Dissent is Patriotic; Hating America is Not

A middle school in Colorado has crossed the line. Citing conflict over the immigration debate, Shaw Heights Middle School in Adams County, Colorado, has banned all wearing of patriotic attire.

Myla Shepherd, the principal, said that tensions over the immigration issue were apparent when more than 20 students came to school wearing camouflage jackets and pants, apparently to show what they call their patriotism and American pride.

I want to know how patriotic attire and American pride can cause conflict over immigration policies! I will save my immigration views for another post, but in my opinion, the wearing of patriotic attire to school is irrelevant to the immigration issue. To issue of war, on the other hand, it is very relevant.

One school even had the audacity to ban all flags.

In Longmont, the principal of Skyline High School banned all flags, including the American flag, because of tensions related to immigration reform.

If you ban the number one symbol that represents the United States of America—the American Flag, you ban everything America stands for.

I am known for matching. Yes, matching—my clothes, my purse, my shoes, my jewelry, my make-up. Everything always matches. It’s a pet peeve of mine. In spite of that, I wore a camouflage Support Our Troops wrist band every day until it broke. After that, I wore a silver bracelet with a yellow ribbon threaded through it, with an American flag charm and a yellow ribbon charm. I wore it every day until it broke. I haven’t replaced either of them, but people noticed and were amused that I wore them no matter what. It was a silent statement that people noticed. Even though it was mostly to laugh about that "There's only one thing that can make Holly not match," people understood that there was a very deep reason and meaning behind a simple bracelet.

Every Friday, I try to wear red. Several weeks ago, when we went home to Louisiana, about 15 of my family members were eating at one of our favorite seafood restaurants on a Friday night. All of us on one end of the table were a sea of red. People noticed and people asked why. (For those who are not familiar with Red Friday, see my post here.) On Red Fridays, it is a silent statement of “I support our troops and I care.” It touches my heart to know that people care and no doubt, it boosts the morale of our troops. I challenge you to wear red this Friday and every Friday!

To ban patriotic attire anywhere is against freedom of speech and freedom of expression. It would be different if these schools have uniforms, but they don’t. They simply banned the wearing of patriotic attire. This is wrong and should not be tolerated! To write to this school, the address is as follows:

Shaw Heights Middle School
Adams County School District 50
8780 Circle Dr.
Westminster, CO 80030

Here is a link to the story, along with a video. It is notable that the school says it is because of the immigration issue that patriotic attire has been banned, but the student interviewed in the video never once mentions immigration. She mentions supporting our troops, our military, and our country, and pride in being American. I agree with her words: “If we’re an American, I think we should be proud to be an American.”

ATTENTION ALL MARINES AND CIVILIAN BLOGGERS!

Have I got a project for you! Well, technically it's not me, but there is a project I am so excited to participate in and anyone who is a blogger can participate, as well.

Today I found a link off of the Open Post at Mudville Gazette for Soldier's Angel, Holly Aho.

Project Valour-IT is a project of Soldier's Angels. It explains in the link how Project Valour-IT provides voice controlled lap tops and software for our wounded troops who are recovering from hand and arm injuries. It allows them to send and receive messages from friends and loved ones, as well as their buddies on the field, without ever having to use their hands. As you can see, this is definitely a worthy cause.

Fuzzilicious Thinking explains how this will work.

From Fuzzilicious's posts, you can see that there was not going to be a team for the Marine Corps. Well, Holly Aho changed that and I'm so joining in! Originally, the idea was for since there are so few Marine bloggers, that the Navy and Marines would team up... As Fuzzilicious put it:

"However, I know that Marines specialize in doing the 'impossible,' and doing it with less. SO... if you want to put together a Marines-only team (plus supporters) and enter the competition that way, Go For It!"

So civilian Holly Aho is the team leader... Join us in "going for it!"

The project will begin November 2 and go until Veteran's Day, November 11. More details coming soon.

THOSE STUPID PINKOS

I try to throw my support into SUPPORTING our troops, rather than focusing on those who would demean them. However, sometimes our anti-troop (yes, that goes beyond even anti-war--which that, too, makes me mad) protesters overstep their boundaries. Code Pink continues to do just that. I have had enough.

Most of you have heard me mention the Pathetic Pinkos (aka Code Pink.) If you haven't, go check out Andi's After Action Report. As you can see, the Pinkos are a group of absolutely horrid anti-American troop-protesting imbeciles. Now that I've got that out of my system...

I am absolutely sick of it being TOLERATED that we would let a group of pot-smoking hippies and idiotic women's libbers protest not our war policies but our actual TROOPS outside a place where they are recovering from the tragedy's of war--Walter Reed Army Hospital. To me, this is unacceptable.

The Pinkos are going on a book tour in support of their book, "Stop the Next War Now." (Note to the idiots: That's what we're doing right now in Iraq and Afghanistan.) The nearest they're going to be to me is good old St. Louis. Would anyone besides me like to pay them a visit? See where they'll be nearest to you here.

Where I'd really like to be is with the FReepers outside Walter Reed.