Take a moment, all, to consider this pledge:
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United Federation of Planets,
and to the galaxy for which it stands,
one universe, under everybody,
with liberty and justice for all species.
This sweet, idealistic, nerdy — and apparently inflammatory — version of the Pledge of Allegiance resulted in the suspension of the awesome 8-year-old kid who is my new hero. My other new hero is his mom, who stuck up for him and refused to have him do the stupid punish assignment the school wanted him to do. There are more details to the story buried in the comments on that post I linked to, so be sure to check them out. The one that bugged me the most (aside from the principal being such a melodramatic jerk) was that the kid got in trouble because another kid’s parent ratted him out.
Freedom of expression is dead in our society. Or at least it’s on life support, and this time the enemy among us isn’t so reluctant to pull that plug.
Speaking of which, who else is already depressed about the battle for a new Supreme Court justice?
Hi! Thank you so kindly for linking to me and the story of my son’s (“8,” which is his age) experience. Both he and I have been so heartened by all the wonderful people who have supported his creativity and uniqueness. Thank you! And hey, I am enjoying looking through your site. I will continue to visit. Have a wonderful 4th and may all sentient beings in the galaxy and beyond have peace, love, and excitement! Cheers, Birdie.
Only second to being a fantastic mom, Birdie is a great writer. She’s broken my heart without even trying at least four times, and I haven’t even read a month’s worth of stuff. Thanks for the link.
What a hilarious story! And what a COOL mom!
I’d hoped we would be losing Rehnquist or Scalia first. Freedom of Expression is definitely on the outs right now, just when we ned it most.
Live Long and Prosper.