CALIFORNIA PATRIOT WATCH
laughing-my-ass-off edition

NOTE: As you may or may not know, I ran a blog prior to this which critiqued the last two online editions of UC Berkeley's local clumsy student-run conservative publication, the California Patriot. Ok here we go...

Let's give the Patriot some credit, they fight the fights they think they can win. Until now, most of their attacks have been aimed at the all-stars of the Berkeley left, some of whom have views that middle-America would find controversial (certainly, Berkeley is not middle America). They don't particularly have a philosophy of their own, but see fit to attack those of others. But stop the presses! (literally) It appears that the Patriot has found an adversary more worthy of their valuable time than liberals on campus: Pre-school children.

Read the article. When you're done rolling around in fits of laughter, please return to your chair.

Where to begin? Let's start with the fact that the schools these children came from were largely private, were specific afterschool programs (the Patriot makes an as-yet unsubstantiated claim that some kids were from afterschool programs of public schools) or were preschools with, as the Patriot put it, "alternative cirriculum[s]". That makes everything the parent's choice, sorry Patriot. I know conservatives love to meddle in the choices of potential parents, but you're just gonna have to deal with it.

What else... Let's say they're right about this being "exploitation". Then the Patriot should also be condemning Christian parents for taking their kids to church at a very young age, before they can make judgements and decisions of their own, and before they understand the gravity of their religion. Surely the parents (and more importantly, the religious establishment) have an interest in these kids as a means to advance the Christian political agenda. You guys don't want to look like hypocrites, do you?

Finally, you got a problem with peace and non-confrontational problem-solving being taught to young children? You don't think we need more of that? As Travolta said, "That's a bold statement".

And just for fun, would the Patriot have complained about a pre-school PRO-war rally? With little kids walking around with toy guns and knives? Is that what you want? Two words: Hitler Youth.

Way to go, guys, you have sunk even lower than irrelevancy. And don't lose any sleep hoping for a Drudge link. What's that? Oh, for only a few hours. For him, that's restraint. The SMHS Satan Club got two whole days.