School asks officer not to wear uniform on campus
The PARENTS should talk to their kids about "what police officers do for the community". Have we lost our minds?? People do not think any more....they just "feel"...everything is a knee jerk emotional response and logic is disappearing. The police officer should tell the school to take a flying leap about this "assembly" idea...either that or he should talk at length about the Second Amendment, which is something our wussified schools won't teach students anymore. What country is this anyway???
(I tried to leave this comment on the article but you have to have facebook to leave a comment. arg)
(I tried to leave this comment on the article but you have to have facebook to leave a comment. arg)
You probably are well familiar with the patent 'fail' on the Eskimo nose condom....
http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts/cd...
Most people assume that the school wasn't asking a genuine question. They don't imagine some parent mindlessly commented on the uniform frightening his kids and then an administrator asked if the police officer could not wear the uniform without stopping to think that the request was onerous compared to any possible harm (really none) to the kids. Gulch readers instead imagine some subtle political intimidation at work. I know exactly the kind of subtle baloney they imagine, but my question is _why_? If we're going to make stuff up, why not come up with some story that the police officer was wearing his badge heavy and acting intimidating toward kids or something? Then, this made-up story would go, the administration asked him politely to stop.
I find it genuinely interesting, not interesting in a backhanded insult way, why most readers see this story a principal pressuring a police officer instead of the other way around.
There is no political pressure, intimidation, coercion, or anything of the sort in the article. It just says person A made a request of person B. Person B complained to person C. We can make stuff up about Person B attempting to respond to Person A and receiving threats, intimidation, subtle pressure, or whatever. My question is _why_? Why do you make up that particular narrative?
Either I misunderstand or most people here have a view of Objectivism very contrary to my understanding of it (which is based only on Atlas Shrugged and Fountainhead).
I'm not imagining anything. I'm commenting on what we know happened...you're the one making up imaginings...not me. What narrative did I "make up"?
My asking "why" should not be construed as asserting it was an honest request.
If I want to come into MY kids' school and see them or get them, I will do it. My mom never had to wear a name tag and "sign in" to get me from school. why the heck should I have to to get my kids? Power through intimidation. and most fall into line like so many ducks following their mother
If we assume the police are in general performing their jobs correctly, then the request is completely illogical and the principal should have shown some guts and the parent complainers that their complaints were foundation less.
That did not happen, so it is reasonable to assume we have the standard power play against guns.
facts:
1. there is national hysteria over guns in the US
2. they did not just ask that he come without a uniform
At what percentage of your income being taken for property tax would you start to mind... and I want an honest numeric answer... think about it and get back to me.
(What's up with bandanas anyway??? Gang members have them so all bandanas wearers are suspect??...or is the cowboys they're trying to keep out?)
If your problem is with anyone making a request that you would reject out of hand or a request not fully thought through, I understand your what you're saying; and I think you must have a lot of problems with people b/c unreasonable requests are not illegal and the world is full of them.
I suspect that's not it, though. I suspect your criticism is you think the request wasn't genuine, rather it was a demand backed up by political intimidation. If so, why do you think that?
It's good to be nice and not be offensive without reason, but I can't stand the rest of the PC you describe. It reminds me of the OWS people. I agree with small parts of what I think they're saying, but I couldn't stand their complaint "I did everything I was told. Why isn't it working for me?" It shouldn't be a huge logical leap for them to work out doing what you're told doesn't get results and they should start doing stuff that makes sense to them (i.e. find someone's problem and help them with it) rather than what they're told.
"Political correctness (adjectivally, politically correct; both forms commonly abbreviated to PC) is a term that refers to language, ideas, or policies that address perceived or actual discrimination against or alienation of politically, socially or economically disadvantaged groups. The term usually implies that these social considerations are excessive or of a purely "political" nature. These groups most prominently include those defined by gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability.
Historically, the term was a colloquialism used in the early-to-mid 20th century by Communists and Socialists in political debates, referring pejoratively to the Communist "party line", which provided for "correct" positions on many matters of politics. The term was adopted in the later 20th century by the New Left, applied with a certain humour to condemn sexist or racist conduct as "not politically correct". By the early 1990s, the term was adopted by US conservatives as a pejorative term for all manner of attempts to promote multiculturalism and identity politics, particularly in terms of attempts to introduce new terms that sought to leave behind discriminatory baggage attached to older ones, and conversely to try to make older ones taboo."
I found out a few weeks ago at my kids' school that Indian style is now called criss-cross. I still call it the word I learned first, Indian style, and so far no one cares. I'm linguistically stuck in 1980 Wisconsin. I don't see the big deal about what we call things.
huh, often the President is involved with these things...
The Eskimos have the copyright on the erotic nose dance....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wLB2OPtP...
If some Native American or First Nation's person were bothered by it, I'd stop immediately around them. I'm not the type to poke someone in a sensitive place for no reason. Moreover, I like people to think of me and my wife as "makes electronics" and "solves legal problems easily", not this bull$hit political stuff. It's not that I need/care about their approval. I just like electronics projects, and the way to get them is to focus on being a problem-solver, not intentionally politically offensive. .
I do see the problem of so many people acting like they are part of some group that needs some kind of charity: young, in college, just bought a house, expecting a baby, have an infant, have kid in college, old. It seems like no matter your life stage you can work out a way to need a handout. Unlike most people here, I believe in handouts for the needy, but if not enough people feel like they should pull the load and too many people want to be pulled, society falls apart.
Fortunately, I have not known anyone personally who was genuinely bothered by my language or who obviously wanted to manipulate me with language.. The problem does not exist for me. If I ever have a hard time with such a person I'll be singing a different tune.
My question becomes "why does your intuition point to intimidation," which I don't expect you to answer b/c intuition is ineffable and very hard to explain in a short comment. I think there's something interesting there, but I probably won't come to understand it in a message forum.
As for the joking poisoning the well about me having a bias, that points to exactly what I'm trying to understand-- why, assuming I don't have a hidden agenda, my intuition is so different from other Gulch members.
I'm done discussing this. Make up whatever you want about me.
p.s. The desk I'm sitting at right now really is here. I can see it, I can feel it, and it's holding items on top of it.. I'm sure you could argue that I'm imagining it or that it's just my intuition telling me it's here, or that it has something to do with my political beliefs...but the desk DOES exist.
Or: he is the one that made the '911' call...!
That's where my money lies.... ;-)
But...as far as I am concerned, the parent that complained has the intellectual defect required to call for 'HELP', in this situation.
1. Is it reasonable to ask someone not to drop off his kids in uniform?
2. Is it immoral even to ask someone not to wear his uniform, and how should he deal with that (possibly unreasonable request)?
Issue 1: Little gold star for everyone who identified the request is unreasonable.
Issue 2: There's nothing wrong with asking. He might have said, "It's optional on the days I drop kids off, and I don't care either way, so I won't wear it." The anxious parents could have gotten what they wanted with no cost to the officer just by ASKING. Value in the world would have been created just by asking. If it's any inconvenience to him at all or if he disagrees with sheltering kids from the existence of police officers, he should answer *no* to someone in a position to receive that answer. (Answering no is as important as asking. It keeps value from being destroyed by doing what *other people* want.) Saying nothing to the person making the request and then bellyaching about it to someone else (FB friends, the drycleaners, the IT guy, colleagues, etc) is wasteful and corrosive behavior.
At least I agree it is wrong to be use any type of force to stop someone from what I consider bellyaching. It's a free country. Similarly they cannot stop me from asking dumb questions if I so desire and from saying "no"
You keep coming up with these convoluted ideological reasons for the school having 'the right to be stupid'...but then refuse to recognize the we have the right (and common sense) to label them as just that: 'stupid'.
It makes no difference as to what reply the police officer made to the school...they initiated the asinine call. He, most likely, held his tongue due to his sensitive public relationship.
You would think that after the past school incidents, the school officials would have figured out just 'who' is on their side...and 'who' might not be. If you go along with the thinking that our children need to be visibly 'protected' from our police officers, then you are beyond any help...regardless of what philosophy you can dredge up!
Being the most sensitive, and inclusive, individual on the planet just might not be the perfect recipe for your survival....
Nothing in the article says that happened. The article says he expressed offense to _other people_, not the person in a position to do anything about it.
I could easily see that thing where they ask for "a dialogue on the issue", but if you don't do exactly what they want they pervert what you're saying into "I'm offended." They should just tell you, "I'm gonna tell you what to do. You're gonna do it. Or else I'll try to make you look like an ass to other people."
The article, which may be biased, does not indicate any of that is happening.
If we accept the school's side of the story as presented in the article, (I'm not saying I do) they were in the right.
I can't stand the notion that people should not even ask for something they want, even if it's something I think they shouldn't want. I also can't stand people complaining to someone who can't remedy the problem. For all these reasons, the school comes off better to me in the article. (It could be biased, wrong, etc.)
Every school in my county has an armed, and uniformed, officer on campus daily. Their police vehicle is parked right at the main entrance. The kids interact with the resource officer, and we have had no issues for as long as I can remember.
The parents that complained, and the school officials, are total jerks.
My comment is there's nothing wrong with ASKING, even if it's asking for something absurd. There's nothing wrong with the officer dismissing the request out of hand. If he feels like the principal is trying to force the issue, he can escalate to someone higher in the school system. There IS something wrong (not illegal, just bad form) with complaining to people who can't do anything about the problem. That's just whining or gossiping. It's behavior conducive to mooching, not interacting with people in a fair and honest way.
Again, I am basing this only on the article, which could be biased or have factual errors. I wouldn't judge anyone based on one article.
the school officials have a right to ask, and thereby make fools of themselves.
The police officer did the right thing by not confronting the stupidity at the time but to express amazement later.
Guns do not.
These people are never going to change. They are ignorant frightened rabbits.
The school is trying to back pedal out of this and they look ridiculous. They're saying their sorry for offending him... "offending" him is NOT the point...he's a cop in uniform...he has a right to wear it and he is of no threat to anyone...NOT scary.