Hampshire College main flag this morning
Flag Rally Peaceful Demonstration Sunday
Our flag may be many things to many people but almost everyone would agree it's a powerful symbol never to be taken lightly.
Jonathan Lash (General Robert E. Lee) greets Victor Nunez Ortiz (General Ulysses S. Grant)
For the second time in 15 years the town of Amherst or one its major institutions found that out ... the hard way.
God bless America -- warts and all!
“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”
It is a mistake for protesters to NOT embrace the flag. It is the symbol of freedom, and that freedom includes the freedom to assemble and protest the government.
ReplyDeleteThese things are literally and explicitly in the Constitution, and therefore are true American values the flag represents.
http://www.mymassachusettsdefenselawyer.com/protesting-represents-american-values/
*That
ReplyDeleteHampshire students: was it really worth the offense to so many just to get the cameras on your particular cause?
ReplyDeleteI just do not get how disrespecting our flag has become so trendy lately. There have been flag burners for some time of course, but those have been relatively few and far between, and generally extreme radicals. But now these kids and over-thinking intellectuals have taken to hijacking and manipulating the meaning of our flag for every one of their grievances, real or perceived. I'm quite sure a lot of their issues could be worked out without offending so many people, especially those who have put their lives on the line for the rights we share. The vets can say all day that they respect the right to burn and remove the flag, and I'm sure that they do on one level, but I do not believe for a second that it does not feel like getting a knife in the back from the very people benefiting form their sacrifice.
I wonder if Mr. Lash goes right for the genitals before attempting a calm and measured resolution when he wants to "facilitate a dialogue" with his wife, as he did to so many when he removed the flag.
Richard Marsh
Sometimes mom and dad give in to crying children just to have some peace. Weakens both parents and children...still does not mean the children are in charge.
ReplyDeleteBiggest benefit off all this, folks can focus on something that matters and there is less likelihood that some flag fanatic will hurt someone.
Perhaps this petty issue was wagging the dog....meets all the tests....
I think the ultimate justice the Hampshire College students will experience will be how poorly they are viewed by corporate employers when they graduate. Why would a large corporation, or even a small one for that matter, want to hire some short-sighted Hampshire College graduate who may end up using poor judgment that will damage their brand and business in a way that they have damaged Hampshire College? Why would an employer hire someone from that environment who is so tone deaf to the average people in America who buy their products and services? And why would anyone hire a person who, when you fire them for their bad judgment, will no doubt burn YOUR companies' logo on the front lawn of your headquarters and use the media to ruin your business? Take note, corporate employers: You can do better than Hampshire College students. And as a side note, I would guess that no college or university will EVER employ President Lash again after how he is mishandled and mismanaged this situation. Better stay where you are, President Lash. I can't imagine any other college or university hiring you and then having to defend that hire when you lead them into some unnecessary public debacle like this one. Wow, there is all kinds of justice coming here. God Bless America and our American flag.
ReplyDeleteWow. Amherst, the laughing stock of the country. Well...according to Fox News
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/yiiFOL6UepY
Thank you Lash, for doing the right thing.
ReplyDeleteBut what will the hysterical snowflakes do now???
ReplyDeleteCampus security had best post an armed guard at the flagpole lest they loose another to arson.
Thanks for covering all this, Larry. May our flag forever wave in the Land of the Free and the Brave!
ReplyDeleteEver think Fox News might be correct? It has been pretty "nutty" around here lately. When people act like fools they become the laughing stock of others. We attract an awful lot of fools.
ReplyDelete2:43 --- ask any police officer, if two (or more) people follow you home (after dark) and are standing there in your garage, do you get out of the vehicle?
ReplyDeleteOr do you drive to a police station, fire station, ore some other well-lit place where there are lots of people around. For years, I've been telling young women (and men) to do this, that discretion is the better part of valor.
So the question I ask about the FOX News "interview" is what kind of idiot would have gotten out of his car in the first place...
The man, allegedly, was once a Federal Prosecutor -- don't they teach basic common sense to such people?
"Ever think Fox News might be correct?"
ReplyDeleteWere they stretching the truth? Does Amherst fly a UN flag and is it a sanctuary city? Did anything Mr Burruto say seem inaccurate? Is it not true you can major in basket weaving or ultimate frisbee at HC? This guy, Lash might as well be the mayor of Amherst if there was such a thing.
Sanctuary City or Confedeeate City?
DeleteSafe to say Jonathan Lash won't be at Hampshire mush longer, regardless of your stance on the flag the leadership and decision making he did around this situation was atrocious. but that is just Hampshire College being Hampshire College.
ReplyDeleteWell Dr Ed, I don't think he thought a reporter holding a microphone with a camera guy and a sound guy holding TV equipment was a potential mugging threat. But sure, he could have driven away from his own home, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteWhat right did they have to go in the guy's garage, then stick their foot in his door?
ReplyDeleteWhat right does a UPS delivery person or a charity solicitor have to set foot on your property?
ReplyDeleteIf a charity solicitor or UPS guy followed me into my garage, put his foot in the door and refused to leave, I would call the cops and press charges 100%.
ReplyDeleteWell you're one for two. Lash called the cops but did not press charges.
ReplyDeleteGood ole Dr Frued had many inspirations about what a flag truly represents....
ReplyDeleteHe had a lot of funny ideas.
DeleteYeah well, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
ReplyDeleteSo, if you see me in your garage tonight you won't have a problem with that?
ReplyDeletePolice, Assessors, UPS guys, Red Heads, Mexicans, Ugly people - they can all be welcomed or restricted....it is up to the property owner unless there is a warrant or an active threat in 99.9% of situations. You are even allowed to discriminate by age, gender, sex, height, race or any other bias. It does not matter if you are on a 2 acre postage stamp or a 10,000 acre ranch.
ReplyDeleteI heard some people have even let assessors inside their home...people have a very odd concept of their rights. You can kick them out and off to the street, no questions asked, esp in Mass.
Heaven help me Larry, but the THIRD time I asked him to remove his foot from my door it would be along the lines of "if you wish to remain alive..."
ReplyDeleteYou have the right to protect yourself and your property. Except when Republicans say that. A lotta people on the left think they're the only ones with rights.
DeleteSafe to say Jonathan Lash won't be at Hampshire mush longer, regardless of your stance on the flag the leadership and decision making he did around this situation was atrocious. but that is just Hampshire College being Hampshire College.
ReplyDeleteWell, he isn't an academic, his official bio makes no mention of his ever having been a professor or administrator in the past.
See: https://www.hampshire.edu/presidents-office/jonathan-lash
Surprisingly, he doesn't even have a terminal degree, which is generally considered a prerequisite for anything in academia. Instead he only has a M.Ed. (which is followed with an Ed.D., often with an intermediary CAGS), and a J.D. (which is followed with a L.LB.).
Hexter, by contrast, has a Ph.D. from Yale and had been a Dean at Berkley. As critical as I am of "Administratum" (the densest element known to humanity), the past two weeks are what you get when you hire a college president from outside academia.
Whatever the degree someone holds is not an assurance that they're smart. As we can plainly see in many of our colleges and universities. HC a prime example.
Delete"Not at all. You will."
ReplyDeleteAre you saying that Lash was well within his rights to have physically reacted?
Against free speech? The left.
ReplyDeleteAgainst democratic elections? The left.
Hate crime hoaxing at a breakneck pace? The left.
Violence against people because of their political beliefs? The left.
Against freedom from religion? The right.
ReplyDeleteIntimidating voters and restricting ballot access? The right.
Hate crime perpetrators? The right.
Violence against people because of their skin color or ethnicity? The right.
You must have forgotten: KKK was a Dem group.
ReplyDelete8:28 please don't just accuse. Provide evidence please.
ReplyDeleteEd - It has driven me nuts for months seeing you repeatedly use the wrong word. It is lose not loose. You lose your mind. Your dog gets loose. For someone who claims to have a doctorate that is a pretty egregious error to make all the time.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, regardless of my stance on this whole flag flying mess, I think everyone should take a a good hard look at themselves and realize that in the big picture you are complaining and accusing people of the exact same things that you are doing. I.e. "ohhh the little snowflakes are so offended by the flag and it hurts their feelings better take it down" Guess what guys? Flip it over and you've got yourselves - "Oh those raging nutbags are offended that we took the flag down. Better put it back up because we're hurting their feelings." The only difference is that those protesting the flag's removal were causing an inconvenience to others where removing the flag only caused people to be offended without physically disrupting other people's lives. A good number of you rant and rave that people are offended too easily and need to grow up. Maybe it's time to take a look in the mirror.
Exactly whom were the people protesting Hampshire inconveniencing?
ReplyDeleteAnd the issue I have is if Hampshire wants to be a private institution, fine -- don't accept public finds, don't award degrees that the Commonwealth recognizes, and don't share public (UMass) resources.
If you do this stuff, we have a right to criticize you.
So Ed, you're saying if the Commonwealth recognizes a degree (which means jack by the way. The state has no say on whether or not a degree is valid as they aren't responsible for accreditation), then the institution shouldn't be private. Therefore the degrees that come out of private institutions mean nothing because as a private entity they can't expect their product, in this case degrees, to be recognized because they aren't a public entity? You more or less just said that unless a degree comes from a public college/university in Masschusetts then it shouldn't be recognized. Get real.By that logic, no product or service from a private company is worth anything in this state.
ReplyDeleteIf by sharing UMass Resources you are referring to the Five College Consortium then you don't have a clue. UMass students get the same if not more resources from the 4 private colleges that are a part of it. It's not like Hampshire just gets to send students over to UMass for free. In exchange, UMass students also get to take classes and use resources at Hampshire and the other 3 colleges.
As for the inconvenience caused by the protesters, just because it was Thanksgiving break doesn't mean the campus was empty. There are plenty of students that don't go home for the break and while I can't speak for them, I imagine the protesters made things very uncomfortable in what is their home for half the year. I would say not being able to go to certain areas on or around the edge of campus (again, where they live) where the protesters were for a lack of desire to be yelled at and berated is an inconvenience. Not to mention some of them might have actually been trying to get some schoolwork done and all of the yelling surely was distracting thus causing yet more inconvenience.