Reply #73: Whatever point the kid had was lost when he failed to inform the teacher

[Catrina]

honestly, that he was taping the conversation. Also, the kid directed the conversation in order to get on tape material he could use to make himself infamous, and it seems, with no regard for the harm he could have done to the teacher's life. Actually, it seems he intended to do harm.

Why are we discussing whether he had a point or not, when the real issue is the Hitler youth movement that appears to be growing at an alarming rate in this country ~ this is not the first time teachers have been baited. A week or so ago there was a story about Young Republicans being paid to spy on and tape college professors in an effort to cause them harm also.

I'll ask you a question. Did the Nazi Youth have a point when, in the interests of national security, they reported that their teachers and/or fellow students were Jewish, or Jewish sympathizers? I know what the prevailing viewpoint at the time was since no one apparently spoke out against it, and may, in fact, have suggested as you have, that despite some discomfort with the tactics, these Nazi spies may have had a point.

Back then, showing some sympathy for the Jews, however subtly, maybe by not outright condemning them, surely didn't belong in any classroom!! :sarcasm:

Imo, what doesn't belong in the classrooms of any Democratic nation is spying on Liberal teachers, about to be the most persecuted members of this society if we're not careful ~

First 'liberal teachers', next they'll be taping teachers suspected of being gay and releasing the tapes to the propaganda arm of the current regime. Would they have a point were they to do that? Surely discussion of sexual orientation would not be proper and a student would 'have a point' were he to secretly tape a teacher who might respond to his questions about gays without also discussing (maybe because the little spy deliberately didn't ask about them) hetero-sexuals?

This little spy asked leading questions to get the answers he wanted, secretly taped the conversation and then ran to Hannity et al to turn in a suspected 'liberal teacher'. What was the point you thought he might have???

I must be missing something here. But assuming I'm not, all I see is Nazi behavior being excused and I find it frightening and very instructive as to how Germany happened ~ something I thought I would never understand, but sadly am beginning to ~

History repeats itself when in incremental stages we apologize for behavior like this rather than learn from the horrible past, that Germany didn't happen overnight. It happened like this, a little bit at a time, because this kind of behavior wasn't nipped in the bud when it began.

Had this student told the teacher 'I want to tape a conversation with you about the war and Bush and then I want to take it to rightwing talk shows' I would have no problem with it. It's called honesty. This was an attempt to 'get' a 'liberal' teacher and the hatemongers were only too thrilled to give it airtime ~ for all we know, this may have been another set-up, eerily similar to what I've read about what happened in Germany.

The only good part of this sordid story is that his classmates had the kind of reaction any decent person should have ~ that gives me some hope ~ although I imagine he's naming names and his classmates may end up on one of Bush's enemies lists. Why is the reaction to this not outright repulsion, especially since we have historical references now for this kind of behavior?

Btw, do we have any similar examples of rightwing teachers being spied on and then reported to the leftwing media? I know I would be as repulsed by that as I am by this were it to happen ~ so I hope it never does ~