What irritates me about this story is the fact that nearly any liberal anti war cause is showcased at schools, and students can even get released from school to go protest with their nutball teachers in some places.

But when the pro troop rally comes to town, they are shunned as too political.

Forest Lake event canceled; too political

A national tour featuring decorated veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan won't be stopping at Forest Lake Area High School today as planned, after school leaders abruptly canceled the visit.

Steve Massey, the school principal, said the decision to cancel was prompted by concerns that the event was becoming political rather than educational and therefore was not suitable for a public school.

So why was it too political?  Not because the rally itself has too much political content.  No, it was too political because:

He said the school had received several phone calls from parents and others, some of whom indicated that they may stage a protest if the event took place.

So because the anti Peace Thugs were coming out, they canceled an opportunity for kids to find out more about actual heroes.

"The event was structured to be an academic classroom discussion around military service. We thought we'd provide an opportunity for kids to learn about service in the context of our history classes," Massey said. "As the day progressed, it became clear that this was becoming a political event ... which would be inappropriate in a public setting.

"We decided to cancel," Massey said. Organizers of the National Heroes Tour then scrambled to relocate the event to the American Legion building in Forest Lake. The visit, which U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Stillwater, had been scheduled to attend, is sponsored by Vets for Freedom, a national organization run by Pete Hegseth, a 1999 graduate of Forest Lake Area High School who served with the 101st Airborne in Iraq in 2005-06.

The protest appears to have been threatened by the Democratic Underground, as Hot Air picks up the story:

Uncle Jimbo breaks the news and MM runs it down. Here’s the money quote from K-Lo at the Corner:

The patriots at Vets for Freedom were headed to Forest Lake Senior High School today with Rep. Michele Bachman. That is, until the Democratic Underground got to school administrators…

Planned was an assembly with about 150 Social Studies students. The vets — including Vets for Freedom head Pete Hegseth, a graduate of the school (and frequent NRO contributor) — were to talk about their experiences at war. According to Hegseth, “The venue was closed to the public, and we reached an agreement with the principal not to talk about anything political. We had 2 Silver Star recipients and 1 Navy Cross recipient lined up, as well as a half-dozen local veterans.”

...

Too bad for the kids, though. Read this phenomenal excerpt from VFF member David Bellavia’s book to see what they missed. Exit question one: Since the left is suddenly worried about indoctrination, what studiously apolitical, scrupulously nonpartisan nuggets might we find in the school’s history curriculum about the Iraq war, do you suppose? Exit question two: Why cancel VFF instead of just inviting some opposing group to speak later?

And there was an additional undercurrent of fears that the kids might be inspired by the vets and do something ghastly...like enlist.

What a dreadful thing that would have been.  Kids inspired to serve their country....

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