‘With all due respect, ma'am, you can go jump off a bridge.'

This story gives me hope for, well, our culture, kids today, and the eventual chipping away at prejudice in our society. Oh and that the constitution and the ideals on which is was founded are still kicking ass.


A boy and his flag

Will Phillips isn't like other boys his age.

For one thing, he's smart. Scary smart. A student in the West Fork School District in Washington County, he skipped a grade this year, going directly from the third to the fifth. When his family goes for a drive, discussions are much more apt to be about Teddy Roosevelt and terraforming Mars than they are about Spongebob Squarepants and what's playing on Radio Disney.

It was during one of those drives that the discussion turned to the pledge of allegiance and what it means. Laura Phillips is Will's mother. "Yes, my son is 10," she said. "But he's probably more aware of the meaning of the pledge than a lot of adults. He's not just doing it rote recitation. We raised him to be aware of what's right, what's wrong, and what's fair."

Will's family has a number of gay friends. In recent years, Laura Phillips said, they've been trying to be a straight ally to the gay community, going to the pride parades and standing up for the rights of their gay and lesbian neighbors. They've been especially dismayed by the effort to take away the rights of homosexuals – the right to marry, and the right to adopt. Given that, Will immediately saw a problem with the pledge of allegiance.

"I've always tried to analyze things because I want to be lawyer," Will said. "I really don't feel that there's currently liberty and justice for all."

After asking his parents whether it was against the law not to stand for the pledge, Will decided to do something. On Monday, Oct. 5, when the other kids in his class stood up to recite the pledge of allegiance, he remained sitting down. The class had a substitute teacher that week, a retired educator from the district, who knew Will's mother and grandmother. Though the substitute tried to make him stand up, he respectfully refused. He did it again the next day, and the next day. Each day, the substitute got a little more cross with him. On Thursday, it finally came to a head. The teacher, Will said, told him that she knew his mother and grandmother, and they would want him to stand and say the pledge.

"She got a lot more angry and raised her voice and brought my mom and my grandma up," Will said. "I was fuming and was too furious to really pay attention to what she was saying. After a few minutes, I said, 'With all due respect, ma'am, you can go jump off a bridge.' "

Will was sent to the office, where he was given an assignment to look up information about the flag and what it represents. Meanwhile, the principal called his mother.

"She said we have to talk about Will, because he told a sub to jump off a bridge," Laura Phillips said. "My first response was: Why? He's not just going to say this because he doesn't want to do his math work."

Eventually, Phillips said, the principal told her that the altercation was over Will's refusal to stand for the pledge of allegiance, and admitted that it was Will's right not to stand. Given that, Laura Phillips asked the principal when they could expect an apology from the teacher. "She said, 'Well I don't think that's necessary at this point,' " Phillips said.

After Phillips put a post on the instant-blogging site twitter.com about the incident, several of her friends got angry and alerted the news media. Meanwhile, Will Phillips still refuses to stand during the pledge of allegiance. Though many of his friends at school have told him they support his decision, those who don't have been unkind, and louder.

"They [the kids who don't support him] are much more crazy, and out of control and vocal about it than supporters are."

Given that his protest is over the rights of gays and lesbians, the taunts have taken a predictable bent. "In the lunchroom and in the hallway, they've been making comments and doing pranks, and calling me gay," he said. "It's always the same people, walking up and calling me a gaywad."

Even so, Will said that he can't foresee anything in the near future that will make him stand for the pledge. To help him deal with the peer pressure, his parents have printed off posts in his support on blogs and websites. "We've told him that people here might not support you, but we've shown him there are people all over that support you," Phillips said. "It's really frustrating to him that people are being so immature."

At the end of our interview, I ask young Will a question that might be a civics test nightmare for your average 10-year-old. Will's answer, though, is good enough - simple enough, true enough - to give me a little rush of goose pimples. What does being an American mean?

"Freedom of speech," Will says, without even stopping to think. "The freedom to disagree. That's what I think pretty much being an American represents."

Somewhere, Thomas Jefferson smiles.

A bizarre and disturbing reflection of me. (and my internet habits)

The google news recommended column cracks me up. There have been days when it was all Obama all the time with the occasional Hilary popping up for variety sake. Other times it has been all fluff and gossip with a random local Chicago story. I'd like to fancy myself intelligent and urbane. Someone who reads smart things and doesn't have time for foolishness. But really, I mean honestly, I love The Hills, Gossip Girl, Facebook, fashion magazines and even my news served with a touch of sugar and frivolilty. (considering my biggest source for news is Daily Intel) I read about foreign affairs, local politics and People's sexiest Man Alive. Witty, urbane, intelligent and frivilous. That's my Googlenews recommended section.

Gleeful disdain for perspective
There are those girls that whine "I'm so fat" just so that you will say, "No you're not." Or the friend that always complains about how much their life sucks when they are flush with money, have a great job, enviable partner and an apartment that makes you drool, while you are jobless, loveless, and stressed about real things. That's what how I felt about the Big Three autmomakers and their private jets. To be fair, the bailout would be for the guy on the factory floor, but it's hard to take them seriously when they are tooling around in $36 million private jets. Even Goldman Sachs is making sacrifices (although it strikes me as, well, not so much a sacrifice and more a DUH, of course your should give up your bonus. It is after all a BONUS and, in theory, a reward for a job well done not an entitlement. )

This weeks sweetness (with an overload of bittersweet)
Emily Bear, a seven year old piano prodigy wrote and performed a song as a wedding gift for Ellen. The song is titled "Once Upon A Wish" because Ellen's wish came true. Well, I cried through out the whole song watching Ellen try not to cry. It was so sweet and so sad.

Back in the Saddle

I know, I know ...where the hell have I been? Too much has happened since I last posted to play catch up (and lets be honest, I'm too lazy).

But here are somethings that I've been contemplating lately (I almost said ruminating, but then I'd feel like I was stealing from Aaron Karo)

On election night I was called an elitist by a McCain supporter (and at the time I thought a red stater - but in the end Indiana went blue - Go Indiana!). My question is, can you be an elitist if you voted for a minority (and especially if you voted on the issues and not because of some white liberal guilt)?

They day after the last election, that pointless and dangerous re-election of Dubya, I felt an overwhelming sadness. I was so disappointed in the human race. I was, at the time, in the very blue state of New York and in the very liberal borough of Manhattan, and working at a liberal Internet company (and the greatest company ever). I remember the permeating feeling of disappointment in the office. We were all disillusioned.

Then Obama 08 happened. I still cry when I see clips of his acceptance speech. The sense of glee from reporters, the (literal) partying in the streets, the euphoria every where was amazing. THEN, facebook statuses happened.

I grew up in the (once red) sort-of-southern (depending on what county) state of Virginia. And went to college in the (once red - yeah! Now blue!) southern state of North Carolina. I have always known many a conservative but was shocked by some of my facebook friends facebook statuses the day after the election. Like "disappointed our next president thinks that babies that are 'mistakes' should be aborted to not 'punish' the mother" and "Sad and disillusioned" WTF. Really? REALLY? I mean... REALLY?

In the end, ridiculousness will always exist.

Also, what the hell is up with Prop 8 and California? And what the hell is wrong with gay marriage? I do not understand why gay marriage is a threat or an insult to marriage. Let me be clear, I understand the arguments being made. It's not that I can't grasp them from an intellectual stand point. It's from an ideological, emotional, humane perspective that boggles my mind. How does Ellen DeGeneres and Portia Derossi being married take anything away from my Grandparents marriage? To me adultery and divorce are a greater insult.

And WTF with the Mormon church? Couldn't money be better spent? And I say this having many a Mormon in my family. My brother was recruited - during his dark days of illegal activities and drug use - and I have many a niece and nephew who are Mormon. I love them. They are amazing kids (and now most of them- adults) and have been through some incredibly crappy times (including losing their mother when they were young) but I struggle with their religion and their politics. Yet, they, god love 'em, accept me for the heathen that I am. But, they have gotten married and divorced. One before she was 21 (married that is, the divorce was after). Again, how isn't that a greater insult than gay marriage?

In the end, I recognize that the philosophical difference is that I don't think homosexuality is a sin. It is not a moral issue for me. And I know that the bible is used to argue against it. But COME ON kids...that's Leviticus. You can not pick and choose bible passages to justify your prejudice. That's just unchristian.

I liked Keith Olbermann's rant. (HufPo)

And, I'm addicted to Nymag.com's news blog Daily Intel (DailyIntel)

Also, I have a confession, I watch The View. I know, I know. She infuriates me, and I even yell at the TV when she talks, yet I am missing Elizabeth Hasselbacks blind, idiotic support of the republican party. I loved how passionately dumb she can be. How annoyingly black and white. How ridiculous. I love to hate her. And I miss the craziness of her yelling at Joy Behar and Whoopi and even when Barb WaWa, while trying to remain nuetral, would catch herself telling Elizabeth she's an idiot. It's a sickness. My joy in it, kind of like watching the Pallin Katie Couric interview.