Brickbat: On Your Knees

Parents of students at California's Calimesa Elementary School weren't happy with a new policy that required students to kneel before Principal Dana Carter and a few other administrators. Officials described it as a safety measure. But after local media picked up the story, the school system announced it would drop the policy.

Comments

[Snark Plissken]

Principal Dana Carter at Calimesa Elementary School had reportedly instituted the policy, which called for students at various times of the school day to kneel down on one knee and wait for the principal or another administrator to dismiss them, as a safety measure.

Makes sense, learning to kneel down before the State is the safest thing.

[Snark Plissken]

Also, Dana is a man, man.

Getting children to kneel is his way of working through childhood trauma.

[-Umbriel-]

I actually think the "kneeling before the administrators" aspect of this was overplayed by the media. When I was in grade school 40-some years ago, I recall the policy being that they'd sound a buzzer at the end of recess, upon which everyone was supposed to freeze in place. Then they'd sound it again a couple seconds later, signifying everyone was supposed to go back inside.

I think the theory is that the "freeze" or "kneel" policy is to give the kids a visual cue to reinforce the audible one, get the kids' attention, and end recess in an orderly fashion. Calling it a "safety measure" is just the usual buzzword school administrators use for what those of us who value liberty are more inclined to see as "order for order's sake". I also recall rules about taking off one's hat as soon as one entered the building that was even more pointless except as an order-imposing measure, and a policy about keeping quiet in the lunchroom that may have had a somewhat stronger safety rationale, but typically played out as a simple muscle-flexing exercise by the administrators.

[Suthenboy]

What? A safety measure? What the hell does that even mean?

[invisible furry hand]

Its official name was "positive behavior intervention". What the hell does that even mean?

[Brian D]

It means it's not safe to fail to show your betters the proper respect!

[Wizard4169]

Questioning their divine and benevolent wisdom? Not very safe, either.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You've won for now, but when the day comes that Lord Dana finally unleashes his loyal minions to wreak their havoc upon an unsuspecting world, then who will be laughing?

[invisible furry hand]

one mother told KCAL9?s Tom Wait ... "I feel that the principal wants to be like a king, and we don't have kings in America"

Someone better tell POTUS.

BTW, kudos to KCAL9 for giving a great artist a day job. Man cannot live from Swordfishtrombone royalties alone

[The Hyperbole]

BTW, kudos to KCAL9 for giving a great artist a day job. Man cannot live from Swordfishtrombone royalties alone

the decline is sad because I heard he could have been on easy street, could have been a wheel, he had irons in the fire and all the business deals. Then loaned all his money to some old friend/hooker form Wisconsin or Bakersfield of something.

[Snark Plissken]

"You ever catch a chickenfish?"

[Raston Bot]

and who are you, the proud lord said..

[Steve G]

Stock photo fail. Superman II would have been choice (Kneel before Zod!) with Avengers (Loki) a close second.

[Swiss Servator - past LTC(ret)]

Damn you for beating me to "Kneel before Zod!"

[Matrix]

KNEEEEEEEEL!

[Rich]

The parents should dismiss Principal Carter and the school administrators involved in this crap, as a safety measure.

[invisible furry hand]

after making them kneel and beg for their jobs, naturally

[Eduard van Haalen]

Kneel before Principal Zod...or be sent to detention in an interdimensional prison, lol

helpussuperman.com

[wareagle]

and once again, school officials did nothing until the media took the story beyond the school district. Neither the complaints of the parents nor the actions themselves were problematic apparently; only when that evil media commits a random act of journalism and bad behavior is highlighted do the educrats see a problem. And even then, they're seeing the wrong thing as a problem.

[Snark Plissken]

Oh man, just saw the last line:

District officials said Carter will schedule a future meeting with parents to plan different safety options on campus.

Bowing, scraping, saluting and kissing that Principal ring are all being considered.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Yeah, abolishing the kneeling policy creates more safety problems - and it's the media's fault for making the school more dangerous. But fortunately the wise school leaders will come up with a replacement policy in lieu of the safety policy the media made them give up.

[Eduard van Haalen]

NPR was covering the debate over war with Syria - Obama versus McCain and Graham, who mock the President for not having a large enough war-boner. They were going to vote against the resolution because it was too limited, but apparently Obama persuaded them not to do that, because the war could expand in the future in accordance with their wishes.

It's a proxy war vs. Iran! And if the public doesn't understand The Importance of the Stakes, its because Obama hasn't explained it properly.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Oh, and now it's specially-trained dogs detecting turtle eggs - not to help their owners make turtle soup, but to "save" the poor little baby turtles.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"save"?

[Eduard van Haalen]

And an Apache tribe running a radio station.

John Wayne just needs to keep tuned to this station to find out when the Apaches are coming.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Now, a singer-songwriter who adds submarine sounds to her songs.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Will her songs be played on the Apache radio station?

[Eduard van Haalen]

Don't know, but she's more depressed than Sylvia Plath, and seems determined to take it out on the audience.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Hey, lady, the audience isn't responsible for your unhappy childhood, so why punish *them*?

[seguin]

How is that news? Are the lily-white listeners to NPR surprised that the aboriginals can figure out knobs?

[AdamJ]

I heard McCain spouting this line if shit on NbC this AM. If this is really a proxy war with Iran, maybe we really should stay home. Of course Savanah Guthrie just thanked him for his time, question nothing.

I would have loved to have been at the meeting over Labor Day weekend that came up with "proxy war with Iran" as a means to sell this war to us.

[sarcasmic]

Christian bakers who refused to make wedding cake for lesbian couple forced to close after death threats

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....reats.html

Tolerant people do not tolerate intolerance. Truly tolerant people would have actually killed them instead of just threatening them, because that's what tolerant people do.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Were the people who made the death threats motivated by some idea of fighting intolerance or just pro-gay, anti-anti-gay sentiment? Because they are not the same thing.

[sarcasmic]

Does it matter? These bakers are politically incorrect, and that is simply intolerant. Tolerant people do not tolerate intolerance. The more tolerant you are, the more violent you are toward people who are intolerant. Tolerant people should be celebrating this, because intolerance should not be tolerated by tolerant people.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I think there is an important distinction.

Let's say a grocer in a mostly black neighborhood explicitly refused to serve blacks, and later received nasty emails and protesters as a result. Would you chalk that up to the protesters adherence to 'tolerance' or them being upset that their race was refused service?

[sarcasmic]

Could you stretch your analogy any further?

[Eduard van Haalen]

Say the grocer refuses to sell, for instance, halal meat. Can Muslims sue him? Can they call on a government agency to penalize the grocer?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

How is it a stretch?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

OK, here is how the Washington Times covered this.

-But the lesbian couple filed a complaint with the state, accusing the shop owners of discrimination.

Since, they've been hounded by vicious telephone calls and emails. Some of those threats were shocking. One emailer wished for the couple's children to fall ill. Another expressed hope that Mr. Klein should be shot and even raped, The Blaze reported. And yet another wrote: "Here's hoping you go out of business, you bigot."

The couple said on top of that, their vendors were "badgered and harassed" into stopping all associations with the bakery.

The Kleins say they're now closing up their doors and moving their operations to their home. Their business, they say, has suffered a serious revenue hit from the unexpected activism and backlash.
http://www.washingtontimes.com.....z2dpjGzBJU
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

I have to say the only one that comes close to what I would call a 'death threat' is the 'expressed hope that Mr. Klein should be shot and even raped' (and even this falls short of a 'true threat' in my opinion). To me the worst thing in the article is that the state has some process of intervening. The rest strikes me as permissible (though uncivil) social pressure.

[Eduard van Haalen]

There's this:

"Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian told The Oregonian at the time that people are entitled to their beliefs, but aren't allowed to discriminate."

No, Commissar Avakian, if they can't *act* on their beliefs they don't have the right to those beliefs.

Well, it's not as if Mr. *Avakian* has any reason to be protective of minority rights.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-To me the worst thing in the article is that the state has some process of intervening.

[wareagle]

social pressure can also work in reverse fashion. See: Chik-fil-a after the CEO said he defined marriage as one man and one woman, and the gay griefers lost their minds.

This is where gays are going to run afoul of people otherwise inclined to support them.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Sure, social pressure is often applied stupidly, and this strikes me as such a case. It still seems to fall under permissible social pressure (from a libertarian point of view) to me.

[Entropy Void]

Calling on government to enforce your Sodomite Nuptials at the point of a gun is not permissible social pressure.

[BardMetal]

How does a group of people who make up less then 2% of the population have this much control of the culture?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

What percent of the population are veterans? You never hear a bad word about them. Organized and interested groups can exert amazing influence.

[seguin]

Because the major organizations claiming to represent said portion are solidly leftist, and therefore ideological allies to the people who already control so much of the culture?

[Mr Whipple]

WTF? They passed up a chance to make a vagina cake? Couldn't stand the smell, I guess.

[seguin]

The Bass-O-Matic was on the fritz...it's hard to blend a red snapper with a Hamilton Beach.

[seguin]

The Bass-O-Matic was on the fritz...it's hard to blend a red snapper with a Hamilton Beach.

[Dave Krueger]

All government officials would demand that if they could get away with it.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Daryl Hall & John Oates - Dance On Your Knees

[BardMetal]

I can't imagine how I would react if someone actually told me to kneel in front of them, but I know wouldn't be very nice.

[Mr Whipple]

Must be a Catholic School.

[Eduard van Haalen]

No, they kneel before *God.*

[Mr Whipple]

Who just happens to look like a priest

[Mr Whipple]

Wine is the "blood of Christ"
Bread is the "body of Christ"
_____ is the "milk of Christ"

[C. S. P. Schofield]

And what makes you think that there isn't as much or more abuse going on in the Public Schools? But the abusers don't belong to a class that the media despise??

I'm not excusing the Catholics, mind, I just think that there's a time-bomb ticking in the public schools.

[Jerryskids]

FTA: ...the policy, which called for students at various times of the school day to kneel down on one knee.... (emphasis added)

If any of you heathens had attended Catholic school you would know that 'kneeling' is 'getting on your knees' (as cops concerned for their safety would require a suspect within striking distance to do) whereas going to one knee is referred to as 'genuflecting'.

gen?u?flect (jny-flkt)
intr.v.gen?u?flect?ed, gen?u?flect?ing, gen?u?flects
1. To bend the knee or touch one knee to the floor or ground, as in worship.

2. To be servilely respectful or deferential; grovel.

[Jerryskids]

Admittedly, I could totally see myself as a teacher ordering children to kneel before me for their own safety.

But I would be using the exercise as a teaching moment - if your safety is of paramount importance to you, if your safety is of more importance to you than your liberty, if you truly believe that living on your knees is better than dying on your feet, then kiddies you better be prepared for your masters to treat you like the dogs that you are.

As a free man, upon being commanded to kneel before a government official, you should be eager to do so only insofar as it gives you the opportunity to punch them right in the nuts.

[Ken Shultz]

Stupid fundamentalists get all bent out of shape because the government is making their children kneel--how the hell else are they supposed to pray to Obama? He can solve all of their problems for them, too, if they'll just let Obama into their hearts and learn to hate Republicans the way they're supposed to.

[Troy muy grande boner]

Meh. This doesn't surprise me. 29 years ago, fuck yeah.

This is what is coming next. Safe for work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk47saogI8o

[Troy muy grande boner]

Another petty bureaucrat in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF2RYhNhBdw

[Ken Shultz]

"Parents of students at California's Calimesa Elementary School weren't happy with a new policy that required students to kneel before Principal Dana Carter and a few other administrators. Officials described it as a safety measure."

That's Reason #287 to homeschool.

[Rrabbit]

That principal needs to be fired. Too bad today's kids seem to be more reluctant to fight back against abuse of authority than we were back then.