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Or Spanish teachers of the world unite!
A 7th-grade geography teacher in Colorado was escorted from his class and placed on adminstrative leave for hanging the flags of China and Mexico in his geography class. His geography class.
A new state law says only the flag of the United States can be on permanent display in classrooms. This would've seriously cheesed off my junior high and high school Spanish teachers. I think one even had a sombrero on the wall, too.
Pro Libertate | August 24, 2006, 4:55pm | #
I'd hang the Gadsden Flag out of sheer defiance.Gene Berkman | August 24, 2006, 5:04pm | #
This is more evidence that the dumming down of our educational system for the past generation is causing more dumbing down for the present generation.Lumpy Moose | August 24, 2006, 5:10pm | #
... waiting for semiliterate bullshit justification from the "military lawyer" inSR | August 24, 2006, 5:10pm | #
I live in Colorado, and I'm an attorney, and I'd never heard of this law, but here it is:Deus ex Machina | August 24, 2006, 5:19pm | #
With laws like that, is it any wonder that the creators of South Park were the byproducts of the Colorado education system.MikeP | August 24, 2006, 5:19pm | #
You know, I could easily spend ten minutes enumerating reasons schools should be private.matthew hogan | August 24, 2006, 5:21pm | #
Reading between the lines suggests the law may have been partly derived from a way to ban any kind of confederate flag displays without directly saying so. OTOH its not the south.Pro Libertate | August 24, 2006, 5:23pm | #
So, if in a fit of state pride I carry the majestic flag of Florida onto state property in Colorado, I'm a disloyal, anarchic, seditious traitor? It's a fair cop, but it's probably a wee bit unconstitutional. Here's a for instance. Biff, the native Coloradoian, displays a small Colorado flag in his cubicle at a Colorado DMV office. Ragnar, the native Floridian, sitting in the next cube, displays the awe-inspiring flag of Florida. Biff is okay in the eyes of the law, but Ragnar is going to get beaten with a flag pole. How is that not viewpoint discrimination? I'm not saying that the official flying of "alien" flags on state flagpoles couldn't be restricted, but this statute appears to go waaay beyond that.Pro Libertate | August 24, 2006, 5:26pm | #
Ahem. Make that Coloradoan or Coloradonator. I tried to fix it, but, this one time, the server was too fast.David | August 24, 2006, 5:27pm | #
(1) Any person who displays any flag other than the flag of the United States of America or the state of Colorado or any of its subdivisions, agencies, or institutions upon any state, county, municipal, or other public building or adjacent grounds within this state commits a class 1 petty offense.Isaac Bartram | August 24, 2006, 5:31pm | #
Thanks SR.Power Line Reader | August 24, 2006, 5:33pm | #
This law was passed to stop Ward Churchill from flying the Al Qaeda flag in his freshman comp classrooms.Isaac Bartram | August 24, 2006, 5:38pm | #
...any instructional or historical materials not permanently affixed or attached to any part of the buildings...David | August 24, 2006, 5:40pm | #
(2) Any person who displays any flag other than the flag of the United States of America or the state of Colorado or any of its subdivisions, agencies, or institutions in any place where it is likely to be viewed by the public or a substantial portion thereof, knowing that under the circumstances then existing such display is likely to cause a breach of the peace, commits a class 1 petty offense.kevrob | August 24, 2006, 5:42pm | #
Hamlin, who teaches 7th grade, said he believes the national debate surrounding immigration and the Mexican flag has contributed to the controversy. He wonders if he would have caused such a stir if he had hung flags of Switzerland or Australia instead of Mexico. - From TFA.Pro Libertate | August 24, 2006, 5:46pm | #
The whole incitement theory bothers me in the best situations. What constitutes me knowing that my display is likely to breach the peace? Certainly, the mere display of the Nazi flag would upset and offend many people. But if one of those offended people decides to meet speech with fisticuffs, is the Nazi bad boy responsible for that violence? The whole heckler's veto concept just turns speech on its face. Incitement to violence means more than offending someone to the point of throwing a rock.Deus ex Machina | August 24, 2006, 5:46pm | #
While we're on the topic of teaching unconventional topics, is it now going to be inappropriate if a teacher states that Pluto is a planet?Pro Libertate | August 24, 2006, 5:50pm | #
For an example of speech that is so close to an "act" of violence, imagine a guy who walks into a meeting of families of people killed in 9/11. He points to the back of an Arab guy walking outside and says, "Jesus Christ! That's bin Laden! Kill the mother!". And they do. Okay, that's probably something that can be dealt with without weakening the freedom of speech.Deus ex Machina | August 24, 2006, 5:51pm | #
I might bloody add, how the bloody hell does someone bloody permanently bloody attach a bloody flag to to any bloody part of any bloody building?Pro Libertate | August 24, 2006, 5:55pm | #
Pluto is now the Taiwan of the Solar System. Technically speaking, it no longer exists.happyjuggler0 | August 24, 2006, 5:59pm | #
David,Shawn Smith | August 24, 2006, 6:04pm | #
I'm waiting for the inevitable episode based on this.smackyisaprude | August 24, 2006, 6:07pm | #
Charon is where the half-black, half-white guys from Cavanaugh's Star Trek post are from.Deus ex Machina | August 24, 2006, 6:11pm | #
Yeah, but that episode was more about the Confederate flag issue rather than a ban against flying anything but the Stars and Stripes. One possible plot I had in mind involved Ike displaying a Canadian flag and being arrested.Bee | August 24, 2006, 6:14pm | #
Sorry about that but when I get really mad I lapse into Australian Vernacular English.Kodos, Governor of Tarsus IV | August 24, 2006, 6:14pm | #
The revolution is successful. But survival depends on drastic measures. Your continued existence represents a threat to the well-being of society. Your lives mean slow death to the more valued members of the colony. Therefore I have no alternative but to sentence you to death. Your execution is so ordered.happyjuggler0 | August 24, 2006, 6:14pm | #
You know, I could easily spend ten minutes enumerating reasons schools should be private.Pro Libertate | August 24, 2006, 6:18pm | #
Say, you typed those words like you knew them. You hardly glanced at the paper.VM | August 24, 2006, 6:18pm | #
"smackyisaprude"smackyisaprude | August 24, 2006, 6:27pm | #
If the supply ships hadn't come early, why, history may have remembered your Kodos as a great hero!cecil | August 24, 2006, 6:32pm | #
VM, I was hoping to get a rise out of the dear smacky myself...sorry you so sensitive to childish ribbing of your sweet smacky.David | August 24, 2006, 7:25pm | #
Juggler,aspendougy | August 24, 2006, 7:27pm | #
The key word is "displayed" That means you can wear Chinese or Mexican Flag underwearMad Scientist | August 24, 2006, 7:59pm | #
What about the poor, backwater Colorado burgs who are so poor they haven't been able to afford any new flags in their courthouses or classrooms since 1959 when there were only 49 stars? Is a pre-'59 flag still a "Flag of the United States of America" or is it "likely to cause a breach of the peace" and the first step on the dark path to sedition?SR | August 24, 2006, 8:53pm | #
"BTW, does anyone have any background on this law? Was it created during the Red Scare of the 50's or during the battle over the Pledge of Allegiance? Or did some senator sneak this one in as a rider in an unrelated apportions bill?"Pro Libertate | August 24, 2006, 10:35pm | #
And those who can't administrate, legislate.E.Z. | August 24, 2006, 11:27pm | #
Apparently the school is offering to reinstate him if he rotates the flags out every 6 weeks. Hamlin is debating whether to go back to his job or just go back to school.Jim Walsh | August 24, 2006, 11:37pm | #
Well, what do you expect from the state that put Tom Tancredo in Congress? I notice, by the way, that KOA (the Denver-area wingnut station) has absolutely nothing on the story on their website...?Stevo Darkly | August 25, 2006, 2:32am | #
Somebody is being a douche for real this time.allan | August 25, 2006, 4:42am | #
I'm surprised they did not order the burning of all unauthorized flags.Mr. F. Le Mur | August 25, 2006, 9:04am | #
(4) (a) The chief administrative officer of any state institution, school, or court facility described in this section shall not permit the display of any depiction or representation of a flag of the United States that is intended for public view and permanently affixed or attached to any part of the building or grounds of said state institution, school, or court facility, and which display does not conform with 4 U.S.C. sec. 7.VM | August 25, 2006, 9:46am | #
Cecil:GILMORE | August 25, 2006, 9:49am | #
Here's one way to protest this kind of thing =crimethink | August 25, 2006, 12:14pm | #
He talks about challenging it in court, but though IANAL, I don't think he's got much of a case. Government employees' freedom of speech can be restricted while performing their official duties. For example, the First Ammendment does not allow this teacher to preach his religion during class, though it does protect his right to do so in his personal life.baw..baller | August 25, 2006, 1:25pm | #
bawl till you fall, so to speak...Ruthless | August 25, 2006, 8:16pm | #
Coming in late here, but this reminds me of something I saw on a classroom wall when the Little Woman and I were out near San Francisco visiting cherished daughter. I've tried to describe it here before.