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| An argument in favor of disbanding the NEA... |
| 2002-08-19 |
| From the Washington Times... Sorry for the size of this post... The National Education Association is suggesting to teachers that they be careful on the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks not to "suggest any group is responsible" for the terrorist hijackings that killed more than 3,000 people. You mean al-Qaeda didn't do it? Who did? Esquimeaux? Samoans? Did the Japanese come back? Suggested lesson plans compiled by the NEA recommend that teachers "address the issue of blame factually," noting: "Blaming is especially difficult in terrorist situations because someone is at fault. In this country, we still believe that all people are innocent until solid, reliable evidence from our legal authorities proves otherwise." It would seem that blaming would be especially easy, since someone is at fault, unless you don't want to offend anyone by blaming them. Don't we have a vid with Binny bragging about it? And didn't Sully 'fess up? Remember? "Let America be prepared to fasten its seat belt because, thanks to God, we are going to surprise it in a place where it is not expecting." It took less than two days to figure whodunnit last September. Or has the NEA uncovered new evidence to the contrary? But another of the suggested NEA lesson plans — compiled together under the title "Remember September 11" and appearing on the teachers union health information network Web site — takes a decidedly blame-America approach, urging educators to "discuss historical instances of American intolerance," so that the American public avoids "repeating terrible mistakes." Such terrible mistakes as kissing the wife and kiddies goodbye, going to work in the morning, having a bagel, and then being incinerated? That was the tack the less imaginative or cautious academic anti-Americans took in the immediate wake of the attack. In the face of normal people snarling at them, they retreated to their holes, waited for things to blow over, and then cautiously re-emerged. Except for an occasional fisking by bloggers they've since resumed going about their business, the while whining about how oppressed they were when people pointed out how foolish they were. "Internment of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor and the backlash against Arab Americans during the Gulf War are obvious examples," the plan says. "Teachers can do lessons in class, but parents can also discuss the consequences of these events and encourage their children to suggest better choices that Americans can make this time." What was that sound? Socrates turning over in his grave? Or maybe Pythagoras. I dunno. It was one of those logic-loving Greeks. No matter; they're part of the Western tradition, so we don't need to worry about them anymore in a post-modernist world. However, we might modernistically, or maybe pre-modernistically, point out that there is no internment of Muslim-Americans. None. A bunch of detentions, most of them for immigration violations, but there aren't any internment camps. No one's being rounded up, and the Feds are being quite stoopid in their reluctance to "profile" anyone. The "backlash against Arab Americans during the Gulf War" was considerably less noticeable than the backlash against Italians and Germans during the Second World War. And if we have to depend on children to make "better choices" for the nation then we're in biiiiiig trouble, aren't we? That means all the grownups, the ones with the education, experience, world-view, and fully formed brains, have been killed, captured, or taken over by pods from outer space... The NEA Web site list includes more than 100 lesson plans teachers will be able to use to help elementary, middle and high school students integrate how they might remember the day's events through subjects such as art, drama and math. The Web site (www.neahin.org) is scheduled to go live Aug. 26. I can hardly wait to see it. Math? How're they gonna work it into math lessons? I'll bet it's not rendering 15/19ths as a decimal, or subtracting 3000 from 280 million... "America is very much together in terms of remembering September 11," said Jerald Newberry, executive director of the union's Health Information Network. "Americans see their schools as the place that will help their children make sense of these horrific events and move forward as better people." We'll be better people when all the members of al-Qaeda are dead or incarcerated for extended terms, and Jerald Newberry a.) learns how to spell "Gerald", and b.) has a nice job in the food service industry, with free paper hats and uniforms. However, critics said some of the suggestions included in the lesson plans aimed at junior and senior high school students can be seen as an affront to Western civilization. Damn those westerners, picking on the unoffending turban-and-automatic-weapons set. It's no wonder they cut people's heads off and stone their women. It's all our fault because we, uh... we do things. The suggestions and lesson plans were developed by Brian Lippincott, affiliated with the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the John F. Kennedy University in California. Critics argue the proposed lesson plans are a form of "cultural Marxism," in that the lessons defend all other cultures except Western civilization. What's really, really surprising is how unsurprised I am. The clap-trap machine just never seems to shut down, and it never, ever, learns anything. Kaus said it would all be blown over by last November; he was a few months off, but he was right. These people count on the nation having a short attention span, and usually they're right. It'd almost be worthwhile to lose the war to watch some jerk in a turban lop off Brian Lippincott's head — but since I'd be standing in line waiting my turn ("Please form a line so you can be executed in an orderly manner...") I guess I'll pass on that... "A lot of what's stated in these lesson plans are lies," said William S. Lind, director of the Center for Cultural Conservatism for the Free Congress Foundation, a conservative policy think tank. "None of what is mentioned in these plans are facts. It's an ultimate sin to now defend Western culture. It does not matter today whether a student learns any facts or any skills. What matters now is the attitude they come away with when they graduate school." I sure hope that statement's just polemic, but I suspect it's not. We spend so much time striving for "balance" that we never bother looking for "truth" or "justice." And we can just forget about The American Way; that's irrelevant because... because... um... because they say it is. The critics also have trouble with schools teaching about Islam, specifically when teachers describe it as a "peaceful religion." Instead, they say, schools should warn children that the root of the problem lies in Islamic teaching. Ummm... Maybe we could demand a factual presentation of Islam: an aggressive religion at birth, that conquered much of the civilized world and and brought now life to it, then gradually declined into the long night backwardness. Islam has multiple branchs, including Sufism, which is on the decline, and wahhabism, which is growing, propelled by Soddy money and preachers. Wahhabism, rooted in Soddy Arabia, and the allied Deobandi school in Pakistan, intends to conquer the entire world, make all the girlies wear ninja outfits, and make men wear turbans and carry automatic weapons in the service of a divinely-ordained Khalif. Democracy is an invention of the Jews and it'll be tossed onto the ash heap of history. I don't imagine that's what the NEA intends to teach the kiddies about Islam, though. Nope. Nope. It wouldn't be "balanced," would it? "There is no such thing as peaceful Islam," Mr. Lind said. "It says that followers should make war on those who believe that Christ is the Messiah." Actually there are sects of Islam that are perfectly peaceful and even get along with their neighbors. The wahhabis are killing them, too... Phyllis Schlafly, president of the conservative Eagle Forum, said schools should stick to teaching more important subjects such as math, English and science. "There is nothing that schools can add to what happened on September 11, that the children haven't already seen in the media," Mrs. Schlafly said. "They should stay off of it and teach what's true. They should leave it alone." I disagree with that statement. 9-11 is one of the pivotal events of our history, unless we allow ourselves to forget about it. It should be taught as history and it should be presented as a part of our national culture. The passage of time blunts the shock and rage we felt almost a year ago. Eventually it'll be as memorable as the Lusitania, the Maine, the Alamo, and the Siege of Vienna. It's something we must revisit regularly, at least until the war's over. The NEA effort appears to be directed toward not revisiting it, toward letting it recede and become something that happened ever so long ago, when we were so much younger than we are now... Mr. Newberry said the suggested list was compiled by about 200 teachers from across the country after the NEA received hundreds of calls from parents shortly after September 11 asking the schools to help their children understand what happened. Mr. Newberry said that the site will feature speeches that will be read in New York City, including the "Gettysburg Address," the Declaration of Independence, Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" speech and Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. How 'bout a few others? Patrick Henry? "Give me liberty or give me death!" Nathan Hale? "I regret that I have but one life to give for my country!" Thomas Paine? "These are the times that try men's souls..." How about the Constitution? "We the people of the United States, in order to ... provide for the common defense..." — remember that part, NEA? Who was it that actually said "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute." Was it really Jefferson? Or a nameless It also will include a look at using the Pledge of Allegiance; however, no specifics were announced. Oh, good Lord, no! Maybe the kiddies can hum it, so they don't have to say the words and that way no one will be offended... "Our goal is to capture from the patriotism point of view some of the history of the United States where outstanding leaders have spoken to the issues of patriotism and freedom," Mr. Newberry said. "I think it would be difficult to find an American who doesn't agree with remembering September 11. I think these critics are in the minority." Just as long as it's reduced to a flavorless blend of pablum and treacle, eh? The argument is over who's taking custody of the remembering... Muslim groups applauded the NEA's efforts, saying the critics' statements are centered around "an anti-Muslim phobia." Well, there's a really good argument against it. The Muslim groups must be taking the gas pipe as more and more people learn more and more about Islam, especially without their supervision... "The NEA's [lesson plans] provides teachers with a well-balanced, wide range of resources teachers can use to help teach students how to appreciate diversity," said Hodan Hassan, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based Council on American Islamic Relations. "You're only enriching the learning process. The critics' viewpoints will only harm The Children™." If CAIR is for it, I'm against it. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 The Byzantine Empire went for a few hundred years paying "bribes" to various Mohammedan barbarians to keep them from the gates. At the same time they were paying the bribes, their empire was shrinking until eventually all that was left was Byzantium itself, which fell in 1492. |
| Posted by: Fred 2002-08-21 09:30:11 |
| #1 Who was it that actually said "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute." Was it really Jefferson? Uh, Madison I think. And in an almost exact parallel: Europe paying blackmail to some Mohammedan states, the brand-new US going along for about a generation, then going in an kicking some... Anyway, "the Shores of Tripoli" of the Marine Corps is a reference to the same thing, action against the "Barbary Coast Pirates". |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2002-08-21 04:32:45 |