True North

Strib columnist and blogger Katherine Kersten has a post up on her blog exposing Forest Lake High School Principal Steve Massey. Here's the key exhange:

Initially, Massey insisted that he cancelled the vets' meeting with high school social studies students because the vets surprised him and tried to turn their visit into a political event. The group had announced a press conference at the last minute, an unacceptable situation, he suggested.

"We had been excited about the vets coming," Massey told the Star Tribune. "Then, lo and behold, they schedule a news conference on our campus. Time out."

That's flat wrong, says Pete Hegseth, Vets for Freedom director. Vets for Freedom didn't plan a press conference, but a low-key "media availability" at their bus before the event with students.

Massey wasn't caught off guard by this, adds Hegseth - he approved it in advance.

"We were hoping a few local reporters, like from the Forest Lake Times, would show up and talk to some of the guys at the bus before the event started," explains Hegseth.

That isn't the only spin that Ms. Kersten debunks:

Today, Lynn Steenblock, Forest Lake School District superintendent, provided adifferent spin. The school called off the event for an unimpeachable reason; it threatened "student safety," he told the Star Tribune.

"There could have been many reasons to cancel this event," responds Hegseth. "But the very last one is security. It's a complete sham argument. I was told the event was cancelled because of 'political pressure.' Security was not part of the reason cited to me."

Peter Hegseth is on solid ground, especially after this quote from Principal Massey:

"The event was structured to be an academic classroom discussion around military service. We thought we'd provide an opportunity for kids to learn about service in the context of our history classes," Massey said. "As the day progressed, it became clear that this was becoming a political event...which would be inappropriate in a public setting.

Perhaps Principal Massey should confer with Lynn Steenblock to come up with a consensus on whether they want to stick with that lie or if they want to tell the truth.

The truth is that this event was cancelled for political reasons. Simply put, Principal Massey caved into the wishes of some anti-war activists. That's why I called it a profile in political cowardice.

I don't see a reason to change that opinion.

Comments welcome at LFR.