"We are shut up in schools and college recitation rooms for ten or fifteen years, and come out at last with a bellyful of words and do not know a thing. " -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Circus Coverage
From KOMO
From some COMBAT JOURNALIST
11 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Great to hear that the school is going to review whether they should host this bigoted event next year. Keep up the fight! Get our schools focused on education and not the assilimation of our children into self-interest groups!
Sadly, I just heard from a person in the district who is usually reliable that Randy Taylor has decided not to return to Mt Si next year.
I assume this means he is retiring. I'll be very disappointed if it turns out that this ridiculous b***s*** has forced him out. Randy, if you read this blog, your leadership on the DoS issue has been an inspiration. You will be sorely missed. I can only hope your successor will be as watchful over my student as you have been in this issue.
i have been watching this situation with much interest. i would sincerely hope that the school does host the day of silence next year. it is not a bigoted event.
also, whether hutcherson knows it or not, he has actually helped the day of silence by focusing more attention on the plight of lgbt teenagers.
I wish the media had focused on the press conference organized by GLSEN (www.glsenwa.org) at the Snoqualmie Library across town. They had a top-notch panel of clergy, parents, students, business people that all supported the Day of Silence at Mount Si. There was good press turn out but no coverage of the press conference itself. Of course, the media took the more sensational angle to the story. GLSEN has a GSA awards banquet in Seattle on May 23rd (tickets: www.http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/29899). I think we should nominate the Mt. Si GSA for an award. They certainly deserve it.
I was one of those panelists. My vanity definitely suffered when I wasn't able to see myself on TV. Boo hoo! The immensely more satisfying victory was that the supporters of the DOS, in a ragtag and last minute way, approximately matched the number of prayer warriors, that Hutcherson could muster. He had at least 3 sympathetic local radio stations give him extensive coverage, and also was on Focus on the Family and at lease one other Christian website. He claims to have a congregation of 3000. Yet, he could only get about 150 people to show. That's real impotence for you! Apparently, his personal vendetta isn't interesting to very many people. The day went off perfectly inside the school from what I hear, and all the organized outside supporters were perfect as well. We stood silently showing support as the kids arrived at school, and then we left well before the prayer warriors arrived. Those who were confronting Hutcherson during school were less restrained, but that's their good old American right to assemble being exercised. God bless America! There were two incredible chunks of irony on Friday. First, some of the parents who kept their students out in protest of the DOS said they did so because they were worried for their student's safety, primarily because 1,000 protesters were expected to be bussed in. Second, that Hutcherson had the audacity to stand in front of the camers with his imported protesters and, with a straight face, point out how disruptive the DOS was, when the only reason it was disruptive was because he made it so. So all in all we didn't get the media coverage we wanted, but we could not have asked for a better result. The reason we did not get the coverage was because in the media's expert eyes it was a non-event, and that is EXACTLY what we want. Hooray! I went to bed with a huge smile on my face Friday.
I went down to confront Hutcherson on Friday, and everything is just as you said, Dave. He had a small, irresolute turnout
Because young people are going to confront a controversial figure like Hutcherson, a few GSA leaders should have come to hand out papers telling them that the GSA position was NOT to confront him at all. Things didn't get out of hand, but next year if Hutcherson shows up, the Day of Silence could have a real image problem unless the GSA sends a clear onsite message to those insisting on confronting him, preferably in cooperation with law enforcement.
It seemed to me the police did a very good job keeping the situation calm. The officers I talked with were extremely reasonable, and the one who expressed any opinion on the matter simply said he didn't appreciate Hutch's bringing in outside agitation. The police were a credit to the town in their professional conduct. Hopefully Hutcherson will give them a break next year and not show up.
Regarding the anonymous post praising his leadership? Leadership has vision. Leaders have followers. Taylor has neither.
If he did, the Day of Silence would have never reached media circus proportions. He saw the freight train coming down the track when he gave his approval for the MLK Jr. Assembly speaker. He's just too used to his reactionary style to actually take a pro-active stance. Everything he's done since then has been reactionary.
He didn't speak at the school board meeting in support of the Day of Silence until he was told it would be illegal to cancel it.
He spoke out in support of his teachers, then slapped them with reprimands.
He told students it was going to be just another school day, but then gave athletes waivers if they didn't want to attend school, so they could still participate in sports.
Give the staff at Mt Si a ballot and I would guarantee 99% would vote for his retirement. That doesn't speak well of his leadership at all.
I would just like to clarify that the individuals protesting in the "combat journalist" clip are not current mount si students...none are affiliated with the GSA or the school. Most of them however, attended Mount Si when Hutcherson first spoke at a MLK assembly a few years ago.
11 comments:
Great to hear that the school is going to review whether they should host this bigoted event next year. Keep up the fight! Get our schools focused on education and not the assilimation of our children into self-interest groups!
Sadly, I just heard from a person in the district who is usually reliable that Randy Taylor has decided not to return to Mt Si next year.
I assume this means he is retiring. I'll be very disappointed if it turns out that this ridiculous b***s*** has forced him out.
Randy, if you read this blog, your leadership on the DoS issue has been an inspiration. You will be sorely missed. I can only hope your successor will be as watchful over my student as you have been in this issue.
How come the Prayer Warriors let all those neighboring King County schools have their Day of Silence, well, um... silently???
Mount Si must be really special..
and seiously, Ken Schram, you are my new hero! way to call it, pal!
Is it true that Taylor will not be coming back?
i have been watching this situation with much interest. i would sincerely hope that the school does host the day of silence next year. it is not a bigoted event.
also, whether hutcherson knows it or not, he has actually helped the day of silence by focusing more attention on the plight of lgbt teenagers.
I wish the media had focused on the press conference organized by GLSEN (www.glsenwa.org) at the Snoqualmie Library across town. They had a top-notch panel of clergy, parents, students, business people that all supported the Day of Silence at Mount Si. There was good press turn out but no coverage of the press conference itself. Of course, the media took the more sensational angle to the story. GLSEN has a GSA awards banquet in Seattle on May 23rd (tickets: www.http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/29899). I think we should nominate the Mt. Si GSA for an award. They certainly deserve it.
I was one of those panelists. My vanity definitely suffered when I wasn't able to see myself on TV. Boo hoo!
The immensely more satisfying victory was that the supporters of the DOS, in a ragtag and last minute way, approximately matched the number of prayer warriors, that Hutcherson could muster. He had at least 3 sympathetic local radio stations give him extensive coverage, and also was on Focus on the Family and at lease one other Christian website. He claims to have a congregation of 3000. Yet, he could only get about 150 people to show. That's real impotence for you! Apparently, his personal vendetta isn't interesting to very many people.
The day went off perfectly inside the school from what I hear, and all the organized outside supporters were perfect as well. We stood silently showing support as the kids arrived at school, and then we left well before the prayer warriors arrived. Those who were confronting Hutcherson during school were less restrained, but that's their good old American right to assemble being exercised. God bless America!
There were two incredible chunks of irony on Friday. First, some of the parents who kept their students out in protest of the DOS said they did so because they were worried for their student's safety, primarily because 1,000 protesters were expected to be bussed in. Second, that Hutcherson had the audacity to stand in front of the camers with his imported protesters and, with a straight face, point out how disruptive the DOS was, when the only reason it was disruptive was because he made it so.
So all in all we didn't get the media coverage we wanted, but we could not have asked for a better result. The reason we did not get the coverage was because in the media's expert eyes it was a non-event, and that is EXACTLY what we want. Hooray!
I went to bed with a huge smile on my face Friday.
I went down to confront Hutcherson on Friday, and everything is just as you said, Dave. He had a small, irresolute turnout
Because young people are going to confront a controversial figure like Hutcherson, a few GSA leaders should have come to hand out papers telling them that the GSA position was NOT to confront him at all. Things didn't get out of hand, but next year if Hutcherson shows up, the Day of Silence could have a real image problem unless the GSA sends a clear onsite message to those insisting on confronting him, preferably in cooperation with law enforcement.
It seemed to me the police did a very good job keeping the situation calm. The officers I talked with were extremely reasonable, and the one who expressed any opinion on the matter simply said he didn't appreciate Hutch's bringing in outside agitation. The police were a credit to the town in their professional conduct. Hopefully Hutcherson will give them a break next year and not show up.
The second YouTube clip is from a student who just filmed what was going on. Hardly a "combat journalist".
Really? Randy Taylor might be retiring?
Halleluiah
Regarding the anonymous post praising his leadership? Leadership has vision. Leaders have followers. Taylor has neither.
If he did, the Day of Silence would have never reached media circus proportions. He saw the freight train coming down the track when he gave his approval for the MLK Jr. Assembly speaker. He's just too used to his reactionary style to actually take a pro-active stance. Everything he's done since then has been reactionary.
He didn't speak at the school board meeting in support of the Day of Silence until he was told it would be illegal to cancel it.
He spoke out in support of his teachers, then slapped them with reprimands.
He told students it was going to be just another school day, but then gave athletes waivers if they didn't want to attend school, so they could still participate in sports.
Give the staff at Mt Si a ballot and I would guarantee 99% would vote for his retirement. That doesn't speak well of his leadership at all.
I would just like to clarify that the individuals protesting in the "combat journalist" clip are not current mount si students...none are affiliated with the GSA or the school. Most of them however, attended Mount Si when Hutcherson first spoke at a MLK assembly a few years ago.
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