Originally posted by JayinAR
reply to post by redmage
No, there is no actual crime here.
Exactly! You're catching on!
Originally posted by JayinAR
The "crime" I refer to is the offense that has people up in arms.
Yes; however, the "offense" is a figment of the accusers' own imaginations.
Originally posted by JayinAR
And once again, that crime may have not been a mandate from the top. But that doesn't matter.
So now, regardless of who does (or doesn't) commit a "crime", it's accepted as being ok to just arbitrarily take it out on whoever we don't like
based on partisan lines. Genius! You're coming through loud and clear. After all, who reallly cares if a "crime"
actually occured as long as
we can still blame it on whoever we don't like, and drum up some fear and anger at the same time!
Originally posted by JayinAR
Meaning that while the President may have not ORDERED teachers to follow his "outline" for discourse on the subject, it WAS SUGGESTED!
So close, and then it all fell apart...
Yes, it was suggested that teachers use the materials that the U.S.E.D. and White House came up with; however no, people are not pissed simply because
it was suggested for use. People are pissed over all sorts of partisan spun interpretations of the content without the
context of the
accompanying video. They're letting their fear and anger get the best of them because of unsupported strawman arguments. Let's look back at the
article once more.
Source
Presidential aides acknowledged the White House helped the U.S. Education Department craft the proposal, which immediately was met by fierce criticism
from Republicans and conservative organizations who accused Mr. Obama of trying to politicize the education system.
(bolded by me)
Some people are pissed because partisan hacks are telling them that "White House help" instantly equates to "trying to politicize the education
system". Evidence to support this accusation? Just a few half quotes without the context of the accompanying video such as "write letters to
themselves about what they can do to help the president.". To help the president do what? Convince kids to stay in school? Conserve energy? Tie his
shoes? Eat a cheeseburger? Doesn't say, nor does it matter. The only thing that matters is to keep the partisan diatribe flying by instilling fear of
the unknown.
Back to the article...
Source
The novel curriculum plan brought sharp criticism from conservatives, including some who complained that classrooms were being used to spread
political propaganda.
Others are pissed about classrooms being used to spread political propaganda. Now there's something I can actually get behind! Show me the political
propaganda! What? They couldn't even cite
one instance of "political propaganda" in the materials? Oh well, as long as we still get to
complain about propaganda I suppose it doesn't matter if there's no actual evidence to cite!
Back to the article...
Source
Mr. Vietor said the reaction to the lesson plan may not have been so strong had the curriculum been circulated after people heard the speech, which he
said does not mention any political issues and does not stray from a clear message encouraging children to excel and stay in school.
The speech is "about the value of education and the importance of staying in school as part of his effort to dramatically cut the dropout rate. It's
not a policy speech," Mr. Vietor said.
Bah! Boooooooring! We don't need the context of the speech to get enraged!
Hmmmmm... "no mention of political issues", "encouraging children to excel", "cut the dropout rate",
and it's "not a policy speech"?
Oh no he didn't!
Slim pickins for evidence of "political propaganda" there, but that's fine because merely the accusations and fearfull tones have already started
their snowball effect! Lets get FURIOUS!!!!! RAWR!!!!!!
Back to the article...
Source
Critics of the president argued that some of the messages included in the "menu of classroom activities" strayed dangerously close to politicizing
the classroom.
Perfect! Which ones? What? None cited? Doh! That's fine lets just add some power phrases to charge people up!
"Dangerously close", that's GREAT! This way we can still invoke fear without
actually making the unsupportable claim that he
is
politicizing the classroom!
Hmmm, maybe I could apply this skill to other areas....
I've got it! I could start saying that each time I chop vegetables the blade comes "dangerously close" to my fingers! Less than an inch! Power
phrases are so amazing that it doesn't even matter if I didn't
actually cut myself! I bet I'll get all the ladies using my newfound skills
to invoke a little of that sultry "danger factor" that drives 'em so wild!
Back to the article...
Source
"While I support educating our children to respect both the office of the American president and the value of community service, I do not support
using our children as tools to spread liberal propaganda," said Jim Greer, chairman of the Florida Republican Party.
Yeah! That's more like it! Using our children as tools to spread propaganda is bad! Also, puppies are cute, water is wet, and a bunch of other stuff
people can universally agree with me on!
Wait, you mean to tell me that he never
actually accuses the president of "using our kids to spread propaganda" here? Hmmmm.... That's fine.
The missing nuance is so subtle, the fearmongering is so expertly crafted,
and the timing is so perfect that
very few people will even
notice! Toss it in! It's so perfect that it's SURE to fire people up! RAWR!!!!
Hhmm, what else....
Source
The conservative radio host Dana Loesch even urged parents to keep their children home on Tuesday, the day Mr. Obama's speech is schedule to
air.
Perfect! Lets drop the idea to keep children home in protest too! Once that snowball-of-fear gets big enough I bet no one will even realize how it
sounds when they say "I'm sheltering my children from the unfounded notion of politics by having them participate in an act of civil
disobedience!".
I mean heck, we've
already got them shouting claim's of indoctrination when none of the data supports the idea that the speech itself is even
political in nature! If only my dogs were this easy to train!
Back to the article...
Source
Not everyone was outraged by the president's decision to send a videotaped message to America's schoolchildren - something President George H.W.
Bush did 18 years ago....
"The president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning," Mr. Duncan says in his
letter.
Of the activities, Mr. Duncan added: "These are ideas developed by and for teachers to help engage students and stimulate discussion on the
importance of education in their lives."
Yawn, boring, and blah. Oh well, I think there's still enough in the earlier bits for people to get so worked up that they'll glaze right over this
and the other useless fluff. After all, it's now acceptable to just arbitrarily take out all of our artifically created fear and anger on whoever we
don't like regardless of who does (or doesn't) commit a "crime"!
[edit on 9/4/09 by redmage]
That's pretty great. Maybe this isn't a right wing site after all! 
