Ok, my daughter came home from school and said she is supposed to wear red

[rug]

on Friday to show support for the troops.

I called the school and the principal was gone. The secretary said it's a national thing and they want the schoolkids to show support for the troops. I asked, "Who is they?" She said she didn't know but it's well-known and is in the papers. She also said Friday is school spirit day (the colors are red and white).

I told her I wasn't concerned about school spirit but I was concerned about politics in the school. She said, "What politics?" I told her a school suggestion from unknown organizations to wear red to support the troops is political. I asked her to have the principal call me.

As it stands now, my three kids are going in Friday with white T-shirts with a red peace sign.

Has anybody heard of this?

I'm taking my kids out to buy ice cream and brainwash them. If anybody has any thoughts I'd appreciate reading them when I get back.

[quiet.american]

1. Red, white and blue, I can understand -- but why just red?

I think you did exactly the right thing in requesting an explanation.

[NYCGirl]

2. Here's the scoop from Snopes:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/redfriday.asp

[Brundle_Fly]

33. JESUS

you have a screwed up country.

[mcscajun]

37. Check the Snopes article....apparently it's spread to Canada

You'll find this section there:
"In the spring of 2006, a "wear red on Fridays to show support for the troops" crusade began developing in Canada after Lisa Miller and Karen Boire, the wives of two Canadian servicemen, thought to adapt the 2005 American exhortation quoted above to Canadians serving overseas and post the revamped suggestion to their web site, MarriedToTheCanadianForces.com. Their "Red Fridays" movement has been widely publicized and has proved to be very popular among military and non-military families alike. On 23 September 2006, thousands clad in red attended such a rally led by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Parliament Hill.

Red, by the way, is a color very strongly associated with all things Canadian, which possibly accounts for part of the reason for the program's being embraced so enthusiastically by the U.S.'s northern neighbor."

[Brundle_Fly]

47. yeah, we canadians havent associated red with

pure evil yet.

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

72. I can confirm that.

I was out shopping downtown that day, and I saw them as they were leaving Parliament Hill and heading for Rideau Centre. I tried to stay well away from them, but there were between me and the Chapters.

[rug]

51. Thanks, that's what I was looking for.

[NMMNG]

66. Oy vey

The Americans who support our troops, are the silent majority.

Read: "The Americans who support our WAR are the silent majority."

They are neither silent, nor are they a majority--at least not anymore.

[Kittycat]

3. Have t-shirts printed

Go to a quick shirt/sport store and have t-shirts printed saying...

"Support our Troops, bring them home" and on the other side, put - "Stop the lie before it costs another soldier's life".

[QuestionAll...]

17. oiy, that's too heavy to put on kids.

I like the idea but the moms and dads should be wearing this, not the kids....

[Kittycat]

24. Then just use the first part.

The first part is still showing support.

[QuestionAll...]

29. it's still not quite right to me.

what do kids really know about war?
I'm almost an old lady and I can't handle it.

Support real education
would fit better.

[Little Star]

36. If kids can understand why they wear red on Fridays

then its not to hard to explain why bring em' home is really supporting the troops. It is the school who has thrust this upon the kids, shame on them! I'm kinda old too, at 60 today I think I qualify, sad to say. LOL

[QuestionAll...]

39. but DO they understand?

I think not. and they shouldn't.
and they shouldn't be used as a vehicle for adult understanding.

Hi, Old Fart. ;) Happy Birthday!

[Little Star]

41. Thanks

[rug]

53. My son is 12. He knows in 4 years he'll be getting calls from recruiters.

Name supplied by this same school.

He understands.

[rug]

52. That's what my wife suggested.

[Ouabache]

71. I just like the simple red peace sign on a t shirt

nt

[Lex]

4. Red Text: "Support Our Troops, Bring Them Home Now."

Or maybe "Bush Lied, Soldiers Died. Bring Them Home Now."

[dipsydoodle]

19. Sounds good to me

other than the fact I'd need to change it to Blair. :toast:

[Lex]

25. Too right.

Howdy, mate! :hi:

[dkofos]

5. Tell her to wear black In memory of the late great Constitution

[deathdog]

10. And of the troops who have died! nt

[dkofos]

16. Yes

[Sequoia]

22. Black upper arm bands.

[dalloway]

34. GREAT idea

[tridim]

6. Red also symbolizes blood

But I like your idea with the peace signs.

[Parche]

7. red

Wearing red is for all of the 'blood' that has been shed in Iraq???

I think wearing black would be better...


Next Friday is "Stop Foley" day, where all of the Washington Pages wear Baseball protective cups.

[jdlh8894]

11. Baseball protective cups

In the front or back?

[immoderate]

8. I like your solution.

That is, as long as your kids are with it. I'm sure you'll do a good job.

I had a similar situation with my mother, who was a WWII vet and a life long Democrat. She was flying a flag from the car. It took me a while to persuade her that there was a difference between supporting the troops and supporting the administration. She eventually took it down, saying, "Well, it is getting a bit frayed. I'll get a new one." She never got the new one.

--IMM

[johnnie]

9. Sheezzz

That email has been going around for years.

[Wickerman]

15. Yep, and to perpetuate it at school is so wrong

I get that email every couple of months from my step-fundie/mother.

[Ian David]

12. Buy THIS shirt...

Similar but not identical to the design shown above. With names of 2,656 U.S. troops killed in Iraq through Sept. 4, 2006. Selling this shirt is illegal in two states and may soon be illegal nationwide. We are printing updated shirts for delivery in early October 2006. With your support, we will continue to sell this shirt in all 50 states until the troops come home or they throw us in jail, whichever comes first.

http://carryabigsticker.com/bush_lied_shirt.htm

[dipsydoodle]

23. Why so ?

" Selling this shirt is illegal in two states" They got some perverse a law against telling the truth ?

edit - I didn't mean why buy it ! I bought one. :)

[Ian David]

26. Some states passed laws against publishing names of war dead for profit. n

[dipsydoodle]

38. Yes, but

wearing it isn't for profit - it's for truth.

[rug]

54. Coool. I'll see if they have express mail.

[babylonsister]

13. Here's an opinion; thinks it's a conservative movement:

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/11/23/051727.php

[rug]

55. DU is the best.

Without this resource we'd be floundering.

[sandnsea]

14. Supposed to be against drugs

It's Red Ribbon week, month depending on location. My kids' school had this 15-20 years ago. The high school had some students dress up in black to represent kids lost to drunk driving accidents, various activities like that. I hate that they've co-opted it for the war. I like your solution.

http://www.karpovich.com/RedRibbon.htm

[seabeyond]

18. my school in a very very red texas would NOT do such a thing.

i also believe in finding the higher in all things, knowing how good we as in my fmaily, my children are,.... we will find a way to do it where it is the best

you know what

i think you have a kick ass idea...... white shirt and a red peace sign. my 8 yr old back to school clothes he wanted peace signs on his shirt. we got one, a u.s. flag, with a peacesign in it..... u.s. rah.... peace rah....

[QuestionAll...]

20. the word 'red', phonetically.

maybe have a graphic of the constitution.
with the word

Read. (past tense)

on it.

just blue skying. trying to help.

[Cha]

KNR! Good for you, rug!

I like that idea "as it stands". No way could this not be political when bush lied to get us into this war on Iraq. Talk about gestapo tactics!

[Poiuyt]

21. They're supporting the Commies

[sweetheart]

27. Get that girl and elephant suit

Strap a dildo on it and a sign saying: "I support republican pervs".

Make sure the head is removable for lessons.

[elehhhhna]

50. oh no you di'n't

[rug]

62. The school has a no-dildo policy.

One of its few rules I support.

[lostnfound]

64. um..

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

not sure if it's pc, but it sure made me laugh!

[robertpaulsen]

28. Red, as in red state-blue state? Now, IM pissed off!

You are right to oppose this blatant political ploy. Keep on those school officials until they reveal who these unknown organizations are!

[kerry-is-my-prez]

31. Yep - it's a subliminal message....

n/t

[babydollhead]

30. October 5 wear red in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, PA
2006-10-05
11:00 am ET
The Fountain at Point State Park (downtown)
We will informally meet at the water Fountain (where 3 rivers meet) in Point State Park at 11am. Then we will head out on Blvd of the Allies for a peace walk in the Golden Triangle business district, splitting off into smaller groups to various points around the city. Please obey traffic lights and let pedestrians pass, so the authorities leave us alone! Bring your cameras, camcorders, cell phones. **Do NOT bring any signs into the park**, it's against the law! We're asking everyone to wear a RED SHIRT or RED JACKET so we look like a river of blood in the streets, for the TV news camaras; Representing the innocent civilian blood being spilled by the BUSH REGIME. We don't have a permit, so this is like a pickup game. Bring a Frisbee or softball to use the park with friends and we'll go from there. Downtown merchants who support the peace walk, please put a WORLD CAN'T WAIT poster in your shop window so peace walkers can patronize your shop, cafe, or bar! Let's all make this a great day of peaceful BUSH PROTEST in the city of champions!
[e-mail]

[rug]

57. Interesting. This school is also in PA, northeast.

[LuckyLib]

32. Call your local media and raise hell. Then call the school board

and tell them what you have done, and that you are contacting other parents and the ACLU. It is ILLEGAL to pimp children at school with this shit, and parents have to stand up and be counted. Have your kids wear green. The lack of red will be the statement that needs to be made.

[BlueEyedSon]

35. Wear black and mourn our democracy.

[treestar]

40. Why don't they just teach classes?

This kind of crap is bull.

[sakabatou]

42. I'd hate to be a Crip on Friday...

[RC]

43. I wear BLACK every FRIDAY

in mourning for all the people who have died from the lies of this administration.

From the almost 3000 from the WTC (LIHOP/MIHOP)to the over 3000 military, to the 130,000 to 150,000 Iraqis whose only sin was to be there.

Stop the killing before it is your turn to die for their lies.

[Chomp]

44. Wow, what a spooky story

Edit to add: Do let us know what the pricipal says.

[rug]

58. Will do. She has my work number.

[Senator]

45. Uh ... the red is for Canadian Troops

I wonder if the school knows that..

In the spring of 2006, a "wear red on Fridays to show support for the troops" crusade began developing in Canada after Lisa Miller and Karen Boire, the wives of two Canadian servicemen, thought to adapt the 2005 American exhortation quoted above to Canadians serving overseas and post the revamped suggestion to their web site, MarriedToTheCanadianForces.com.

(from the Snopes link above)

[jarnocan]

46. this happened last year. tooI think the red peace signs or bring them HOME

and asking who is behind it, is a good approach. I also think you should be able to say BRING them home- they opened the door.

[rug]

60. Precisely, they opened the door.

If they pull some "no disruptive" clothing bullshit, I'll quote you.

[Anita Garcia]

48. White with red peace sign - you're a cool parent!

That's exactly what I would do. Good job.

[texpatriot2004]

49. Good for you. I haven't heard about it but I am not a parent. It

sounds horrid...like the Hitler youth thing. Yuck. You are absolutely right that it is political and the children should NOT be recruited, involved, etc.

[ddeclue]

56. RED=REPUBLICAN..GO TO SCHOOL WITH HER IN BLUE.

Don't let them bully you or your child this way.. Some Republican jerk sent me this same thing at my office and I told him off about it.

THEY don't have a monopoly on patriotism so don't let them do this to you.

SHOW UP WITH YOUR KID WEARING BLUE FROM HEAD TO TOE. If they try to send your child home tell them you will sue them and that YOU told your child to wear blue.

FROM A TRUE BLUE DEMOCRAT.

Doug D.
Orlando, FL

[zonkers]

59. Some of us might remember this image...

and this one

[rug]

61. I do. Wonder if they have it in red.

[OneBlueSky]

63. unfortunately "Support the Troops" has become code for . . .

"We Support BushCo and Their Wars" . . . this organized effort to visibly demonstrate support for the troops is undoubtedly another BushCo initiative designed to elicit visible support for them and their agenda . . .

[Pachamama]

65. The Handmaids had to wear red too!

In "A Handmaid's Tale"....

Great...that's where the Repukes want all our girls to be....

[WinkyDink]

67. NO public-school student HAS to wear ANYTHING they are "told"

to wear.

They CAN be told "what not to wear", but NOT in regards to a COLOR.

MY kid would be wearing ALL BLUE on Friday, let me tell you.

[and-justice-for-all]

68. I think your doing fine...Your awsome!!!

I would try to talk with some of the other kids parents to see how they feel about it and maybe they will support you and dress their kids the same...Politics and Religion do not belong in school.

[and-justice-for-all]

69. And I bet their FUNDIES!

[tenshi816]

70. Mmm - ice cream and brainwashing. Can I come too?

I love your idea about white t-shirts with red peace signs. Please keep us posted about what happens on Friday, and if there's any blowback about the shirts.

[mcscajun]

73. Keep us updated.

Please.

:)

[cassiepriam]

74. They pulled this crap on my 9 yr old and I hit the roof.

Teachers lecturing the kids on how bad Saddam was, how wonderful the troops and Bush are etc etc.

I sat my child down then and there and told her the facts. That the US was wrong to invade Iraq, that Bush had lied and really had gone in to steal the oil. That our troops were doing bad things in
Iraq.

And that her teachers were very wrong and misguided.

My unhappiness was made quite clear to the teacher and there was no more nonsense after that.

They pull this crap again and I go to the school board and raise all kinds of holy hell.

[cap]

75. write a letter to the school principle and copy it to the newspapers

if there are Amish, Quaker or Mennonites in your school, it is against their religion to support anything militaristic.

I would wear a black armband as a sign of morning for the 3000 troops who have died.