The random political thoughts thread (Part Deux)

[BarTopDancer]

Originally Posted by JWBear

And so it begins...

Can you be any more dramatic?

I believe it happened, but I can't find anything in the MSM on it. Got any links that are a bit more factual and less dramatic?

I seriously doubt it's a new generation of lynching. Just some very f'ed up people who did a very f'ed up thing.

[JWBear]

Originally Posted by BarTopDancer

Can you be any more dramatic?

I believe it happened, but I can't find anything in the MSM on it. Got any links that are a bit more factual and less dramatic?

I seriously doubt it's a new generation of lynching. Just some very f'ed up people who did a very f'ed up thing.

Here you go

With the likes of Michelle Bachman stirring up fear of of the upcoming census, why is this surprising? With everything going on, and an important mid-term election coming up, I predict we will be seeing a surge of violence next year.

[BarTopDancer]

Hey Alex, if you're bored can you do some research on the history of fear mongering and violence around census time?

I would, but frankly you're way better at that than I am.

[JWBear]

If you can't come up with any viable ideas to actually help the people you represent, then you do... Well... This.

[JWBear]

Interesting... I find that I agree with him completely.

And throughout the Bush years -- no matter how accurate the left's "fringe" attacks might've been -- liberals were marginalized and laughed off by the establishment press, ignored by certain leaders in our own party and attacked as unpatriotic by the Republicans. Sean Hannity, Tom DeLay and Bill O'Reilly, who are all busily ripping the current president an array of new holes, actively accused the left of undermining the troops because we were criticizing the commander-in-chief during wartime. Ah yes. They abandoned that one faster than Newt Gingrich abandons sick wives, didn't they?

[scaeagles]

I completely agree that it does not mean all teachers are looking to indoctrinate children. I think the disagreement comes from how widespread it is. I posted a link to a different video in this thread of a teacher berating a student for preferring McCain to Obama.

I think this, just like anything made public, is just an example. Kind of like **** roaches. For every one you see there are 100 more. Very little of what really happens comes to light. On the conservative side, I have no doubt that Dick Cheney has told more than one senator (it was a senator if I recall correctly) to f*** off, or whatever exactly it was. He just got caught on tape once.

ETA: How funny. That was supposed to say C0CK roaches, but apparently that word is filtered. Context is everything.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

I completely agree that it does not mean all teachers are looking to indoctrinate children. I think the disagreement comes from how widespread it is. I posted a link to a different video in this thread of a teacher berating a student for preferring McCain to Obama.

To which I again ask, if it's such a danger, if it's so widespread as to actually be likely to happen under your nose in such a cunning way that you wouldn't be able to notice it, report it, and stop it, how can you possibly allow your children near these people unsupervised ever? You brushed the question off before as ridiculous, but you're painting a picture here of a system brimming with people looking for just the right opportune moment to start brianwashing your children.

[scaeagles]

Oh, apparently the video was shot at B. Bernice Young Elementary School in Burlington, NJ in June. That makes me wonder, though, if this was actually school or some form of summer program. If a state funded summer program, though, it's still a problem.

[scaeagles]

I do not think teachers look for opportunities on a broad scale basis. To reiterate, I had two problems originally. One, the speech itself, which after I read it, I said in this thread I had no problem with it. The other problem was the lesson plans provided by the dept of education.. That provided an opportunity for bias (either way, but I make no secret that I think the education system and teachers lean left) to come through in the discussion. I don't think that teachers on a broad scale look for chances to input their political leanings while putting together their lesson plans. However, as with all of us, our biases can and do come through depending in the subject matter, just as with supposedly objective journalists.

[Alex]

So the information coming out about the video is this:

Filmed at B. Bernice Young Elementary School in Burlington New York on June 19, 2009.

Part of a father's day tribute to Barack Obama by children's author and literacy advocate Charisse Carney-Nunes in association with her "interactive digibook" I Am Barack Obama (here, click "books" then "i am barack obama" in left column). So it was not a teacher leading the children in this song. Of course that does not mean it wasn't a school activity.

I have not yet found anything about the specific context of this song but looking at her appearance calendar she frequently speaks at school related events but not as part of the curriculum. Can't find a 2008-09 school calendar but in 2010 the last day of school is June 18, so it is quite possible that Friday, June 19, was still a school day (though quite possibly the last day of school).