question for teachers about bill of rights [View all]

[scentopine]

How do you discuss the bill of rights in classroom given that our current president has

- decriminalized torture

- legalized indefinite detention without trial

- legalized corporations spying on civilians and giving the info to NSA/CIA/DoD/police

- legalized using military as adjunct police force to apprehend "terrorists"

- endorsed secret military courts

Do you say something like "It's no biggie because Obama and all future presidents are good guys and would make sure that we only torture and lock up bad guys, just like the good presidents on TV (and to prove Obama is a good guy, include pictures of Obama and George Clooney)?

Do you discuss when it is appropriate to torture someone or put them under state surveillance (with a special unit on keeping photos secret)?

Do you teach that protest is really low-level terrorism? http://open.salon.com/blog/dennis_loo/2009/06/14/dod_training_manual_protests_are_low-level_terrorism

Are there special teaching units supplied by the Democratic Party to help parents adjust to the new foundations of a more fascist America? We've invested quite a bit of time explaining why torture is sadistic, spying on each other is wrong, search and seizure is wrong, etc. As "old democrats" do we apologize to our children and hope they will forgive us for teaching them the wrong values?

Maybe dems need to publish some coloring books like "Ollie the Friendly Torturer" or "The Happy Little Drone" or maybe "Mr. Obama's Secret Prison" or "Peppy Pepper Spray" or the more serious "The Dangers of Organized Protest" focused at tweens.

Hand these out with "Mommy and Daddy's Job Now Helps People in India" coloring books at the DNC convention in Charlotte.

Perhaps Charlotte's large population of Wall Street CEOs would be very happy to donate the money for these wonderful new teaching materials. After all, the new democratic party is all business.