On the web since 1997
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On the web since 1997 |
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A Collegiate ExperiencePhillip Ellis Jackson Ph.D. / www.scifi-jackson.com -- My daughter was in her freshman biology class during the 2004 elections, and had to suffer through the daily rantings of her teacher who hated all Republicans and conservatives. He would begin each class with an unsolicited diatribe about Bush, the war in Iraq, how Republicans liked to starve young children and take away old people's social security --- the typical liberal claptrap you get from a Michael Moore wanabee.After a few weeks of this my daughter and some other students began to talk back. They didn't appreciate him forcing his personal beliefs on a captive audience, particularly in a subject area that had nothing to do with history or politics. This only emboldened him however, and he became even more virulent in his denunciations of Republicans. Finally my daughter (who is not particularly "political", but who does pay some attention to politics and is a registered Republican) had enough. She spoke out loudly when he said that "the difference between Democrats and Republicans is that Democrats rely on facts and not emotions to form their opinions, while Republicans don't have any sense of history or know any facts at all." Because of her strong reaction the teacher singled my daughter out and challenged her to a test to prove him wrong. He said he would select a key event in American political history, and if she could tell him the month and day it happened, she would be excused from class that day and receive an "A" in her science lab. Now, not withstanding the fact that only a liberal Democrat would trade an "A" for the opportunity to make a political point instead of requiring her to actually earn the grade, it shows the vacuousness of his logic when he equates the possession of "facts" with the memorization of a specific date. What difference would it make if US independence was declared on July 3 instead of July 4? The "facts" of this critical event in American history have more to do with the content of the Declaration of Independence, and the colonists' socio-economic ties to England, than with memorizing a particular date on the calendar. Anyway, my daughter figured that she had nothing to lose, so she accepted his challenge. He leaned back in his chair and smiled. "Tell me the month and day Richard Nixon resigned from office in 1974." Without hesitation my daughter answered "August 9", picked up her books and began to leave the room. Her teacher shouted to her to stop, and accused her of bluffing her response. My daughter stood her ground, and he quickly logged onto the Internet to search for the answer. There was silence in the room for about 30 seconds as this man (who interestingly didn't know the answer himself) stared quietly at the screen. Then, without lifting his head, he said in a subdued voice, "you may go." The room erupted in applause, and my daughter left. Later here friends sought her out and asked her how she knew the answer. It was a complete coincidence that her teacher chose that question. What he didn't know was that her father (me), who has a Ph.D. in political science, has always joked that the only way he can remember his wedding anniversary is that it happened on the date Richard Nixon resigned from office. So much for the moral superiority of the Left. When you're consumed by hate and lead with your chin, even a largely apolitical 18 year old girl can bring you down. Phillip Ellis Jackson Ph.D. www.scifi-jackson.com |
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