Stupid people of the week

White House Prohibits Children from Submitting ‘Overtly Religious’ Art for Easter Egg Roll

You wouldn’t want that holiest of holidays getting mucked up with all that divisive religious stuff.

President Joe Biden’s Democrat administration is taking flak for prohibiting children from submitting Easter eggs featuring religious artwork for a contest.

Update: After publication of this article, a spokesperson for first lady Jill Biden noted that the rules for submitting Easter egg designs have been in effect for 45 years.

The event, which is part of the White House’s annual Easter Egg Roll, is called “Celebrating National Guard Families” but will not allow submissions to feature symbols related to the holiday that Christians celebrate all over the world, the Daily Caller reported Friday.

The 2024 “Call for Youth Art” flyer said:

On behalf of First Lady Jill Biden, The Adjutants General of the National Guard are asking youth from National Guard families across the United States and all U.S. territories to submit artwork inspired by the theme “Celebrating our Military Families”. Children should depict on an egg template (see Art Submission form) a snapshot of their life – a favorite activity, scenery in your state, your military family, a day-in-your life, etc.

Under its restrictions list, the flyer noted, “The Submission must not include any questionable content, religious symbols, overtly religious themes, or partisan political statements.”

Social media users shared their thoughts on the Daily Caller’s story regarding the ban, one person writing, “A snapshot of your life excluding part of your life.”

“They’ll ban religion all together as soon as they think they can get away with it,” someone else said, while another person commented, “What does the Biden White House think Easter is all about? The Easter Bunny?”

UPI reported Thursday that the White House is bringing back its “EGGucation” theme for the Easter Egg Roll.

“First lady Jill Biden, a longtime educator, will lead the festivities, which will include a reading nook, picture area, farm field trip, STEAM school and snack area. The Easter Egg Roll is a White House event that dates back to 1878,” the outlet said.

Meanwhile, inflation and supply chain issues in Biden’s America are making the price of the eggs themselves (along with chocolate) rise, Breitbart News noted Friday.

Source; Breitbart

FDNY firefighters forced to remove flag honoring 9/11 heroes after lefty pol questioned if it’s a ‘political symbol’

Never forget 9/11? These people forgot. She probably thinks it was just when “some people did something.”

Fire Department brass ordered an East Village ladder company to remove its “red line” American flag honoring the squad’s six brothers killed on 9/11 – after a neighborhood resident complained it was “fascist” and a local lefty pol questioned whether it was a “politically charged symbol.”

The shocking order came March 22 after a man claiming he was a staffer for Democratic Manhattan Councilwoman Carlina Rivera confronted firefighters at Ladder Co. 11, sources said.

The man pedaled up to the East 2nd Street firehouse on a bicycle and told firefighters he worked for Rivera and that the councilwoman’s office “complained” to the FDNY three days earlier about the flag – which features a red stripe in tribute of firefighters injured or killed in the line of duty.

He called it a “fascist symbol” and demanded to know why it was still up, sources said.

In a March 19 email to FDNY Intergovernmental Affairs Coordinator Madison Hernandez, Rivera staffer Lisander Rosario said the councilwoman’s office was contacted by the “constituent” twice about the ladder company’s flag and asked if it’s violating department rules.

“[FDNY staff] claimed it was to honor deceased firefighters, however, [the constituent] brought up that they could’ve used an FDNY flag rather than a politically charged symbol,” Rosario wrote.

“It is to both his and our understanding that private political symbols aren’t permitted to be displayed on public vehicles.”

“Can you confirm if there are any violating flags/symbols on Ladder 11?” added the email, which was obtained by The Post.

Hours after the “constituent” left the firehouse, FDNY Deputy Chief Joseph Schiralli visited firefighters there and reluctantly said the flag must come off the fire truck because it violated a department prohibition of “altered” versions of the American flag.

The rule was implemented in 2020 by then-Commissioner Daniel Nigro and then-First Deputy Commissioner Laura Kavanagh during the height of the anti-cop Black Lives Matters protests, sources said.

Schiralli told the firefighters he agreed with them that it’s “ridiculous” to remove the flag, recalled one of the smoke-eaters.

The order sparked immediate outrage on social media, with conservative Instagram influencer Rogan O’Handley posting a photo of the flag and saying, “NY firefighters were forced to take down a memorial for those that died on 9/11. What’s happened to NYC?!”

Hours later, now-Commissioner Kavanagh and Chief of Department John Hodgens reversed the decision and allowed the flag back on the truck.

“We’re happy with the outcome of this — but we’re offended it happened in the first place,” said a Ladder 11 firefighter.

“This flag has huge significance for us.”

Ladder Company 11 displays its red line flag next to a memorial placard on the back of its fire truck honoring Lt. Michael Quilty and Firefighters Michael Cammarata, Edward Day, John Hefferman, Richard Kelly Jr. and Matthew Rogan – all of whom were killed responding to the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

“I wish [Rivera’s office] would have come at it like ‘Hey, we want to learn about the flag and what it represents’ before they asked for it to be taken down,’” said another Ladder 11 fireman.

Rivera insisted to The Post that her office never contacted Ladder Co. 11 about the issue, and that the initial complainant was a constituent, not a staffer.

She said her office sent the March 19 email to the FDNY asking whether “political symbols are on display” at the ladder company only after the constituent questioned the flag’s legality in an email to her staff.

“We have heard nothing further from the FDNY and have taken no additional action on this matter,” said Rivera, who added she’s allocated $450,000 in Council discretionary funds to improve the ladder company’s firehouse.

“My relationship with Ladder 11 has always been strong.”

Rivera, a former dues-paying member of the Democratic Socialists of America, voted to defund the NYPD by $1 billion in 2020 and also routinely ripped cops that same year during the Black Lives Matters protests.

Some FDNY sources said they believe all the fuss about the flag stemmed over confusion between a red-line flag and a blue-line American flag, which is typically displayed to honor police officers injured or killed in the line of duty.

Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens), who chairs the fire and emergency management committee, called the flag-removal debacle a “sanctioned attack on the First Amendment rights of our civil servants.”

“Radicalism and censorship are sadly becoming the norm in American politics,” she said.

Source; NY Post

Category: Crime, Police, Stupid Criminals