# MAGA-hat kid hires fancy lawyer **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 28, 2019, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maga-hat-kid-hires-fancy-lawyer/828520 "2019-01-28T02:48:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maga-hat-kid-hires-fancy-lawyer/828520/121 "2019-02-01T18:08:08Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > know some garbage pickers. Mostly aluminum cans and other recyclables, but they’d take batteries too, if you throw them out. So you’re saying that this is their only recourse- they’re so unskilled or unable to perform in civil society that garbage-picking is the only job they can get? I find that more than a little bit hard to believe, unless they’re mentally ill or have some other problem that needs attention. There is no shortage of minimum wage jobs (which pay more than garbage picking, I suspect) out there. > [@k9bfriender](#): > > But, as you said, it give you choices, options, ability to make wrong decisions and still come out on top, while giving your children that same advantage over others who are less fortunate. Yes, of course it does. That’s one of the main reasons to make more money after all. Who doesn’t want to set their kids up for success as much as they possibly can? Anything else is dropping the parental obligation ball pretty hard. > [@k9bfriender](#): > > So, it has top scoring students, because it picks the best students, and then kicks out any that do not stay up to the standards. Yeah, having gone to that school does demonstrate to colleges that you are better at academics than those who did not get in, but it doesn’t actually mean that the school itself is any better. > > Hard to say, if you left these high performing students in public school, that they would not have learned just as much. It is kind of hard to say overall… the student body wasn’t all National Merit Scholars or anything like that, although the school does produce 5-10 each year. It was a school of average or better, I’d say. There were definitely some indifferent students, but by comparison to the average indifferent public school student, they looked quite driven. Part of that was because the school tended to push and pull you, and part because in absolute terms, they were probably middle of the pack, not poor students anyway. I think where it really made the difference was at the margins; stuff like getting the scholarships that I might not have gotten had I gone to my normal public school. Or some students who might have got into University of Texas instead of Sam Houston. Or who got into college instead of not at all. For your garden variety student who was going to get into college no matter where they were, but who also wasn’t in the running for scholarships, I think the benefits were less measurable right out of school- at that point, it was more about the preparation to succeed in college. For a trivial example, we had this absolutely convoluted rotating schedule where there was a six day schedule and seven periods in a day. So if you were on Monday morning, and it was day 1 of the schedule, you might have English in 7th period (last one of the day). On Tuesday, you’d have English in 6th period, and in 5th period on Wednesday, and the next Monday, it would be in 2nd period. On Tuesday it would reset and you’d have English in 7th period again. Basically if you could master this f-ed up schedule, your more fixed college schedules were a piece of cake. (“You mean I have the same classes on the same days at the same times every week? Sweet!”) There was a lot of stuff like that- meant to be just a bit more difficult. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maga-hat-kid-hires-fancy-lawyer/828520/122 "2019-02-01T19:36:54Z")
> [@bump](#): > > So you’re saying that this is their only recourse- they’re so unskilled or unable to perform in civil society that garbage-picking is the only job they can get? I find that more than a little bit hard to believe, unless they’re mentally ill or have some other problem that needs attention. There is no shortage of minimum wage jobs (which pay more than garbage picking, I suspect) out there. As a moderately intelggient, able bodied male in his early 30’s, I spent most of a year trying to find a job in 2010. I managed to find something at Burger King that paid exactly minimum wage after being out of work for 10 months. Things have gotten better, but yes, there have been, and likely will be in the future, a shortage of MW jobs. Yeah, they mostly do have some problems that need addressing. Some are simply minorities who employers are slow to hire, some actually do have minor mental problems. If they were wealthy, they’d be considered “eccentric”, but they are not, so, they have “problems”. And what is not to believe, that I know them, or that they exist? Do you not see the garbage pickers out on your street on garbage night? Hmmm, maybe if you live in a gate community, you do not. > [@](#): > > Yes, of course it does. That’s one of the main reasons to make more money after all. Who doesn’t want to set their kids up for success as much as they possibly can? Anything else is dropping the parental obligation ball pretty hard. When you are doing so at the expense of other parts of the population that are not able to participate in getting set up for as much success as they can, it’s great that your kids get an advantage, but, unless we have an adequate floor, then their advantage comes at the disadvantage of others. > [@](#): > > It is kind of hard to say overall… the student body wasn’t all National Merit Scholars or anything like that, although the school does produce 5-10 each year. It was a school of average or better, I’d say. There were definitely some indifferent students, but by comparison to the average indifferent public school student, they looked quite driven. Part of that was because the school tended to push and pull you, and part because in absolute terms, they were probably middle of the pack, not poor students anyway. You were there, they were your peers, so of course they seemed average. But, given what you said about admissions and retention, they most certainly were well above. > [@](#): > > I think where it really made the difference was at the margins; stuff like getting the scholarships that I might not have gotten had I gone to my normal public school. Or some students who might have got into University of Texas instead of Sam Houston. Or who got into college instead of not at all. The margins is actually the most important bit, that’s where people fall through… > [@](#): > > For your garden variety student who was going to get into college no matter where they were, but who also wasn’t in the running for scholarships, I think the benefits were less measurable right out of school- at that point, it was more about the preparation to succeed in college. For a trivial example, we had this absolutely convoluted rotating schedule where there was a six day schedule and seven periods in a day. So if you were on Monday morning, and it was day 1 of the schedule, you might have English in 7th period (last one of the day). On Tuesday, you’d have English in 6th period, and in 5th period on Wednesday, and the next Monday, it would be in 2nd period. On Tuesday it would reset and you’d have English in 7th period again. Basically if you could master this f-ed up schedule, your more fixed college schedules were a piece of cake. (“You mean I have the same classes on the same days at the same times every week? Sweet!”) There was a lot of stuff like that- meant to be just a bit more difficult. And if this stuff works, then why is it only limited to students with the means and the upper quintile academic intelligence that have access to it? I’ll agree that many public schools do not do much to prepare you for college. Most of my peers were just happy to be done with school, and had little interest in going more. I did go to college, but, having gone to a public school that really only took an interest in the top 10-25% of students, did not find myself as prepared as it sounds like you were. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maga-hat-kid-hires-fancy-lawyer/828520/123 "2019-02-01T20:19:54Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Why would public schools give scholarships to go to a school that is free to attend? They are called VOUCHERS. Many public schools do them. The big issue is if they can be used at private schools or not. If not, we have what we have right now in Kansas city where you have this totally crap Kansas City Missouri district, and parents sneak there kids into schools in the suburbs by using fake addresses. > [@](#): > > The ones that live in districts with decent public schools. Public schools vary in quality quit dramatically, and housing prices are often reflected in the quality of the school. A MW burger may easily be priced out of areas that are in good districts. Depends if they have any section 8 housing. > [@](#): > > Those “ghetto schools” are the only way for those who cannot afford a private school to get any education at all. Unless they are offering scholarships to all students, then the fact that they take the best students and leave the public schools to deal with what is left isn’t really all that great an advertisement for their public contribution. I brought this up a few months ago in a thread on “magnet schools”. Like the one in Kansas City Ks that basically takes the top 20% of the students and puts them in their own school. Yes, that leaves the lower 80% back at their home schools and their is alot of controversy back and forth about if its right or not. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maga-hat-kid-hires-fancy-lawyer/828520/124 "2019-02-01T21:34:55Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > They are called VOUCHERS. Many public schools do them. The big issue is if they can be used at private schools or not. If not, we have what we have right now in Kansas city where you have this totally crap Kansas City Missouri district, and parents sneak there kids into schools in the suburbs by using fake addresses. Vouchers are rarely up to the school itself, it is usually something that is decided at the state level. But vouchers only help people who would be more or less able to go anyway. If tuition is 9,000, and the voucher is 3,500, that’s a great subsidy for a middle class or better income, but it does nothing for a family that cannot afford it either way. And it takes money away from the public schools, leaving them with less money to deal with the lowest performing students. > [@](#): > > Depends if they have any section 8 housing. They usually don’t. If they do, it obviously isn’t enough for everyone that wants to go. > [@](#): > > I brought this up a few months ago in a thread on “magnet schools”. Like the one in Kansas City Ks that basically takes the top 20% of the students and puts them in their own school. Yes, that leaves the lower 80% back at their home schools and their is alot of controversy back and forth about if its right or not. It’s not a question or right or not, it is a question of how to best serve the needs of the community. If someone wants their kid to get a better than taxpayer funded education, then they are welcome to pay for it. If they want the taxpayers to fund that education, then I, as a taxpayer will resist that. The objection that taking the kid out of the school lowers the resources the school needs is a non-starter for me. I don’t have any kids in school, and yet, I’m not getting any sort of kickback on my property taxes for not using those community resources. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maga-hat-kid-hires-fancy-lawyer/828520/125 "2019-02-01T22:13:36Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > The objection that taking the kid out of the school lowers the resources the school needs is a non-starter for me. I don’t have any kids in school, and yet, I’m not getting any sort of kickback on my property taxes for not using those community resources. You are, nevertheless, making use of the end product. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maga-hat-kid-hires-fancy-lawyer/828520/126 "2019-02-01T22:43:12Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > You are, nevertheless, making use of the end product. We all are, which is why we pay our taxes towards these community services. I receive a benefit from having the populace educated to at least a basic level. I have voted for every school levy I have ever had a chance to vote for. I do not receive the same benefit from people sending their kids to private school, therefore, I do not feel that my community should expend its resources for the benefit of an individual, at the expense of the community. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maga-hat-kid-hires-fancy-lawyer/828520/127 "2019-02-02T00:56:50Z")
I came into this thread to find out why a kid with a MAGA hat needed a lawyer and discovered a heated discussion of school vouchers. This has to be one of the weirdest SDMB meanderings in a while. It’s okay. I’ll show myself out. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maga-hat-kid-hires-fancy-lawyer/828520/128 "2019-02-05T03:47:30Z")
[The lawyer has begun sending out letters to over 50 people and organizations who were involved in slander Nick Sandmann](https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/article225504550.html), a possible first step towards lawsuits. > [@Procrustus](#): > > Maybe they can sue their school too? Good suggestion. The school and diocese are among those who are receiving letters from the lawyer. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > There’s this fun thing I do where I click through on your links. You have yet to represent one of your links accurately. > > For example, that NYPost article mentions a couple of media outlets who reported that PHILLIPS SAID that the kids “attacked” THE BLACK PEOPLE. That’s as close as it gets to your claim that “media outlets reported that the kids from Covington ‘mobbed’ or ‘attacked’ the Native American protester” > > You may wish to be more careful in paraphrasing your sources, in order to do so more accurately. Actually, what generally happens is that I link to a source and summarize it accurately, and then you show up and make an incorrect claim about what it says. That’s certainly what you did in this case. I linked to this New York Post article: [Case of the Covington kids is a perfect example of media bias](https://nypost.com/2019/01/21/case-of-the-covington-kids-is-a-perfect-example-of-media-bias/) Anyone who actually read that article will surely have seen the link in the 7th paragraph, which goes to a New York Times article originally titled “Boys in ‘Make America Great Again’ Hats Mob Native Elder at Indigenous Peoples March”. (The Times has since changed the title on the article and put in a half-assed disclaimer, kinda sorta admitting that their initial reporting was wrong.) ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maga-hat-kid-hires-fancy-lawyer/828520/129 "2019-02-05T06:33:09Z")
> [@](#): > > “For the mob to just go tear apart a 16-year-old boy is inexcusable,” McMurtry said. “He’ll never be able to get away from this.” Well, given that he has now taken the step of suing 50 fucking organizations and people over this, I fucking hope he won’t. There’s disproportionate, and then there’s whatever the fuck this shit is. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maga-hat-kid-hires-fancy-lawyer/828520/130 "2019-02-05T06:53:17Z")
Like, let me be clear what I mean. This kid’s 15 minutes were over. The worm had turned. News organizations were penning thoroughly unnecessary “we were wrong to judge this how we did” opinion pieces. For all intents and purposes, this kid could have gone on to just continue in his utterly privileged existence. But no, he decided that _that’s not good enough_. That someone has to pay for him looking like a fucking twat. And so he’s exercising his rich fucking privilege even more and suing anyone and everyone related to this issue. Like… I’m sorry, that’s bullshit. Even if he can find some jury who buys his bullshit sob story, you are now even more the avatar of stupid shitty white privilege, Nick Sandmann, and I guarantee you that increasing your time in the limelight as the avatar of stupid shitty white privilege is not good for you in the long run. Because now the story is, “Douchebag white kid sues everyone involved in a story that looked bad for him”. That’s a fucking Peter Thiel move! Everything about this is infuriating to anyone who isn’t as rich and white as fucking cheesecake. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maga-hat-kid-hires-fancy-lawyer/828520/131 "2019-02-05T07:06:38Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Like, let me be clear what I mean. > > This kid’s 15 minutes were over. The worm had turned. News organizations were penning thoroughly unnecessary “we were wrong to judge this how we did” opinion pieces. For all intents and purposes, this kid could have gone on to just continue in his utterly privileged existence. > > But no, he decided that _that’s not good enough_. That someone has to pay for him looking like a fucking twat. And so he’s exercising his rich fucking privilege even more and suing anyone and everyone related to this issue. Like… I’m sorry, that’s bullshit. Even if he can find some jury who buys his bullshit sob story, you are now even more the avatar of stupid shitty white privilege, Nick Sandmann, and I guarantee you that increasing your time in the limelight as the avatar of stupid shitty white privilege is not good for you in the long run. Because now the story is, “Douchebag white kid sues everyone involved in a story that looked bad for him”. That’s a fucking Peter Thiel move! Everything about this is infuriating to anyone who isn’t as rich and white as fucking cheesecake. So, it’s all right for employees of powerful corporations and famous celebrities to call for an adolescent to be “consequenced” with wood chippers, etc. yet when the adolescent seeks “consequences” for these much more powerful individuals it’s some terrible act? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maga-hat-kid-hires-fancy-lawyer/828520/132 "2019-02-05T16:21:08Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > So, it’s all right for employees of powerful corporations and famous celebrities to call for an adolescent to be “consequenced” with wood chippers, etc. yet when the adolescent seeks “consequences” for these much more powerful individuals it’s some terrible act? :dubious: Pretty much. some people just cant get over the idea some person, especially a white person, would have the audacity to want some justice. I mean he had all these liberal press hounds and bloggers wanting him dead and calling for violence against him, his family, and his school. Oh, but now its like “Oh, we are sorry we got caught”. “Too bad”. “Your white.” “You deserve it anyways.” Heck yes sue them. Maybe next time they will think twice. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maga-hat-kid-hires-fancy-lawyer/828520/133 "2019-02-05T17:34:21Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > So, it’s all right for employees of powerful corporations and famous celebrities to call for an adolescent to be “consequenced” with wood chippers, etc. yet when the adolescent seeks “consequences” for these much more powerful individuals it’s some terrible act? :dubious: No, it’s not, but what also is not “alright” is to make up false allegations against these corporations and celebrities. You try to make it sound like it is a big thing, and that people got away with making death threat, that there were very few, and most of them that I have heard of were reprimanded rather severely. Please try to characterize things based on reality, not based on some distorted nightmare that you fantasize about. > [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Pretty much. some people just cant get over the idea some person, especially a white person, would have the audacity to want some justice. Yeah, mostly white people who think that noinjustice was done. Looks more like seeking revenge than seeking justice. > [@](#): > > I mean he had all these liberal press hounds and bloggers wanting him dead and calling for violence against him, his family, and his school. Oh, but now its like “Oh, we are sorry we got caught”. “Too bad”. “Your white.” “You deserve it anyways.” Cite for, well,any of that. > [@](#): > > Heck yes sue them. Maybe next time they will think twice. Ah, so, yes, revenge, not justice. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maga-hat-kid-hires-fancy-lawyer/828520/134 "2019-02-05T17:56:16Z")
“Justice”. Uh huh. _Sure_. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maga-hat-kid-hires-fancy-lawyer/828520/135 "2019-02-05T18:48:19Z")
But there are no speech consequences to walking around wearing a [del] fuck you [/del] MAGA hat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maga-hat-kid-hires-fancy-lawyer/828520.md?page=6)