BASEBALL IS BACK

Did you catch sight of Stan the Man tonight?  He is 87 and looks great! 

Miss Piggy is a Mets fan.  Who knew Mommy Cat liked baseball!?!

 Alexis d'Tocqueville once wrote that "in order to understand America, you have to understand baseball”

The history of the hamburger.  I hate to break it to you, but there is a good possibility it came out of San Antonio – New Mexico.

Pray for a wounded Marine.

MUST READ: 

Transcript of Beltway Boys about GWB and the way the Dems have been acting.

THE TRACKBACK BATTLE

Today’s spam trackbacks come from:

Numerous pornographic sites

Propecia - 3

Levitra

Phentermine – 6

Viagra

Ambian

Tramadol

Those trackbacks that feature a known product are paid spam via third parties.  Bottom line, the company that manufactures those products is paying for the spam.  The only way we are going to stop it is to start keeping track of actual legit companies that are doing this and start publishing what they are doing.

Lindsey is in Baghdad with a Congressional delegation.  He was present when CNN’s Michael Ware started dissing McCain.

Powerline 

Check Point Baghdad

Flopping Aces

Wizbang

ANOTHER WND HIT?

Gideon Reduz

It has just been brought to my attention that World Nut Daily is at again. http://wnd.com:80/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54966 This time they are continuing their persecution of Key Largo School Principal Annette Martinson.  For one approach on the subject, check out this article in The Baptist Press. 

The following is an exclusive to The Pink Flamingo that was posted on Feb. 13.

A PINK FLAMINGO EXCLUSIVE...

Key Largo School Principal Annette Martinson interview

FIRST - A LITTLE BACKGROUND ON THE STORY

 FROM THURSDAY’S PINK FLAMINGO

More WND lies? I am tracking the validity of their piece about two Gideons arrested outside the Key Largo School for distributing Bibles.  In another time and place, I would take their side, but there is a certain political and sociological reality we must deal with, unfortunately. 

According to an emailed response by Cheryl S. Smith, News Editor of the Key West Citizen, “They were arrested and arraigned. They say they were in the bike path. The school principal says they were on school grounds and refused to leave after she asked them to, so she called the Sheriff’s Office.”  This is quite different from the story told by WND and on the Alliance Defense Fund site. I will have more tomorrow about the issue.  Basically, it is much ado about nothing.

REVISED:  This is quite different from the story told by WND and on the Alliance Defense Fund site. I Basically, it is much ado about nothing.  Especially if you read Smith's article.   This is a tempest in a teapot, that has nothing to do with freedom of religion.  It has everything to do with school safety.   These guys are wrong, and so is the ADF, not that you will hear any conservative blogs say so.

“…“The First Amendment protects the right to engage in religious speech on a public sidewalk,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman.  “Members of the Gideons have been highly respected for decades as peaceful providers of free Bibles to those who want them.”  On Jan. 19, Mirto and Simpson began distributing copies of the Bible on a public sidewalk outside Key Largo School.  Neither man entered school grounds.  After the school’s principal called police, a Monroe County Sheriff’s officer asked the men to leave immediately or face trespassing charges.  As the men prepared to leave, the officer decided to arrest both individuals. …”

"Setting the Record Straight"

 When I wrote the above, I was looking on the incident as more a ‘freedom of religion issue’ as it was presented via WND.  Then I realized that something else was going on and we did not have the full story, especially after contacting Cheryl S. Smith of the Key West Citizen.  Key Largo School principal Annette Martinson and I have been playing telephone tag for several days.  We finally connected earlier today.  What she told me has left me puzzled, aghast, and more than a little irate.  The poor woman has been subjected to numerous vindictive, nasty, and downright vicious email from people who have read the story put out by World Net Daily and the Alliance Defense Fund.  Just a quick reading of the article tells us she is an ACLU, Christian-hating person who would rather have innocent Gideons arrested than allow them onto school property.  We have learned the ADF is going to court with them, representing their First Amendment rights for expressing religious freedom.

SETTING THE STAGE 

 (Annette Martinson’s comments in red)

An award winning school, Key Largo School is located on US 1 “We’re right on the main highway” in Key Largo, Florida, just a block or so from the Ocean.  Students range in age from 4  to 14 years old. The front of the school, where pick up and drop off is located is directly on the main highway from the Florida mainland to Key West.  There is a bike path near the school. As long as anyone is on the west side of the bike path they are on public land.  “I was within 20 feet of them…”  told them they could be on the bike path or to the west side of the bike path”  we are right on the ocean, I didn’t see anyone on the southern end, they would leave the bike path and give people in cars something.” School hours are from 8:30 – 3:20.  There is a staff of 80 teachers and a total of 139 employees along with 1000 students.  Approximately 150 parents pick up and drop off students daily. “The men appeared right before dismissal – have 150 people picking up children, very unsafe – did not have a school resource officer at the time…”  very unsafe.  called the sheriff’s department.  “I have a couple of vendors handing things out.  I had 1000 students to get out of school safely (other side of school) They usually have a sheriff’s car in front, but were busy.”

 Eleven school buses are also loaded in the back of the school.  Because the school is located on a major highway, a sheriff’s deputy is there on a daily basis.  In the state of Florida, anyone who does anything on school property must now go through some sort of a background check because of the Jessica Lunsford Act. “Parents came to the front desk and called the front desk to say people were approaching them.”  (Level I requirements listed below). “Jessica Lunsford Act – any person who comes to our school and interacts with children must clear our volunteer process – fingerprints, etc.  Once you are told to leave the property you are obliged to leave the property.”  “When someone says there is a stranger on campus, you go (and find out who they are).”

MARTINSON DID NOT KNOW THE MEN HAD BIBLES

Annette Martinson is an excellent educator, her school being one of the finest in the state of Florida.  Today, during our phone interview, she told me when she first began her career and a school administrator their primary job was education.  Everything has changed.  Today, education comes second, safety is an her first concern.  Because of the Jessica Lunsford Act, as the principal of Key Largo School, her hands are tied.  She must follow the letter of the law, which is designed to protect children.  Currently she is being barraged by hate email from what she calls, “….good and well meaning people have taken this article at face value – have taken this as gospel…”.  She is not angry over the constant barrage of email, some of it disturbing enough to be turned over to authorities for investigation.  Instead, she is bewildered at being the object of so much attention.  A contentious person, she is very unhappy with the World Net Daily article, but instead of wanting some sort of reckoning, she commented, “Doesn’t something like the WND need to check their facts.”  I don’t want to get into a confrontation with WND.  That is not my point.  My thing is the education of my children.” “I don’t want this.  I don’t want to deal with this.  I just hope it passes.”   Until a few days ago she had never heard of World Net Daily and was basically unfamiliar with the conservative blogsphere, now, though, she is all too familiar with it.  “I do not want to have a running battle with WND.  I am the principal with a small school, just doing my job.” 

The irony of the situation would be almost comical if Martinson’s life was not being scrutinized to the point where it is interfering with her job.  It has had a detrimental effect on her staff of 139 employees, many of them fairly young and politically inactive.  They are so angry with the conservative blog world that it has effected the way they view Republicans, even though Martinson told me she has cautioned them that they are dealing with a few extremists and not to judge all conservatives by their nasty behavior.  The irony – the same conservatives who are demanding the letter of the law be upheld when it comes to illegal immigration are willing to come to the defense of three men, all of whom were breaking the law. 

The men arrived on campus a little before 2:30PM on the afternoon of Thursday, January 19.  Because of several incidents in the community, the usual deputy sheriff who is always on hand to assist with the 150 parents who are picking their children up on the main highway, was no where to be seen.  Concerned, not about the men who were not exactly following her request to remain on public property, Annette Martinson’s attention was diverted elsewhere.  She had 11 buses to oversee on the other side of the school.  Her the person who assisted her loading the buses was not on campus that day.  After noting that the men were stopping traffic and thrusting something into several cars, she had no choice but to call the sheriff’s office and ask for assistance.  She repeated, several times, she did not know the men were handing out Bibles.  But, as she stressed, because of the Jessica Lunsford Act, it would not have mattered.  Because the men had not received a security pass, they would have been asked to leave the campus.  It is a matter of state law, not religious persecution.

In fact, after the buses were loaded and she returned to the front office she was approached by the deputy assigned to traffic duty.  “Then gentlemen were on campus when we got there, and they were arrested for trespassing”  informed the deputy.  Martinson was a bit dismayed when she heard they had been arrested, and even more concerned when she discovered they were handing out Bibles.  She is familiar with the Gideons and felt the men were definitely not living up to the actions of the Gideons.  She has been trying to ascertain their status with the Gideons and from what she has been able to read, “The Gideons have not provided them legal council”  They believe in the legal distribution of Bibles.”

Martinson went on to tell me from what she knows about the case, there was a preliminary hearing for the three men, “They had hearing and the state attorney and the state attorney get pre trial intervention, they would receive probation and the incident would go away.  The ADL refused.  They want to go in front of a judge and not a jury.  Instead of being upset about the way she has been treated, she adds, “In our community this is not an issue.   I have heard from people across the country.  My job is as a principal was to educate the children, when I first started as administration, now my first job is safety and second is education…every parent of a child in this school holds me responsible.  Being responsible isn’t always the popular thing to do….would I have done the same thing if I had known they had Bibles.”  Then she added, that she felt sorry for the men because she feels the ADL has given them some very bad advise.  She feels the issue has absolutely nothing to do with the First Amendment, and everything to do with protecting the children in her care.

MY COMMENTS (Revised)

I would like to ask the following questions or make the following observations.  I am basing my commentary on the on and off the record conversation I had with Annette Martinson.  These are my questions and observations and are in no way hers. 

1.  I have reason to suspect the gentlemen Gideons in question were very familiar with the rules and regulations regarding visitors on school property.  If they were obeying the rules and regulations of the Gideons, why did they completely flaunt and disregard the se rules?

2.  Because a deputy is almost always on site during the after-school pick-up, but because of several local incidents that day were not on site, did the gentlemen in question wait for an opportunity when no law officer would be present?

3.  Why did they wait to distribute their materials at the most confusing and dangerous time of day?

4.  Where was their regard for the safety of children?

5.  I owned my own retail establishment.  When something like this incident occurs, I would always be suspicious that it was some sort of a diversion.  Were they trying to create confusion?  The entire time-line of the incident concerns me.  Something about it bothers me. 

6.  Over the past 5 years I have had something like 24 accredited class hours on seminars about the prevention of child abuse, pedophiles, and the awareness of child molestation.  Every aspect of this scenario would cause me to react in the very same manner.  When I was in charge of youth activities the Episcopal Church I attend, just having one man who was walking through our parking lot, and stop to watch the girls who were unloading my Durango was enough for me to lock down every youth activity for a month and curtail a few other activities.  I would have reacted the very same way as Annette Martinson.  There is something about this scenario that bothers me, greatly.  Every instinct says something was wrong here.

7.  The men were offered a plea deal which would give them light probation, after which their records would be expunged. Why would they not take this deal?  Why was the Alliance Defense League called in?  Who called them?  Who is paying the legal fees?  Why is the ADL asking for a hearing before a judge and opting not to have one before a jury? 

8.  From what I can ascertain, the national organization of the Gideons is not defending these men.  Why?

9.  Why is the Alliance Defense Fund misrepresenting the story?

10.  Who decided this should be a First Amendment test case and why?

11.  The question that bothers me the most is the following:  Is this a test case to question the validity of the Jessica Lunsford Act?  If it is, what nefarious forces are at work?  The Jessica Lunsford Act (below) was designed to protect children from predators and require every pedophile be registered.  Every person, parents included, who desire to step foot onto any school in the state of Florida must have their name checked against the state registry.  Why did these men, who claim to be good Christians, object to this?

12.  Why did the men disobey state law and turn it around to make Annette Martinson the villain?

13.  To me the whole incident reeks of two words: SET UP!

NOW THE UPDATE

The Florida Baptist Press confirms that the Gideons are not offering legal support for the men in question.  Why?

The current WND article states the following: “Two Florida men who wanted to give Bibles to children in their community are being charged under a state law that bans anyone from being within 500 feet of the land on which schools are built unless they have "legitimate business" or "prior authorization."…”  The WND article does not specify which law was being violated.  If they had done so, the entire issue would be mote.  As mentioned above, the men, Anthony Mirto and Ernest Simpson were violating the Jessica Lunsford Act regarding the protection of children from pedophiles.  As I mentioned earlier, I had begun to suspect this was not about religious freedom but a determined set up to question and bring down the above law designed to protect children from predators and pedophiles.  Just the few paragraphs below confirm the ADL is going after the law that is in place to protect children from pedophiles.  MY question is as follows:  Why?