Common Sense
Fear is emptying common sense from the minds of ordinary folks. We live in a miasma of fear. The director of Homeland Security says "be afraid," - no I don't have any data, but I do have a "gut feeling." Be afraid. Your security is at stake. To what end?
Consider John Nirenburgh. He is the guy who is walking from Faneuil Hall to House Speaker Pelosi’s office to encourage her to put impeachment back on the table. We have written about him and his campaign "March in My Name" before, and we have given some updates on his progress. Now comes this news from Lyme, Connecticut. He tries to visit his old high school, his alma mater, hopes to be able to talk to some students, maybe a social studies class, about the constitution and some of the forms of redress contained in it. He calls ahead the day before. When he shows up the next day he merely asks to speak to the principal and is blocked by the receptionist who ultimately calls in a "Trooper" who escorts John off what the trooper calls private property. He won't even allow John to take a photo of the school. Dangerous stuff, the United States Constitution. Dangerous man wanting to talk to students about it. Maybe it was the sign that he was carrying advertising the need to impeach the President and Vice President of the United States. Now that's dangerous. As John describes it:
Consider John Nirenburgh. He is the guy who is walking from Faneuil Hall to House Speaker Pelosi’s office to encourage her to put impeachment back on the table. We have written about him and his campaign "March in My Name" before, and we have given some updates on his progress. Now comes this news from Lyme, Connecticut. He tries to visit his old high school, his alma mater, hopes to be able to talk to some students, maybe a social studies class, about the constitution and some of the forms of redress contained in it. He calls ahead the day before. When he shows up the next day he merely asks to speak to the principal and is blocked by the receptionist who ultimately calls in a "Trooper" who escorts John off what the trooper calls private property. He won't even allow John to take a photo of the school. Dangerous stuff, the United States Constitution. Dangerous man wanting to talk to students about it. Maybe it was the sign that he was carrying advertising the need to impeach the President and Vice President of the United States. Now that's dangerous. As John describes it:
I said, I’m the guy walking to Washington (the story had been in the local paper). Pat, the woman behind the counter said, seeing my sign, and with an expression that looked like she had just seen a ghost, "You can’t come in here with that!" as if I was carrying toxic waste. Worse, I was controversial and they’d have none of that.
Wait. Impeachment is part of the Constitution. And so is something about free speech. Are High Schools really private property guarded by State Troopers? Listen up folks. Our security-driven fears have led to this end. This is where fear instead of common sense has taken us.
Benjamin Franklin said it best: "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."
Read the whole story on John’s website: Never Too Late to Get Thrown Out of School
...Bob
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posted by Looking for Hope | 8:29 PM
2 Comments:
Do they still let Military recruiters in the schools?,,,,,,,,,,,,,why not the KKK. The bottom line is I wouldn't want ANYBODY talking to my kid (at school) off a soapbox. Jeff
Where will our future leaders come from if all we do is educate "followers” who have never learned to think for themselves; who are shielded behind metal detectors and armed security guards? Education should encourage open discussion, open debate, a willingness to listen to a wide range of viewpoints (even the KKK). How else do we create an informed citizenry? When we start to believe that “America speaks with one voice” we will no longer have a democracy, but totalitarianism.
John Nirenberg is a retired college professor in his sixties, returning to his high school alma mater, asking to speak to the principal, thinking that he might have something of interest to offer to a social studies class. Instead of looking at this as an opportunity for their high school students to learn firsthand about how a democracy works, this grey-haired, bespectacled man is looked upon as dangerous, controversial. How can that be? How many of us would feel so strongly about our constitutional rights that we would walk over 500-miles of highway in the dead of winter, while others are trimming trees, drinking eggnog, and enjoying office parties? And why is this man doing so? Because he thinks that impeachment should at least be discussed and debated on the floor of the House of Representatives. Bill Clinton was impeached for lying about his extramarital infidelities and a blow job he received while he was in the White House. How does that compare to what has taken place in this administration over the past seven years? Isn’t this worth some kind of discussion – or is everyone already brain dead?
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