On Sunday Hampshire College will learn a valuable lesson that one would think an institute of higher education would find self evident: Don't mess with Old Glory.
Or to be more precise, Free Speech is a two-way street. You have a right to say what you will but folks have the same right to respond.
Removing the American flag from the prominent location it formerly occupied in the center of campus borders on hate speech.
From half staff to gone
As a private institution Hampshire College can do whatever it wants with their flag, but by choosing to cave in to demands of privileged white kids they have embarrassed the town on a national stage.
So lets bring some glorious colors to Hampshire this Sunday afternoon: red, white, and blue.
Decision universally panned on Hampshire College Facebook page
Perhaps they should move campus to Saudi Arabia —> Hampshire College Stops Flying All Flags https://t.co/Cbf2uMKpa0— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) November 23, 2016
This is private property.
ReplyDeleteBesides flags, bring a dozen eggs to have in case some of the students require some. Will Trigglypuff be making an appearance?
ReplyDeleteThe town public right of way extends 30 feet from West Street so the side of the road near their main sign is not private.
ReplyDeleteI respect Hampshire College's right to speak or protest or fly or not fly a flag. Please focus on more important local and national issues. This is much ado about little.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's why it's ignited a national firestorm.
ReplyDeleteI'll be there with my flag and Trump sweatshirt on.
ReplyDeleteIt's ignited a national firestorm? Ha! We all know you promote these kerfuffles via press releases.
ReplyDeleteI still have a few old friends left in the national bricks and mortar media.
ReplyDeleteStop town services to the campus, Police, Fire, etc. Let them hire their own private services. Let them Pay for something other than news coverage
ReplyDeleteWay to go, Larry (special font). Just what Amherst needs, more bad press.
ReplyDeleteOnly when it's well deserved. And in the case, well deserved +.
ReplyDeleteThis case.
ReplyDeleteRock 60s ballad HAIR... " I fell through a hole-in the flag...!!!
ReplyDelete"This is private property."
ReplyDeleteI'm not so sure that would make a difference anymore.
Larry, you are quit the advocate for free speech, except when someone actually uses it. It's their right to display the flag or not.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed. And it's my right to call them diffident cowards for banning the flag.
ReplyDeleteHear! Hear! Don't Tread On Me.
DeleteWhy don't you just talk to Jonathan Lash face to face and tell him what you think? It could be a productive conversation.
ReplyDeleteWell I will be there on Sunday so if he's around I would be happy to speak with him.
ReplyDeleteIt's not like I am a Cowardly Anon Nitwit who only bravely posts on the Internet.
It would be wise for the VFW to detail someone with making sure children do not run out into the road -- traffic moves quite quickly down there at times, and there will be a lot of kids coming back from break as well.
ReplyDeleteIn other news -- URL says it all:
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/thc-found-in-blood-of-driver-in-wrong-way-crash-that-killed-5-teens,488491
The protests should be on the front door steps of the Heads of HC. So they knows what free speech is really about.
ReplyDeleteReally ed, you think college students come back on the Friday after Thanksgiving to spend the weekend in the dorms instead of at home?
ReplyDeleteMore EXCELLENT opining from mr ed.
They come back to school because they cannot bear to spend another minute with their parents whose money pays for it all "on the backs of slaves." (This, according to the HC student who appeared with Tucker Carlson.)
DeleteHas anyone told football Phil?
ReplyDeleteYou know, all you defenders of this act fail to understand that this is not a free speech issue. The mopes at that fake college took the flag down and burned it. Took the "school's flag" down and burned it. That is not free speech. That is larceny under, burning of real property and mar/deface personal property. Two felonies and a misdemeanor at the very least. Criminal acts. Not free speech.
ReplyDeleteIF IF IF these so called students purchased their own flag and burned it in protest that IS protected under free speech. Burn away kiddos.
Let me pose this question: what if Hampster College flew the new transgender flag and students tore that down and burned it in protest? Would you all be screaming for free speech then? I highly doubt it. What if someone purchased a UN flag or transgender flag (their own property) and burned that in protest? Would you recognize their right to do so? Some would,most would not.
We have lost focus in this whole mess that these entitled asshole kids (my opinion given the facts) tore down school property and burned it. No different to me than a couch from the dorms.
Want to exercise your inalienable rights, at least do it correctly OR maybe that college can show them how. Seems like they will all make great professional protesters some day.
Thanks HAMSPTER COLLEGE for making us (Amherst) look like idiots (again).
Every one says they have the right to free speech. So it's ok to ban the flag. Free speech would be choosing not to display the flag. Not BAN the flag. Are we so caught up we don't see the issue here? Free speech... support or don't support a cause. Not free speech.... ban an American symbol from a school that benefits from all the AAmerican privileges it is provided. I've never gone to anything like this....I may very well try to be first in line for this Larry.
ReplyDeleteYou are all a bunch of busybodies. This is between Hampshire and their students.
ReplyDelete"Really ed, you think college students come back on the Friday after Thanksgiving to spend the weekend in the dorms instead of at home?"
ReplyDeleteReally... I'm listening to Kurt Shilling (in for Howie Carr) telling everyone that it will be on Sunday, which is when most college students come back so they can go to class on Monday.
Shilling's been discussing this all afternoon.
Meanwhile, Kurt is thrilled that this has taken the attention off of his latest temper tantrum.
ReplyDelete"You are all a bunch of busybodies. This is between Hampshire and their students."
ReplyDeleteNo, it isn't -- for two reasons.
First, we're paying for Hampshire. We're paying for all that financial aid, and we're paying for all the Federal/State/Local taxes it isn't paying.
More importantly, they are a gatekeeper -- if society is asked to respect their degrees, society has the right to state what it thinks the degree should represent. Or, conversely, to protest the institution.
@ Anon 5:45
ReplyDelete"cute spin on hate speech, that socialist myth..."
Really? You really think hate speech is a myth? If that's the case, then you've obviously never been the victim of hate speech. FYI, perhaps reading the following will change your mind:
https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2015
http://www.wbur.org/news/2016/11/21/healey-hotline-anti-hate-rally
http://www.wbur.org/npr/502036699/hate-crimes-rose-in-2015-with-religious-bias-a-growing-motivation-fbi-data-shows
Both those arguments are utter nonsense.
ReplyDeleteLook, you have no more right to dictate things to Hampshire as a taxpayer then you get to tell the military how to fight a battle because they ultimately work for the taxpayers.
ReplyDeleteDefending the flag from destruction is something more people should do. Private property or not.
DeleteBought a bunch of non organic eggs tonight:)
ReplyDelete"Bought a bunch of non organic eggs tonight"
ReplyDeleteWell then stay home and make yourself an omelet.
"Look, you have no more right to dictate things to Hampshire as a taxpayer then you get to tell the military how to fight a battle because they ultimately work for the taxpayers."
ReplyDeleteThere's been no shortage of people doing the latter over the years, in Amherst and elsewhere.
And I do believe people would presume that to be a right, as courts have said so.
Looks like CNN picked up the story as well!
ReplyDeleteWher 6 people will see it.
DeleteThis issue reminds me of conversations I had with my father in the 70's about flag disrespect. He was a thrice wounded, highly decorated, proud combat veteran of WWII, once declared MIA and according to my aunts, not the same person when he returned from the Pacific Front. When TV news showed flag protesters burning the flag, with the predictable outrage in response, he always asked two questions: A) how many of the people expressing righteous indignation at the protesters served in the military, and B) of those who did, how many served in combat or spent their time sorting mail in the base post office? He didn't like people disrespecting the flag but he felt that men who faced death--their own and their buddies--and those who experienced firsthand the reality that war isn't a John Wayne movie, came home with a much more complicated, deeply felt sense of what patriotism is and is not. To him, flag disrespect was an unfortunate, trivial act of symbolism performed by dilettantes. He didn't waste a minute thinking about it. But he did spend time thinking about and honoring the memory of the friends he lost and the cause he fought for and that the values of the United States are not represented by symbols but by other, more tangible things. And he displayed the flag on Memorial Day, too. Then he went back to work.
ReplyDeleteYou can bet that all of the whiners on this thread are Chicken Hawks, like Larry Kelley, for instance. You all have a lot to say against people simply expressing their rights in the USA, but most of you never served your country in the military. Big talking Larry. Go ahead and bring your friend, Crazy Phil. By all means, gather peacefully and protest lawfully. Otherwise the boys and girls in blue will be down there at HC arresting you whiny chicken hawks.
ReplyDeleteDo I need to have served in the military to think that flag burning is reprehensible? And the Supreme Court can't Make me believe otherwise.
DeleteOh I think the "boys and girls in blue" will be there anyway for traffic control.
ReplyDeletePromises to be a very large crowd on a somewhat busy road.
Safe bet CANs like you will be Missing In Action.
No taxation without representation is not a law, it was a battle cry that was NOT made into a law.
ReplyDeleteYou do not get a say at Hampshire just because you paid taxes or they pay less, that is not how our system works. Imagine the town meetings based on that principal. Additionally, this is like owning something just because you paid for it, which we all know is not the way people think around here in the collective.
And remember when you are protesting that some may cheer you on in the US, but most folks just need more opportunity and those that have the time and resources to protest such just look like priveledged snobs with no real problems.
Think about it, all the crap going down and THIS is what you protest, the application of propiganda....? Good job comrades.
His protestations notwithstanding, Mr. Kelley lives for occasions when the Town is embarrassed. He wallows with delight in conflict and confrontation, like a pig in, well, mud.
ReplyDeleteMy question is: will there be an opportunity for listening? I do believe that the veterans have something useful to say.
Rich Morse
"You do not get a say at Hampshire just because you paid taxes or they pay less,"
ReplyDeleteBut I DO get a say ABOUT Hampster College.
And I do get a say about what I think should (or shouldn't) be subsidized
"Think about it, all the crap going down and THIS is what you protest>"
But I like "all the crap going down" and wish to protest Hampster's protest thereof -- a counter-protest of sorts. I also wish to protest the libelous defamation of our President-Elect and those of us who elected him.
The flag is not sacred. It is the symbol of the USA, a country with an extremely checkered past. Sure, we used our industrial power to drop atomic bombs on Japan and end the war in the pacific, and did our part to help rid the world of Hitler and his Nazis, but we also enslaved a group of people for hundreds of years and now imprison them at extraordinary rates.
ReplyDeleteOf course, Kelley is a white male who has managed to get into the middle class, so he is likely clueless as to the wrongs the flag may symbolize for a huge percentage of the population. This is the country that sent African Americans to fight its wars, and then continued to discriminate against them when they returned home.
I get why some of you think the flag is important, but how can you turn a blind eye to people who have clearly been treated like crap for as long as they have been in the country?
And now trump. This man said hateful things about so many groups in our country that he is feeling the backlash, and I'm guessing he will continue to feel that and a lot worse as his term progresses. Hate begets hate. Trump's tactics couldn't be more shallow. He is a weak minded bully, and like all bullies he can only feel strong when he is picking on others. So be it. Apparently the electoral college voted him in to office.
Please do protest. Stand up for your rights. This is the United States and you have every right to disagree with the Hampshire College decision. I love it when I see Americans exercising their rights. Just remember that all voices may be heard in this wonderful country, and your voice is no more valued than the next one.
Don't expect the anti-trump sentiment and protest to end until this nazi sympathizer is gone.
You are a leftist idealogue. And a moron. America was not the birthplace of socialism. Not the birthplace of Marxism. It was the birthplace of a Constitutional Republic.
DeleteGo get them Victor!!!! Great guy, great cause.
ReplyDeleteWho is "you folks?"
ReplyDeleteThroughout the centuries: Don't Tread On Me. Well---go ahead, but be willing to pay the consequences.
ReplyDelete"Nazi sympathizer?" Let me get this straight: the National Socialists killed roughly 6 million jews. Socialists. And that person you quoted compares Donald Trump ( killed 0) to them. So much for a credible argument.
ReplyDeleteGee, Ed, inferiority complex?
ReplyDeleteIf Trump isn't all of those things, including a Nazi, then why are all you whiteys getting so pissed off. The white male has had it bd for 30 years? Really How? Can you articulate any reasons or did you flunk out of school before they got to "how to explain," like most of trump's intelligence challenged supporters?
ReplyDeleteYou call the President-elect a Nazi. And you wonder why Clinton lost. And, incidentally, for the umpteenth time it is you leftists who are the socialists as the nazis were. And it is lefties like BLM who foment violence. Especially against police.
DeleteNot calling trump a nazi casually. Spent 2 years listening to the hate spew from his mouth and now to the mouths of his masses. He doesn't just get let off the hook for things he said repeatedly to the world. At times he screamed these things. So, yes, he is most definitely a nazi trying to whip the blinded masses into finding a scapegoat for their economic woes, just like Hitler did.
ReplyDeleteWhen will the so-called fundamentalist christians finally say that trump has crossed a line with his hate? Or are they actually nazis in hiding? Is hate acceptable as long as it gets a group what it wants. "Let's hate our way to a conservative supreme court."
How do all of you Trumpzis reconcile Trump's hate speech? Soon you too will be branded. Can Trump say anything he wants and the offended are supposed to remain silent? That doesn't seem very American.
The only group he did not publicly berate and hate were white males. How do you expect people of the world who are not white males to react to being hated and ridiculed? So now all the white males are defensive. Look around fellas. Who is making it big in this world? You paid your taxes, I'll bet. Trump hasn't paid a dime in taxes in decades. In fact, this lawsuit he just just lost over his scamming trump university allows him another tax break.
Lemme guess: you lost.
DeleteAhh yes Anon 1052…you are so readied to believe the lies told about out president elect but fail to believe the truths about your presidential candidate loser. Got it. Then you spew the same rhetoric you got from the Lib controlled MSM. She lost, get over it. As for Obuma, due to his failures the Dems lost HUUUUGE in every election across this nation. The lost Governor positions and Congress positions at an alarming rate. This is not the place for this specific argument however...
ReplyDeleteAgain, we divert away from what is going on: spoiled asshats burning the flag and then this bullshit haven of liberal brainwashing flies the flag at half staff (a HUGE NO NO) before removing it altogether. Why? Because they whined about the presidential election. Question: how many of them voted? Even so the state of MA did all they could to further the anointment of the machine. Trump won because it was the biggest "screw you" the people could say tho their own knowingly corrupt government.
If you are going to protest, do it right otherwise you take way from the true victims who suffered and fought the cause.
This leftist shit hole of an excuse for a school should have flown the flag upside-down to show distress. Once again: you do not have to love the government to love your country. That flag is a represent ion of "us" and not washington. These cupcakes who are destined to never be employed have no idea about this concept, and neither do some of you.
Nazis were Socialists. More akin to Lefties.
DeleteLet's see what Sunday looks like.0
I'm sorry but taking down a flag (which you own) does not border on hate speech. However, what was hate speech--the spray painting of swastikas and racist slogans on the rocks at the top of Bare Mountain-- was not covered as news on your blog.
ReplyDeleteHow much of that spray-painting was put there by you leftists? Reports of fakery abounding.
DeleteI believe it was Mt. Tom, a tad off my beat.
ReplyDeleteLarry, tell the story of the BLACK Amherst College frat that burnt a cross in front of their own frat.
ReplyDeleteFakery by the leftists again.
DeleteThe globalist left have nothing if they don't have division.
DeleteLarry, what time is the demonstration on Sunday.
ReplyDelete1:00 PM
ReplyDeleteI pray that all goes well...
DeleteThe flag represents the right of the individual to be heard and hold/ promote own views and policies-the right to disagree is tantamount to these values and a healthy democracy -so-chill- dudesters !!!!???
ReplyDeleteI go to HC and want to see the flag back. Who do these people think they are? Sure, it's our right to burn it. But why? The act of a spoiled child.
ReplyDelete"If you are going to protest, do it right "
ReplyDeleteHow is that for summit of thinking. Here's someone from Amherst MA telling us all how we should protest. Hey numbnuts, isn't the idea of protesting that one is disagreeing, so why are you telling people how to disagree? Can't and shouldn't one figure out how to disagree without your help? Since if I listen to you, god help me, I am not protesting at all.
Now go home and study this simple principle, but if you can't seem to figure it out, let me know and I'll tell you how to do it, again. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
See you out there on Sunday. Larry Kelley's big protest against the mighty and powerful Hampshire College with a huge student enrollment of 1400 students. Mr. Kelley is very connected to the big media outlets because he has some friends in the brick and mortar news industry. So, I expect the national news will be there. In fact, I've heard that old tiny hands trump and his henchman, Steve "Mr. KKK" Bannon will make an appearance and burn a cross on Hampshire's lawn. When asked about trespassing, old tiny hands said, "I'll sue those bastards."
But keep fighting the good fight Kelley, cause god knows you've got plenty of time on your hands to do that, since you haven't actually held any job for years.
It's not Larry's. It sort of belongs to the Veterans.
DeleteMy job is to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."
ReplyDeleteAnd considering your response, I must be doing a good job of it.
Really, Larry? So when you criticize homeless people are you comforting the afflicted?
ReplyDeleteI just publish the police report and let the document speak for itself,
ReplyDeleteIf you can do better, feel free.
You're the one who said you comfort the afflicted. I don't see evidence of that in your coverage of homelessness. Have you ever tried to approach a homeless person as a person? Tried to find out his/her story? Where's the comfort?
ReplyDeleteNina have you provided a home for any of these people? Please, feel free to cast another stone.
DeleteI steer clear of teachers, homeless, and Jahova Witnesses.
ReplyDeleteJehova will get you for that!!
DeleteBasket Weaving 101 - Meets Basket Cases.....Priceless !!!????
ReplyDelete