Michigan Students Need Signed Permission Slips To See Sen. Rick Santorum Speak

[NJCardFan]

Don't know if you heard this story but Rick Santorum was scheduled to speak at Grosse Pointe High School in Michigan but the superintendent cancelled the appearance because of Santorum's "extreme" views on gay marriage. Well, the speech is back on but students must get a permission slip signed by their parents in order to see the speech. http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in...back_on_a.html

[noonwitch]

Grosse Pointe is a very wealthy, republican area of suburban Detroit. It's more establishment republicans, though. It's where the old money is.

At the end of "Gran Torino", the kid is driving the car up Lake Shore Drive in Grosse Pointe Shores, which is lined on one side with beautiful mansions that are architectural treasures, and on the other side is Lake St. Clair.

[linda22003]

Apparently Santorum was asked for the text of his remarks in advance, and refused to provide them.

[Lanie]

Don't know if you heard this story but Rick Santorum was scheduled to speak at Grosse Pointe High School in Michigan but the superintendent cancelled the appearance because of Santorum's "extreme" views on gay marriage. Well, the speech is back on but students must get a permission slip signed by their parents in order to see the speech. http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in...back_on_a.html

It's about not making parents angry. There are some schools here in which if somebody for gay marriage (even President Obama himself) wanted to speak there, it would either be blocked or parental permission slips would be sent out. It's about covering your butt.

[NJCardFan]

Apparently Santorum was asked for the text of his remarks in advance, and refused to provide them.

Since when is this a requirement or is this only reserved for conservatives.

[LukeEDay]

If that was a liberal trying to shove evolution down the kids throats, the school would be forcing them listen to him. But since Santorum is a republican and disagrees with gay marriage, they don't want the kids to listen to him. Apparently the school has been indoctrinating the kids into thinking that gay marriage is o.k and that everything the bible teaches is wrong. Good one there, Michigan ...

[linda22003]

Since when is this a requirement or is this only reserved for conservatives.

I have no way of knowing what that school district specifically requires, any more than you do.

[NJCardFan]

I have no way of knowing what that school district specifically requires, any more than you do.

Then why bring it up?

[linda22003]

Then why bring it up?

As a possible explanation for why he was "denied his free speech rights!!!!"

[noonwitch]

Bob Dutko was talking about this at lunchtime, when I was driving around to the credit union and the Pita Cafe. According to him, the people who objected to Santorum speaking were the teachers, not the students or the parents, and that the topic of the proposed speech was apolitical-it was to be about leadership and public service. A black conservative student invited him to speak, which makes any cries about Santorum's alleged racism moot.


In the olden days of the late 70s and early 80s, my high school had the right policy. When speakers come to the school to talk about politics, if you had a liberal speak, you had to invite a conservative to present that side. And vice versa.

So, one day we had the director of the Michigan Moral Majority come and speak to us, and two days later, someone from the ACLU came in to speak. In my sociology class, one day we had a RTL speaker, and the next day we had one from PP.

If everything Bob Dutko said is true, then I have to say that the school is way off base on this. I'm not a conservative, but if the topics of the speech are leadership and public service, does it really matter whether the person is D or R? And, if it does matter, just have some liberal politician come in and give a speech on the same topic another day.