Posted on 09/05/2003 1:47:44 PM PDT by CT
If the names Michael Moore and Susan Sarandon don't come to mind when you think of Constitutional Law, don't worry. They shouldn't. But that is exactly who a high school teacher in Lake Oswego Oregon is using to teach a class on the subject.
The first clue that this class on our nation's Supreme Law might be a farce was when my son asked me to sign a premission slip. Curious as to why a class would require special permission, I decided to read the syllabus.
The class is built around three movies that will be shown through the semester. These include Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine"; Susuan Sarandon in "Dead Man Walking"; and the move, "Traffic."
Moore's "work" is intended to stimulate discussion around our nation's gun laws. "Dead Man" is intended to spark questions around capital punishment. And Traffic rounds out the fare with a look at our country's drug laws!
Nowhere in the syllabus is there a suggestion or mention that these obviously biased left wingers will be balanced out with alternative views or materials. Further, there is no mention about the significant body of material one would expect in a Constitutional Law class. No Marburry vs. Madison. No Plessy. No legal precedents. Just pop culture.
As this school year gets underway, I suggest parents out there start asking more questions of their kids about the kind of material they are being subjected to.
It wasn't that long ago that teachers were expected to be as objective as reporters in the way they developed and presented their materials. That is obviously no longer the case -- in school or in most media.
While we have yet to hear back from our inquiries to both the teacher and principal, we now have reason to believe the worst.
The teacher's personal website has a vision for a "world without borders."
And I have lived here a long time. My family pioneered a little town in eastern Oregon. It wasn't always this way.
Oregon has been over run by socialists and liberals in the last 30 years. Many from California, but other places as well.
The Mayor (of Portland), Vera Katz, is a native New Yorker. This is the same Vera Katz that instructed her police department NOT to assist other law enforcement agencies in interviewing Middle Easterners after 9-11.
If we don't fight back against this stuff wherever it appears, we might as well ALL give up!
Interesting choice from an obviously leftist teacher. Even though the nun who wrote the story and who was technical advisor for the movie (and who Stupidandon portrays) is anti-death penalty (as is Stupidandon), the film, to this orthodox Catholic anyway, was far from anti-death penalty. In fact, it could be argued that the unintentional point of the movie was that the killer would have never faced up to his crimes and died in a state of mortal sin had it not been for the death penalty. Losing your soul for eternity is a bit more serious than dieing, which we all have to do anyway.
I know, I know, that wasn't the intention of the film. And I'm guessing that the teacher involved has never thought about it that way either. However, sometimes things don't quite work out the way that you intend (even when you are a Big Hollywood Actress), so the possibility for some unexpectedly lively (and from the teachers perspective probably unwelcome)discussion would be there
Just a thought...
Please ping me when that window of opportunity is open.
Congressman Billybob
Latest column, "We Are Running for Congress -- Maybe," discussion thread on FR.
Sorry, not sure what you are saying.
I have kept the teacher's name out of this in hopes that it does not result in a battle between us and the school.
The teacher and princpal were contacted by us via e-mail, but have yet to respond.
Not being satisfied with silence, I took the issue today to the local talk radio personality, Lars Larson. Lars had been contacted earlier, and had my e-mail in his stack. So he was glad I called.
Lars has staff now investigating, and promised to get to the bottom of things.
The teacher, also an instructor of "political activism" has a list of news sources for research. Other than a token mention of the American Spectator, the entire list is the usual left wing and liberal "sources of choice." NYT, The Nation, PBS, BBC, blah, blah, blah.
At this point I am confident that the story has "legs."
At least you didn't call anyone a NIN-COMPAC.
I am currently teaching Comparative Worldview (biblical vs humanist) class in the evenings at the Air Force Academy Prep School, Colorado Springs. Third year at Air Force Academy. Taught same class at the West Point Prep school for five years.
I also have the privilege of teaching several classes in Colorado Springs to high school, college, and adults on comparative worldviews (biblical vs secular). As I read the various threads, some impress me as good for illustrating different worldviews. So, using some Army terminology, I mark threads as
* SPOTREPS (spot report) - incidents"
* SITREP (situation reports) - &descriptions of the current world scene"
* INTREP (Intelligence Report) - information of an event involving those of the "opposition;"
* INTSUM (Intelligence Summary) provides more general information.
When I get home, I download these reports to a database for future classes to use.
Does that help?
Sorry, not sure what you are saying.
He's bookmarking the thread. Nothing insulting :)
As an update, I am going to insist that he use Free Republic as a resource for study!
Hell, if he can make them use NYT, The Nation, and all that crap, then students can come here and see it debunked and torn apart, limb by limb.
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