Repudiation: Shawano Schools Failure to Edit

Todd Starnes of Fox News Radio wrote a commentary about an op-ed that a Wisconsin teenager wrote and the school published before retracting.  In it, he describes Liberty Counsel, an offshoot of the Liberty University Law School that specializes in religious activism, taking the case because of egregious behavior by the Superintendent of Shawano School District.

Mathew Staver, the founder of the Liberty Counsel, sent a letter to Superintendent Todd Carlson demanding an apology for “Its unconstitutional and irrational censorship and humiliation” of Brandon Wegner [, the teen author of the op-ed].

After the op-ed was published, a gay couple whose child attend s the high school, complained.

The school immediately issued an apology – stating Wegner’s opinion was a “form of bullying and disrespect.”

“Offensive articles cultivating a negative environment of disrespect are not appropriate or condoned by the Shawano School District,” the statement read. “We sincerely apologize to anyone we may have offended and are taking steps to prevent items of this nature from happening in the future.”

But Staver said what the school system did next was absolutely outrageous. He said the 15-year-old was ordered to the superintendent’s office where he was subjected to hours of meetings and was accused of violating the school’s bullying policy.

Local news has the following:

At this point, I am not sure whether to believe Mr. Staver's allegations. But, if the school district made a mistake, that mistake was made much earlier than any discussion between the Superintendent and the student.

While the op-ed was offensive, included inaccurate information (see my review of the All Children Matter Report), and may have been against the school's policies, why was it printed in the first place?  Schools usually assign a teacher or principal as the managing editor of any student papers for which the school is the publisher.  Once published, the school was right to apologize.  But they were wrong in ever allowing the op-ed.

FollowUp 3: NJ Democrats Call for Marriage Equality

The New Jersey Star Ledger's editorial board wrote about Governor Christie's call for a state referendum on marriage equality.

The governor’s plan is not serious. It is a political dodge. He is trying to provide a safe haven to shelter his obedient Republican legislators. The idea is they could safely vote against gay marriage, saying they only want the people to decide.

They go on to make the obvious correlation that if marriage equality for "inter-racial" marriage had to wait to pass a referendum, the 1967 Loving v Virginia decision of the Supreme Court would have had to wait at least three more decades to become law.  I would argue that it would have taken even longer because changing the law to allow Blacks and Whites to wed sped the change in societal attitude.

The point is that minority rights should not be subjected to majority vote. That misses the gist of constitutional rights.

As James Madison put it in Federalist Paper 51: “It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part. If a majority can be united by a common interest, the rights of the minority will be insecure.”

Exactly why many of us are saying that human rights and civil rights should not be dependent upon a vote of the people.  Rights should be guaranteed and protected by the Constitution.

It’s nothing but sad that the governor is playing this political game. He is ambitious for national office and knows that Republicans won’t abide a candidate on the ticket who supports gay marriage. On the other hand, he wants to contain the damage in New Jersey, where polls show most voters support marriage equality.

Our sense is that New Jersey is ready to vote for gay marriage — 52 percent favored it in a recent Quinnipiac poll. But one never knows. A low turnout and a big infusion of right-wing money could change that in a flash.

It is good that the Star Ledger's editorial board understands what is happening.  I suspect that Governor Christie understands very well what his referendum proposal means, both for the state of New Jersey and for his own aspirations for national office.

9 January 2012, Original Pedantic Political Ponderings post.

25 January 2012, FollowUp 1.

26 January 2012, FollowUp 2.

30 January 2012, FollowUp 4.

31 January 2012, FollowUp 5.

3 February 2012, FollowUp 6.

10 February 2012, FollowUp 7.

13 February 2012, FollowUp 8.

18 February 2012, FollowUp 9.

21 February 2012, FollowUp 10.

FollowUp 4: California's SB-48

The Bay Area Reporter notes that attacks on California's SB-48, The Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act are continuing.  While Richard Rios, who had filed petitions for two separate ballot propositions to remove the effectiveness of FAIR, has dropped his efforts, Lou Sheldon is picking up the slack.

The proposal, submitted by Lou Sheldon of the anti-gay Traditional Values Coalition, repeals SB 48′s requirement that instructional materials recognize those contributions.

Sheldon also wants to undo the law’s provision that prohibits instructional materials that reflect adversely on people based on their sexual orientation and other characteristics.

Backers of Sheldon’s initiative have until June 25 to collect the 504,760 valid signatures needed to get the proposal on the state ballot.

Fortunately, unlike the bigotry of Mr. Rios and Mr. Sheldon, there is level-headed news.

One measure (SB 48), requiring public schools to include the contributions of LGBT individuals and “other cultural groups” in social studies courses, could take years to implement. That’s because schools review and approve textbooks years in advance.

The law has stirred controversy, but officials say it promotes inclusion. Maureen Latham, assistant superintendent of instructional support services for the Beaumont Unified School District, told the newspaper, “Just as we look for balance in represented groups like the Hmong culture or the Morongo Indians, we will be sure to include any contributions to society of all groups. Maybe textbooks that highlight the accomplishments of Harvey Milk (the state’s first openly gay politician who was killed in 1978) will be appropriate.” 

The last article also has information on three other new laws in California that seek to treat all Californians, including those in the LGBTQ Community, fairly.

Thanks to Joe My God for the heads up.

12 October 2011, Original Pedantic Political Ponderings post.

23 October 2011, FollowUp 1.

28 November 2011, FollowUp 2.

9 December 2011, FollowUp 3.

Praise: Cory Booker on Civil Rights

Stephen Goldstein of Garden State Equality said, in an e-mail today,

Immediately after you watch the video, please share it with everyone you know.   I was so excited, I had to transcribe the text of the Mayor's remarks for you myself - see below.  And what the heck, if the spirit moves you to donate to Garden State Equality to help our incredibly exciting campaign for marriage equality, I sure won't stop you.  I'll love you even more, if that's possible, because you're already greatest members in the world.  Visit www.GardenStateEquality.org to donate online.

Mayor Booker: “Dear God, we should not put civil rights issues to a popular vote to be subject to the sentiments and passions of the day. No minority should have their civil rights subject to the passions and sentiments of the majority. This is a fundamental bedrock of what our nation stands for. We have created in our state and refuse to address, and call it like it is, a second class citizenship. Let’s stop the ruse. Jackie Robinson said, every American’s right to first-class citizenship is the most important issue of our time. It is infuriating that we are in the 21st century and we haven’t created equality under the law. I am fundamentally, in every fiber of my being, supportive of equal citizenship for all people in this country. I am tired and exhausted that we have a country able to overcome women having second-class citizenship in this country, Blacks having a second-class citizenship in this country, Latinos having a second-class citizenship in this country, Blacks and whites who wanted to marry have a second-class citizenship in this country. Don’t just point to the Governor – we had the chance to do this under the last Governor, and we didn’t have the courage to stand up and do the right thing. It’s about time we create first-class citizenship for every American, plain and simple. Every New Jerseyan. This should not be a popular vote. This is something we should do now.”

Wonderful press conference.  Thanks to Mr. Goldstein for the link.

FollowUp 2: NJ Democrats Call for Marriage Equality

Something that I missed yesterday was an incredibly ignorant statement by Governor Christie.  This from the Philadelphia Inquirer (page 2).

"The fact of the matter is, I think people would have been happy to have a referendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South," [Christie] said.

Of course people would prefer to have their rights without having to fight and die for them.  But, to imagine that the South would have passed any referendum to grant minority rights prior to the Civil Rights Movement and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is delusional.

Today's Philadelphia Inquirer has reactions of some of the New Jersey Democratic leaders of the legislature.

Democrats, particularly Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D., Essex), who is African American, have repeatedly called gay marriage a civil rights issue. That's why they made it their top legislative priority this year. And that was the context in which Christie made his remarks. 

Oliver responded yesterday to Christie's comments saying that he "better sit down with some of New Jersey’s great teachers for a history lesson, because his puzzling comment shows a complete misunderstanding about the civil rights movement."

“It’s impossible to ever conceive that a referendum on civil rights in the South would have been successful and brought justice to minorities...They were fighting and dying in the streets of the South because the majority refused to grant minorities equal rights by any method. It look legislative action to bring justice to all Americans, just as legislative action is the right way to bring marriage equality to all New Jerseyans."

Added Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman: "His words defy history and were extremely insensitive to the struggle for equality of African-Americans and other minorities in this country. Fighting and dying in the streets of the South was not a choice, Governor, it was the only way."

Even Senate President Stephen Sweeney, who originally had far softer words for the governor's position, claimed that the governor's call for a constitutional amendment to be voted on by the electorate was nothing more than "the official opening of his campaign for vice-president."

Newark's Mayor Cory Booker spoke on WNYC today (just sound, no image).



As I mentioned in FollowUp 1, I believe that Governor Christie will veto marriage equality after he insulated himself from charges of bigotry by appointing a homosexual to the New Jersey Supreme Court.  That insulation does not extend to ignorance of history and failure to understand the Civil Rights Movement.  It is obvious that Mr. Christie is using the proposition of a ballot measure on civil rights as part of positioning himself for federal office, either as a running mate for the Republican candidate for President or as a cabinet officer in the next Republican administration, perhaps for a run for the presidency in 2016.

Thanks to Joe My God for the heads up.

9 January 2012, Original Pedantic Political Ponderings post.

25 January 2012, FollowUp 1.

28 January 2012, FollowUp 3.

30 January 2012, FollowUp 4.

31 January 2012, FollowUp 5.

3 February 2012, FollowUp 6.

10 February 2012, FollowUp 7.

13 February 2012, FollowUp 8.

18 February 2012, FollowUp 9.

21 February 2012, FollowUp 10.

FollowUp 9: Wisconsin Republican Dirty Tricks

While one might expect that Governor Walker and the other Republicans up for recall might be focused on cleaning up their image in Wisconsin, they are in the midst of political rewards for those who fund their campaigns at the cost of dirtying the environment of Northern Wisconsin.

When Mr. Walker ran for his office of governor, he did not run on union-busting.  He ran on creating jobs.  Since then he turned down federal money that might have created railway jobs, health care jobs, and has focused on his campaign chest.  But now the Republicans are racing to change Wisconsin mining regulations, to allow for an open pit iron ore mine near Lake Superior (far north in Wisconsin).  Here is a three minute video that offers Governor Walker's propaganda.



To be clear, it is not just environmentalists who are complaining about the race to push this through. The Bad River Reservation, originally deeded to the Ojibwe, abuts the proposed four and a half mile long open mine.



From the Indian Country.

The Bad River Tribe presented 10 guidelines for mining legislation to Walker in September. They are:
1. The definition of iron mining should be clearly set forth to exclude any project proposal that has the potential to cause acid mine drainage.
2. The completeness of iron mining–permit applications should be clearly defined and the burden of preparing and submitting a complete application should be entirely on the permit applicant.
3. The permitting time frame should be reasonable, flexible and consistent with federal agency time frames. It should also provide sufficient time for the DNR, the public, federal agencies, and affected Indian tribes, to fully review and participate in the permitting process.
4. Wetland protection standards should be maintained and the federal/state partnership in the environmental review process under state and federal law should not be jeopardized.
5. Federal clean water act implementation by DNR should be corrected and not weakened.
6. There should be contested case hearings to allow full participation by interested parties, including Indian tribes.
7. There should be no preemption of local control.
8. Citizen suits should be maintained to make sure permit provisions and legal restrictions on new mines will be enforced.
9. Consultation with Indian tribes by the DNR should be required as part of the permitting process.
10. Interested party financing should be provided for the contested case hearing process.

Mayors of neighboring towns object.  So, why would they object to so many high paying jobs.  My friends in Wisconsin tell me that the jobs to be created a low-paying and far fewer than promised.  The real money is flowing in another direction.

The Cline Group is the Florida based organization behind the open pit mine.  They have been making donations to Wisconsin Republicans in exchange for relaxing the permitting process and laws to protect the environment.  It turns out that this is a repeat of similar donations for mining opportunities in Illinois by the same Cline Group.  Dirty money that may lead to dirty water, wrecked land, and dirty air in Northern Wisconsin.

Protests are planned.  (Wisconsinites have become far too practiced in protesting Governor Walker's agenda to hurt Wisconsin).

27 January 2012, Update:  Despite protests, the Wisconsin Assembly passed the mining bill which is now on its way to the Wisconsin Senate.

16 November 2011, Original Pedantic Political Ponderings post.
30 November 2011, FollowUp 1.
4 December 2011, FollowUp 2.
11 December 2011, FollowUp 3.
14 December 2011, FollowUp 4.
15 December 2011, FollowUp 5.
30 December 2011, FollowUp 6.
13 January 2012, FollowUp 7.
17 January 2012, FollowUp 8.

2 February 2012, FollowUp 10.
9 February 2012, FollowUp 11.
12 February 2012, FollowUp 12.
18 February 2012, FollowUp 13.
22 February 2012, FollowUp 14.
6 March 2012, FollowUp 15.
12 March 2012, FollowUp 16.
16 March 2012, FollowUp 17.
30 March 2012, FollowUp 18.
31 March 2012, FollowUp 19.
3 April 2012, FollowUp 20.
4 April 2012, FollowUp 21.
11 April 2012, FollowUp 22.
14 April 2012, FollowUp 23.
17 April 2012, FollowUp 24.
21 April 2012, FollowUp 25.
29 April 2012, FollowUp 26.
2 May 2012, FollowUp 27.
6 May 2012, FollowUp 28.
10 May 2012, FollowUp 29.
13 May 2012, FollowUp 30.
23 May 2012, FollowUp 31.
24 May 2012, FollowUp 32.
30 May 2012, FollowUp 33.
2 June 2012, FollowUp 34.
4 June 2012, FollowUp 35.
5 June 2012, FollowUp 36.