A Montgomery County Middle School teacher had a 13-year-old girl escorted from the classroom after she refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance in clear violation of federal law.
Since 1943, it has been clear that children cannot be forced to say the pledge.
The school has apologized, but I am equally concerned about a position taken with the parents that has not been denounced by the school: that the school would refuse to meet with the parents if they brought an attorney. The family said that the school was adamant that, if a lawyer was present, they would not agree to a meeting. It is an outrageous policy designed to force people to forego legal counsel and I would like to know the legal and policy basis for such a rule.
For the full story, click here.
Gerty:
you are right, I would not have said anything in front of his family except my condolences for your loss.
I just thought his death was unnecessary.
““the true measure of a man is what he does when he thinks no one is looking”.
************
I offer this old Gerty bromide in sur-rebuttal. For me its either sleeping or peeing and neither offer much in the way of insight into my character unless you consider leaving the seat up or down. 😀
Mespo,
I offer Gerty’s last comment as my rebuttal.
Gerty,
Thank you for the thoughtful post. I’m doing some research on the cellular localization of MPF (mitosis promoting factor) during the G2 segment of the cell cycle and preparing for a talk I’m giving on the topic tomorrow, so I don’t have the time to write a response, but I will do so as soon as I have the chance.
“I might not be teaching a pig to sing, but I think that several of Gerty’s posts on this thread have added to the discussion.”
***********
That, my dear Slati, is the “blind pig” theory.
“Gerty,
When we suggest that this person should have taken responsibility no one is saying that they’re not sorry about this tragedy and don’t feel for the man’s loved ones, just that his behavior was one of the things that contributed to this failure” – Slartibartfast
Lets look at it from another angle.
Pretend for a moment you were there, at the home of the surviving family. You’re there with the family, friends, etc of Mister Mitchell, who had just died the a day or two prior. What words would you choose to express your “empathy” with? Would the words “his behavior was one of the things that contributed to this failure” be the words you would choose? Would those words be appropriate? Would they be empathetic? Compassionate?
How would they be received?
Would those words, define who you are during a time of great suffering, for others?
Now teleport yourself back here, to the internets, where our words are public, for any and all to see who may happen upon them from either a purposeful or unintentional google search on whatever keyword. Suppose someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows the family, were to come across your words, written the day after their friend, brother, son, cousin, etc had just died.
Would you want your words to be a message of “his behavior contributed to his death”? Is that the message a compassionate individual would want to make?
Would it be perhaps just a slight bit presumptuous to assume that if there were some failure on the part of Mister Mitchell or his girlfriend, that they would not already be painfully aware of it? Would you need to reinforce that to them? The day after he died? What if the family member were yours? Say your father? Your mother? Perhaps a child?
Would you welcome a little “constructive criticism” on those days?
We don’t know if Mr Mitchell called others for help. We don’t know all the circumstances that kept him there. What we do know, is he died. Yesterday. Miserably, freezing in the cold with no heat, and no electricity.
That’s what we know.
I remember back when Tony Snow died. He wasn’t well liked on the left because of his work on Fox news, and his ability to twist the facts and distort reality for the Bush administration both behind the bully pulpit and in front of it. I was in a blog, I believe it was the Daily Kos that day, and many, many people, regulars, were saying some things that were less than compassionate. Less than humane. In my estimation, less than human. And it went on for days.
So while his family mourned, many on the left criticized the man, and while expressing sentiments like “well of course I sympathize with their loss…. “BUT”.
I personally was appalled, and as I’m sure you know I spoke up. I gave a simple, “let the man be” and “rest in peace Tony” and for my trouble I received a battering that would be the envy of the collective in here. There were many who spoke up fortunately, and tried to instill some reason but it did little good. The humanity just wasn’t there.
So you see, its not about being right. And its not about being accurate or reasonable. Its about being a human being.
So that’s it. That’s all I can tell you. If you can now see my point and understand it then I’m glad. If not then I can’t really think of any way to be more clear about it. Its kind of like Andrew Lloydd Webber. Either you get it, or you don’t.
It doesn’t matter if anyone surviving the deceased will ever hear or see your words. All that matters in those moments, is that those words are of a nature as to be appropriate were the family sitting right there in front of you. Words you’d want to hear, in your own hour of grief. Its sort of like my father used to tell me when I was little; “the true measure of a man is what he does when he thinks no one is looking”.
I hope that makes sense. Either way thanks for the civility.
Gerty,
I’m sorry you feel that I (and others) are being insensitive. I don’t believe that we are. The topic was raised and I believe that trying to understand what went wrong and discussing how it might be averted in the future is perfectly appropriate. When we suggest that this person should have taken responsibility no one is saying that they’re not sorry about this tragedy and don’t feel for the man’s loved ones, just that his behavior was one of the things that contributed to this failure. This issue must be addressed in order to ascertain what ALL parties might have done in the situation to avoid this man’s death. And neither Byron, Canadian Eh, nor I are lawyers.
Mespo,
I’ve picked my strategy for dealing with Gerty – Any misinformation he says on topics that I care about I will correct, any comment he makes that I find interesting or insightful I will respectfully address, and anything else I will ignore. I might not be teaching a pig to sing, but I think that several of Gerty’s posts on this thread have added to the discussion.
“Canadian Eh is pointing out a course of action that would have averted the tragedy – how is this not a reasonable and relevant answer to the question you asked?”
**************
Another exciting episode of “Jawing with Gerty,” I see. One comment comes flooding into my admittedly inferior mind, “Don’t teach a pig to sing, it wastes your time, and it annoys the pig.” I’ll tune in next week for a new episode entitled, “The Vast Expanse That is Gerty’s Mind.” Travelogue, I’m told, you know: places I’m told exist but I never see.
You know…I’m usually embarrassed to be around a bunch of bright attorneys, white collar and all, being pretty much a bumpkin compared to you…and you know it too and you rub it in constantly. And honestly I don’t blame you. I probably would too.
But every once in a while…on rare occasions like this.. if just for a moment, it seems almost better to be who I am, …than who you are. If just for a moment.
“Gerty,
Canadian Eh is pointing out a course of action that would have averted the tragedy – how is this not a reasonable and relevant answer to the question you asked?” – Slartibartfast
I don’t know how much clearer about it to be. It’s like you’re missing a gene or something. I don’t know. Maybe its a byproduct of being a lawyer. I just don’t know.
We’re not talking about “relevance” here.
We’re talking about being human beings.
Slarti,
Thank-you 🙂
Gerty,
Canadian Eh is pointing out a course of action that would have averted the tragedy – how is this not a reasonable and relevant answer to the question you asked? You said that you live in a rural area (and have gotten severe snowstorms lately), so her comment was good advice for you especially.
..a rose by any other name…
You may want to read back on my comments before suggesting that I said ” f#$k ’em because he made a bad call.
“He was in pain before the snow storm arrived, but decided he could take pain relievers and stay home” – Canadian Eh
Sure. He made a bad call.
So f#$k em, right?
😐
Empathetic….I get.
“The guy had been hospitalized the week before for pancreatitis.
He was in pain before the snow storm arrived, but decided he could take pain relievers and stay home. When it finally got too bad to handle, the snow had already effected emergency services.”
-DUH
There you go Gerty. The world is not black & white…perhaps a good lesson for you to review!
“Gerty,
I lived in Manhattan (and I’m not talking Kansas 😉 )” Slartibartfast
My Burrough wasn’t quite so fancy, but not too far away.
“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” – Matthew 24:12
Gerty,
I lived in Manhattan (and I’m not talking Kansas ;-)) for 18 months, does that count? As for the 9-1-1 operator, I don’t know what their situation or resources were, but if someone said ‘I’ve been calling you for the last 10 hours with serious pain, could you please at least put me in touch with a doctor?’ I think that most people would comply if they were able.
“I certainly have empathy for the family and believe this mans’ death was indeed tragic.” – Canadian Eh
Yes…as is obvious by your next sentence.
“He, however, chose to wait it out.” – Canadian Eh
😐
Empathy.
Guess it ain’t what it used to be.
“Gerty….
Seek out medical attention via, 911 if need be, before the snow starts to fly! ” – Canadian Eh
Okaaayyy….so much for the reason, lol.
Pray tell how exactly does one call for medical attention, BEFORE they get sick or injured?
😐
“uh…..hello….operator,….yea I’d like an ambulance…..wat’s that?…..is it an emergency….? Well…not yet but I bet by weeks end somethings going to happen.”