Let's Salute America's Real Heroes: 14 Year Old Girls???

John Kass of the Chicago Tribune has a piece up on their website about a "brave" young girl. Downplaying the importance of the nation's first African-American president ever, Kass goes on to show how a brave young girl survived an experiment in the harsh suburb of Oak Park.

"Catherine Vogt, 14, is an Illinois 8th grader, the daughter of a liberal mom
and a conservative dad. She wanted to conduct an experiment in political
tolerance and diversity of opinion at her school in the liberal suburb of Oak
Park."

Her experiment was to wear a shirt to her liberal, Obama supporting (grade) school one day that said "McCain Girl" and the next day wear an "Obama Girl" shirt and then record all reactions and comments in her journal.

I don't think that this is "Brave" as Kass states multiple times in an apparent attempt to out do Maverick this year. Rather I think this is extremely intelligent and insightful for a 14 year old to come up with an experiment like this. She did have to put up with some students and faculty giving off comments like "Go die" or "you should be crucifixed" which is extremely unfortunate but at the same time come on. It doesn't seem to me that the Oak Park middle schools are a battle ground.

"Catherine never told us which candidate she would have voted for if she weren't an 8th grader. But she said she learned what it was like to be in the minority.

'Just being on the outside, how it felt, it was not fun at all,' she said.

Don't ever feel as if you must conform, Catherine. Being on the outside isn't so bad. Trust me."

A newspaper columnist is the voice for the minority. . . A Brave voice for a Brave newspaper in a Brave time. Go Bravely fuck yourself Kass.

[Chicago Tribune]