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Of Eagle Scouts & Presidents
At first glimpse, it seemed like one of the bureaucratic horror stories that have become the meat and potatoes of our government school system. It appears that the administrators at a Georgia High School received a tip that one of the students had some weaponry in his car on school grounds. The student in question hardly seemed the gang-banger sort: he was an honor student, an Eagle Scout, a clean-cut Christian, and even played the trumpet in the school band.
Because the school had a "zero-tolerance" policy towards weapons, they pretty much had to check it out. They contacted the student, and he innocently and happily took them out to see his car. Alas, there in the trunk they found startling evidence: a broken-handled axe, the wood-chopping sort. It had been given to the lad by his father, and even though it was broken the Boy Scout kept it as a memento. Moving on to the glove compartment, more damning evidence was found: a pocket knife and, worst of all, a cell phone. It seems that cell phones were also on the list of banned items.
Having found this veritable ammo dump, the school found it had no choice but to suspend the Eagle Scout for violating the school’s weapons policy. And so he has been bounced, destined to "learn" in an "alternative school". Some who have heard this story agree with the lad’s parents that it is an outrage. It could not be clearer that he did not have those items in his possession for the purpose of whacking his fellow students. He was an Eagle Scout, for cryin’ out loud! Of course he had a pocket knife in his car! And besides, he was set up by some jealous snitch!
I, regretfully, disagree. Although most "zero-tolerance" policies are inherently stupid, these rules were apparently made very clear to all students and parents. I have seen similar notices come home from my children’s schools, and they leave no doubt as to what is covered and what the consequences will be. Stupid rules must be as binding as smart rules. And the fact that the rule-violator in this case was a clean cut, honest, intelligent young man does nothing to mitigate his offense. Indeed, who was in a better position to understand the rules? If we don’t like stupid rules we should work to change the rules, not whine when we get caught breaking them.
Punishing the lad also was a practical necessity for the school administration. Had they let this kid off the hook and, a few months down the road, busted some poor black kid for bringing a knife to school, Jesse Jackson would be camped out on their doorstep by morning. If we expect our children to have respect for rules, those rules must be applied consistently, to "good" kids as well as "bad".
A little ways up the East Coast is another person having trouble with rule-breaking (although no one would confuse him with an Eagle Scout). President Clinton is under threat of being disbarred for lying through his teeth to a federal judge. The President’s defenders, led by the absolutely insufferable Alan Dershowitz, are doing most of the whining on his behalf. "But it was only about sex!" "He wasn’t even acting as a lawyer at the time!" "This is politicizing justice!" That last one is especially humorous, given the actions of this Justice Department.
The parallels are striking, and so is the answer: Grow up, shut up and take your punishment like a man. You screwed up, you broke the rules. Tough cookies, bucko.
I have elsewhere suggested that any President who lies about "little things" (like sex) ought to be instantly impeached, for he who lies when it is not necessary is clearly a scoundrel. Similarly, any suggestion that the President ought to spared punishment by the Arkansas Bar because he is just too darned important ought to be greeted with howls of indignation. It is, if anything, more important that he be dealt with strictly according to the rules. Otherwise the rules will quickly become irrelevant, and all of us, Eagles Scouts and Presidents and regular folks just struggling to do right, will find much to our dislike that rules, even stupid rules, serve to protect more than to restrict.