Posted on 03/02/2006 2:22:55 PM PST by Conservative Coulter Fan
A high school teacher caught by a student on audiotape in an anti-U.S. and anti-capitalism diatribe was placed on administrative leave after the recording was made public.
In the tape, Jay Bennish – teaching a 10th grade world geography class at Overland High School in Aurora, Colo. – called the U.S. "probably the single most violent nation on planet Earth" and described capitalism as a system "at odds with human rights."
Bennish told students Jan. 29 he found "eerie similarities" to Bush's statements in his State of the Union speech and things Adolf Hitler said, i.e., "We're the only ones who are right. Everyone else is backwards. And it's our job to conquer the world and make sure they live just like we want them to."
"Now, I'm not saying that Bush and Hitler are exactly the same," Bennish said. "Obviously, they are not. OK. But there are some eerie similarities to the tones that they use. Very, very ethnocentric. We're right. You're all wrong.
Twenty minutes of the class was recorded on an MP3 player by student Sean Allen, who can be heard at several points questioning Bennish's declarations.
Bennish has been with the school's social studies faculty since 2000, according to the Denver Post.
An Overland student told KUSA-TV in Denver Bennish's rant was "the usual thing in our school," the only difference being that a tape recorder was there.
"Three quarters of the teachers are anti-Bush – very much so," she said.
Cherry Creek School District spokeswoman Tustin Amole said officials are probing the incident but have taken no disciplinary action. The teacher was placed on leave "to take some of the pressure off of him" during the investigation, Amole said, according to the Post.
After listening to the tape, Superintendent Monte Moses told the Denver paper "a breach of district policy" occurred.
"Our policy calls for both sides to be present ... in the interest of intellectual discourse," Moses said.
The 16-year-old student told talk host Mike Rosen of KOA in Denver yesterday he had been disturbed by the "political rants" he heard in Bennish's class.
"If he wants to give an opinion in class, I'm perfectly OK with that," he said. "But he has to give both sides of the story."
Allen said he often has used a recorder to help take notes.
During the Jan. 29 class, the student argued that the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were responses to unprovoked attacks on American soil.
Bennish replied that to al-Qaida, 9-11 was a response to U.S. involvement in the Holy Land and to missile attacks during the Clinton administration in Afghanistan and Sudan.
In the mind of al-Qaida, the teacher said, the World Trade Center, the White House, the Pentagon and other buildings are "military targets."
At one point, according to the tape, Bennish asked:
Who is probably the single most violent nation on planet Earth?
(Unidentified student responds: We are.)
The United States of America! And we're a democracy.
Who has the most weapons of mass destruction in the world? The United States.
Who's continuing to develop new weapons of mass destruction as we speak? The United States.
So, why does Mr. Bush think that other countries that are democracies won't wanna be like us? Why does he think they'll just wanna be at peace with each other? What makes him think that when the Palestinians get their own state that they won't wanna preemptively invade Israel to eliminate a potential threat to their security just like we supposedly did in Iraq?
Do you see the dangerous precedent that we have set by illegally invading another country and violating their sovereignty in the name of protecting us against a potential future – sorry – attack?
On capitalism, Bennish said:
If you don't understand the economic system of capitalism, you don't understand the world in which we live. OK. Economic system in which all or most of the means of production, etc., are owned privately and operated in a somewhat competitive environment for the purpose of producing profit.
Of course, you can shorten these definitions down. Make sure you get the gist of it. Do you see how when, you know, when you're looking at this definition, where does it say anything about capitalism is an economic system that will provide everyone in the world with the basic needs that they need? Is that a part of this system? Do you see how this economic system is at odds with humanity? At odds with caring and compassion? It's at odds with human rights.
Anytime you have a system that is designed to procure profit, when profit is the bottom motive – money – that means money is going to become more important potentially than what? Safety, human lives, etc.
According to the Rocky Mountain News, the school district first learned about Bennish's lecture Feb. 22 when someone forwarded an online column by Walter Williams. The same day, Allen's father contacted the school's principal, who forwarded the complaint to the district.
The district says its investigation will be completed this week.
As WorldNetDaily reported in November, talk host Sean Hannity urged college students to fight back against left-wing indoctrination in class by recording professors' lectures.
"All you college kids out there, check your state laws, check your campus laws," said Hannity on his national radio program.
"Get your little tape recorders if legal, and I want you to start recording these left-wingers. Bring it to this program and we'll start airing it every single time on this program. I'm sick of this indoctrination. I'm sick of this left-wing propaganda."
Hannity's call to action came in the wake of the case of Rebecca Beach, a 19-year-old freshman at Warren County Community College in Washington, N.J., who, as WorldNetDaily first reported, was rebuked sharply by an English professor for her announcement of a campus program featuring a decorated Iraq war hero.
Related offers:
The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America
On the 'sin' of sending kids to public school
Why homeschooling? New resource gives reasons parent education trumps all other options
Previous stories:
Hannity igniting revolt against left-wing profs
Prof urges fragging of U.S. officers
Ward Churchill protesters claim censorship
GOP students confront Ward Churchill
GOP students confront Ward Churchill
College doctors photograph of gun-toting Ward Churchill
DePaul invites Ward Churchill to lecture
Prof canned after Muslim debate sues
Professor says he 'ghostwrote,' didn't plagiarize articles
Ward Churchill copied 'original' art piece
9-11 professor trained terrorists
Colorado relents: Churchill speaks
Prof: I want U.S. off the planet
Churchill advocated violence against meat industry
Is prof under fire really an Indian?
Colorado legislature attacks 9-11 essay as 'evil'
Colorado governor wants 9-11 prof out
Prof praising 9-11 terrorists on school's chopping block
he's just preparing students for college.
Our tax money at work.
I heard this story on Beck's show, on Rush's show and then on our local afternoon talk show.
They're all "shocked."
Well, I'm shocked that they're shocked.
Public schools are nothing more than indoctrination centers.
If you don't believe it, you're fooling yourself. Pull your kids out, homeschool or send them to a private school, but don't be shocked when you hear of this kind of rant going on in the classroom.
Yeah, heard this on Glenn Beck this morning. Would have loved to be a kid in that guy's class and make a real fool out of him.
profit... ...(as if it's evil); at odds with compassion? So, if a guy makes money, and puts some of it in that little box at church that says, "for the poor" on it, what has he done?
And if you took all the profit away from everyone, then everyone would be a pauper. Except of course for the ruling elite (and their tenured professors). So, yeah, I guess that would solve the problem of poverty, and make everyone instantly compassionate, and well fed to boot! This guy ought to run for office!
Normal for the educational establishment. Full pay for no work for a non-educationalist. Ah, the perk of being a union member.
I suggest looking within your own community, because I today a coworker was telling me about a this guy that ripped off his own mother, he’s a notorious criminal, one of these people that will not get a job, and on one of his criminal escapades – he hurt fell down attempting to cart off stolen goods and hurt his back. So he applied for and received disability (SSI) saying he fell out of a stand while deer hunting – so now he is living off of the rest of us.
The perp.
Sounds like left wing fundamentalism to me.
you deserve to be a proud mother....your son had the perfect answer.
Bennish gets his lesson plans from DU and AP.
Yeah, right!
And I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell ya!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.