Malkin: Spy on teachers
Outrageous. Just disgusting.
When Malkin first “broke” this “story” - of a teacher who made some pretty strong anti-Bush comments - I told another blogger that the teacher’s real sin was being an extremely bad lecturer. From the transcript Malkin posted while stuck in Denver, Jay Bennish’s comments consisted of a few good points - for example:
There are plenty of countries that are controlled by dictators, where people have no freedom, where they have weapons of mass destruction and they could be potentially threatening to America. We’re not invading any of those countries!
and
[W]hy 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?!
I’m not sure how a transcriber determines when a speaker is ending a sentence with “?!” - but I digress. Which is kind of what Bennish does. A lot. From the transcript, he’s not using very good judgement - by making so many inflammatory statements with no overall theme or support structure; his flouting of Godwin’s law, he’s over the top and unfocused.
But Malkin has a lot of nerve talking about “brainwashing.” It’s really a disdain for learning that she displays here. It’s a lack of trust in students - to consider what they hear rather than absorb it. And I know, I know, in this day and age, you can’t trust your average high schooler to think critically - which opens up a huge indictment of the state of the school system. Especially No Child Left Behind - but I digress again. Product of the public schools myself, y’know.
But Malkin has a lot of nerve, as I said, talking about “brainwashing.” In her exhaustive (and exhausting) transcript - the “whole, crazy screed” - she leaves off a very important part:
I’m not in anyway implying that you should agree with me, I don’t even know if I’m necessarily taking a position. But what I’m trying to get you to do is to think about these issues more in depth and not to just take things from the surface.
Argue all you want about whether this disclaimer suffices - although considering how many of Bennish’s points are more valid than a neocon would ever give him credit for, it just might. It’s true that, despite his claims to the contrary, he’s clearly taking a position. But at least he says “think for yourself.” That’s what the neocons are really afraid of.
Seriously, who the hell is brainwashing here? Again and again Malkin selectively cuts or misrepresents “official sources” for her own purposes…and again and again her army of trackbackers take forth the message into the world. And again and again Malkin’s take becomes the conservative zeitgeist.
If that isn’t brainwashing, I don’t know what is.
And, from what I read, there is only 20 minutes of tape. Who knows if the “lack of balance” was covered in the untaped part of the discussion.
Comment by binky — March 3, 2006 @ 5:58 pm
Thanks for this! I posted a link to a Rocky Mountain News article on this yesterday and almost immediately a conservative troll took me to task with this “brainwashing” nonsense. I had planned on writing more about this, but you’ve pretty much said everything I wanted to say.
One thing that really got me was the audio clip that Malkin approvingly links to of a student reaction. About halfway through the clip this student admits that Bennish never prevented opposing viewpoints from being expressed in class and that he believed he got an A in the class because Bennish was impressed with this kid’s willingness to challenge him. So, where exactly is this brainwashing?
Ridiculous.
Comment by Kevin Andre Elliott — March 3, 2006 @ 6:15 pm
More on Witch Hunting in Denver
Malkin(s) Watch beat me to debunking this whole nonsense about teacher brainwashing. What’s particularly telling is this little bit of the lecture that has been conveniently ignored by all the people calling for Bennish’s head:
I’m not in…
Trackback by Slant Truth — March 3, 2006 @ 6:34 pm
I can’t wait for this kid to leak some pictures of the teacher waterboarding the less-than-malleable students. I wonder if he makes the students listen to recording of vintage Washington Senators games where Castro takes the mound. Now that would be some top notch liberal indoctrination.
Comment by Ryan — March 3, 2006 @ 6:53 pm
Like K - 12 isn’t an indoctrination?
Funny how “free speech champions” like Malkin squeal like piggies the second the speech doesn’t follow the Toby Keith doctrine of American moral superiority.
Comment by elemental — March 3, 2006 @ 8:02 pm
binky I would say the lack of balance is covered in the part where students, including the kid who taped this and then ran home to his outraged, Fox watching dad, got to ask questions and did challenge the assertions made by the teacher. Malkin even posts the transcript to part of it.
Comment by elemental — March 3, 2006 @ 8:04 pm
Bennish: I think that’s a good point. But you have to remember who’s doing the defining of a terrorist. And what is a terrorist?
Allen: Well, when people attack us on our own soil and are actually attempting to take American lives and want to take American lives, whereas, Israelies in this situation, aren’t saying we want to blow up Palestine…
Silly children. Doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Just read over half the transcript (have to run to class, so I have to cut it short) and I agree with a lot this teacher has to say. It is a shame he’s on probation and this kid is getting his undeserved 15 minutes of fame.
Comment by eb — March 3, 2006 @ 9:23 pm
Should be “child”.
Comment by eb — March 3, 2006 @ 9:25 pm
Here what the students and parents think about Mr. Bennish:
http://www.ratemyteachers.com/schools/colorado/aurora/overland_high_school/jay__bennish
http://www.ratemyteachers.com/schools/colorado/aurora/overland_high_school/jay__bennish/parent_ratings
Comment by MPH — March 4, 2006 @ 12:11 am
Interesting, MPH, that all those comments come from after the controversy. Interesting, too, that I was just able to add a comment about him despite never having been within 100 miles of his classroom.
Are you seriously putting this forward as some sort of meaningful information?
Comment by Auguste — March 4, 2006 @ 8:31 am
Jeez, the teacher got suspended, right? Pretty silly to suspend him, but hey, that’s done. Of course, Malkin(s) will use the opportunity of a single dubious example to extrapolate “brainwashing” across the entire public education system.
It’s like the picture (s)he posted here of a Pakistani kid holding a knife and (apparantly) protesting the cartoons … (s)he uses that image to snidely remark, “What did your kid do in school today? In Pakistan, the little ones got out early…to break out their medieval weapons and wage cartoon jihad …”
Yeah, one picture of one rally is evidence that all children across Pakistan are “waging cartoon jihad.” A picture may be worth 1,000 words, but a picture of one kid doesn’t depict what 1,000 kids are doing, ya know?
Which gives me an idea for a project, Auguste. Dismiss it as silly if you find it to be. But how about you post a picture of a Muslim or Muslim(s) doing normal, everyday stuff, every time Malkin(s) post a picture of a protest?
Comment by Demogenes Aristophanes — March 4, 2006 @ 4:22 pm