Mary's Contraries for October 16, 2012, the Debates and T-Shirt Edition, by Mary Grabar: In addition to the deconstruction of liberals' debating strategies in Townhall today, Dissident Prof wonders: Should teachers allow their students to watch last Thursday's vice presidential candidates' debate? Would you want a classroom of fifth-graders watching the Vice President of the United States rolling his eyes, smirking, and guffawing with contempt for his opponent?
Yet, the Obama administration began with a 19-month, 50-state "civility tour," by Jim Leach, head of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Then the Justice Department along with the Education Department bore down on "bullying." During their debates, both President Obama and Vice President Biden bragged about education funding, primarily for Common Core, a federalized curriculum that dumbs down standards by replacing objective standards with subjective evaluations of "collaboration" and "civil discussion."
Yet, Obama campaigners are coming into classrooms to recruit students, promising classroom credit. Education Week (mouthpiece for the crony capitalist Bill Gates/Department of Education nexus) reports that "Biden Hits Ryan for Education Cuts in VP Debate."
But when a student wears a Romney/Ryan t-shirt and the teacher slurs her, everyone is at fault. That was the reaction of the administration at Charles Carroll High School in Philadelphia in response to teacher Lynette Gamon calling 16-year-old Samantha Pawlucy a Ku Klux Klan member and saying that the public school was a "'Democratic school.'" Consider this Orwellian statement by School Superintendant William Hite released in response to news that the teacher is being investigated:
“The Carroll High School Community — students, teachers, administrators, parents and neighbors — recently has been pulled into an argument that drove a wedge between families, friends and classmates. This has been disruptive and hurtful for a school whose success is drawn from its diverse and close-knit student body. And it has been particularly distressing to the Pawlucy family, whose daughter was targeted for simply expressing herself by wearing a T-shirt.”
Step One: Pretend that a place that is hostile to conservatives is one big, happy family.
“Over the next couple of weeks, I will join Mayor Michael Nutter and Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Jerry Jordan in working directly with the Carroll High School community to assist them in moving away from a divisive and damaging discourse towards a conversation that brings together diverse beliefs, inspires understanding, and heals.”
Step Two: Dramatize and blow out of proportion, so attention is drawn away from the simple infraction. Bring in the mayor and teachers union president so that everyone will think of this as a "tragedy" on the order of a tsunami or earthquake, instead of a simple abuse of a dissenting student.
"Our efforts will not take away from the hard lesson learned when an educator acts thoughtlessly. We all concur that there is no room for that type of behavior from adults, especially in a classroom.”
Step Three: claim "thoughlessness," a lapse from an otherwise fair-minded teacher.
“We will also support and stand by Samantha Pawlucy, Lynette Gaymon and all of the children and adults who have become targets of hatred and venom by individuals who demand that a wrong be righted with another wrong. There is no room in our community for that type of behavior, and we will not let it take root in our schools."
Step Four: Lump everyone into the group of victims, perpetrator and actual victim, so there is no difference. Get sympathy for the perpetrator.
“Going forward, both as a school community and city, we will celebrate, embrace and respect our differences, and learn and grow from this teachable moment.”
Step Five: Move on. No harm done! We are moving "forward," celebrating, embracing, learning, and growing. Who could argue with that? And what is school, but a series of "teachable moments"?
That's what educrats do these days when a liberal bullies a conservative: pull out as many buzzwords as possible from the seminars on "Diversity and Inclusiveness" (paid for by taxpayers for "continuing education"), put them into the EduMixamatic, and blend for 90 seconds. The resulting verbal mush is guaranteed to make your listeners forget about the original problem under discussion: a teacher singling out a student for her political views. All are victims--student Samantha Pawlucy, teacher Lynette Gaymon "and all of the children and adults who have become targets of hatred and venom by individuals who demand that a wrong be righted with another wrong."
What is scary is that this superintendant presents the dominant view of educrats from Washington on down who seek to obscure abuse by leftists into a general blame. The strategy goes along with the anti-bullying initiatives coming from the Department of Education and the Department of Justice. The goal is not to stop bullying, but to change the behavior and the thinking of students who do not bully. The aim is to diffuse blame onto the entire group for the crimes of individuals, get everyone to feel guilty for imagined crimes, like being "exclusionary." Have we seen this play before in history?
It makes you wonder who the real bullies are.
Back in FrontPage Magazine on Obama's Predetermined Place in History with my article, "How Will History Remember Obama's 'Cairo Speech?" As the subtitle says, "the history books are already being written." In fact, they have been prewritten, as the Dissident Prof Guide Book explains. History is made when the events don't fit the narrative foretold.
Sad News: Historian and friend Eugene Genovese died on September 26. I got to know him through occasional lunches and am glad for the opportunity. I will miss him. Tina Trent knew him and his late wife Betsey Fox-Genovese quite well and has a lovely remembrance here at TinaTrent.com.
Thank you, Bill Poplaski, for your donation to Dissident Prof.
