October 29, 2004

Let freedom reign
But first, sign this loyalty oath in your mother's blood, give us all rights to your soul, and put on this approved garment praising our dear leader.

Teaching kids about how our great democracy works -

The Bush-Cheney campaign rented the local high school and applied the divine right of kings - or at least one ill-prepared and inarticulate boy king - to what had been a public school. Richland Center students were informed that they could attend the audience with His Highness only if they donned approved apparel: a Bush for President T-shirt or so-called "neutral clothing." What they could not wear was any clothing that promoted the cause of any dissenter to the rule of King George.

If they showed up dressed inappropriately, students were warned, they would be removed from what was perhaps the biggest-ever event at their school.

What could justify such an abuse of the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and assembly? The principal of Richland Center High School - whose boss, the superintendent of schools for the city, is the wife of Republican congressional candidate Dale Schultz - had no problem eliminating a few basic liberties because, as he put it, students were being given a rare opportunity to spend time in the presence of their king, er, president.



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