Free Republic

BOISE, Idaho. - The mayor of an eastern Idaho town where second- and third-grade students chanted "Assassinate Obama" after Barack Obama's Nov. 4 election victory has publicly apologized, saying there's no excuse for such comments. Rexburg Mayor Shawn Larsen wrote to local newspapers he was saddened by the notoriety his community had received over the incident. He received e-mails from as far away as Canada. Larsen told The Associated Press, "When people don't stand up and say, 'That's not appropriate, that's wrong, and those are hateful remarks,' it's almost like they are saying that it's an OK thing to do....

When second- and third-graders chanted “Assassinate Obama” on a Madison School District bus recently, district spokeswoman Janet Goodliffe explained that most of the children didn’t understand what the words mean. According to The Associated Press, she attributed the chant to the community’s being “highly conservative” and overwhelmingly for John McCain. I admire Janet Goodliffe as a preschool education leader. But as a teacher, she offered tortured excuses instead of capitalizing on a great teaching opportunity. This is not an isolated incident. As a former teacher and Idaho Falls school volunteer, Luella Hendrickson, wrote on this page Thursday, after the election,...