the thought police are strong in california;

Just last year in California, a federal court declared a first grader’s crayon drawing may constitute “impermissible harassment.” Ironic, perhaps, that such a decision was made in nation where—starting in elementary school—talk about the founding principle of liberty and the sanctity of an individual’s rights are drummed into the people daily.

Are such lessons serious? Were they ever?

This crayon drawing episode and its aftermath is not some dystopian fiction but came as a heavy dose of reality in an Orange County elementary school, where the phrase “Black Lives Mater” (sic), accompanied by the words “any life,” was deemed a punishable offense.

The case, B.B. v. Capistrano Unified School Dist., reads like a parody of modern American life. Yet it is all too real, and all too indicative of the country’s present trajectory. The simplicity of the facts, however, makes this episode noticeably chilling.

Reflect. Has venerable Orange County, long a bastion of conservativism and the last Republican stronghold within the Golden State, become a place where the freedom to think (or doodle) is subject to the whims of those styling themselves as arbiters of acceptable opinion?

For this is the same county that helped deliver California to Nixon three times in presidential elections, Reagan twice, Ford and Bush 41 once. In 1964, it was one of only five California counties to vote for Barry Goldwater, author of The Conscience of a Conservative. Today, a Republican only holds one of the six congressional districts serving Orange County residents.

Today, progressives and liberals dominate both the political and cultural landscape. Take the B.B. case where, in her first grade class, a six-year-old girl, referred to in court documents as “B.B.,” drew a picture. On it, she wrote “Black Lives Mater” in bold black marker. Beneath it, in lighter colors, the phrase “any life.”

She gave this drawing to a classmate.

For B.B.’s audacity, the principal summoned her to the office, accused the girl of racism, and forced her to apologize. B.B.’s other artistic endeavors were summarily banned, and she was barred from recess for two weeks.

Recall. This was the first grade.........more.........