Students chant 'Assassinate Obama' on school bus in Rexburg

[cali]

Story Updated: Nov 11, 2008 at 10:18 AM MST
By Nate Eaton - KIDK Video REXBURG - Controversial words spoken by kids on a school bus have some Madison County parents concerned.

Matthew Whoolery and his wife aren't blaming the school district for what happened on the bus but they do think all parents need to be careful about what they say and teach their children.

Whoolery and his wife couldn't believe it when their second and third graders got off the bus last week and told them what other students were saying.

"They just hadn't heard anything like this before," said Whoolery. "They were chanting on the bus, 'Assassinate Obama. Assassinate Obama.' Then adding in a name sometimes of a classmate on the bus, 'Assassinate Obama and Kate.'"

The Whoolery's explained to their kids what assassinate means then contacted the school about what was happening.

"I think the thing that struck us was just like, 'Where did they get the word and why would they put that word and that person together?'" said Whoolery.

It's not that the Whoolery's are big Obama fans they just don't like people joking about a serious matter concerning any leader of the country.

<snip>

http://www.2news.tv/news/local/34274374.html

[ogneopasno]

1. There's no "controversy" about it, KIDK. We can all agree that talk of assassination is serious.

Serious enough that the principal, sheriff or local secret service agent needs to come in and hold a little school assembly.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. I hope the school district disciplines the kids

if they were adults doing this, you know the SS would be on them in a heartbeat.

[gollygee]

3. The secret service should interview the parents of every kid on that bus

and find out where that started. It would send a message that this is not something to even joke about.

[uppityperson]

10. SS should make a call to the school

"After the incident, the Madison School district superintendent sent an email to all teachers, principals, and bus drivers saying that all students should show proper respect for elected officials.

If a student does say something inappropriate, the adult is to calm them down and tell them the behavior is unacceptable."

This is a start, but the school officials, bus driver, all staff, should be made aware that that is very much illegal and taken seriously.

[tblue37]

48. I don't believe in mandating "proper respect to all elected officials."

I taught my kids to question elected officials' behavior and policies. Elected officials think they are our rulers and obviously act as though they are, but in reality, they are supposed to be public servants.

What the kids should be taught is proper respect to all human beings--as human beings. There should be no talk about assassinating anybody.

I do believe, however, that kids that young would not come up with such phrasing on their own, They are almost certainly hearing it at home, and it might not be a bad idea for the Secret Service to do a bit of general questioning--just so people udnerstand that talk of assassinating a president is generally not a good idea. Especially in the current fevered climate (so deliberately exacerbated by Palin and McCain and the RW noise machine), we need for this sort of talk to be nipped in the bud, not permitted to become common and domesticated, which is what happens when such comments are comfortably bandied about.

[uppityperson]

52. I agree with what you write. Question authority, treat humans humanely, SS should check into it and

nip it in the bud.

[hvn_nbr_2]

12. My thought exactly. nt

[the blues]

33. Hear, hear...

...and I wonder who the rabble-rousing source ultimately was... http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/10/16/2008-10-16_at_palin_rally_reporter_hears_threat_to_.html

[MadHound]

4. Where was the bus driver on this one?

Sorry, but any chant, much less a loaded one like this, should be squelched by the bus driver as soon as it starts up.

[rucky]

5. and the bus driver did what?

[SteveM]

17. Hopefully, the driver continued to safely drive the bus...

He/she can try to quieten the passengers, but we cannot heap responsibility and blame onto what is usually a part-time employee.

The incident is worthy of serious school assembly discussion and explicit talks with parents.

[BanzaiBonnie]

19. If the school bus driver could have safely pulled the bus over

I've driven school bus and sometimes you have to pull the bus over to talk to the kids. This would have been such a situation.

[me b zola]

30. This "incident" is worthy of secret service knocks at the doors

of the children on that bus. Those kids to pull that word out of thin air. This is being said in their homes.

[leftinportland]

46. my thought as well!

It happened in Idaho...my guess is driver either did nothing or chimed in.

[otohara]

6. City of Rexburg - America's Family Community

http://www.rexburg.org/

[Sebastian Doyle]

45. Southern Idaho, huh?

Wonder how many of these kids are wearing Holy Underoos?

[Beacool]

7. These are pretty young children, they probably didn't understand what they were saying.

At that age they think that it's a game, I'm sure that they didn't literally mean they wanted Obama dead. Obviously the school and the parents should address this issue and talk to them. BTW, who's Kate?

[cali]

8. I think the disturbing thing here is where they heard this

[Beacool]

26. Well, where DID they hear this at?

I mean they were chanting it on the school bus, but where did it originate.

[indepat]

32. You have to be taught to hate

[Scriptor Ignotus]

11. I don't know, but Kate needs to watch her ass - eom

[Beacool]

25. Yeah, she better watch her butt.

:7

[progressoid]

9. And the Morning Joe crew calls us hostile.

Gimme a break.

[John Q. Citizen]

13. Where is the bus driver?

From the same article:

"After the incident, the Madison School district superintendent sent an email to all teachers, principals, and bus drivers saying that all students should show proper respect for elected officials.

If a student does say something inappropriate, the adult is to calm them down and tell them the behavior is unacceptable."


That would seem reasonable.

[n2doc]

14. Can you imagine what would have happened to a group of kids saying the same about Bush?

Especially, if they were minority children from an inner city area?

[codjh9]

15. I looked into it and figured out it was in ID, but it would help if you said Rexburg, ID instead of

just 'Rexburg' ... another OP a few days ago was also talking about posts with little or no reference point ('Tina went off again!' - Tina WHO?, etc.).

[NOLALady]

16. My daughter is a high school senior.

The day after the election a white male in one of her classes went on a rant about 'he wasn't going to let Obama take their guns'. She was leaving the class as a black female began to educate him. By the time she returned to class, the boy had been sent home. She said this kind of stuff was going on all over the school. (School is about 80-90% white)

By the end of the day the Principal made an announcement over the PA...He said something to the effect that Obama was the President Elect and he would not tolerate any disrespect on the campus. He wanted no more discussions of the election since it was causing problems on the campus.

I am pretty certain chants of "Assassinate Obama" on the buses, wouldn't be tolerated in this town where 75% of the parish voted McCain.

[liberalhistorian]

29. My son is seventeen and a junior in high school.

He and another classmate were the only Obama supporters in his classes, everyone else was for McSame. Things were okay, didn't get beyond discussions of why they were supporters of either McSame or Obama, with everyone keeping their cool, until after the election. I told him to keep it cool, not to say anything and if someone said something to him just to keep cool. He said at first a couple of the really strident McSame supporters were being a bit obnoxious, but he could understand their frustration and disappointment and thought they were just doing some venting and letting off steam. He said they were still thinking, the day afterwards, that McSame could win (don't know how, but whatever). On Thursday, when it was perfectly clear who had won and by how much, he said that these same three students were saying throughout the day that "that's okay, maybe he'll be assassinated. We can only hope so." He said they weren't kidding around, either (not that kidding would have been acceptable in any case either). He kept his cool, didn't say anything, didn't want to get into it or provoke anything, but he was very, very disturbed.

Apparently, the teachers and administrators were, too, 'cause suddenly after that those kids went quiet. I told my son that they had the perfect right to express their feelings regarding Obama and to legitimately criticize him, and to blow off steam in their disappointment and frustration. I reminded him that he'd gotten in trouble with the Bushbots for saying anything at all against Bush a few years ago, until I set them straight on his rights to do so as long as he wasn't being disruptive or threatening, which he wasn't. But to be threatening, to even kid around about assassination, let alone be perfectly serious, is simply beyond wrong and unacceptable.

And he and his classmates are nearly adults. These kids were just elementary students. They HAD to have been hearing it from their parents, no question. And that is what is truly sick and disturbing. Their parents have the right to criticize and protest against Obama. They do NOT have the right to talk about assassination or other threats, period.

[arcadian]

18. Rexburg is a Mormon community

:hide:

[kestrel91316]

20. Secret Service involvement. NOW.

[Ian David]

21. Fuck Idaho. Let's DU their poll,

"Do you think the Boise State football team can run the table and go undefeated?"

NO!
http://www.2news.tv/news/local/34274374.html

[greguganus]

37. I don't think we have a chance with that poll. n/t

[Ian David]

22. But the kids look so innocent...

[file83]

51. !!!

:rofl:

[snappyturtle]

23. Interesting that there are zero comments posted on the article page

from the link!? I am truly afraid for PE Obama...I really am. Having lurked at freerepublic some the last few days, I surmise there is much hatred out in freeper world capable of the unspeakable.

[WritersBlock]

55. Not anymore, there aren't.

Unless they delete mine.

[OswegoAtheist]

24. What's the deal with that last sentence?

Besides the missing comma:

"It's not that the Whoolery's are big Obama fans they just don't like people joking about a serious matter concerning any leader of the country."

Why do they feel the need to justify someone taking issue with a clearly offensive incident by saying that?

Oswego "Save Kate" Atheist

[struggle4progress]

27. A story like this doesn't really belong in the newspaper: when kids say stupid things,

that's always an opportunity to educate them. If it happens a second time after the kids have been warned, the school district should consider disciplinary action; it it happens a third time, maybe it really is a news story

Putting it in the paper the first time it happens may mean the editor wanted to see "Assassinate Obama" in print

[Cid_B]

50. You nailed it....

Everyone calling for secret service to go interview every parent on that bus should probably prioritize their concerns. This was just kids. Kids are stupid. Kids repeat what they hear on TV or take out of context.

[struggle4progress]

53. Welcome to DU

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

60. The kids probably heard it from their Aryan Brotherhood parents

I don't have a problem at all with the Secret Service interviewing every parent.

The Secret Service should be extremely zealous regarding the safety of President Elect Obama.

There are a lot of angry nut-jobs out there who would like to hurt him.

[JuniperLea]

68. Hear hear! eom

[JuniperLea]

66. Kids grow up

And if they aren't taught what is wrong and what is right, they will act out the wrong. This needed nipped in the bud. And it needed to be in print so other parents could be shown how serious this is.

[JuniperLea]

67. It needed to be told... other parents are now aware

Of how wrong this behavior is.

[funkybug]

28. My kids' bus driver would pull over if they sang too loud

Where on EARTH was the bus driver when all this was going on? Truly and honestly sad, scary, and woefully negligent.

[deaniac21]

31. Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoo

You're living in your own Private Idaho
Living in your own Private Idaho
Underground like a wild potato.
Don't go on the patio.
Beware of the pool,
blue bottomless pool.
It leads you straight
right throught the gate
that opens on the pool.

You're living in your own Private Idaho.
You're living in your own Private Idaho.

Keep off the path, beware the gate,
watch out for signs that say "hidden driveways".
Don't let the chlorine in your eyes
blind you to the awful surprise
that's waitin' for you at
the bottom of the bottomless blue blue blue pool.

You're livin in your own Private Idaho. Idaho.
You're out of control, the rivers that roll,
you fell into the water and down to Idaho.
Get out of that state,
get out of that state you're in.
You better beware.

You're living in your own Private Idaho.
You're living in your own Private Idaho.

Keep off the patio,
keep off the path.
The lawn may be green
but you better not be seen
walkin' through the gate that leads you down,
down to a pool fraught with danger
is a pool full of strangers.

You're living in your own Private Idaho,
where do I go from here to a better state than this.
Well, don't be blind to the big surprise
swimming round and round like the deadly hand
of a radium clock, at the bottom, of the pool.

I-I-I-daho
I-I-I-daho
Woah oh oh woah oh oh woah oh oh
Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah
Get out of that state
Get out of that state
You're living in your own Private Idaho,
livin in your own Private.... Idaho

[guruoo]

62. Rock out, baby...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7t7cGwN7_0

http://www.youtube.com/profile_play_list?user=guruoo

[MichiganVote]

34. And the parents of these hate filled kids will want an anti-bullying program in the school. Smirk.

[lib2DaBone]

35. Did you ever try to control what kids do on a school bus?

Kids mimick what they hear at home and on the media. You want to stop this, bring back the FAIRNESS DOCTRINE and stop propagandists like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

The world has known for years that the Neocons are spreading hatred and this last electtion was a perfect example.

[ColbertWatcher]

47. "stop propagandists like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity."

Sounds so familiar ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide#Media_Propaganda

[Enthusiast]

57. This is exactly correct!

These children know only what they hear at home. Their parents are convinced Obama represents a real threat to (their) America. How would they know any different? They believe a Muslim terrorist has been elected. They believe Obama will subjugate them as soon as he can get their guns away. Ignorance is at an all time high.

[SmileyRose]

36. ZERO TOLERANCE

The secret service should be having a sit down with every single one of those parents.

[BlooInBloo]

38. Arrest every last one of them.

[Wetzelbill]

39. The right-wing's decades of demonization of Dems and outright

hate and fearmongering is leading to some awful things. They foment hate and you can see it. Like the guy who shot the people in the church last summer. It's sick stuff.

[and-justice-for-all]

40. Everyone of them needs to be taken into FBI custody...

and questioned.

[Bucky]

44. These kids should be the first targets of Obama's new Gestapo

I'm sure you've heard about Obama's plan for a new Gestapo.

The silly season is always followed by the fruitcake season.

[and-justice-for-all]

54. It is one thing too say you dislike someone..

or have contempt for them. It is a whole new story when one talks of killing another..especially assassination of an elected president.

[DrCory]

58. In all honesty...

Would you have advocated this course of action if the kids had said same about Bush? Is the man, or the office?

[2Design]

41. This is palin and mcCain fault and the rw wing nuts on tv and radio n/t

[Zomby Woof]

42. Idaho?

You mean this didn't happen in the south? Many DUers' heads will explode... :nuke:

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

61. Idaho has the Aryan Nations - Skinheads, Neo-Nazis, etc

That's where this came from.

Somebody's parents in the Aryan Nations/Aryan Brotherhood said something that their third grader thought sounded cool and he started it up on the school bus.

[Zomby Woof]

63. I am well aware of that

I was just taking a swipe at the knee-jerk south-bashers who think racism is a uniquely southern phenomenon, instead of a global disease.

Your sarcasm meter may need adjusting.

[Bucky]

43. My daughter tried kidding around in 2000 & 2004 "assassinate Bush".

I gave her a pretty stern talking to both times--possibly more stern than the situation warranted--but only because she lived in home where criticism of the president was pretty fast and frequent. Some things just aren't funny. We have very few conversational or joking-matter taboos in our family--political violence is one of them.

[nam78_two]

49. Good grief

That is pretty scary and sad

[annabanana]

56. This is what you call "a teaching moment".

If there is the will of the community, there can be an enlightening confrontation of these hateful and ignorance born howls.

[Enthusiast]

59. Really.

It could be pointed out to the parents that Obama is just a regular negro that has no terrorist ambitions and has no desire to take their guns away. You have to speak in terms they understand.

[Wetzelbill]

64. after a few days contemplating this I have to wonder just what the hell did Kate do?

[CreekDog]

65. Napoleon Dynamte's hometown

big surprise. :eyes: