Boy Scout boxes soliciting care package donations for deployed soldiers in a Cambridge, MA polling stations were removed because a poll worker complained that they were implicitly “pro-war.”
Supporting deployed soldiers with care packages is an endorsement of the war. In Cambridge, anyway. At least if such support is solicited around places where civic minded people go to exercise their right to vote. A right defended by soldiers for 231 years. The executive director of the city’s election commission apparently agrees.
Where on earth do these people come from?
According to this article, the Boy Scout troop twice sought permission from the Election Committee to conduct the drive, made 25,000 flyers (incurring an expense of $1500 dollars) and sought the support of their extensive social networks. Only to have it blow up in their faces on election day. Because of a complaint by one of those preening, morally supercillious, smugly self-satisfied pinch-faced shrews who are convinced that nothing should be permissible unless it is compulsory. And a spineless EC executive.
That’s a pretty tough lesson in partisan politics to learn at such a tender age. Might be that concerned readers could help provide a more enobling one:
Boy Scouts of America
Troop 45
PO Box 38-1241
Cambridge, MA 02238
(H/T Weasel Zippers)
Lex,
It was a resident/voter who complained. It is not called the People’s Republic of Cambridge for nothing. WBZ 1030 AM radio is stepping up to help out the scouts. Good on them.
Those people are just haters of the military. Go figure, MA…a poll worker? I think they have no business in their line of work. Some people in this country are sorry, angry, unpatriotic, lame, assclown morons. If I were the Boyscouts, I would shove my scout pin up where the sun don’t shine.
It’s Cambridge –’nuff said.
Used to live there at Inman Square as a student. More wierd, self-righteous, “pugnaciously stupid” people in one place than I’ve ever seen anywhere else. Though I’ve never been to SF or Ann Arbor, so I could be wrong.
Still, they do the nation a great service, attracting so many perpetual fools to one zip code.
Will the last American please leave Massachusetts?
It’s hard to believe that it has anything in common with the men who should on the Old North Bridge and faced the British Army.
Recently lived in Cambridge for three years while stationed in Boston. The nasty glares I got whenever I walked through my neighborhood in uniform always amused me considering these same neighbors would generally smile and nod when I was in civilian clothes. It’s a nice place for restaurants and nightlife (and property values), but it’s also a festering hole of seething, sputtering, self-righteous, irrational hatred for anything that is not left-wing.
Suggest lightning up on the Bay State and not paint everyone who resides there with the same brush… its not a rational position to take. Best
Snake – with due respect, I disagree. Cambridge is a city full of elite-minded snobs who are self-absorbed in their property values and importance as a perceived hub of culture and the ivy league. They are more interested in their own pedigrees than in anything remotely resembling reality.
That is not to impugn the entire Bay State – I grew up outside of Boston; moved to CT in 1983. I still have family in MA. The entire state isn’t morally and ethically bankrupt, just certain areas, much like most states.
Cambridge is at the center of that in MA, there is no doubt. We have former friends who live there. They became so blinded by their $800K house and all the trappings of their life in snobville that they became derisive and critical of our life. To the point where it became impossible to be friends with them any longer. Which is a shame.
What-the-hell, something this stupid is usually done by someone in Education.
I’m actually not surprised. Truly.
Very sad. Probably a couple of the boys were going to get their Eagle Scout out of a project this large and well organized. Probably started at the beginning of last summer raising money for the fliers, etc.
To get Eagle Scout you have to write up a business plan, dot every i and cross every t…
I can just imagine the scramble by the troop to salvage the situation. Happily, a local radio station came forward to help out.
My best wishes to the Scouts for a successful ending to this disgrace.
At first I thought this action against the Boy Scout Troop’s efforts was just a case of “political correctness” run amuck, but after reading everyone’s comments it sounds as if it’s worse than that. It sounds as if it’s feelings of “anti-”.
That is a sorry state of people’s attitudes. It’s hard for me to imagine people being anti- Boy Scouts. For heaven’s sake! That’s the same as being anti-: apple pie, mothers, baseball, the 4th of July and, yes, Uncle Sam!
I wouldn’t want to be a part of their world!
Snake,
The problems they have, as a group, make the place an awful mess. This, of course, doesn’t reflect on individuals, but as a whole the Constitution is ignored, and that is enough for me.
Sure, there are lots of good people there. They should leave and let the place collapse from the weight of the system. Maybe after that a real democratic state could be built. We think we can do it in Iraq, we could have tested our plans in Massachusetts.
Kris, No defender of The Peoples Republic of Cambridge here…I was suggesting lightning up on denigrating the entire state… it seems we both agree…Best
I just came across this video. Newt is really talking to all of us, but the people in Cambridge who would prevent their own local boys, in a Boy Scout Troop, from giving aid and comfort to their own U.S. service members, need to “Listen… and Listen Hard!”
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/08/gingrich/index.html#cnnSTCVideo
Over 8 years driving truck over the road I spent quite a bit of time in MA. It really is a great state with lots of history and great seafood and many very good people.
Unfortunately, the politics of many in cities like Cambridge (hey, I live in CO, and we have the peoples republic of Boulder… 10 square miles surrounded by reality) give the state a bad name in many circles.
Respects,
Jim C
Commies suck
I’m very involved with Scouting. My experience has been, whenever I am out with my boys and they are in uniform, men flock to them. And I don’t mean that in a negative way, but Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts make men who were in Scouting remember fond memories and they always seek us out to give positive reinforcement and to tell us how wonderful Scouting is. We’ve had people literally hand my boys money for being in Scouting. (We gave it to our Pack.)
So this completely blows me away. Granted I don’t live in Cambridge, but I think what I’m struggling with is the decision of the spineless EC exec. There are nasty crappy people EVERYWHERE. So I can see someone doing something ugly as that nasty woman (may she rot in hell), but that it got shot down by the EC exec? I’m just… blown away. May he rot as well.
Attention Cambridge Election Officials:
I am writing to you regarding the incident where you pulled donation boxes that were placed to support OUR troops. I am so disgusted and sick over this. These young men and women are fighting for US! That is you, me and everyone else who lives in this country. THEY ARE DOING THEIR JOB!!! What those Boy Scouts are doing is supporting OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, the ones who are risking their lives for us and you don’t think they deserve donations??! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?? HOW DARE YOU!?? Where is your heart, your soul?? That is inhumane. You are so shallow and selfish. This had nothing to do with “Pro” War. It is so sad, this country is losing everything. It is losing the COMPASSION, the LOVE, the VALUES, RESPECT and most importantly the TRADITIONS. People like you are the problem. The history and all that our ancestors have done to build such a wonderful country is now being shattered. Everything is fading away. Nothing can be done, said or celebrated, all because you do not want to offend others. We are losing out and you are gaining. What are you gaining? I will tell you, a divided country where nothing is sacred anymore… I never thought this day would come where the MEN AND WOMEN IN THIS COUNTRY WOULD NOT STAND BEHIND OUR TROOPS AND BEHIND ONE ANOTHER. I thank God that the majority of people in this country think like ME and NOT like YOU!
I will never give another cent to the town of CAMBRIDGE. The Troops and Boy Scouts deserve an apology and YOU should be ashamed of yourself!!!!!!
Extremely disappointed,
Doreen C.
All I can say is God Bless our Troops and our young scouts. Yeap, I said God Bless our Troops and young scouts!!!!! and God Bless the idiots, its not their fault they were born that way.
Bou, men do flock to the Boy Scouts (and flyover/rural areas), and women flock to cities – at least single females. Cities are majority female now (I don’t have the cite but it can be verified) and consequently rabidly leftist. Cambridge falls under the Wussification of America that Rush talks about. It’s yet another urban area full of mushbrains.
I’m sending the Cambridge troop a donation for their efforts to support the soldiers. I hope everyone who supports our military does the same.
Regrettably, the underlying motive may be that Boy Scouts are a holdout, standing for God, Country and old-fashion values. These leftists are preoccupied with despising the US military and our country’s vast accomplishments of little over 200 years. The BSA has been under assault for years for sticking to values, where many other groups have wussed-out under the unrelenting attacks on values.
As a US Military Veteran, proud parent of an Eagle Scout and old-fashioned believer in the BSA creed, I’m appalled as are many of the writers to this blog. I second the criticisms of the Cambridge Election Officials’ actions by: Doreen C., A Mother and Peg C. and others. WELL SAID.
Indeed, the US military and Boy Scouts deserve a huge apology, but it won’t be forthcoming from the likes of the (weird, self-righteous, “pugnaciously stupid” people according to CPT J) in Cambridge. It remains for the folks that love and support the traditional values and organizations to join in a big THANK YOU, BSA and US Military!!
Well, and I agree with everything said above (I might not word it quite as strongly but I agree with it) but someone could also point out the huge error in what is attempting to pass for ‘logic’ here.
The EC Exec supposedly cites a law that prohibits political messages near any polling station in an election. But as the article clearly points out “state law prohibits political messages pertaining to a particular election within 150 feet of any polling station… And there is no law stopping someone from promoting an unrelated political message within 150 feet of any polling place. ” So where is the violation of the state law?
Geez, I hate stupidity.
I humbly suggest that this is a manifestation of the politicization of the military. For at least the last year, I have seen people who act as if they believe support for the troops equals support for Bush or Republicans or a particular policy. If you think that way, how can supporting the troops with a fund/materials drive NOT be a political act?
I saw this in Valour-IT’s fundraiser when some commenters on lefty sites that blogged it couldn’t help but take a post about a charity to help wounded veterans and turn it into yet another rant about the President or why the U.S. was in Iraq.
It is also tied up with the issue of whether or not support for the troops is meaningful without support for the mission. I think that it is on an intellectual level, but I’m not easy with the belief that support of troop+mission is felt the same as support of troop-mission. Which brings me to the irony that the actions of lefties who consider the Boy Scouts’ efforts political would seem to those particular lefties on the side of the idea that support for the troops without supporting the mission is impossible…
#$%^$# dyslexia! Last sentence above should have “put” between “to” and “those”
Please be more careful, FbL.
That was almost as confusing on a first read as Lex’s description of a squirrel cage.
Since most who peruse this venue have either experiencned combat, or have stepped up to the plate willing to do so, would any consider yourselves prowar?
Or do you consider yourseself one of those who acutely understand the need to engage in a fight when you have to?
I will opine that most here are more ANTI-war than any posturing up what is a quite specious cultural wall that has been dragged along a generation too long.
It’s time to to tear down this wall!
There’s a reason that i don’t live in Massachusetts anymore.
Bryan
Sorry, Michelle. I’m quite tired and should’ve probably been in bed even BEFORE I wrote that comment.
Live 22 Miles to the south in the upright and moral republic of RI and experience this sort of garbage all the time. Ever wonder why 911 terrorist chose Logan to stage their attacks from? ‘Bout time everyone who knows anyone involved with the Red Sox to call in the favors and plug the BSA efforts to support the troops. Start a campaign (which will be over the objections of cambridge residents) – “cant be a red sox fan in cambridge anymore” …
Just teasing, FbL.
Perhaps if I had been more awake at the time, I might have actually figured it out myself!
or it could just be that the folks in Cambridge are wicked re-tahded…
Hey Mark in the ” upright and moral republic of RI” and Providence Plantations… does the name Vincent Albert “Buddy” Cianci, Jr. trigger any relevant thoughts in your fevered brain ? Best
Web Reconnaissance for 11/16/2007…
A short recon of whats out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day……
You got a major, major problem here guys, the politicization of war. From now on were going to have Republican wars (evil) and Democrat wars (good).
The light bulb never goes off on these pages, so let me rephrase my solution in a truly acceptable, all – American manner.
Keep the military as it is – the same service academies, the same awesome boy toys – jets, ships, guns, etc. The added bonus is (drum roll, please) you won’t have to actually fight the wars! My new Dept. will handle that. A little posturing for affect – that’s all!
Create a new Dept. of Peace!
The new Dept. of Peace would, of course, do the actual fighting. It would have universal conscription and play a lot of lip service to helping out in the third world. But actually it would do the bulk of the heavy fighting that always must be done. It would have the complete support of the American people because most every American participated in the process. It would not be the mercenary service you active duty types are rapidly becoming. It would mean vast new Pork of the most succulent kind. The true goal of both parties.
Actually, my proposed new Dept. should have the name “Department of Offense”, but I’ll concede the name just ’sos that Charlie Rangel and the other Dems will jump on board.
By the way, if you want to purchase the ultimate computer game for the autistic and otherwise mentally impaired, and don’t want to wait around for the American release in February, go to http://www.rhem-game.com Google has mysteriously dropped all reference to its author Kurt Müller*, at least in the first 4 pages. It was there yesterday but it’s gone today. And you thought Google only played games in China.
*Kurt Müller, from ‘ole East Germany, apparently was not willing to roll over to Yankee Imperialism and retained the rights to sell his own game himself as well. It seems obvious the Imperialists are fighting back.
Cottus, It’s patently obvious to this casual observer that your brain has turned to mush due to excessive masterbatory activity ( I’m sure your father warned you that this would happen)…suggest as a remedy taking serial cold showers, while vewing a picture of Dennis Kucinich…further suggest keeping your hands above your head at all times…both suggestions guaranteed to work…see you on Monday for a follow-up. Best
I was watching an episode of Andromeda last night.
The one with the kids on the space station who were very anxious to follow the High Guard (which they thought of as some sort of God apparently) and kill their enemies. The Capt was preaching the value of peace and forming alliances to them but I don’t think they were buying it. After a few terse moments where two of the kids acted as suicide bombers and blew up a solar system (hey, don’t blame me, I didn’t write this stuff!) and Dylan had to wrestle control of his ship back from them, I still don’t think they got it. At the end, with the Andromeda gone, they had appointed a new ‘leader’, who was a pretty good speaker for a 14 year old, who promised to bring ‘peace’ and destruction to all their enemies.
Is that along the same lines as what you’re thinking, cottus?
Marsha Weinerman:Executive Director
Office Hours:
Cambridge Election Commission
51 Inman Street
First Floor
Cambridge,MA 02139
Phone: (617) 349-4361
Fax: (617) 349-4366
Monday:8:30 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Tuesday to Thursday:8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Friday:8:30 a.m.-Noon
Email to:
Elections2@Cambridgema.gov
Mr. Snake Eater,
With all due respect, forcing oneself to view pictures of Dennis Kucinich [even now typing his name] is cruel and unusual punishment. Look upon my new Dept of Peace as like a politically correct Shutz Staffle. Like the originals, professionals from the Dept. of Defense would be encouraged to join the Dept. of Offense at increased rank. While you will have to, occasionally, order very junior enlisted to remove their ‘peace’ beads, [as I have actually had to do] , you will find that many of the new inductees can eat snakes with the best of ‘em. The payoff is when these same now – squared away individuals go back to Cambridge, San Francisco and such. Just consider it.
Michelle, sorry I didn’t quite understand that Andromeda thing. ‘Peace’, ‘War’, ‘Defense’, ‘Offense’ – just words.
All I’m saying is that the really serious problem of hostility to the military and the war on terror would be greatly ameliorated if we would embrace a true citizen soldiery. Snake Eater, Lex and Co. absolutely hate it because that’s the last thing they need is a bunch of draftees messing with their eminently successful system.
In order to maintain a standing army in a liberal democracy, you gotta take advantage of universal conscription. I wish the professionals would just suck it up and honor this added mission, not just shuck it off. Their very survival as an institution, IMHO, depends on it. And we depend on them.
Major Mike,
Well done, Sir! Comment of the year, for my money.
Wicked pissah, ya know?
Hi Everybody, Wow, what a discussion! As I read, I noticed the “wisdom” of an old Phart. This was really true, when he spoke of “not painting with a broad brush.” I guess I’m just a little slow. But as I look at it, it doesn’t make sense. It is true, I do NOT know the name, age or gender of the individual who was working at the poll. But for the sake of this discussion and appropriateness of this blog (Man, does this leave me a great deal of latitude.) We’ll call that particular poll worker who complained by the name of “X”. Let’s begin, “X” sees the Boy Scouts setting up for their drive. Then “X” makes a formal complaint, does “X” go back into the roll of a “poll worker”? “X” is permitted to have political views, but is NOT permitted to express them within a certain area around the polls.
But let’s go slow as we begin to talk about all of the issues. Terms mean a great deal, especially in the ruthless context of history. History is our teacher.
Roachman & Maj Mike… I have the honor to inform you that you have both been selcted as finalists for the 2007″ Mickey the Dunce Award” as obvious fans of all things Boston I’m sure you’re aware of the exhaulted status this award brings to it’s recipient…I’ll keep you posted. Best