In the usual case, making them fear us takes a show of defiance and a demonstration that you mean to stand your ground. Bureaucrats hate that; it means they’ll be forced to deal with you…and they cannot know in advance what kind of forces you command. The power of stubborn defiance has recently been illustrated well in contretemps with the “public” schools.
Consider Jaiden. This twelve-year-old was booted out of his “public” school because of the Gadsden Flag patch on his backpack. School officials tried their best to claim that it was “disruptive,” but could not articulate a defensible reason. Jaiden’s parents summoned legal assistance. Once the story had gone viral, the school officials realized it was time to “quit while they were behind.” Jaiden won a complete victory.
Perhaps this atrocity will be resolved similarly, once the story gets around. The plaintiffs have to get it circulating, as did Jaiden’s family and legal team. It looks to be an easier victory despite the early setback, because the judge who ruled against the plaintiffs said something stupid:
To the extent the parents’ substantive due process claims are premised on a secular liberty interest, they do not assert a fundamental right, and their claims are subject to rational basis review.
If the right to direct the religious upbringing of one’s children is not a “fundamental right,” what’s the point of the First Amendment’s Establishment and Free Exercise clauses?
Finally, this story has advice for us:
O’Keefe Media Group on Wednesday released 20 minutes of police bodycam footage showing New Jersey school board officials calling the police on citizens they don’t recognize who look “Trumpish.”
“The police colluded with school officials to scan license plates of school board meeting attendees who looked different,” James O’Keefe said.
[…]
On August 8, Livingston school board officials called the police on citizens because they didn’t recognize them.
“They’re different looking. Um, they look Trumpish. They look a little scary,” Toni McLaughlin, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent told the police officer.
McLaughlin and the police officer compared journalists with O’Keefe Media Group to Antifa.
James O’Keefe confronted Toni McLaughlin in the parking lot after he reviewed the bodycam footage.
“You said that there’s “Trumpish” people. What did you mean by “Trumpish” at the school board meetings?” O’Keefe asked her.
McLaughlin briskly walked away and avoided answering all of James O’Keefe’s questions.
A pity that the topics before the board on that occasion aren’t mentioned in the article. However, O’Keefe is relentless. He will see to it that word gets around about this. When the school board realizes this, the winds will shift.
Never back down.
