29 thoughts on “LETTER: 13-Year-Old Boy Disappointed With Councilor Bays Kneeling During Pledge of Allegiance

  1. Well stated young man! Thank you for your thoughtful letter. You have a terrific perspective on the environment and show great responsibility and maturity.

  2. “America stands for freedom, liberty, and justice. It stands for our constitution, more specifically our rights and freedoms as a people.”

    One of those freedoms is to say or do things that you disagree with (within reason).

  3. It’s nice to see such a respectful and articulate young man. Very well written. Far too many youngsters fall victim to SJW and far left nonsense.

  4. Mr Molle, you have a right to stand up for what you believe in. But please don’t forget why Caroline Bays and others are kneeling for what they believe in.

    I thank Caroline Bays for modeling that we will not stand by while people of color are discrimated against, hurt and killed unjustly beacause of the color of their skin.

    One can both stand for those who gave so much to defend our country while also kneeling for those who are still losing their lives in this country. It does not have to be one or the other.

  5. You and the young people like you are the remaining and desperate hope for this country! It’s reassuring to know that the PC public wreck of an educational system hasn’t been successful in indoctrinating every young person it wants to. Please continue to be brave and stay strong. Our future is in you!!!

  6. Cheers to Antonio and his English teacher! In what way does NOT standing for the pledge of allegiance help the cause. These political stunts are quite saddening. I would like to see what these local politicians have done to help the situation they feel so strongly about. (Besides political pouting)

  7. To Antonio Molle:
    Good for you for speaking out. Letters to the editor are a vital aspect of democratic debate and discussion. As you form your opinion about what Councilwoman Bays did and why, I hope you will take the opportunity to speak with people who hold a variety of opinions on the topic — including with Ms. Bays herself; I’m sure she would be delighted to speak with you.

    Beyond that, Watertown has an active support group for the national Black Lives Matter project. Consider organizing a school forum with them, perhaps, or doing a research project on the origins and purpose of the Take A Knee movement. There is always more to learn, and you are off to a good start.

  8. Clearly this is not written by a 13 year old.
    This was written by an adult who possibly has corrupted a poor young person into thinking that Mrs Bays has done something wrong.
    Shame on whoever is corrupting this poor child.
    Maybe there isn’t even a 13 year old (except the “adult” who wrote it).
    I would like to know the person or people are who are really behind this.
    13 year old’s don’t usually have emails and aren’t usually inclined to want to make political comments on there own.
    This is clearly written by a republican adult who, like this president, has no shame or honer.
    It amazes me just how low some people will kneel to make a hard working, well intended person like Mrs Bays look bad.

        • Charlie, the only reason for allowing Beth’s unkind personal comment is to let the rest of us know what kind of thinking is out there. “Who is being hurt or killed for the color of their skin?” There is indeed terrible proof on the news every week in every corner of this country in the past and right now in 2017-18. Plenty of news articles, videos give proof: here’s a link with several, but beware of graphic footage. Most killed are black men, unarmed. Why? traffic violations? No. Racism. : http:https://duckduckgo.com/?q=videos+of+men+shot+by+police&t=ffsb&ia=news.
          I congratulate Marilyn Richardson on a wonderful letter to Antonio Molle. She understands that freedom to dissent–and tolerance of dissent– are key to our democratic way of life; that working for change is a great American tradition and it’s great to start when you are young. I agree that Antonio could do a lot of research, talking to people on all sides, and having an open mind because you never know where your thinking will take you. I’d like to mention that soldiers serve the US, but that US policy is not a soldier–and policy has many perspectives and nuanced approaches at its best. When someone disagrees, it is American to question and try to make change peacefully–with the policy, not the soldier. Disagreeing with a policy is not personal and has nothing to do with our soldiers. Here’s a drawing that made me think and appreciate the Take A Knee movement: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cover-story/cover-story-2018-01-15

          PS: I thought signatures were now required for letters to the editor and comments? It might help keep comments civil.

          • I do allow one anonymous comment per article. It was sort of a compromise because I heard from quite a few people who said they thought it was important to be able to post anonymously.

  9. I am an adult, a Democrat at that, and I know for a fact that a 13 year old did write this article because he is my nephew. Your inability and moreover your extreme commitment to the fact that a “republican adult” wrote this attest to the narrowness of your thinking. From the article he speaks about one stand that Mrs Bays took, he in no way “made her look bad, as if he could, he clearly expresses his opinion about her act. Now if you dont agree with his view then wouldnt think this looked bad for her right? I say this not to point out the obvious, but to bring home a point, we all have a RIGHT to our opinion (which goes to Mr. Molle’s original point). And if you make a public stance such as she did you expect criticisms and praise, that is our inalienable right is it not?
    I will leave you with this, which to me is the most important point, history has shown us a plethora of brilliant young minds, and those young minds were allowed to flourish to speak and to be heard no one, regardless of age, should be asked to be silent in this country. It may be cliche to say ” children are our future” but I’ll say it none the less they are and thank you for your opinion we wouldn’t want it any other way!

    • You have a lot to be proud with respect to Antonio and his parents.

      It’s amazing that same people who scream about diversity are so quick to discount diversity of thought and that even a kid barely a teenager has his own views.

      Speaking from my own experience… I was making get out the vote calls for Pat Sclafani, a family relative at the age of 10… I asked to do it. At the age of 7 in 1968, I canvassed the neighborhood for Richard Nixon. I certainly don’t want to make this discussion about me. I only mention these things… because I know from experience that kids at a young age can develop an interest in these things. And they should be encouraged.

  10. So, we have the freedom to protest, but we should never actually do it? People died for our right to express our opinions, but we should never exercise that right? Then … what good is it?

    How do you know that Bays “disrespects the flag”? Do you think that was her intention? Do you think she hates our freedoms? Is she an America-hater? Have you asked her? Or have you just assumed that and projected it onto her? Do you think that her concerns about injustice toward some Americans are irrelevant? Do you believe that certain Americans don’t deserve to be treated justly? If you believe that unarmed people should be shot because of the way they look, for example, then don’t hide behind the flag. Just tell us that. We can take it. Let’s debate it on those terms, and not on who supposedly loves and hates America.

    Theodore Roosevelt once said, “The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally upon the welfare of all of us.” I agree with him. When America fails to live up to this, we need to stand up, kneel down, or whatever we have to do, and say so. That’s not disrespecting the flag in the least, but quite the opposite. I want this country to be strong because it lives up to the ideals it puts forth in its founding documents. If all men are created equal, then they damn well should be treated that way.

    I personally would not choose to protest the anthem or Pledge in this particular way, but I will not criticize those who do. Their actions remind me that we always must strive to make America a place that delivers on its promise that every human being has certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

  11. You got one thing right. Antonio is a Republican in his thinking. He’s obviously too young to register. But these are his views and his words. Not his parents or anyone else’s.

    I know him personally. He took to the initiative to contact me after the 2016 election. He took the time to find my email on the MA-GOP website because he wanted to get involved. He was so excited that President Trump had been elected. Then he informed me that he’d been following politics and civics issues since 2012, when he was 8 years old because he was a Mitt Romney fan. The various Young Republican organizations hadn’t given him the time day. He offered his assistance in any capacity in which he could participate.

    He took the initiative to write this letter. FULL DISCLOSURE , he sent me his first draft. Not that asked him to. I offered one correction. He had used the word Counselor instead of Councilor. A mistake adults make pretty often as well. That was the extent of any adult input into the content of HIS letter. These are his words and his thoughts.

    Oh yeah, I gave Antonio Charlie’s email address since I had it handy.

    The Watertown TAB and Press rad an article last summer, that featured his summer internship for State Rep and Republican Senate Candidate Geoff Diehl.

    This same young man spoke clearly and articulately for over 10 minutes about his views at the Massachusetts Republican Assembly Convention in May of 2016. He inspired the close to 150 in attendance, including Governor LePage of Maine (the keynote speaker).

    The previous march after holding a sign for Guy Carbone for Selectman in Belmont, Antonio and a group of several adults were enjoying a lunch together. During lunch he proceeded to explain to the whole table why a certain measure had failed in House. I think it was an initial attempt repeal Obama-care. Antonio knew all the players in Congress…. he talked about the Freedom Caucus dispute with the Moderate Republicans in the House… He names several key Congressman involved in the debate.
    When asked how he knew all this. He answered by saying he watched the news, C-Span, and researched information on the internet.

    Whether we all agree with his views or not, we all ought to be proud to have a such civic minded and BRILLIANT young man in our Community. Likewise we ought to applaud his parents for encouraging and allowing him to pursue his interest in government, civics, and politics. Maybe if we had more parents like Antonio’s we’d have less millennials eating Tide Pods, and more informed young people with VARYING political views, that were actually well informed.

  12. Why does some newly elected politician feel it’s her duty to showboat in Watertown on a national issue? I’m fed up with her and I didn’t even see it. You weren’t elected for that lady, stick to local issues. We have enough to do.

  13. So Happy To Read This Letter From This Young Man..As A Veteran… I hope The Children Of Our Future Keep On Fighting Writeing About Her Disgrace To The Flag….And What It Stands For…

  14. Its pretty clear from reading through all these comments along with all he comments online on social media that quite a lot of Watertown Residents are not going to forget this. Its another reason why she really should resign. She has become a distraction and she has lost the respect of a lot of the voters. She may still have her supporters but the anger and disgust on the other side is real and its probably not going away.

    I don’t believe her either when she says why she took a knee. I think she did it because she is desperately seeking attention on herself.

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