A Blog Version Of The Inside Of My Head. The place where politics, film, the media, music, pop culture, and random topics collide in an orgy of neo-philisophical randomness that would make your mother scream.
For those of you that haven't figured it out already, I'm a liberal/progressive Democrat. I know, you're shocked. But, I do also get a kick out of Christmas. I like the lights on houses, the smells of spiced candles, and the occasional Christmas song ( especially Springsteen's version of "Santa Clause Is Coming To Town" - it's not officially Christmastime until I hear that ) so when I hear reactionary conservative lambaste every liberal/progressive this time of year with their faux "War on Christmas" meme, it just further proves that they have little to nothing to talk about.
Then, there are people who take this just one step too far. It seems that some conservatives are wanting to force schools into having children sing carols and perform Christmas plays.
The initiative would require schools to provide children the opportunity to listen to or perform Christmas carols, and would subject the schools to litigation if the rule isn't followed.
Schools currently are allowed to offer Christmas music as long as it is used for academic purposes rather than devotional purposes and isn't used to promote a particular religious belief, according to an analysis by the California Legislative Analyst's Office.
And wouldn't you know that a teabagger is behind this.
she [Merry Susan Hyatt] explained that at her previous school district in California (she's a substitute teacher who lived in Riverside County but recently moved north), songs with specific Christmas content were barred from the holiday party. "We were having Christmas without Jesus," she says, which was just silly. She was unaware of any specific law or rule prohibiting them, but "people were just guessing that they shouldn't do it."
That's right, the group that is "anti-big-gov't" want to create more government that will punish schools public schools that don't abide by this preposterous initiative. How ironic.
The whole point of this is so that people like Hyatt and the teabaggers that she aligns herself with can say that there is proof positive that schools are "anti-Christmas" should they oppose the proposed initiative. It's classic Republican trickery that happens quite often on Capital Hill. They try to put in an amendment that would prevent something that already has legislative backing in order to distract from the issue at hand. So, when a Democrat votes against it, conservatives can say "they're anti(insert conservative talking point of the moment)".
There was a point in time where I considered teaching high school english, but that time passed long ago. However, the thought of teaching 2nd grade is rather interesting. I do have a rather kiddish mentality in many ways, although I fear my lesson plans would soon be replaced with lots of play time.
In my mind, one of the defining characteristics of the liberal movement versus the conservative is how the two groups view history.
Whereas conservatives are more than willing to gloss over or completely ignore any and all moments in history where America wasn't exactly the beacon of greatness they claim it always has been, liberals are open to the entire historical record - warts, scars, receeding hairline, poor posture, diarrhea and all. The who sha-bang-a-bang.
And I find it increasingly more and more bizarre that conservatives label accurately recounting this history of this country as "anti-American". Not only that, but conservative leaders, who have the ability to rearrange, muddle, and rewrite that same history in their own minds, are having a moderate amount of success in making others think as they do.
Recently, Fox"News" took up another torch for the wingnuts that they cater to on a daily basis by examining "bias" in school textbooks.
Now, a group of conservatives in Texas are attempting to reformat textbooks to not only remove people from the historical record, but to add in a religious component:
The Texas Board of Education, which recently approved new science standards that made room for creationist critiques of evolution, is revising the state's social studies curriculum. In early recommendations from outside experts appointed by the board, a divide has opened over how central religious theology should be to the teaching of history.
Three reviewers, appointed by social conservatives, have recommended revamping the K-12 curriculum to emphasize the roles of the Bible, the Christian faith and the civic virtue of religion in the study of American history. Two of them want to remove or de-emphasize references to several historical figures who have become liberal icons, such as César Chávez and Thurgood Marshall.
From removing black figures that have shaped American history, to deemphaziing the roles minorities have played in American history, to even removing the word "democratic" and replacing it with "republican", the conservatives appointed by the Texas State Board of Education seem to favor an indoctrinative process that is attempting to carve away whole sections of relevant American history.
One aspect of conservativism, aside from claiming that public schooling has suddenly become responsible for most of the ills in society, is the way in which those that subsribe to that ideological frame of reference advocate for the "voucher" program so that parents can put their children in otherwise unafforable ( and excoriatingly religious ) private institutes of learning.
What these people aren't telling you is that it isn't a "voucher" at all. By strict definition, a "voucher" is a document that allows you to have something for free - like a voucher for a free sandwich at Arby's. What these school "vouchers" actually are are coupons. With a coupon, you are given a certain percentage off the total price of something. No child gets a free ride from a private school on a voucher. And even with vouchers, these schools aren't suddenly affordable.
But back to conservatives and how they are maligning history.
Glenn Beck is a master of this particular trade.
While other bloggers have easily debunked Beck's migrane-inducing prattlings, it should be pointed out that he is - whether Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity are willing to admit it - THE star of Fox"News" at this point in their history. Resting nicely in that comfortable timeslot before primetime news hour begins, Beck has been given a platform to drastically re-write the history of this country is order to fit into his canted ideology and scare the dress-pants off of the demographic that watches Fox the most - older, white, limited college education, and religious.
But, all this isn't to say that texts in the classroom are perfect to start with. Certainly, the public school systems that most of American went through in their younger years has improved to a certain extent. Though there are some schools that still have outdated texts books in virtually every catagory, we are still a far cry from the goal that all teachers and parents want for their children - comprehensive and accurtate texts and an environment that allows students to flourish, not stagnate.
The religous-right in America has no place in government and certainly no place in schools.
After showing her class the 2002 film adaptation of The Laramie Project, about the hate crime killing of Matthew Shepard, Debra Taylor's high school class wanted to film scenes for a class project. A few weeks later she was fired. Students say it's because the community is homophobic.
