War! Uh!

[begin disclaimer] There is a lot going on these days reagarding war protests. And I don't think we are even at war yet. Let me state this here and now, this is not a blog where I will be talking about being for or against the USA's War-To-Be (WTB) with Iraq. But when I see interesting items related to such, I will be pointing them out. Personally, I don't care to read anyone's posts on their position on the WTB, I just don't care what they think. So I promise not to do bore you with essays on my personal views on the WTB here. [end disclaimer]

It is nice we Americans all have a right to say what we think on the matter, I just don't recall this much hoo-hah going on when we had the Persian Gulf War. Maybe I don't read the paper enough or watch enough news, but how is this potential war any different?

Anyway...

Elayne has led me to a few interesting articles on war protests and political correctness.

The NY Times (free, but registration required) has this article on Toni Smith, a college basketball player who had been silently protesting the potential war by turning her back to the US flag during the national anthem. What was once a personal statement has errupted into a firestorm of debate.

Smith says "A lot of people blindly stand up and salute the flag, but I feel that blindly facing the flag hurts more people. There are a lot of inequities in this country, and these are issues that needed to be acknowledged. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, and our priorities are elsewhere."

And in Maine, the Board of Education has sent a letter to all superintendants urging them to remind their staff to remain "sensitive" to the war-to-be:

Commissioner of Education J. Duke Albanese sent an "informational letter" to school officials after receiving reports that some educators and other school employees have been sharing anti-war sentiments with students.
...
"Recently, it has been brought to our attention that some school personnel around the state may have been less than sensitive to children of military families regarding our continued strained relations with Iraq"

I hadn't even thought about how our children might be influenced by a Teacher's personal opinion on the war. It just never crossed my mind that it would be an issue. Great, like I needed something else to worry about.

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Posted by on February 27, 2003 @ February 27, 2003 08:19 AM    
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