A teenage boy brings a ticking mechanical object with wires, screws and electrical components hanging from it to his high school. He shows it to his engineering teacher and explains that it’s a homemade alarm clock; that teacher calls it “nice” but advises the boy not to show it to other teachers. Ignoring this advice, the boy brings his invention to his English class where it beeps, is revealed to the English teacher who wisely notifies school authorities who immediately call police. So far, this sounds like exactly the type of reaction you would want from any school or public facility in a country that has already lost too many people to the unsuspected acts of terrorists, malicious students and mentally ill individuals. The clock is confiscated and the boy is suspended from school for 3 days.
But then the spin begins. Instead of heralding the quick thinking and actions of the school and police, Texas democrats call this an example of anti-Muslim sentiments. Immediately, this goes to social media eliciting comments from Mark Zuckerberg, Hillary Clinton and, mirabile dictu, President Obama himself who has enough time to tweet, “Cool clock Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It’s what makes America great.” Actually, America doesn’t need any new ticking “nice” clocks – what it does need is kids with enough common sense by the age of 14 to not bring unidentifiable objects resembling bombs to school.