Late Friday Roundup--John Elway, Al Gore, Flag Burning And More!

Yes, it rhymes.

John Elway encourages veterans to stay fit

Shock!: Gore supporters resort to anti-intellectual intimidation

Sen. Ken Salazar--don't cut off funds for troops
Embrace the "Spectacular Failure" . . . and Move Forward

In a follow-up to today's earlier post on Navy SEAL Danny Dietz's memorial statue flap in Littleton, two Fruita Monument High School students (near Grand Junction) decided to burn flags for their psychology class:

Lister and Coles said Wednesday they torched American, Confederate, British and French flags at various locations around the city as part of an experiment for their psychology class. The point of the experiment, they said, was to perform a socially abnormal act and document the reactions of passersby.
. . .
The pair’s teacher, Leslie Tuell, said Wednesday night she did not know Lister and Coles were going to burn flags for their experiment.

Ret. Marine Col. Roger Haggerty cautioned that while the teens’ actions might be unsavory and inappropriate, they were within their rights.

“It’s not illegal to burn the American flag. We’re guaranteed our individual right of expression,” Haggerty said. “But it’s not the appropriate thing to do in a high school class situation."
. . .
Jeff Kirtland, spokesman for Mesa County School District 51, said the district does not condone Lister and Coles’ actions.

“The district’s policy is to promote student’s appreciation of our country and the United States flag as a symbol of our democratic heritage, ideals and freedom,” Kirtland said. “It does not support or condone activities by students that disrespect or demean the flag.”

Kirtland said even if the students were completing a homework assignment by burning the flag, “the assignment did not require or contemplate flag burning or any other unpatriotic behavior.”

But if Lister and Coles were looking home for support, one of their family members said he could not condone what they did, even if it embodied the First Amendment.

David Wilson, Coles’ uncle and a Gulf War veteran, said the burning of the U.S. flag was a desecration of the nation’s heritage.

“That is a right, but it doesn’t make it right,” Wilson said. “It’s not the flag itself. It’s what the flag represents: the history, the American people.”

Colorado admission standards to increase--more math, foreign language

Showing respect for Christians, Easter, and the faith that brought freedom--from an agnostic