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The Real Side | Commentary by Joe Messina
| Monday, Mar 3, 2014

joemessinamugWhere is she? Many of the Tea Party, right-wing, Bible-thumping, mom-and-apple-pie type of people are being made out to be lunatics.

Why? For loving God, country and freedom. It seems that loving America enough to make her a priority is unconstitutional. At least according to the very grounded and always controversial opinions of the 9th Circuit Court.

The court says school districts can ban clothing when the “officials’ concerns of racial violence outweighed students’ freedom of expression rights. Administrators feared the American flag shirts would enflame the passions of Latino students celebrating the Mexican holiday” of Cinco de Mayo.

Really, I am not joking.

Wanting to keep the kids safe is great. I can’t disagree with that. But I can disagree with this particular decision around Americans wearing shirts with an American flag on them. These kids took exception to the school administration allowing celebrations around Mexican Independence Day and exercised their freedom to express themselves civilly.

America is getting harder and harder to find. Some schools have stopped saying the pledge because it’s too divisive or it takes too much time. Then there was the young boy who was told he couldn’t have an American flag on his bike on school grounds because of safety concerns. What low-IQ administrator came up with that one?

In some school districts, Bibles can’t be handed out on the sidewalk in front of schools because it’s too close to blurring the separation of the church and state clause. (Good luck finding that one in the Constitution.)

Then there was the young man who dared to give out copies of the Constitution on a college campus. He was awarded $50,000 of your taxpayer money – not to mention taxpayer money wasted on the salaries of all those involved, from the school administrators to the security guard to the campus attorneys – because his rights to free speech were infringed. Yup. How dare he want to give out a copy of the foundation of what America was built on, at an American college campus, maintained with American tax dollars, by security guards paid in American tax dollars?

Some people have a lot of nerve. What if he wanted to give out the communist manifesto? Do think there would have been the same reaction?

Many of you on the left, for some reason, foam at the mouth when you read pieces like this. But try to have an open mind and endeavor to reason this out together, shall we?

One of the first books those religion-hating forefathers allocated money to print was the Bible. (They must have been confused old men, given that “separation of church and state” clause.). Then, to add insult to injury, those same men wanted the Bibles placed in public education facilities and schools. Oh, the humanity of it all.

America became great because of what it stood for, what it was willing to fight and die for, and the foundation that all men are created equal. We all have the right to succeed or fail. That’s why so many wanted (and still want) to come to this country.

I am extremely proud of my Italian heritage. I grew up in a place known as Little Italy in Boston. It was not uncommon to hear people speaking Italian in the streets and stores. With that said, when a non-neighborhood person came into a store – the area was touristy because of historic landmarks such as the Old North Church – everyone slipped into English out of respect for our country. Orders were placed in English.

My little Italian friends who had recently arrived in the U.S. were proud to stand up and pledge allegiance to the flag even though they weren’t yet citizens. Why? Because they knew what America stood for and wanted to be part of it.

Every August there is a month of celebration coinciding with Italian festivals taking place in Italy. Celebrating heritage, like the Mexican kids on campus today. The difference? Always present at the Italian festivals was the American flag, flown higher than the Italian flag or any other flag. America was always first. Period. We have lost that.

Progressives think we got this strong and respected around the world by chance or luck or karma or whatever. Nothing successful ever happens by accident, and if it does, it won’t be sustainable. Success requires work, maintenance and someone to care about and for it. America first. If you think it will just happen, sit around and watch. Something will happen – but not what you want to happen.

America is becoming unrecognizable. We need to find her and prop her up.

Don’t wait. On Cinco de Mayo, celebrate by wearing an American flag. Celebrate Mexican independence by relating it to American Independence Day.

Ultimately, if you’re told you can’t wear an American flag shirt on Cinco de Mayo, stage a sit-in by the school flag pole wearing American-themed shirts and join in the celebration.

 

Joe Messina is host of The Real Side (TheRealSide.com), a nationally syndicated talk show that runs on AM-1220 KHTS radio and SCVTV [here]. He is also a member of the Hart School Board. His commentary publishes Mondays.

 

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41 Comments

  1. Agree with you except for this: In some school districts, Bibles can’t be handed out on the sidewalk in front of schools because it’s too close to blurring the separation of the church and state clause. (Good luck finding that one in the Constitution.).

    • City sidewalk is public property and anyone can hand out anything on a public sidewalk. Stay too long and you can be cited for loitering, maybe, but that’s it, same as handing out campaign materials.

  2. No one has permission to foist their religious agenda on my kid.

  3. why you ask are the tea party types being made out to be lunatics?? Cause 99% are! Ted Nuggent, Sarah Palin….the list goes on and on!!!

  4. To the author, Joe Messina: As a Mexican immigrant and proud naturalized American citizen, I can assure you that I would never take offense to the American flag worn on a t-shirt. In fact, I own a couple of those myself.
    What does offend me, is that in your article you keep incorrectly identifying “Cinco de Mayo” as “Mexican Independence Day”, which is utterly false.
    Mexican Independence Day is celebrated on September 15th (not May 5th) and has absolutely nothing to do with Cinco de Mayo, which commemorates the defeat of the French army at the battle of Puebla. It’s a completely unrelated historical event, since as everyone knows, Mexico gained its independence from Spain, not France.
    That’s basic elementary school history.
    I’m surprised to see these kinds of basic factual errors from a news source like SCVTV.

  5. And by the way, “Cinco de Mayo” isn’t even celebrated in Mexico. It was initially promoted as a holiday in the U.S. by the Tequila manufacturers as a marketing ploy, and it’s celebrated primarily by American college kids, not Mexicans.

  6. Ron Perez says:

    Well said Christian Lanz.

  7. Christian Lanz, I’m afraid you missed it by one day- I grew up in the border town of El Paso, Tx, and Mexican Independence Day is 16th of Sept., not the 15th. And Cinco de Mayo, the anniversary of the battle of Pueblo, is celebrated in Mexico- at least they celebrated it in Juárez when I was growing up, and I know it is a big deal in Pueblo. Nonetheless, I certainly support your right to say what you believe to be true. You have the right to be incorrect. It interesting that you find handing out a Bible (which you believe to be incorrect) to violate the same right. It doesn’t, as courts have held over many years. It’s a simple thing to say “No, thank you.”

  8. Puebla, not Pueblo, haha- stupid autocorrect.

  9. Cheryl Goldburg- handing out free literature on public property is absolutely protected free speech and has been upheld by the Supreme Court many times. It is no more illegal to hand out Bibles than it is to hand out any other book or piece of literature, including informational leaflets on ANY topic of debate. Think of someone handing out campaign materials or information on birth control. This is protected free speech. Facebook posts are the sidewalks of the digital age. You wouldn’t want your posts on a public forum to be considered illegal, would you? Free speech and debate and wide access to information of all kinds is absolutely essential in a free society, and I would fiercely defend those rights, even when I disagree with the viewpoint of another. “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” -Evelyn Hall

  10. Kim Sloan says:

    The tea party is a very bigoted organization. They target the poor, and insist on a religious right agenda. There is a lot happening that is bigger than politics, when our food supplies are filled with yoga mat chemicals & GMO’s, our Bank system is screwed up, and there are laws that let police storm your home without a warrant, and schools have metal detectors. The tea party try’s to blame immigrants, and tell you to hate our President for our countries problems. It’s our responsibility to vote the way that we feel represents our values, and maybe the tea party are just too self serving for most honest hard working Americans to stomach.

  11. Link below to different countries independence Days, courtesy of the CIA…

  12. Seriously? I’m tired of seeing these stupid half-baked “commentaries”. I used to like scvtv.

  13. Do ANY of you think your opinion will change anything?

  14. Christian Lantz…I’m confused. Are you Mexican, or American? Because you seem awfully defensive about your heritage, as if you werelooking for an argument over your country. ?… which clearly is not America, and not as you stated in the first post.R Regardless of which country you choose, please stick to a consistent stance. I wouldn’t be so quick to jump on someone for trying to bring understanding to this situation.
    Additionally, every native born American who happens to be white, conservative, and Christian is not crazy, or in line with the radicals who stand up and speakm on our behalf. They do not carry my voice.
    I find the Cinco De Mayo debacle to be laughable. My kids will wear patriotic clothing every day of the year, anywhere they wish. The instant they are asked to not represeht their nation’s colors is the instant someone has a fight on their hands. My daughter–our nation’s daughters and sons fight for the freedom to be proud.
    Cinco de Mayo, St. Patrick’s day, Halloween, Valentines Day, etc., are all optional , commercial celebrations. And asking anyone in the USA to not be proud is insane. It is exactly what is wrong with this world today.

    • Kari Dauer-Hewitt I am both Mexican and American, as I clearly stated in my first post. I was born and raised in Mexico City, and later my family and I moved to the U.S. (legally) where we proudly became naturalized American Citizens. I celebrate Mexican Independence Day on the night of September 15th just as I proudly fly the American flag on my front porch on the 4th of July. I love the United States just as I love my country of origin.
      I certainly don’t have to “choose” one or the other, as you state, since I hold dual legal citizenship.

      I find it absurd that you’re calling me defensive about my heritage simply for correcting a blatant factual error in a news article. If someone wrote an article incorrectly stating that the U.S.’s independence was celebrated on President’s Day, I’d be first in line to correct that as well.

  15. Except, Christian LanzChristian, this isn’t Mexico. This is America. And Cinco De mayo is regularly referred to as Mexican independence day…by many Mexicans. And, fire the record, we don’t acknowledge Bastille day, it any form international holiday days, and forgo American holidays for other nationalities.
    To be clear, I love my country first. And by your choosing to call the US your home, I feel it is only appropriate for you to do the same.

    • So because this is America and not Mexico, that justifies promoting ignorance of basic historical facts? Sorry, but I don’t know any Mexicans who think Cinco de Mayo is Mexican Independence Day. It they do, they’re ignorant and uneducated. And when did I suggest that in America we should forgo our holidays for other nationalities?? Did I not specifically state that I proudly fly the American flag on the 4th of July? I celebrate all American holidays proudly and patriotically, irrespective of the love I also have for my country of origin.

  16. …And auto correct got me

  17. Let it go Christian Lanz. Everyone is well aware that you are the authority on this subject. You’ve won the internet.

  18. What Joe also fails to mention in this article (among his factual errors on Cinco de Mayo) is there has been SERIOUS racial tension at the school in question, to the point where race RIOTS have ensued.

    The school knew that the kids wearing the flag shirts were doing it to incite violence on that day as the American kids of Mexican heritage celebrated.

    So tell me…does Joe the school board member work to protect the safety of our children on this day or does his patriotic radio show shock jock allow, instead, the potential riots and death of our children? This was a very EXTREME case, thus the ruling by the courts. Had this NOT been so extreme (as the actual documents discuss) they would not have to take such extreme measures.

    These student do NOT have the same rights as adult citizens as has been shown in various court cases throughout the years, from being able to censor school newspapers and so on.

    SO Joe….which is it? Do you protect kids or is your Ted Nugent shock jock job more important.

    ps..it’s embarrassing to see a school board member not even know or understand Cinco de Mayo is an American holiday like St. Patrick’s day. Basic facts are apparently entirely foreign to this side of the aisle. Sad.

  19. If you read the article, which had nothing to do with you, in any way, then you would assimilate my posts with more than a dull, redundant argument. You clearly can not, and will not address the actual issue, because you just need to be right.
    I’m stepping away now…

    • Kari, the article contained a blatant factual error which has no place in a news source such as SCVTV, and all I did was call attention to it. You’re the one that seems dead-set on defending historical ignorance and factual inaccuracies for absolutely no other reason than to be blindly argumentative.
      No less than 14 other people have “liked” and agreed with my post calling out the misinformation contained in this article, so clearly you’re in the vast minority here.
      Have a nice day.

  20. Christian ignore the haters. If this were a St. Patrick’s day issue they’d be screaming for our kids to be protected by any means necessary. But because their are people of color involved they automatically assign blame.

    Yes, I went there. No need to just ignore the elephant in the room.

  21. DaveR says:

    Oddly, I was a Boy Scout and I can’t remember the part of Flag Etiquette that covers displaying the Flag on a human body. Oh yeah. The only time it’s appropriate is at a funeral.

    Patriotism is in the heart, not on the sleeve. We are lucky and grateful to be USA-ans and we are happy to have the great nation of Mexico as a neighbor. (Lately they are way less a menace as Canada with her dirty oil and anarcho-capitalist government)

  22. Tanya says:

    Erin Kotecki Vest says: ‘it’s embarrassing to see a school board member not even know or understand Cinco de Mayo is an American holiday like St. Patrick’s day’

    Facts:
    “Cinco de Mayo—or the fifth of May—commemorates the Mexican army’s 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War (1861-1867). A relatively minor holiday in Mexico, in the United States Cinco de Mayo has evolved into a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage, particularly in areas with large Mexican-American populations.”

  23. Tanya says:

    Erin Kotecki Vest seems to think that Latino students can’t control themselves and will become violent at the sight of an American Flag therefore the flag must be banned. She also wonders if Joe would protect SCV students from violent Latinos.

    The real story here is the belief that students can’t be encouraged to all wear whatever they want on whatever day they want with the expectation that they will respect each other.

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