Heard about this one from Atrios, but here's a link to the original article. This is one of those stories that makes me think I've stumbled across some sort of interdimensional rift and woken up in Bizarro America:
The play praises patriotism, but the judges only saw teens cutting up an American flag.It was enough to disqualify Archbishop McCarthy High students from a competition early this week for their performance of The Children's Story. In the play, first published in 1963 by Shogun author James Clavell, third-graders in a classroom in a United States that has been defeated by a powerful enemy, presumably Communist, cut the flag into pieces. Their new teacher tells them if the flag is so good, everyone should get a piece and tells them to hand out the shreds. It's a message about the dangers of mindless political indoctrination.
You know, I always used to wonder what it would have been like to live in the times of the House Un-American Activities Committee, McCarthy, and rabid anti-Communism. The Russians may not be the bogeyman anymore, but I think in some ways I'm getting my answer. It's one thing for someone to get upset over the flag being destroyed. In a way, I can understand that. Not having seen the play, I suppose that it's even possible that the message being delivered could easily be misunderstood. What is inexcusable is that someone's displeasure got to the point of disqualifying these poor kids. Surely the people running the contest could see the play for what it was, but rather than have the balls to stand up to those the play was offending, they caved citing a law that is patently unconstitutional.
Welcome to America, land of double-plus good.
Posted by Jason at January 30, 2004 10:55 AM