Mar
01
2006
I am a fairly tolerant guy, I really am. Sure I get surly about some things, but I have learned that getting pissed about minor stuff is pointless But this raging debate about free speech concerning the Boyington Memorial is really starting to irritate me. The matter itself is simple enough to understand. They debated a proposed memorial, and in the process a couple of people spoke their minds. The details of those comments were heard by a larger audience, who expressed disapproval and outrage. The memorial was defeated and that drew more outrage. Suddenly, it was not about respect, or race, (re: the comments by the students) it was all about free speech, and suddenly the bloggers and talk radio were under attack as trying to tamper with the opinions of the students, and we are being disrespectful. Can you say "blame shifting"? Lee Dunbar is quoted as saying:
…He has been witness to blatant disregard and disrespect toward students and their right to express themselves freely. … He said he would do everything in his power to prevent such blatant disrespect for student’s opinions.
Roadkill Blog, in a post that minimalized the students as just silly, but criminalized the critics as "not quite Nazis" and chickenhawks, shows his dissatisfaction of the wider debate thusly:
(speaking of the bloggers and radio shows)…But not to the war party. They just couldn’t wait to put a jackboot on somebody’s neck because they cannot tolerate any more dissent, especially now, that their Iraq escapade is in tatters. It’s not quite a NAZI attitude, but it’s on the path to it. Since the wars this fallen Nation chooses to embroil itself in no longer have any real honor, the war fanatics fight at every turn to stoke the inherently tarnished, diminished honor of the volunteers who have chosen to follow our misleaders.
Mar
01
2006
In a quick vote last night, the Washington State Senate passed a resolution to honor Col Gergory ‘Pappy’ Boyington just weeks after the UW Student Seante declined a memorial to honor the UW grad.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/
Unlike UW, state Senate passes resolution honoring World War II hero
By MIKE BAKER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
OLYMPIA, Wash. — The state Senate has passed a resolution to honor World War II hero Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, just weeks after the University of Washington student Senate shot down a measure to honor the UW alumnus.
Sen. Luke Esser, also a UW graduate, proposed the measure after what he deemed an “unfortunate” incident at his old school.
“He was one of the most heroic fighter pilots in American history,” said Esser, R-Bellevue. “Being a guy from UW, I’m proud of Huskies that go on to achieve great things.”
The student Senate triggered a firestorm three weeks ago after rejecting by one vote a resolution to create a campus memorial for Boyington. Radio talk shows and Internet blogs quickly chastised the students for the decision.
Debating the issue, UW senior Ashley Miller said the university already had enough monuments to rich white men, according to meeting minutes. Jill Edwards, a UW sophomore, questioned whether a member of the Marine Corps was the type of person the school wanted to produce.
Miller said later her comments were made as part of a general discussion of memorials on campus, not about Boyington specifically. Edwards said she did not mean to offend anyone but was trying to start a discussion.
“Some of the statements that came out of that incident were unfortunate,” Esser said. “People make mistakes. I said some things in my youth that I’d like to have back, too.”
Most famous for his actions as a Marine ace, shooting down more than 20 enemy planes, Boyington also spent nearly two years as a Japanese prisoner of war. He earned a Medal of Honor.
