WOODBRIDGE — An effort to rename Route 1 — Jefferson Davis Highway — in Prince William County failed to gain the support of multiple elected leaders, Tuesday night.
Woodbridge District Supervisor Frank Principi wanted to change the moniker of the highway, named after Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
The Democrat said the highway’s name represents “bigotry and oppression.”
“My intention is not to ignore or to erase history…These names are haunting, and they serve as a reminder of a time of great pain, suffering, and great loss,” said Principi.
His motion failed to gain a second, and that drew the ire of many who came to speak to the Board of Supervisors in favor of the name change.
The group shouted “shame, shame, shame” before Chairman Corey Stewart; At-large ordered the audience out of the Board Chambers.
Others also shouted at John Jenkins, a long-serving Democrat on the board, for not supporting his fellow Democrat’s motion.
“You call yourself a Democrat,” cried one person as the audience got out of their seats to exit the room.
After the audience cleared the room, a video of the meeting captured Potomac District Supervisor Maureen Caddigan’s displeasure with the crowd.
“I can’t believe this. This is what it has come down to?” she asked. “They’ve got to start obeying our rules…they are the rudest people… I’ve been on a lot of boards but this…”
The crowd was extremely rude. Organizations have their own rules and procedures. The BOCS is no different. Corey was right to clear the room rather than dealing with petulant, ill-mannered, insulting behavior.
Shame on Frank Principi. Why compare us to Charlottesville? We don’t have the same problems Charlottesville has and has had. I feel he invited trouble. The road names Principi discussed are state controlled. School names come under the auspices and jurisdiction of the School Board and the fire house is a semi-private entity. Frank needs to deal with things over which he has control, not things beyond his control as a supervisor.
Neil deGrasse Tyson says that this video might just be the most important thing he has ever said. That’s quite a statement considering his long, illustrious career as an American astrophysicist.
Often people aren’t comfortable with science and new ideas. Some folks are still denying many components of evolution. Parents are still attempting to dictate what is taught in science class across the nation.
Our BOCS chairman, Corey Stewart, has taken up a cause that really doesn’t concern him. He isn’t a native Virginian and he isn’t from Charlottesville. I doubt if he has even ever lived there.
Corey has embedded himself in the cause to save the statue of Robert E. Lee from being removed from Lee Park in Charlottesville. While I actually agree with Corey (or I should probably say Corey agrees with me), it is a local matter and a matter for the people of Charlottesville to decide, and ultimately the courts.
I was born and raised in Charlottesville. My mother’s family has been there since the 1700’s. In fact, Lee Park was dedicated to my great-great-great aunt and her husband, parents of Paul Goodloe McIntire. When this entire Lee Park kerfuffle came to a head, I thought seriously about getting involved because of family. Then I came to the conclusion that I had been gone from the city way too long and I should keep my mouth shut publicly.
Corey should do the same. He has less standing on the matter than I do. He is only trying to beef up his conservative credentials. That isn’t going to work in this case. He has cast it as a liberal/conservative issue. Not really. We Virginians, even we liberal Virginians, still love our Virginia history, warts and all. We despise Taliban mentality–you know, those thought-police ideas demand we tear down anything that might expose a less than shining past. Virginians try to preserve our history and if nothing else, learn from it. No, it really isn’t along liberal/conservative lines.
The courts will decide the fate of the Robert E. Lee Statue. The City needs to look carefully at the deed giving Charlottesville the land that is known as Lee Park. They might not want to take that tiger by the tail. Statues and other public memorabilia tell a story of the place where they are located, as a rule. They commemorate history. The statues commissioned by Mr. McIntire in the early part of the 20th century are part of the ethos of the City.
Corey needs to stay away from crowds that wave Confederate battle flags. That kind of image will paint him in a corner from which he cannot extricate himself. Unfortunately, in modern times, that flag has been misused–it has been misused as an object and symbol of hate.
5. President Martin must issue a statement to the Amherst College community at large that states we do not tolerate the actions of student(s) who posted the “All Lives Matter” and “Free Speech” posters. Also let the student body know that it was racially insensitive to the students of color on our college campus and beyond who are victim to racial harassment and death threats; alert them that Student Affairs may require them to go through the Disciplinary Process if a formal complaint is filed, and that they will be required to attend extensive training for racial and cultural competency.
6. President Martin must issue a statement of support for the revision of the Honor Code to reflect a zero-tolerance policy for racial insensitivity and hate speech.
These young upstarts really need to take a good look at themselves, then at the Constitution. Right now I am ready to call to repeal the 26th Amendment. That would be a good place to start.
“All lives matter” is hardly offensive. Since when are the students running the colleges?
Go woman in yellow, go! She did what a parent should do when they catch their kid being a thug. That was tough love. When interviewed, she said he was her only son and she didn’t want him to become a Freddie. Sometimes that’s what it takes.
Now, when will so bleeding heart do-gooder start whining because she beat her kid about the head and shoulders? Don’t worry. It is coming. It’s about time people stand up and applaud parents for a good whack here and a good whack there rather than parent-shaming that goes on nowadays.
That kid had it coming. I think that woman was a good mother. She did what needed to be done. Get your ass off the street. She might have saved his life.
This is a discussion America needs to have. What she did was not child abuse in my world.
Confession: yes I have done that to both of mine–not regularly but in extreme times.
Mothers, don’t let your sons grow up to be thugs. The mother in yellow was a hero.
Dear God! I have come full circle. I never thought I would live to see the day when Bob Dylan advertised for America. Yes, Bob Dylan was the unofficial, self-appointed poet laureate of the 60’s. He marshaled in protest and protest music like no one else. He stood for defiance and what was wrong with America’s youth. He stood against all our parents had fought for. Or did he?
The bad boy of the 60’s, that gravel-throated young man who had most American parents screaming “turn that commie pinko bastard off!!!” to their kids is now the grand spokesman for America. Pool hall, suit, and somewhere, an American flag.
Good grief. This man, whose name is Larry Klagman, couldn’t get more offensive if he tried. (Has he paid his back child support payments yet?) Sarah Palin and Ted Cruz also put in an appearance with this gang who were waving American flags, Gadsden flags, and Confederate flags while some of them carried barricades from the WWII memorial to the White House.
Park police had to come out in riot gear to quell the uprising of thugs hell-bent on making their voices heard. Apparently the protestors simply don’t understand the meaning of the word “CLOSED.” There is no funding for the parks and monuments.
Obviously Klagman who is unelectable doesn’t stand for family values, but how can people like Sarah Palin and Ted Cruz, spokespersons for the values crowd, be seen with people who are tearing up government property? I doubt seriously if any WWII veterans were in that crowd. It will be interesting to see what this clean up will cost.
The thugs need to understand that if they don’t like the parks and monuments closed, they need to contact their cult heroes and tell those folks to fund the government without ridiculous strings attached. This is a simple concept. Thugs, there is no free lunch.
State Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (R), the Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader, must have forgotten his talking points while appearing on Megyn Kelly’s Fox News show. This afternoon he admitted on-air what many liberals have long-suspected: rescinding collective bargaining rights from state workers is Wisconsin is as much about the 2012 presidential election as Wisconsin’s 2011 budget shortage.
As first reported by ThinkProgress, Fitzgerald told Kelly: “If we win this battle, and the money is not there under the auspices of the unions, certainly what you’re going to find is President Obama is going to have a much difficult, much more difficult time getting elected and winning the state of Wisconsin.”
Sweet revenge. Westboro Baptist got run out of town. The citizens of the ‘Show Me’ state showed the Bastions of Hate the door. Sgt. First Class C.J. Sadell did not die in vain.
Now the mongrel churchand their sleazels plan on coming to Prince William County to protest at Woodbridge Senior High School on November 15. After that, they will go to the Coast Guard Recruiting Station. Why is Woodbridge Senior High School any worse than any other school? Casual Observer posted their schedule. I won’t provide a link to their hate site. No free advertising here. They should be ignored. Unless they go on private property, the school won’t see them. Knowing the traffic in Old Bridge Road, they will be lucky not to get run over. Maybe they should go out to Nokesville and protest Ken Cuccinelli’s home. Actually, they should love him. He didn’t sign on the amicus brief against them. 🙄
All the brouhaha stems from Wednesday, when four teens wore red, white and blue garb on Cinco de Mayo, a day when many Latino students wore red, white and green to honor the defeat of the French military in Mexico in 1862.
Reached by cell phone today, one of the boys, Matthew Dariano, 16, said he was not at school today fearing there might be violence on campus. Instead, he and his mother were at a hotel doing satellite interviews with Fox News. He insisted that despite reports that he and his friends said unkind words to Latino students, “We didn’t say anything at all. We just wore our shirts.”
The assistant principal had asked the boys to turn their shirts inside out or go home, saying the clothing was “incendiary” on the Mexican holiday, and that he feared for the safety of the students. The boys thought that was “disrespectful” and two went home; their mothers called the media.
The boys are Dariano; Dominic Maciel, 15; and Daniel Galli and Austin Carvalho, both 16. Two of the boys are of Mexican heritage and two are not.
Dariano said he and his friends have not received any disciplinary actions for their behavior, but they have not received any type of apology either.
Wesley Smith, superintendent for the Morgan Hill Unified School District, said in a statement Thursday that the incident was “extremely unfortunate” and the boys should not have been disciplined for wearing “patriotic” clothing.
Free speech experts agreed with the district, saying political speech is protected even on a school campus as long as there is no basis that it will cause violence or physical harm.
About 100 Latino students walked out of class Thursday and marched to Morgan Hill City Hall to protest the boys’ action.
When does it just become the better part of valor to wear a neutral shirt?
The NY Daily News reports the same story with a little stronger flavor added:
A handful of California students got an unexpected lesson at their high school this week: Don’t wear your stars and stripes on Cinco de Mayo.
Five Morgan Hill, California students were asked to take off their American flag bandannas and turn their T-shirts inside out after students complained, according to NBC news in San Francisco.
Many members of Live Oak High School‘s large Mexican-American student population that felt it was offensive for the students to wear the American flag on a day that’s supposed to celebrate Mexican heritage.
When the boys refused to take off their flag t-shirts and bandannas, they were ordered to go to the principal’s office.
“They said we could wear it on any other day,” Live Oak student Daniel Galli said, “but today is sensitive to Mexican-Americans because it’s supposed to be their holiday so we were not allowed to wear it today.”
The alleged concern was that the T-shirts would lead to fights on campus.
“They said if we tried to go back to class with our shirts not taken off, they said it was defiance and we would get suspended,” said Dominic Maciel.
The chastised teens’ parents were furious.
“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous,” Julie Fagerstrom, Maciel’s mom, said. “All they were doing was displaying their patriotic nature. They’re expressing their individuality.”
Morgan Hill Unified School District released a statement saying it does not agree with how Live Oak High School administrators handled this incident and that the boys would not be suspended.
Funny how 2 different reports seem to give a totally different version of an incident. I still want to know why kids are being allowed to wear bandanas. Gang attire alert.
This area is a suburb of Silicon Valley. It is not a barrio. It sounds to me like kids are being kids and schools are being schools. And some folks on both ‘sides’ know exactly which buttons to push. And the entire nation is at war over it.
Good for the kids who wore neutral white. It looks like maturity set in. No one wants their school to be an armed camp.
UPDATE: according to a video on Foxnews.com, the students say they were not suspended over the shirts. They chose to go home rather than change their shirts.
People like congresswoman Michele Bachman and Andrew Breitbart, ‘proprietor’ of the far right blog site biggovernment.org, just keep digging themselves in deeper and deeper. They need to take a page out of the Bill Clinton book and stop digging. According to Yahoo News: (highlighting mine)
Three Democratic congressmen — all black — say they heard racial slurs as they walked through thousands of angry protesters outside the U.S. Capitol. A white lawmaker says he heard the epithets too. Conservative activists say the lawmakers are lying.
The Herndon Mayor Steve DeBenedittis and Councilman Dennis Husch both took exception to being dressed down by several citizens during ‘citizens’ time’ during a recent Herndon town council meeting. Apparently both men had participated in a demonstration outside a fund raising event for Democratic hopeful Steven Miller, attended by Governor Tim Kaine.
2 women both spoke of their disappointment that their elected respresentatives during their 3 minutes of time to discuss items that were not on the agenda. The councilman and mayor both attempted to speak over the citizens who were not going to have any of that!
Day after day, the lies roll out and the truth is twisted. Finally, Rick Sanchez of CNN speaks out:
The newscasters aren’t–they are commentators. Beck and Hannity spew hate. Even Greta is not longer fair and balanced. Shepherd Smith is still fairly trustworthy and Bill O’Reilly is looking almost mainstream. Operative word: almost.
From that great inspirational book in cyberspace, Wikipedia–
Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously. The “ideas” or “cognitions” in question may include attitudes and beliefs, the awareness of one’s behavior, and facts. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, or by justifying or rationalizing their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.[1] Cognitive dissonance theory is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology.
A congressman was madder than a wet hen last Saturday when Metro didn’t do to suit him and his constituents. Congressman Kevin Brady (R-Tx) demanded to know why government run Metro didn’t prepare for the arrival of a group of protestors from the southwest who were there to protest too much government involvement in their lives.
According to the Wall Street Journal the Texas Republican sent an angry letter to Metro compaining
that the taxpayer-funded subway system was unable to properly transport protesters to the rally to protest government spending and expansion.
His letter further stated:
“These individuals came all the way from Southeast Texas to protest the excessive spending and growing government intrusion by the 111th Congress and the new Obama administration,…These participants, whose tax dollars were used to create and maintain this public transit system, were frustrated and disappointed that our nation’s capital did not make a great effort to simply provide a basic level of transit for them.”
From the march on Saturday, a spokesman for Brady tweeted,
“METRO did not prepare for Tea Party March! More stories. People couldn’t get on, missed start of march. I will demand answers from Metro,…”
What a nerve. Let’s see…these folks were going to protest government expansion and services and bitched about Metro? Welcome to our world. According to Wiki, Metro is a tri-jusristictional agency authorized by congress and funded by Washington DC government, Maryland and Virginia.
What are they protesting again? Government doing too much or government not doing enough…for them. Maybe this is where the cognitive dissonance comes in to play. For me, it is easier just to say ‘hypocrites!’
So how did the big march go in Washington? Apparently quite well, from what I could tell. The protestors all seemed happy and having a great time. Many of the signs were creative.
Some signs seemed to be not so tasteful. Many of these signs were handed out at the rally. (see below)
Conservative activists, who organized a march on the U.S. Capitol today in protest of the Obama administration’s health care agenda and government spending, erroneously attributed reports on the size of the crowds to ABC News.
Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks, the group that organized the event, said on stage at the rally that ABC News was reporting that 1 million to 1.5 million people were in attendance.
At no time did ABC News, or its affiliates, report a number anywhere near as large. ABCNews.com reported an approximate figure of 60,000 to 70,000 protesters, attributed to the Washington, D.C., fire department. In its reports, ABC News Radio described the crowd as “tens of thousands
60,000-70,000 participants certainly isn’t too shabby. Protestors always get into it with the Capital Police and D.C. Fire Department over numbers.
Fox News Commentator/host Glenn Beck was a big supporter of this initiative. He was not in attendance.
According to sources, most of the protesters were conservative, disliked President Obama, didn’t want health care changes, and hated government spending. Isn’t America grand when this many people can get together to express their opinions. Where were they a year ago? Where were they before the election? President Obama was very clear as to the changes he wanted.
It seems like a lot of hoopla after the fact to me. Perhaps they are gearing up for the midterm congressional elections. Help us understand. What is the objective? What do the protesters hope to achieve? I understand they don’t like Obama, any of the proposed health care plans, spending, big government. What are the positives they want? Someone please explain.
