6th grader's Harvey Milk project blocked by school

Fucking twitterbot. Shoo!

I would suspect more likely the school board that hired her, but I take your point.

BEST. COMMENT. EVER.

LOL. A salient point.

That entire statement was idiotic. The ACLU doesn't coerce people to do what they want, they DEFEND people's constitutional rights. They don't position themselves as moral guardians. They defend whoever it is is having their rights violated, even morally despicable groups.

They're not bullies, they're watchdogs and advocates of free speech. How anyone can be disgusted with that is baffling to me.

hahahah.....

DO WHAT I SAY OR WE'LL PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE.

That's what they say and do. They are not anything but pit bulls and the moment they help someone that actually does everyone good...well...wake me when that happens.

hey, everyone's favorite troll weighs in.

guys, dont feed the troll.

My personal experience w/ the ACLU.

A friend had an issue way (WAY) outside of what I practice. He had me go w/ him (b/c he was worried and wanted a lawyer to hear what they -ACLU- would do for him).

1) They reviewed the potential case w/ him.
2) They gave him an estimate of the likelihood of winning the case
3) They warned him about various possible negative social impacts (like the actions taken by those who mindlessly believe the ACLU to be bullies)
4) They told him to carefully weigh the pluses and minuses and get back to them.

Didn't seem like a lot of bullying to me.

What they said to the school is bullying.

i was almost offended and then i realized what you're saying is satire.

right?

Jammer is not a troll. I agree with him that this child's parent probably did this for the wrong reasons. I'm wondering why she had such a large smile whilst being interviewed.

Yes the smile and the weird proud-ness she had. I agree with the ACLU that the child should get to do what she wanted based on what the School said, however the ACLU is a bully and is not giving the school due respect and the Parent knew they'd react that way. This was a bloody set up and it's kind of gross.

There's nothing gross about it, even if everything you've assumed is correct. The ACLU defends ANY group against censorship. Progress in America happens through the courts. If this lady was able to cynically mastermind a major censorship case that also has major discrimination overtones, then AMEN SISTER!

Plus, the kids will learn more useful information from this whole ordeal than they did from their little reports.

There s a lot of really bad reasoning here, but One point is very interesting. She did get into an R movie. The comment about her possibly being a cats paw for the mother is plausible. The rest of it's basically crap but that point is a good one.

I think this website has missed me and I will be back fully soon enough, but back to the thought of the ACLU not being gross....

....it's gross. It's intent is to keep fairness abroad. How lovely...but that's just an intent. That is not what they accomplish with their threats. They are a negative group that tries to make positives. Impossible.

the great aclu irony is that without them you probably wouldn't be able to say any of these things.

Actually, yes I could. They are not the only group that does this nor are they the only one that makes case law for things like this. They are just the LOUDEST...and that's the other problem with them. Showy display of need.

I'd rather have a group like the ACLU than not have one. The US is built on complaining; the colonists were complaining all the time and eventually revolted, women complained that they didn't have rights until they did, blacks complained against segregation until they won equal rights, etc.

If nobody ever cared about complaining, then we just be a nation of sheep, that follow everything as it is. But no, thats not what Ameerica is about.

I am happy there are people out there who excercise their right to complain about ANYTHING...

Because in the country where I was born, you get arrested and killed for complaining about anything. Here people like you tend to forget that those rights should not be taken for granted.

That doesn't address the bullying part....AT.ALL. It was a nice speech, otherwise.

Thank you, I took speech classes. Its good to see they worked out.

Bullying? Seriously?

How does the ACLU's affirmation of a child's right to make a project about Harvey Milk consitute bullying? I think you just dislike the ACLU just like like all the other righties because it allows people you call "liberals" to talk about things the right doesn't like...

I'm not swallowing the story that these people are being bullied...

Urban Gypsy, you really shouldn't let trolls like J_Jammer hound you with repeated, ill-defined accusations about an organization that he clearly knows very little of. His views constitute nothing more than a polemic, thinly veiled beneath the desperate need for any and all argumentation, oh yes, and attention. Your posts, J_Jammer, are consistently and intentionally antagonistic. I don't even think you give a shit what you comment on so long as you receive that holiest of holy feedback from others. Your presence on this site has not been missed. At least personally speaking.

I am a proud, card carrying member of the ACLU.

They are a great and noble institution that protects those on the margin of society.

To say they are bullies is akin to blaming the victim. The ACLU stands up to the bullies, no matter who they are, even if they are us.

I salute and thank the ACLU!

That just means your blind and bias. Because telling the school to as they say or else is being a bully. And if you can't realize it then you're not someone anyone should trust about who is doing the right thing.

ChieftanMews - I'd go into who are you but I think it's clear that you are just looking for attention or else why would you reply at all? That's right. Everyone who gives an opinion here is looking to be noticed for it. Don't play as if you're noble. It's like claiming one is humble. It goes away when you state it.

I do hope the courts agree with you.

Why would anyone have a problem with that?

Jesus Christ would be a difficult subject though seeing as there's no historical evidence for his existence. The project would have to be based in mythology, not historical fact.

But if someone wanted to do a project on, say, the life of St Francis of Assisi, I don't see why that would pose a problem to anyone.

You're being presumptuous to the point of paranoia.

Nope. You're right NotFooled. If one were to try to do a report on a Christian figure they would NEVER be allowed to do it. No paranoia, just truth. And the ACLU would be one of the first ones there to stop it.

Well there are thousands of children doing thousands of essays. One would assume that this has come up elsewhere. Someone please find an example and quit making assumptions please. There is probably fertile ground in intelligent design essays for instance.

I remember seeing a lot of reports on Gandhi and Dalai Lama; they are religious leader of modern times, aren’t they?

I'd be just fine with a report on Jesus.

But enough about him.. what about Harvey Milk?

@el_chivo "I remember seeing a lot of reports on Gandhi and Dalai Lama; they are religious leader of modern times, aren’t they?"

Of course someone could do a report on Ghandi or the Dalai Lama. They just would not be allowed to do a report on a CHRISTIAN figure. I'd almost bet the farm on that.

The Reverend Martin Luther King jr. He's even a Baptist. Not a biblical figure though.

I wonder if Martin Luther or Joseph Smith would count?

People might argue about Jesus, but Harrod was real enough. He produced some really impressive and well preserved architecture. Never seen a grade school essay on him though.

the only problem with doing a report on jesus is that we ahve no physical evidence. But if they were to do their report on say a previous Pope or martin luthor or a saint of something then it would be cool.

Gandhi was not a religious figure... seriously, come on people!

I am forced to say your screen name afflicted me with tens seconds of fruitless thought about what artificial vegans might eat.

Need to edit some of the heaping arrogance out, but otherwise, good post.

You were allowed to do your KKK presentation, but this student cannot present on Mr. Milk.

Do you know why?

As horrible as the KKK is... they aren't homosexual. All of the controversy here is coming from the Big Bad Gay Agenda that is Corrupting our Children and stuff.

Sorry if honesty is considered arrogance. I didn't realize that discussing a 5th grade project would inspire a comment like that.

The point being is that the KKK was considered to be either very shameful because it was spawned in our state and that even in the 1980's, my teacher and parents were supportive. I just find it totally insane that an educational professional would block an honest discussion of history. It makes no sense to me. Maybe it is a "sensitive issue," but it still needs to be to discussed. I wonder if in the 1960's if some kid wanted to discuss racial civil rights (which is something that I liken to gay civil rights), it would have been lauded. A difference that I find abhorrent and a double standard that needs to be identified and corrected.

It reminds me of all of the discussions of Christopher Columbus: we celebrate this guy mistaking North America for the Indies, enslaving thousands, committing genocide on the native Indians (he was jailed for this in Spain when he returned). Even if it makes you wince about the injustice in your country's past, it still needs to be explored, so it is not repeated.

That's bull. There's no hard decision there. If she's making her decisions based on trying to avoid complaints from idiot parents, she SHOULD be fired. In this case, we're talking about a major motion picture, so the defense should be pretty fucking easy. She needs to be able to make the right decision even if it were much harder. She failed. So did you for even thinking that way.

>"That's bull. There's no hard decision there. "<
Never said there was. If you are not a member of a fairly small religious minority that actually think in that fashion it's basically a no-brainer. It's doing it while remaining able to feed your own children that is hard.

>"If she's making her decisions based on trying to avoid complaints from idiot parents, she SHOULD be fired"<
How old are you? Have you ever HAD a job? Her job IS making decisions based on the complaints from idiot parents. That's what school supervisors do. (amongst a bunch of other things, it's a tough job) The PTA frequently has the power to flush school supervisors. If her school board is full of religious hard liners, and religious hard liners do love to force their way onto school boards for just this reason, she didn't have a prayer. I invite you the next time you see your boss make a decision you don't like to walk in, tell him so, and demand he fix it. For added fun you can refuse to comply with his decision because you think it's wrong. Watch what happens. Can you get some video as well? I'm sure it will make for high humor on Utube. Maybe the google adsense points will help you through your probably extended period of unemployment.

>"we're talking about a major motion picture, so the defense should be pretty fucking easy."<
Yeah because Hollywood is like God or something right? You're actually basing the assumed infallibility of an argument on the moral authority of HOLLYWOOD?! There's so many flavors of self-evidently wrong there I just don't know where to go with it.

>"She needs to be able to make the right decision even if it were much harder."<
Good to know you have the market cornered on right. Please inform her school board so they will know whom to listen to from now on. You know what the right decision is? Protect the child. Not your higher personal sense of morality, the child. She actually did a fairly good job of that imho.

>"She failed. So did you for even thinking that way."<
Gosh. I guess I should be sorry for not thinking in the correct forms of black and white you have decreed. I guess it comes from living in the real world and thinking like an adult occasionally.

bombastinator FTW, DougChristian for the EPIC FAIL

Something just occurred to me.

I am embarrassed to say I just made the Oliver North defense.

Let me amend this by saying that I think the ACLU action is correct. The behavior of the school board or their employee is unlawful. Someone needs to be removed from power here. The neo-con behavior of performing illegal acts from a protected position using disposable minions over whom they have too much effective control needs to end.

I think that's a great idea.

Thank you for sharing your experience and I can't imagine how difficult it must have been dealing with his death as someone who knew him personally. If only everyone could have know Harvey as you knew him. I'm praying that the Supreme Court makes the right choice on Tuesday. If anything, they owe it to Harvey in his memory.

Ripped off? A biopic ripped off history?

all they did with the remake is put more modern actors in it so that the younger generation would be interested in watching it.. it is a story that could never be told enough times...

And King Kong was a complete ripoff of King Kong.

Great film. Its free on Hulu if you have broadband.

http://www.hulu.com/the-times-of-harvey-milk

not trying to be a jerk, but did you even look at what you typed before you clicked submit?

Man, learn the difference between there, their, and they're. It just makes you look ignorant. How ironic that you're referring to ignorance of another.

Wow...a comment loaded with misused words and poor spelling accusing another of ignorance..tsk tsk..

If it is obvious that he has trouble spelling, why attack him?
To make yourselves feel superior?
Evolve.

I agree, idealist, there will be repercussions for their unacceptable, poor, and despicable judgment.

mean-spirited.

Excuse me, what does spelling have to do with this topic? Spelling does not equal credibility.

i prefer a good ole' fashion angry mob.

No, that was wrong, and by slapping a lawsuit down, it sends a clear message to teachers the nation over.

wrong = inaction, paralysis, etc.

right = protests(boycotts, rallies, etc.), removal of religion from public schools/government, and, if a lawsuit can change policy and produce more creative learning, then cool.

btw, "no" is not a productive introduction to an opposing view. relationship experience.