Students Protest War, Briefly Disrupt School, Get Ten Days Suspension

I suppose the odds are not too high that as soon as you graduate high school, you might get sent to Iraq where you can supposedly defend freedom. That's because we don't have a draft, which if we did, we might not have a war, or we might see it differently. Furthering that argument, if we were forced to pay for it NOW, we might not be having it either. But closer to home at Annapolis HS, we learn that three students who briefly sat down in a hallway to protest the war, got cuffed by police and sentenced to ten days of suspension.

Okay, let's put this into perspective. More US soldiers have died in Iraq than there are students that go to Annapolis HS. We have been fighting in Iraq for longer than it takes someone to graduate high school. We let students go to high school, then we ship them off to Iraq to kill and be killed. Our schools suffer from lack of funding, our economy is teetering, the dollar is weakening, people are losing their homes, our international prestige is sliding away, gas prices are soaring, many AHS students live in housing projects where they hear gunshots--and get shot and even murdered.....and we have to lock up a few students for sitting in a school hallway.

Contrast this to the Vietnam era when we had a draft and for most purposes, had to pay for the war. The young people went nuts, and their protests eventually brought about an end to the war. And our country seems to have collective amnesia about every lesson we should have learned from that folly.

So, after all these years in Iraq, trillions squandered and many thousands dead,we seem to forget all the lies foisted upon us by Bush and Cheney Incorporated. Instead, we take a few students who sat down peacefully and suspend them for ten days. Perhaps, yes perhaps, if cooler heads prevail, we'll get a massive student protest going and maybe we'll shut the whole school down for ten days. That might make a point. As the parent of an Annapolis HS student, I'm all for it. It might make the lessons my son is learning about US government and history all the more meaningful. And if he gets suspended for ten days, we'll go visit all the war memorials in Washington, stroll among the gardens of stones at Arlington, visit our Senators and Congressman to protest. He might learn more than he does in school.

Read about in The Capital at: www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/04_19-25/TOP

I've Been Away...and now it's time to get back to the serious work of irritating elected officials...

...and fighting ignorance and apathy...In my absence from Annapolis, I've managed to keep in touch with goings on back home through this marvelous invention called the internet. So, each morning I get this so-called newspaper delivered to my hotel room door. Although USA Today is a total junk rag that it is basically t.v. on a tabloid, I was able to enjoy the page where they have a little blurb of news from each of the fifty states (Don't recall if Guam or Puerto Rico or Iraq are included)to keep in touch with "Maryland." I was so pleased to learn of the parking meter thief in Annapolis. Yes--that made USA Today, so every Marylander traveling around learned that parking controversies remain the top news items not only in our state capital, but statewide as well.

However, it occurred to me that maybe the person stealing the meter money is homeless. After all, Mayor Moyer wants us all to give money to the homeless through a parking meter. Why not? We've already voted a mess of our money to building a permanent "shelter" (and they want more..). Interestingly enough, in the city I was visiting (hint--it's a mile high) they have parking meters scattered around to collect money for the homeless. Soon they will be welcoming a gizillion Democrats who will be fighting it out. No matter what happens there, let's hope they make a lot of Republicans homeless come next January.

Speaking of newspapers in Denver, CP was pleased to find copies of The Onion distributed all over Denver, where it is published. I hope they take note of CP as I have done of them. Read The Onion....but after you read CP, please....

Sure to Offend Some Republicans.....

Perhaps you, dear reader, can come up with a snarky caption of your own!



Here's one I came up with: "Son, I hope you remember that video they showed you when you were sworn in. You know--the one taken from the scene behind the grassy knoll in Dallas. Don't ever forget that." (That idea came from the late, great comedian Bill Hicks. I want to thank Will Small of Eastport for turning me on to this photo and also to the antics of Bill Hicks.