I spoke to Ryan Williams yesterday about an alarming development at Orange Coast College. According to Ryan, the action was spearheaded by immigrant rights activist and Native American “Coyotl” Tezcatlipoca (pictured below while getting arrested at a Costa Mesa City Council meeting). That figures.
Williams said that Coyotl seems to feel that this country has done nothing for his people – so why pledge allegiance to it? My sentiment is that Coyotl attends a public community college – paid for by American taxpayers. There are millions of indigenous people in Latin America who would love to be in Coyotl’s shoes – but he does not appreciate what he has. That is a shame. He is more interested in being a victim than in being an American.
For Coyotl to start this ruckus on Veterans Day is even more disgusting. How many American soldiers have died fighting for this country and for our flag, so that Coyotl could attend a public community college? He ought to be ashamed of himself.
Our flag represents more than the symbol of this country. It represents freedom and the fight for democracy. It reminds us of the sacrifices of our Founding Fathers – most of the signers of the Declaration of Independence lost everything, including their lives, when the British used the famed document to identify the people they needed to go after to stop the American Revolution.
It is a fact that Native Americans fared poorly in this country’s early years. That time has passed however and there is nothing we can do about it. Today many Native Americans are fabulously wealthy because of the gaming industry. They are turning the corner. In this state they are a political force to be reckoned with. I bet they thank God every day that they are Americans and that this country affords so much opportunity to so many.
This story is far from over. Williams tells me that the college Republicans at Orange Coast College are going to fight for our pledge. May God bless their effort. Coyotl has made a terrible mistake – and in so doing he has shown us that he and his followers hate this country – but are happy to use taxpayer resources. Sorry Coyotl – you erred and this action will doom you and your nascent movement. Good riddance. Here is an article about the issue:
Student leaders drop Pledge of Allegiance at Calif. college
By The Associated Press
11.11.06
COSTA MESA, Calif.
Students at Calif college ban Pledge of Allegiance
(2006-11-10)
By Dan Whitcomb
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Student leaders at a California college have touched off a furor by banning the Pledge of Allegiance at their meetings, saying they see no reason to publicly swear loyalty to God and the U.S. government.
The move by Orange Coast College student trustees, the latest clash over patriotism and religion in American schools, has infuriated some of their classmates — prompting one young woman to loudly recite the pledge in front of the board on Wednesday night in defiance of the rule.
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wnku/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=994770
And the push goes on…
“That (‘under God’) part is sort of offensive to me,” student trustee Jason Ball, who proposed the ban, told Reuters. “I am an atheist and a socialist, and if you know your history, you know that ‘under God’ was inserted during the McCarthy era and was directly designed to destroy my ideology.”
Isn’t it interesting that the OC Democrats are not commenting on this story? Why are the Republicans the only ones fighting Coyotl’s latest move? There should be bipartisan agreement on our Pledge…instead the Democrats are silent. Wake up folks! This makes your party look terrible!
Art
I think you need a time out.
It appears the election has over stimulated you.
Art, this OC Democrat has already commented on this subject on the Weekly’s blog. How exactly do you suggest that OC Democrats –or any one else– “fight” the student government’s decision not to pledge alliance? I deplore their action; I believe that it is perfectly reasonable to start a meeting of any civic body with that Pledge. But try to limit the broad brushstrokes; this is hardly a county-wide decision, and there is, practicaly speaking, nothing anyone who is not a student at OCC can do about it. (And if Ryan is successful in getting that decision reversed, I for one will stand up and cheer.)
Paul
(a Republican until Mr Bush announced that it was the duty of the Federal government to ‘protect the sanctity of marriage.’)
Ok Art,
I’ll jump in. The actions of these students is not an action of the Democratic Party. They are the actions of students exercising their First Amendment right to free speech, or in this case to not speak the Pledge.
When our President recognises that we are one nation with liberty and justice for ALL, then I might take a different perspective on this issue.
I still recite the phrase under God when I say the pledge, and I am proud that we say the pledge at Democratic Party Central Committee meetings. But I also recognise the right of those who do not want to participate to remain seated, or keep their mouths shut and not say the pledge.
Personally I would rather say the following…
“I, ______, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion.
Paul,
You turned me around on the gay marriage issue – come back to the GOP and let’s see how many others you can bring around. Don’t let a foolish few discourage you.
I spoke to Ryan about the situation at OCC and he says that most of the student government members who voted against the Pledge are either Democrats or Green Party members. Their respective parties need to have a talk with them…
I think someone is trying to call me out on a response on this, which is why people like Art are asking for a response from the party. This is not a response from the party but a personal response from me.
As one who recites the pledge without the use of “under god,” for my personal lack of religion, I leave it up to each person to say it if they wish.
If the group which introduced this proposal is doing so to advance their cause (and as it looks like in this case) for press coverage then they have engaged in the wrong course of action.
I say the pledge without two words in it and does that make me any less of an American? At least I still say it as this country has afforded us all with the freedom of religion and the freedom of speech: Two values which I hold dear.
The Student Board at OCC used their freedom of speech to enact their measure. If a political party decides to make an issue out of a groups freedom of speech then what has this country (or this county) come to?
Michael,
I didn’t intend to call you out – but I should have asked your opinion, given your experience in this arena. Here is why I don’t think this is a freedom of speech issue – unlike the Boy Scouts, Orange Coast College is a public institution, paid for by tax dollars. It is unseemly for these students to advance their liberal agenda instead of doing their jobs as representatives of student government. Ryan tells me that their first action after getting elected was to condemn global warming, and now their second action was to get rid of the Pledge. Their VP, a Republican, is going to be on Sean Hannity’s TV show and CNN today and you know this is going to blow up in the face of the liberals. That is why I thought you Democrats should reach out to them and let them know they are making a terrible mistake. That is to be expected from young people – which is why we need to mentor them.
Ultimately I predict this will lead to the election of a conservative slate to take over for this band of irresponsible, ungrateful and unAmerican trouble-makers. Ryan says they are up for reelection next year so that will come around quickly. I doubt they will have accomplished anything by then.
OK, Art, if you want me to add my two cents to this:
Personally, I think the OCC student board made an incredibly stupid decision by banning the Pledge… I’ve criticized efforts by other school boards to force students to recite the Pledge, and I’ll criticize board that force students NOT to say the Pledge. This is a PERSONAL decision, and should not be decided by other forces.
The Pledge of Allegiance should be a PERSONAL statement by each of us, showing our love for this country. If a student wants to say it, fine. If a student doesn’t want to say it, fine… But let’s not force students to either say it or not say it. Let’s not use “freedom” as an excuse to restrict free speech.
I deplore efforts by BOTH SIDES at OCC to try to make this into a political issue. The student board majority should be CENSURED for their efforts to impose their narrow agenda on the students of this PUBLIC institution…
And the College Republicans should look at other ways to boost membership than use this as a way to reignite the Culture Wars, and get an appearance on the Faux News Channel.
Now can we please get back to the REAL ISSUES we’re facing in Orange County?
No one in the party even knew this was happening until I got an e-mail on the blog post, and I’m the only one that knows most of the details on this, but it’s all from the blogs. As for the Boy Scouts, I can argue the whole Public-Private exception that the Supreme Court carved out for them until the cows come home. But the point there is that they still accept public funding.
It’s just some group trying to drum up free press, for us to get involved would just lead to more press coverage. If, as Ryan is estimating, the board is up for re-election, then the student body can use their democratic process to re-elect them or vote them out. It isn’t for us to dictate to the students of OCC what direction they should take.
I have to agree with Andrew, we have bigger issues to worry about here in the county.
“we have bigger issues to worry about here in the county”
Who cares if a bunch of guys in turbans and beards blow the tallest standing Buddhas from the 3rd century at Bamiyan to bits, we got bigger issues to worry about.
I just talked to Christine, the VP, and we’re going to start a petition drive going to recall them within the next few days.
— Ryan.
“Who cares if a bunch of guys in turbans and beards blow the tallest standing Buddhas from the 3rd century at Bamiyan to bits…”
WTF? What does that have to do with the Pledge of Allegiance? You GOPers are really blowing this way out of proportion! You guys might think that this is a great way to get PR, but I think the rest of us are sick of the Culture Wars.
There was a great editorial on this issue in the LA Times editorial section this morning. (http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-cohen14nov14,0,1065841.story?coll=la-opinion-center)