Friday, April 07, 2006

Don Takes a Stand with others Lovers of Freedom at a Denver Metro Middle School

This is the one reason why you did not see a post all day here at "The Blog according to Don." I have taken weekends off a lot lately but most of the time during the week I try to put something up. Unless I find a paying job, yours truly will try to keep the blog fresh so that you can keep coming back and wondering what currently Don has to say.

Today yours truly went on a long trek to the suburb of Westminster in Denver, Colorado; to take a stand with other freedoms loving Americans (regardless were they convictions on public policy land) regarding the mistake that Shaw Heights Middle School made in banning the flag (in any form ranging from shirts to patches) within the walls of that respected school. Although they backed off this ban, this rally was not going to be called off. Here is a letter that Shaw Heights Principal Myla Shepherd wrote to parents.

Dear Parent and Guardians:

The safety of our students is a main concern at Shaw Heights Middle School. The issue of illegal immigration that has been featured in the media and discussed by legislators at federal and state levels has caused some unrest and increased tensions among students at our school. Some clothing worn recently by some of our students has created a tense and sometimes hostile environment in our school over the last few days. This is not the environment we want for our students.

In order to rebuild relationships and avoid further tension, I have altered our school’s dress code. I am asking students to dress neutrally so that we may shift our focus back to learning. I believe this will help calm some of the frustration and hurt feelings generated this week.

You and your student can help by complying with our current dress code and by students not wearing:


clothing that makes a political statement

camouflage clothing

banners, flags, bandanas of all types
Our goal is to live up to our “Falcon Four” by showing respect, responsibility, integrity and pride at all times. My goal is to keep this the best middle school in the city – safe and focused on learning. I will keep you updated and aware of our progress at Shaw Heights.

I appreciate your support. Please contact me with any questions.

Sincerely,

Myla Shepherd
Principal

But Tom Tancredo Got up out of his bed and wrote this.

Dear Principal Shepherd,

I was astonished to learn that officials at Shaw Heights recently threatened an honor student with disciplinary action for wearing a red sweater, a white T-shirt, and blue jeans. The student was apparently reprimanded for violating the newly formulated dress code banning “clothing that makes a political statement,” purportedly because of the color combination she chose.

To say that it is disturbing to see school administrators spending their time and limited resources scrutinizing the color combinations of students’ clothes in search of hidden political messages would be an understatement. As a former educator, I am frankly shocked by how far afield the public education apparatus appears to have wandered.

When teachers like Jay Bennish and Ward Churchill transform our classrooms into personal platforms to disseminate delusional and nihilistic propaganda, the education establishment seems too paralyzed to respond. Yet when students take the initiative to passively express pro-American sentiments by, for example, sewing a stars-and-stripes flag patch on a backpack (or choosing a red, white, and blue outfit, evidently) school administrators are quick to discipline, punish, regulate and suppress.

I believe this kind of double standard sends the wrong message to students, and I hope that you and other administrators who have recently implemented these kinds of misguided policies will seriously consider rescinding them.

Sincerely,

/s/

Tom Tancredo
Member of Congress

The Mexicans who are coming to American have not taken over this country just yet, and until that does happen (I Hope It NEVER Happens so you know) we are still the "United States of America," and our flag has "Bright Stripes and Bright Stars," Red and White Stripes, White Stars, Blue of the left hand corner with those Bright Stars in it. This is the official flag of the United States or America...GET OVER IT!!! Respect this country, for once rather than the usual Political Correctness you Educrats are known for.

I want to thank the Clear Channel Denver Talk Radio Hosts (Peter Boyles, Mike Rosen, 'Gunny Bob' Newman, Dan Caplis & Craig Silverman) for making aware of the dumb stunts that certain Government Schools in Colorado regarding the way they were handling the Mexican Immigration issue. Let this be a warning to OTHER Government Schools in the country who dare ban the Red, White and Blue.

Oh and if your from another country please come here legally and respect our country if you plan on living here for the long term.

Thank Your Very Much, and Thank You for visiting "The Blog according to Don." Please come back often.

Related Links

FreeSpeechforStudents.com You can find those above letters at the Free Speech for Students website

Story from a local Denver news affilate that used the American Colors since the mid 1970's. KUSA-TV aka 9News. Would your child get banned if he wore anything jacket from 9News since they have the Red, White and Blue Colors???

The 'Caplis & Silverman' page at KHOW-AM's website

The 'Gunny Bob' Newman page at KOA-AM's website

Story from KDVR-TV FOX31 News/AP I have linked them in spite of the fact they don't mention the rally in this piece, but FOX31 News and 9News stuck it out longer than their competitors so they just a reward by having links here on my blog.

2 Comments:

Blogger The Real Bob Anthony said...

Don:

My congrats to you for attending this rally supporting the flag. I find it interesting that KUSA-TV (nee KBTV) has used the red white and blue for a long time. By the way, according to the Wikpedia article on KUSA they have had those calls since 1984.

By the way, as you may know there is a WUSA-TV also on Channel 9, also owned by Gannett--but it's a CBS station. In fact, it's 20 years since WDVM/WTOP/WOIC became WUSA or W*USA. When they changed their name in '86, they adopted the logo of a star between the W and the U. They now have the CBS eye between the letters. And by the way the station is in Washington, DC.

Was there a WUSA radio? Yes! In Tampa, FL on FM at 100.7--it was an AC/Oldies station before becoming Hot AC WAKS and now CCU owned Hot AC WMTX Mix 100.7.

If I found out the Greenwich school board did something stupid like they did in CO--well you know I'd be through the roof!

8:01 PM

 
Blogger Don McCullen said...

Their was also a KUSA-AM 550 in St. Louis and had a Country Music format. The station also plioted several popular jingles packages for the Country via JAM Creative Producations.

Today 550 is known as KTRS-AM and broadcasts a News/Talk format. Gannett is keeping the KUSA and WUSA calls for themselves and no other company is going to take them.

An NBC affilate in Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX now has the KBTV calls and used them since 1999. Previous calls were in decending order KJAC and KPAC. The current KBTV also has its TV studios in a local Beaumont shopping mall.

I did not want to get into 9News using the KBTV calls but I will point out that 9News used the Red, White, and Blue colors several years before Gannett accquired the station. The switch the KUSA calls letters brands them with the ever famous MacNewspaper USA Today.

Maybe that's why they want to keep the KUSA and WUSA calls should they ever decide to sell either the DC or Denver stations. I don't see that happening anytime soon however.

9News was also the second Colorado TV station to sign on as well.

10:39 PM

 

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