Thursday, September 24, 2009

The problem isn't what we did, it's that you found out what we did

I'm sure you know about the video of school children being taught a song that praises Barack Obama. It's been reported by several news outlets. So, what do authorities of B. Bernice Young Elementary School in Burlington, NJ, say? School superintendent says the problem was ... that someone videotaped it:
Superintendent Christopher Manno said in a written statement Thursday that the taping itself was out of order, but failed to address whether the the lesson was approved. "The recording and distribution of the class activity were unauthorized," he wrote in a note to parents and the media.
Read that again. He doesn't say anything about public school students -- that's a school funded by your tax dollars, both New Jersey state taxes as well as federal funds from the Department of Education -- being taught to sing the praises of Dear Leader. No, the problem is that someone taped it. You see, now there's evidence of it. Think about it. If someone told you about this story, would you believe it? You might think it's one of Harvey's Fake News stories. You'd be saying, "Heh. That's a good one, Harvey. It's almost like something that would happen." Only, it happened. They can't deny it. Because it was videotaped. And is on the YouTube. And that's how the left is: "The problem isn't what we did, it's that you found out what we did." Maybe that's the way to handle things. That's how they are handling the ACORN scandal: officials looking into charges over videotaping of illegal ACORN activity instead of the illegal ACORN activity. I wonder how far this attitude could go. Or how well it would have worked in the past...
  • Ted Kennedy: The problem isn't that Mary Jo Kopechne died, it's that you found out about it.
  • Richard Nixon: The problem isn't that I tried to cover up my staff's involvement with the break-in at the Watergate, it's that you found out about it.
  • Jeffrey Dahmer: The problem isn't that I murdered 17 people and ate parts of some of them, it's that you found out about it.
  • That guy getting the ticket on the Interstate last week: The problem isn't that I was traveling 25 miles an hour over the posted limit, it's that you found out about it.
  • The guy that spit in your food at the Waffle House: The problem isn't that I spit in your food, it's that you found out about it.
I wonder how many other ways this attitude could be used to excuse things?

1 comment:

  1. Hi Basil, nice blog you have here.

    Not that I disagree that this is highly embarrassing to the school district, but I there's a bigger reason why the videotape and distribution of said video is a problem for them: I teach, and can tell you that it's illegal to videotape students without express permission. When I did my internship, and had to have one of my lessons taped, I had to make sure the camera stayed above the students' heads, and that their faces couldn't be seen. This is for the safety of the students-- in fact, we're not even supposed to discuss specific students (by name) with others who aren't their teachers or parents/guardians.

    ReplyDelete

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