It is regrettably not impossible to imagine that of two standing in a restaurant line imagining where life might be better, one could have been disowned by his church for being gay, could have been mocked through high school, could have contemplated suicide out of isolation and desperation. I have met the grieving parents of students who completed that task in this state.

That foreign emigrants embarking for America were already well versed in America’s freedoms does not mean that they had already lived here. My guess is that the individuals contemplating their future had merely educated themselves, as I would hope of any student of Indiana University.

By the way, it seems that the boosters of the Amendment have derided statements that these marriage bans and the anti-gay crusades that accompany them would damage our ability to attract and retain educated talent. We don’t know that the individuals in the line were IU students, but if they were, isn’t it disingenuous to create an atmosphere hostile to them and then deride them for seeking better by specifying three countries known for a warmth of acceptance of gays?

I’m basing my presumption on the fact that I’ve never heard anyone in this area compare and contrast whether it would be better to live in Spain, France or the Netherlands than in the United States. That seems to be something that is confined to people with the means that make them comfortable enough to even consider those types of daydreams.

It would be interesting to conduct a poll of IU-B students asking them that question and their financial status, then ask the poll of students at IUN and Purdue Cal. I hypothesize that the answers of the IU-B students would be greatly different than those of the IUN and Purdue Cal students.

I might be basing my presumption on the fact that I see a lot of middle class folks driving their cars and work trucks to the mills and other workplaces sporting American flags and “God Bless America” bumper stickers right next to their union local and “vote union” stickers.

Of course, maybe it is patriotic to daydream about how ones life might be made better by hoping on a plane and living in Amsterdam, Mallorca or the Cote d’Azur.

That’s why we have Code Pink and that horrible church out of Kansas that protests funerals and gay people. As much as we don’t like ‘em, doggone it, they’re protected.

I remember growing up in Bloomington — I attended Bloomington South and IUB — and saying things like that because it seemed like the cool thing to say. Of course, I was glad my parents were working for money so that I could have the luxury of thinking about those types of things.

I bet the kids at the fast food place were just “going with the flow” and spouting what they’ve heard a million times because no self-respecting Bloomingtonian would support a “meat-murdering evil corporation” joint when there is a food coop, food pantry, hemp sandwich boutique or some other place to get some locally harvested food that doesn’t enrich the evil capitalist pigs who are standing in the way of the “revolution.”

If they were really down with it, they’d go dumpster diving in the “Freegan” tradition and recycle discarded food from restaurants and grocery stores. It’s the ultimate protest against the man, short of living off of the grid somewhere in the Hoosier National Forest in a tree that might be threatened by a diabolical logger.

My parents are in Bloomington, so it’s always fun to go back home and visit. It’s also not the real world, so that makes it even more fun.

If I was still living in Bloomington, I’d probably be spouting off about how McDonalds ruined Kirkwood or how we need to tax the rich until they move out of the country to some place with lower taxes.

It’s always easier to complain about the evil American system when you’re not working, have no possessions and have all the bills paid for by mom and dad.

Suppose they had just been evicted from an apartment because the landlord didn’t like gays (which happens) or one had just lost out on a promotion or even lost a job because some manager had a problem with gays (which happens) or one of them can’t get on the health insurance of the other while seeing straight colleagues have no problem or one of them had just found an anti-gay slur written in soap on his car.

The answer would not be to chase them out or even to chastise them. The answer might be to say: “Hm. I see your point.” And then help do something about it.

Frankly, I could care less whether some kid stands up for the “Pledge” or anything else, for that matter. We live in a country that encourages it’s citizens to freely express themselves.

Surely, you aren’t suggesting that this kid (or anyone else, for that matter) should be required to stand for anyone’s version of a pledge to anything?

Actually, Chris - quoting the above “While in line a couple IU moonbat trainees were complaining about how this country sucks and talking about countries that were better than the United States”

So there was bashing going on.

We all know opinions are like a**holes, everyone has one.

And Bil, do I need to invoke Godwin’s Law on you?

I was referring to “political prisoners” and the term concentration camp came to mind. Must be the German in me These exist to this day in some parts of the world. Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe (nee Rhodesia) utilizes them upon opponents, after he tears down their houses and businesses. The Apartheid regime in South Africa had them. I’m sure Cuba and China have them. Luckily we do live in a country where we can praise and criticize our leaders and express our opinions without too much fear of retribution. Except perhaps from some bloggers and the ACLU.

As long as nobody gets strapped to a chair and Eric Cartman injects himself with apple juice.