WBC spreading their particular joy to eastern Missouri today

[MamaJunebug]

I wish I were closer to Clayton, Mo., a tony suburb of Saint Louis that is also the seat of the county government.

 

WBC will be picketing an outlying high school over some neglect or transgression this morning, and then will move on to Clayton H.S.

 

I can't help heh-heh'ing like I haven't heh-heh'ed in ages: The school district of Clayton is probably the best in the state of Missouri; its residents actually look forward to sending their children to public school in at least as heavy a percentage as they do, private schools -- and Clayton residents are among the most able to afford tuition on top of property taxes that I couldn't afford.

 

So what? Well, call this racist if you wanna, I'll stand by what I'm about to say - there's a high percentage of Jewish kids in Clayton schools. And it's been my experience lo these many years that Jewish folks have a creative talent for satire, comedy and vitzing that is legendary.

 

I would seriously pay money to be able to witness what the CHS kids come up with in their counter-protests, I would I would!

[ceg045]

Ugh. I'm in South City, but I work in the Central West End. Forest Park is the only thing that separates us from Clayton, and it's big, but not nearly big enough. :?

[MamaJunebug]

ceg045, I vaguely know a woman who teaches at CHS. Sadly, she's the type that will say, tonight, "whaaat? There was a proh-test? Oh, we were just imMERSED in chapter 7, subsection 3-a.....sorry, don't know a thing about it."

Thus hoping to keep abreast of things online! Please let us know if it makes any news where you are. Central West End would be a great place for the Westmorons to go for lunch later.... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[1004srs]

I grew up in the south StL. THe Clayton kids won't notice.

[MamaJunebug]

I grew up in the south StL. THe Clayton kids won't notice.

Actually I heard the HS kids had planned a counter-protest. I'm betting (hoping) it's going to be one for the message boards. ;)

[ceg045]

Central West End would be a great place for the Westmorons to go for lunch later.... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Seriously! If they're looking for sin (or at least their brand of sin), they'd find it in spades over here. :shhh:

Hope the Clayton kids pull off a great counter-protest.

[MadameX]

Oh, ick. Do not want to breathe even remotely the same oxygen as the WBC deviants.

I hope the school supports the students in their counter-protest. That will be a great experience for them.

[1004srs]

They need to go down to Lemay, Arnold or Imperial. Wonder what would happen if they protested in front of Fox High School? OMG! That would be fabulous.

[DarkAnts]

I saw them when I was living in Utah. They were picketing the episcopal church in SLC because it was liberal. It was my first time going to that church. I knew then and there that it was a good church to belong to.

[1004srs]

I see them almost daily. They picket all the time around their hometown. I pretty much ignore them. I find their signs offensive and don't wish my kids to be exposed to them.

[emmiedahl]

They have picketed in my city twice, both times for the funerals of local boys killed in Iraq. A local church collaborates with them and rallies their members to join them. smh.

The original residents of my area are conservative farmers and a military funeral is a big thing, with a police-escorted funereal procession through town. So a lot of people counterprotested at the first. At the second funeral, the family made it publicly known that they wanted as little crayzee as possible, so there were fewer counterprotesters. Although iirc, that one almost got violent because the soldier was from the local Native American tribe and there were a lot of unhappy people in the family.

[MamaJunebug]

I'm tickled pink to relay my spies' reports:

Only 2 of the 3 major news stations covered the protest* at all.

One gave it 16 seconds as the 11th or 12th story on the 10 pm news, and showed the WBC signs as well as the school students' signs; just a VoiceOver by one of the anchors.

The second station gave 61seconds, a large part of which was shots if the two groups, each behind the kind of barriers you see on highway construction sites, and separated by at least 100 yards (hard to tell on tv). The reporter got a statement from a man id'ed as Fred Phelps, Jr., to the effect that they're at a HS because thT is where youth are taught that homosex is ok.

The reporter got a statement from a HS girl student to the effect that love is greater than hate. The girl looked the reporter in the eye while talking, while FP, Jr., immediately looked away when he began his response. VERY big no-no on-camera, but we won't tell 'em that, eh?

Meanwhile I heard about. 30-minute report on the NPR (National Public Radio) affiliate. It consisted of an interview w a HS official who v dispassionately & calmly described how they had about 2weeks to prep for the counterprotest, worked w a small, new org @ the HS dedicated to straight/gay harmony, vetted all protest signs, etc..

I think he said there were a couple hundred HS kids, as opposed to 5 from. WBC.

TV footage blurred parts of at least two WBC signs.

OTOH the HS signs were shown completely, having to do w the victory of love over hate. One even mentioned God.

*For reasons known only to themselves, WBC failed to show at the other HS. My guess as to why follows a comment above (can't see it on my dumbPhone) in which a FJite challenged WBC to go to a HS in a less prosperous, more blue-collar part of town. Not that HS officials in those districts wouldn't try for a civilized response...

My other guess is that the 2nd district seemed too far out of the metro area to get much coverage.

But my main guess is that WBC's plans to picket the outlying HS were only recently announced, so the school had no chance to prep a counter protest. Folks : IMHO WBC **counts** on the counter protests to get any media attention at

Al!!

Lastly, any "moral" person watching the tv report would have to wonder: why did a church's signs have to be censored, while those from the supposedly godless public HS spoke of love and even God?