Bonkers, Blather, Blunders & Buffoons #25
With the anniversary of America’s hard-fought independence from England observed just a few days back, a crowning (sorry!) moment at the very beginning of our great and richly blessed and independent nation, it’s more than disheartening to learn from a recent Gallup poll that, currently, just 39% of U.S. adults are “extremely proud” to be Americans! That very disappointing figure has been below 50% since 2017. With a bit of a bright light, however, “party identification remains the greatest demographic differentiator in expressions of national pride, and Republicans have been consistently more likely than Democrats or Independents to express pride in being American.” That is at least somewhat, although anticipated, better news.
As you might suspect, age plays a key role in feelings of American pride. Gallup found that, within the 55+ age group, 68% are “extremely proud” of our country. We’d like to see that figure even higher, given that this is the currently-living age bracket that has, thus, for the longest period enjoyed and benefited from our freedoms and supportive economic system (and its overall life/work advantages offered throughout those years).
However, on the BBBB side of the equation, according to current Gallup results, 4% of our citizens are actually “not at all proud” to be an American. One would suspect that such is a percentage reflecting very liberal and woke beliefs. That blindly-disenchanted group of no doubt primarily younger Americans, subject to the ongoing whims of the preferred woke-ways-of-life (thanks to our universities and other societal influences), those folks have our full permission to leave America at any time in search of your dreamed overseas nirvana, which you should know prior to purchasing your airline ticket, simply does not exist.
Only our America is the true land of the brave, and home of the free, continually and incredibly blessed by God Almighty, and our own impressive multi-generational military, whose forceful presence through two very threatening World Wars, and beyond, has kept us (and our allies) free. If those so disenchanted could extract their head from their underneath parts, they might well eventually come to realize the greatness of America, sadly not enhanced at all by the oft-damaging policies of the current administration (open Southern border, for example), which freely fuels varying levels of disenchantment, even among otherwise genuine American patriots.
And as the horse-drawn woke-wagon wanders aimlessly along its blundering way, with far too many confused and disenchanted Americans plodding along behind, we now turn our attention, reluctantly, to the current “issue” of mis-gendering. In a presumably helpful student guide to correct “pronouns” and other current elitist language crisis-points, this helpful advice appears: “Choosing to ignore or disrespect someone’s pronouns is not only an act of oppression but can also be considered an act of violence.” Now, do take a moment to re-read that statement aimed at young students (and, with apologies, at the rest of us) by their woke campus elders. By not using someone’s desired pronoun (versus he or she), you, my caring American, may actually be casting oppression on, forgive me, “ze or hir”, and in a verbally violent way. Wrong pronoun use could apparently be “considered an act of violence.” So, for you normal, sane college grads of olde, remember the time when you were in school and your major preoccupation was absorbing classroom subject matter, being tested on it, and moving on toward obtaining your degree?
Introducing oneself to fellow students (or woke graduates) with one’s preferred pronouns let all present know that they are in a “safe space.” You’ll remember that ever-so-foolish and imaginative term from not too many years ago. Og, gosh, how delightful to see it pop up again. You’ll recall, with the reminder you don’t need, that intellectual ‘safe spaces’ do not exist in the real world. This has got to be one of the reasons why some of today’s young graduates, who’ve been woke-smothered while on campus, sometimes have trouble adjusting to an actual work-world where employers are far more interested in employee ability and productivity, than they are in non-existent, reality-shielding, make-believe escape-rooms-of-the-mind called ‘safe spaces.’
Oh, and on the now touchy subject of mis-gendering and errant pronouns, as if our nation, or this prominent northern politically-Democrat-dominated state, had nothing more important to worry about or defend against than word use. Believe it or not, the Michigan House has recently passed a bill that, in general, deals with the criminalization of “intimidation and continuing harassment,” which may cause an individual to feel threatened or terrorized by words. Their legislation “specifically addresses ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity or expression,’ as now protected classes. And just take a look at what upon first viewing seem like extreme penalties: Violators are “guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than five-years, or by a fine of not more than $10,000.” Have we somehow become an intolerant, totalitarian nation, while you were sleeping, busy working, caring for your family, and/or being concerned about things in our nation, and world, that would seem, at first blush, to matter significantly more?
Thankfully, those on the conservative side see this as a direct violation of the First Amendment, not to mention the apparent harshness of the stated penalties. Said State Representative Angela Rigas: “The State of Michigan is now explicitly allowing the gender delusion issue to be used as a ‘protected class.’ This opens up numerous issues when it comes to the continued weaponization of the system against conservatives. We saw similar concerns when they wanted to pass blocks on ‘conversion’ therapy (i.e., gender). It seems Democrats want to be in the business of telling people how to think.” If passed into state law, this would seem to set a dangerous and unfortunate precedent, likely to be considered, if not copied, by other Democrat-dominated legislatures. The measure now goes to the Michigan Senate, and, if likely passed, then on to Democrat Governor Whitmer “who is expected to sign it.”
And speaking of the crime of verbal mis-naming (someone please save us), a student in a Gender Studies course wrote an essay dealing with trans-women in sports. Within her assignment submission, the student mistakenly (although, correctly!) used the phrase “biological women,” to differentiate from trans-women, which for clarity, was the student’s objective. Because of this infraction (in the eyes of the instructor), the female student was given a zero on her assignment, with the promise that if ‘properly’ re-written, without the biological women reference, her work would be regraded. The student involved posted the situation on Tk Tok, said to have been viewed over a million times, which created nationwide attention, much to the chagrin of the administration at the University of Cincinnati. The adjunct-professor was reprimanded and ordered to attend instruction on freedom of speech on campus, and then submit her revised class syllabi for the following semester. A solid result for the mistreated young female student whose reference to “biological women” was absolutely proper and correct. It is societally healthy and refreshing that the student’s emphasis on “biological women” made such a strong Tik-Tok impression nationally. Cheers to that particular truth-talking young student!
So has to end on a more positive note among the prevailing muck and mire, the school board for the Keller (TX) school district (north of Fort Worth) revised some of its policies at its late June meeting. With a 5-0 vote, “laying the groundwork for protecting kids and educators” was the basis of the following related new policies: “District employees shall not promote, encourage, or require the use of pronouns that are inconsistent with a student’s or other person’s biological sex.” Thank you, Keller Board.
Next, requiring students to use only the bathroom and locker room that “corresponds to their gender assigned at birth.” Another one hit out of the park on behalf of student safety and decency. The only sensible exception: Any student may use a single-stall bathroom. Lockable, one-stool bathroom continues the most efficient use of those existing facilities in Keller school buildings. The Keller district, by the way, enrolls about 34,000 students annually.
Area community groups and individuals were heavily in favor of these new protective, common-sense policies. Said one Citizens Defending Freedom member: “The Keller ISD School Board made the right decisions regarding bathroom and pronoun usage, and Citizens Defending Freedom is proud to have been a part of the fight for sanity in one local school district.” As you might suspect, at least one more liberal group voiced opposition to these policy changes. The ACLU of Texas immediately opposed the new policies as “discriminatory” claiming they would “harm LGBT students.” Not to undermine ACLU concerns for those students, but whom one might guess, it’s likely that LGBT students form a slim minority of Keller district students. Congratulations to that independent school district in Texas for doing the absolute correct thing on behalf of student/educator “sanity” and protection. Along with the bathroom rules, taking “pronoun” concentration-time away from that woke nonsense and returning thinking and study time, instead, to the far more important goal of actual learning, which doubtless offers a far more useful impact on student futures.
(Fact Sources: Faltering pride in America among too many via dailywire.net, Ben Whitehead, 6-29-23; Misgendering as violence via dailywire.com, Mairead Elordi, 5-31-23; “Biological women” reference earns a zero grade via dailymail.com, Harriet Alexander & Alex Hammer, 7-1-23; Michigan House passes bill to criminalize threats to sexual orientation and gender identity via foxnews.com, Timothy H.J. Nerozzi, 6-30-23; Texas school district makes sensible policy changes for students via dailywire.com, Mairead Elordi, 7-6-23).