Today’s Dose of Non-Gun Idiocy . . . .
. . . . is brought to you by of the Alisal Union School District in Salinas, California.
Seems as if the district is opening a new school. They need to give it a name.
They’ve chosen a name already. According to the Alisal Union District Superintendant, John Ramirez, they’re planning to name that new school in honor of Tiburcio Vasquez.
This decision has raised a few eyebrows and sparked some opposition. Why, you ask? Is it due to racism?
Hardly. Turns out that Tiburcio Vasquez has a rather . . . checkered history. Seems Vasquez committed his first crime at age 14 – he stabbed a constable. He then afterwards embarked on a life of crime, becoming essentially a professional bandit. He continued that career – interrupted by a couple of stints in San Quentin prison- until he was roughly 40 years old. His criminal career ended when he was hanged in 1875 for murdering two people.
In fact, the University of Southern California library calls Vasquez “probably the most notorious bandit California ever saw”.
The district Superintendent isn’t backing down, though. He’s predictably defending his choice publicly. Ramirez has made such noble and measured statements defending the choice as to say that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter, and has referred to Vasquez as a “revolutionary” who was “not okay with oppression.” Ramirez has also made the inane claim that understanding Vasquez’s place in history requires consultation with Chicano historians.
Another member of the selection committee, Francisco Estrada, also defended naming the new school after a convicted murderer. Estrada has claimed that Vasquez was merely “misunderstood”; that Vasquez “was not a murderer” but rather “was framed by the system at that time.” Estrada went on to compare Vazquez to Robin Hood, saying that Vasquez “took from the rich and gave to the poor” and “was your inspiration of Zorro”.
I guess these two guys could be right. All of their after-the-fact justification sounds more to me like PC apologia and than anything else. But it’s a free country, and they’re entitled to speak their minds.
As am I. In a word, gentlemen – bullshit. Murder is very damn easy to understand; ditto a 25+ year career as a professional bandit and criminal. Both of those are ethnically and racially neutral. And it doesn’t require any particular ethnic, racial, or religious background to figure out that naming a school after a 25+ year career criminal who was hanged as a murderer is a damnfool idea.
Generally, I couldn’t give a hoot in hell what some school district in California names a new school. But this one is just plain wrong. I really think they can find someone better to honor than a 25+ year career criminal who was hanged for murder over 135 years ago. Like maybe the late USMC Sgt. Rafael Peralta, perhaps? If I recall correctly Sgt. Peralta was from California too.
Salinas is located in Monterrey County, California. Phone, fax, and e-mail contact information for the Monterrey County Board of Education may be found here.
Yes, this is a local decision. But I’m not sure the County Board of Education is aware of this particular bit of idiocy – and IMO they damn well should be.
Category: Dumbass Bullshit
“Another member of the selection committee, Francisco Estrada, also defended naming the new school after a convicted murderer. Estrada has claimed that Vasquez was merely “misunderstood”; that Vasquez “was not a murderer” but rather “was framed by the system at that time.” Estrada went on to compare Vazquez to Robin Hood, saying that Vasquez “took from the rich and gave to the poor””
Um, it sounds like Mr. Estrada needs to get an education, too, since he has the Robin Hood story all cocked up. Robin Hood stole from the government, in the form of the King, and gave back to the peasants aka subjects. So, he stole from the government and gave to the people, which is sorta kinda like what he meant to say.
Evan Sayet has a perfect explanation for such moral ambiguity insanity the left lives in. This is a perfect example of it in action. This lefties have mental disorders where logic and facts be damned.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaE98w1KZ-c
quick Internet search reveals no schools named for Billy the Kid, William Bonney, Al Capone, Alvbert Anastasia, Clyde Barrow, or John Dillinger… sounds like ethnic bias to me. We need schools named after white assholes too.
So Billy the Kid Bonney was simply misunderstood?
How about we name a wing at the Stroger Hospital after Richard Speck or John Wayne Gacy?
How about a culinary-arts school named after Jeffrey Dahmer? Makes about as much sense.
I’m just wondering what their school mascot would look like.
Salinas is cholo central. Might as well be tijuana.
@David. Watch the video I posted it explains exactly why. In this case bad guys are legitimized because bad is only a result of good’s success. In the liberal world there is no moral standard and thus good has to be marginalized and demonized to prop up the bad. That explains why they’d claim an obvious scumfuck is a victim and should be celebrated instead.
Libtard mindset is completely looney toons but the sooner we can explain the irrational process the sooner we can begin to dissemble it from continuing to drag down our society into a immoral cesspit of insanity.
The David Richard Berkowitz Veterinary Medicine Institute
“Because Dogs are Man’s Best Friend”
Meanwhile they are changing the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest Middle School and defacing and replacing the painting of Rbert E Lee in Richmond.
@6 – The appropriate mascot should be a Yosemite Sam-typeof Bandit… as in “Salinas Bandido’s!
Let’s not forget naming a hospital after Dr. Jack Kevorkian.
MCPO: Even better: the “Carlos R. Romero Petting Zoo”.
http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=33225
Damn good post and comments. The Peralta suggestion is excellent and the Dahmer School of Culinary Arts is my personal fav.
wtf? these idiots are probably opening the Mengele School of Internal Medicine even as we speak….
Dang, MCPO NYC USN (Ret.)@9, that was mighty funny. I literally laughed out loud. How about the Mark David Chapman School For Performing Arts?
Okay, it’s starting to hurt now. Mengele? Bwahahahahahaha.
The Michael Vick Canine Obedience School?
The Lizzy Borden Charm Institute?
Cesar Chavez School of Politics and Influence, right next to the Bernie Maddoff Business School.
There is a statue of Pancho Villa in downtown Tucson, a gift from Mexico.
You know the left is all worried about the gun owning population but maybe if they stoppped lionizing frickin murderers- then kids wouldn’t get the idea that murder makes you “famous” and revered…
Tiburcio Vasquez must be an acceptable choice because he didn’t use a “scary” looking weapon.
Eggs: yes there is. It was first offered to Guadalupe (a town near Phoenix) in 1981. Guadalupe rejected it.
That Tucson would have a statue of someone who was responsible for the murder of about 19 US citizens doesn’t surprise me, though. Tucson is the capital of Arizona’s People’s Republic of Pima County. It’s a bit . . . off with respect to the rest of the state.
Hondo, I read that the mayor at the time refused to attend the dedication.
I enjoy living outside of the city limits, I watch the stupidity of the city government from a somewhat safe distance. If you want to read up on how millions of dollars disappear with no accountability (well, there is a nice empty lot so show for it) – look up Rio Nuevo news stories.
On the poor choice of school names, the Ted Kennedy Driving School, or the Ted Kennedy Foundation for the Advancement of Ethical Behavior come to mind….
@20 Indeed you are onto something, the libs in Hollywood love the 1st amendment to peddle their trashy ultraviolent films to the public but despise the 2nd amendment.
I’m laughing so hard I’m crying!
Hysterical stuff!!
I guess what surprises me is that this didn’t surprise me. Having lived there while stationed at Ft. Ord, Salinas was virtually the last place I would go to for anything.
Plus, I hope you intentionally misspelled Monterey.
How about the Josef Stalin Institute of Law?
The Leon Trotsky School of Leadership?
The Nikita Krushchev Vocational School for Shoe Repair?
The Pol Pot Department of Commerce?
Charlie Manson has a better chance of having an elementary school named after him than Billy the Kid or Jesse James.
Oh! I was going to use Pol Pot.
How about the Pablo Escobar Academy for Pharmaceutical Ethics?
LOL ‘Peoples’ Republic of Pima County’ Love it. Tuscon is a cool place to visit, but between the hippies and the wretched hive of scum and villany that is the University of Arizona, (FORK EM DEVILS!) You wouldn’t want to live there.
And look at the bright side, The school could have some cool mascots.
‘The Vasquez Hangmen’ ‘The Gibbets’ or the ‘The Executioners’. The school nickname would be ‘Hang em High’….They could call the JV team the ‘Short Droppers’ and the Varsity teams the ‘Long Droppers’. Their cheer team and fans could do the ‘Hemp Necktie Jig’ where they cross their eyes, stick their tongues out and jiggle their body bonelessly….Man, this team would be fun. Screw the school, I want this name for an NFL team.
ANCCPT: bingo. Tucson would indeed be a wonderful place if it – and Pima County – weren’t run by leftist idiots.
And the UofA is no worse – and no better – than ASU. Both are excellent universities with typical big university issues.
Go ‘Cats! (smile)
Geez, I can’t believe no one else came up with these two:
“The Barack Obama Institute for Transparent Government”
“The Eric Holder School of Munitions Exports”
Thanks guys & gals. The best giggle and guffaw I’ve had before going to the salt mine in a long time.
I was thinking of the Teddy Kennedy chapter of AA.
Plus the Ted Kennedy School of Ethics and (Sexual) Propriety.
The Van Jones School of Free Market Capitalism.
I heard their Che Memorial ROTC unit just conducted a baked sale to raise sponsorship money for the Footballers Athletic Responsibity Club (FARC), South American Chapter.
They just need the Ballduster McSoulpatch Honor Guard in their JROTC to raise the flag every morning now.
How about the Michael Jackson Memorial Child Development Center, or maybe the Chris Brown Battered Women’s Shelter?
The Ike Turner Marriage Institute?
The Bill Clinton Advanced Studies Of Sexual Harrassment in The Workplace.
Please note that the name of that course in no way implies a means to reduce sexual harrassment in the workplace.
The Sharpton-Jackson School For The Advancement Of Race Relationships.
The Milli Vanilli Commission on Musical Integrity