Posted on by Californiacontrarian

Heat!


About twenty years ago a group of us went to Palm Springs in May for some kind of meeting. As we were checking into the hotel at 6:30 pm, I made some off the cuff comment to the hotel clerk about the temperature, as it was 106 degrees … at 6:30 at night … in May. He then responded with a snarky, but in retrospect, clever and insightful comment, “If you don’t like the heat, stay out of the desert!” It was only much later did I realize that the young clerk had adapted a favorite rejoinder of Harry S. Truman, when a member of his war contracts investigating committee objected to his strenuous pace. Truman said, “If you don’t like the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

I thought about this perceptive comment as I read about a recent school board meeting in Loudoun County, Virginia. For those of you who do not know, Loudoun County is in northern Virginia, west of D.C. abutting on the Potomac. (Note that it is not in the hill county of Virginia “where all of the Republicans live.”)

To make a long story short, the school board was not ready for what occurred at the meeting. (Perhaps apropos here would be  “if you don’t like the heat, do not run for the school board!)

Anti-CRT protestors flooded the meeting hall, making their opposition crystal clear to board members who were apparently not prepared for any criticism. When it became apparent that the school board was not going to run roughshod over the parents, the school board declared the public meeting to be an unlawful assembly, and the police were called, and arrests were made. 

If board members can’t handle the heat, then perhaps they are the ones who should vacate the premises and get out of the kitchen. 

This is apparently the same school district that suspended Tanner Cross, an elementary school teacher for raising concerns to the board about a proposed gender policy. Apparently the school board was again not ready for criticism, and when they could tolerate the heat, the district suspended the teacher. Mr. Cross has since won a temporary injunction and Judge Plowman ordered his reinstatement.

The school had argued that it suspended Cross not for his beliefs but because of the “disruption” he allegedly caused. However, Judge Plowman said there was “simply an absence of evidence” that any disruption to school operations took place. Apparently the school board has since learned that when there is criticism, and it’s getting hot for them, the easiest thing to do is to call the meeting “an unlawful assembly,” and have the police intervene.

Furthermore, Judge Plowman found the “school system’s suspension was unconstitutional” and its handling of the situation was “vindictive.” 

Good for Judge Plowman, and as Tanner Cross’s attorney tweeted, “A massive victory for freedom of speech.”

6/24/21

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