Due to reporting from Madeleine Morgenstern that answers a lot of the concerns I had raised about the North Carolina Lunch Box Story, I have retracted my post on the subject to the extent inconsistent with Ms. Morgenstern’s reporting.
Crow tastes bitter.
Yeah, that memo is awful. This is a shitty program, which is a shame, because it’s very easy to create a good program that just supplements kids’ meals if the parents choose to do so.Report
Yes, this. There’s still mountain/molehill stuff with the way many approach this story, but I don’t think it’s avoidable to say some school officials in this story need a serious reality check.Report
Sorry, that’s my fault. I had to go put your name on a law…Report
Yes, yes you did.Report
FWIW, your original post is still full of valid criticisms of the original reporting.
Whereas mine… that was just a complete screwup. So in the “egg on my face” meter, you’re by far not the winner of the week.
(all that to say, I have Crow with Bitter Bean Sauce, and it’s more bitter than your plain Crow).Report
Perhaps. Then again, your post didn’t go viral before you had to eat it. Your crow may taste more bitter, but at least you only have to take a bite. My plate of crow is going to be very, very large.Report
I recommend a six pack of a solid dark lager or porter to wash it down.Report
I’m just glad that I kept my “Obama in Whoomp There It Is! Video” post in the editor.Report
Even a doctored video of that would be worth watching.Report
I don’t know. The fact that it remains an opt-in program still looms pretty large to me – and I couldn’t help but note that Morgenstern conveniently left that out of her otherwise assiduous reporting. I think your original verdict was on-point.Report
Part of my point in the first post was that even if the story had been untrue, to use it to beat back criticism of government overreach, or mock over-reaction to over-reach, or to dressdown the critics of government over-reach, is strange, seeing that it’s entirely possible to believe that government agents are checking lunchboxes and making adjustments, and will do much more if they aren’t limited at some point.Report
I think you are reading an intent and purpose in my original post that was not present.Report
…and when has that stopped anybody?Report
“…and when has that stopped anybody?”
This time, at least. I apologize for misunderstanding your intent.Report
Then, there is this, and I get confused:
But you know how the battle against that needs to be fought? By focusing on the shit that matters and not having a collective freakout on shit that doesn’t hold up under any kind of scrutiny. Because if you focus on that kind of shit, then you’re not focused on the stuff that actually matters. So forgive me for pointing out that this story is basically bullshit in the off-chance that it might help some people focus on the things that actually matter.
On top of that, even if non-troversies like this somehow had a positive effect on freedom in this country, it would still be well worth pointing out when they’re wrong. I can imagine nothing worse for freedom in the long run than to win the battle on the back of bullshit propaganda, nothing worse for the principal of “no force or fraud” than the use of fraud to advance it.
Last but not least, I don’t remotely see how allowing factually bogus claims to pass unchallenged into places of prominence is better for the cause of freedom than actually challenging such claims when they are, inevitably, made. It has always seemed to me that in order to advance any cause significantly in a more or less democratic system, you first need to have and maintain credibility.Report
I don’t see how that confuses you.Report
You don’t? Oh well — we’re on two different planes. I’ll leave it be.Report
It’s not like the TSA is inspecting backpacks on the DC metro and cars on Tennessee highways. They are limiting themselves to airports.
To think that some day you would need a special work permit to work in a capital city or a residency permit to live in the same neighborhood with government officials, or that if one lives or works near them you might be subject to background checks and random strip searches to ensure order and stability is just an over reaction.Report
I don’t want to dig through comments if it was in there, how did you find the cut from The Blaze?Report
It’s an opt-in program?
Did you ever see that one episode of the Twilight Zone? Where the guy signed a paper? And then they cut out his tongue? But it didn’t die? It just grew and pulsated and gave birth to baby tongues? Weird, right? Anyway, I gotta go.Report
Crow tastes bitter.
You’re overcooking it. Try it medium-rare.Report
It’s not a big deal. I’m only a dittohead. Carry on.Report
You’re issuing a correction based on a Glenn Beck story?
Guess I won’t be coming back here.Report
The bad news is you are eating crow the good news is JM won’t be coming back! 🙂Report
I prayed for your soul and She answered me in her beneficence
For making me selfish,
When I am unsteady,
Thank you! Ayn Rand,
I feel better alreadyReport