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OK, Let's Analyze High School Political Fashion Choices

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
March 26, 2018

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

16 responses to “OK, Let's Analyze High School Political Fashion Choices”

  1. fcrary says:
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    I’m not sure what it has to do with space, but I will note a few things. She’s photographed wearing enough patches that someone is probably going to complain about one of them (especially if they don’t like what she was saying and want an excuse to complain.) Her father is a Cuban immigrant, who left to get away from the Castro regime (at least that’s what the BBC reported.) The Cuban flag did not change after the revolution. To me, that makes this sound like someone inventing an excuse to disparage her, when she’s probably just wearing a patch to show she’s proud of her family or cultural heritage.

    • ThomasLMatula says:
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      Yes, Rep. King is from rural Iowa and serves mostly on Agricultural related committees as you would expect. He appears to have zero interest in space, again as you would expect.

  2. Jeff2Space says:
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    My guess is that she’s proud of her Cuban heritage. So far, I’ve not seen a statement from her about the flag patch, so this is all speculation on both sides.

    The 2nd Amendment ceased to be a “check and balance on the power of government” a long time ago. Citizens simply aren’t allowed to posses weapons which come anywhere close to those possessed by the US military.
    The states aren’t even allowed to posses weapons which come anywhere close to those possessed by the US military! This argument has become romanticized to the point of absurdity. It simply does not apply in the 21st century.

  3. Matthew DeLuca says:
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    The Cold War didn’t end *that* long ago – wearing the symbol of a
    communist country while advocating for the disarmament of the American
    citizenry is still a really bad look.

    Of course, she’s just a kid
    and doesn’t know any better….which is why we typically don’t take
    children’s opinions on important matters seriously to begin with.

    • PsiSquared says:
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      She’s likely wearing the patch because of her heritage, not because of some love for Cuba’s form of communism. I think the Cuba patch/communism thing is a justification for dismissing her words and the protests of her fellow students and others that support them.

      Having listened to her words, she is obviously not just a kid, not just a child. She understands full well the important of the matters on which she speaks and protests, as do many of her peers.

      The adults who so quickly dismiss her and her peers, well, perhaps those adults don’t know any better. Perhaps their opinions aren’t worth considering.

      • Michael Spencer says:
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        I don’t know how old this young woman is, nor do I know if she’s in high school or college age. Either way, I do want to make a point about the thoughts of young people.

        When I was her age our great country was mired in public debate over the Vietnam war, and about civil rights; and then along came the ERA! These were very politically charged times that led to the death of three great Americans. Those were terrible times when many thought we would tear the country apart. Those were times when we actually ridiculed Rodney King’s “can’t we just get along”.

        And you know what? Those were also great times. We went up to the brink but, peering over, pulled back. We found a way forward. The country was maturing, just as it is now.

        I was very involved politically, especially over that awful war. But I was also, like so many others, fighting for a version of the American Dream, for a colorblind America where the 14th Amendment really make sense.

        We succeeded.

        Young people today are part of a different movement that is informed by current events, just like ours was. And just like ours, they will succeed. They are fighting for a vision of a better world and I am very glad to have their voices.

    • kcowing says:
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      Then you are part of the problem. Seriously.

    • fcrary says:
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      As I noted, the Cuban flag did not change after the revolution. It does not contain any symbolism associated with communism. It’s a symbol of the whole history of the country.

    • PV NASA Fan says:
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      She was also a victim in a mass school shooting, so you might cut her a break. And lobbied FL legislature with others and obtained the first gun control legislation in that state in a long time. And helped organize a march attended by over half a million in DC. And had the courage to speak in front of mass crowds and on television, that would have terrified most adults.
      But whatever, she’s just a kid so lets criticize her clothing.

  4. GentleGiant says:
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    “This is not the place for a long debate on the 2nd”

    Then why did you bring it up in such a loaded manner?

  5. Michael Spencer says:
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    They didn’t need no stinkin’ second amendment.

  6. Michael Spencer says:
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    If you want to get an idea of who is reading your blog, just post something – anything – about the second amendment, or about women’s rights. And out they come!

    Personally I’d like to see more contrary (but informed) comments.

    • fcrary says:
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      Ok. I did not want to expres my views on gun control laws in this forum, since it is off topic. But since you asked, I will.

      I believe that violent crime in America is a serious problem, but I also believe that focusing on gun-related violence is only symptom, and focusing on it ingores the underlying problems.

      Even if you focus on gun-related violence, I do not believe it is an easy problem to solve. Based on personal experience, I think allowing private citizens to own arms for self-defense against criminals is a good idea.

      But allowing criminals and lunatics to possess weapons is clearly a very bad idea. This means, again in my opinion, that we need carefully thought out and effective laws on the subject.

      That also means I have to disagree with Ms. Gonzalez and most of the gun laws which have been proposed. Rather than being well thought out and effective, they seem to be knee-jerk reactions to highly publicized events. As in “this is horrible and we need to do something” rather than a coherent and effective plan to solve the problem.

      And, since this is off topic for a space-related forum, I think this is the last thing I’m going to say about this.

      • philnc says:
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        Maybe these kids are just tired of being targets in a shooting gallery. This isn’t the first mass shooting we’ve had in a school, you know. Decades have passed and nothing gets done. This is what happens _in a democracy_ when you kick the can down the road for too long: people protest, and then they vote.

  7. PV NASA Fan says:
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    What a moronic post. Why is this here?

  8. kcowing says:
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    Hate much?