let's just say that I am not the only Grumpy Major in these parts, and two others ought to be there in my stead at the meeting on November 5th. Thanks to the magic of You Tube, I might be there myself...more later when I get that video up.
Bravo George! I respect, and support you, and all our hero's with every once of my being... I just wrote my own letter to The Gresham Outlook. I didn't mince words, so I don't know if they'll print it...I will be at the School Board meeting to Stand Up and Speak Up, for the honor, respect,dignity, and gratitude for all our Precious Warriors! My letter follows:
I was appalled to read about the young man, attending Dexter McCarty Middle School, that was sent home for wearing a Tee-shirt, depicting a Battlefield Cross, with the words "Standing For Those Who Stood For Us." In my opinion, your foolish reprisal was Pure, UN-Constitutional Hogwash! Just who do you school officials think you are? For you to rape this symbol, and deem it a "violent gun image," so as to fit your agenda, is asinine, reprehensible, heart-breaking, and beyond comprehension. It negates the Ultimate Sacrifice, of our fallen hero's, disrespects all our brave warriors, and shows a total lack of empathy for their loved ones. To punish this student, and discourage his Patriotism, is Disgraceful, Un-American, and violates his first Amendment rights. If he were my son, I'd be darn proud of him. Lucky for you, the minute men didn't get "sent home," when they dared to raise their muskets! Shame on you! A prompt and sincere apology is in order, to the Student, our Veterans, Active Military, and We The People!
Posted by: Lee Robbins | 10/19/2015 at 07:55 PM