DC Loses Another Terrific Teacher

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:@12:40

Actually yes, I worked with many individuals who had served in the military and rarely did they talk about it in class. I was one of them and on many occasions I told students not to join ROTC because they didn't truly understand why they were joining the military. Reiner lives in a fantasyland. What happened after the North Vietnamese pushed into South Vietnam? Did they open fucking Disneyland? Ask any middle aged Vietnamese professional you see walking the streets of DC. Do you remember the Killing Fields?

I'm not sure I follow your logic. Riener cut off his thumb to avoid going to Vietnam presumably because it was not Disneyland. It's not like he was alone in avoiding service there. You can argue with his method. Perhaps he should have followed more in the footsteps of Dick "Five Deferments" Cheney who, as you'll remember, "had other priorities".

[Anonymous]

My logic is to keep your political commentary out of the classroom or at least have the decency to present both sides of the argument if your are able and it is relevant to what is occurring in the class. If not shut your mouth and teach not preach. And Dick Cheney, I agree another conservative coward. So what's your point? Mine is shut-up and do your job. I don't care about your sexual orientation, your religion, your economic status, or your hackneyed and obviously biased view about world events.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My logic is to keep your political commentary out of the classroom or at least have the decency to present both sides of the argument if your are able and it is relevant to what is occurring in the class. If not shut your mouth and teach not preach. And Dick Cheney, I agree another conservative coward. So what's your point? Mine is shut-up and do your job. I don't care about your sexual orientation, your religion, your economic status, or your hackneyed and obviously biased view about world events.

Exactly.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:My logic is to keep your political commentary out of the classroom or at least have the decency to present both sides of the argument if your are able and it is relevant to what is occurring in the class. If not shut your mouth and teach not preach. And Dick Cheney, I agree another conservative coward. So what's your point? Mine is shut-up and do your job. I don't care about your sexual orientation, your religion, your economic status, or your hackneyed and obviously biased view about world events.

I just reread this entire thread. Nowhere does it say that Riener talked about Vietnam, his sexual orientation, his religion, or his economic status, or anything else you seem to think he talked about. It appears that your message does more to demonstrate your own bias and preconceptions than it does Mr. Riener's.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:@12:40

Actually yes, I worked with many individuals who had served in the military and rarely did they talk about it in class. I was one of them and on many occasions I told students not to join ROTC because they didn't truly understand why they were joining the military. Reiner lives in a fantasyland. What happened after the North Vietnamese pushed into South Vietnam? Did they open fucking Disneyland? Ask any middle aged Vietnamese professional you see walking the streets of DC. Do you remember the Killing Fields?

I'm not sure I follow your logic. Riener cut off his thumb to avoid going to Vietnam presumably because it was not Disneyland. It's not like he was alone in avoiding service there. You can argue with his method. Perhaps he should have followed more in the footsteps of Dick "Five Deferments" Cheney who, as you'll remember, "had other priorities".

I remember the Killing Fields. They're in Cambodia, not Vietnam.

[Anonymous]

How do people know the story about his thumb?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do people know the story about his thumb?

It's not his thumb, it's a finger and it was mentioned in the Examiner article. I don't know, but I can imagine kids asking "what happened to your finger" and him giving a simple response.

As for the former military person here who advised his students to avoid ROTC, fine, but that's somewhat of a political statement too.

I've known teachers to share certain information about their personal lives because they think it's relevant to their students. In some cases they might be wrong about that, but I think the concept of sharing some personal information is fine. Good in fact. Personal, as in non-widget-like.

[Anonymous]

It was mentioned in a comment someone claiming to be a former student made on the Examiner article. Who knows if it is a true story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:@12:40

Actually yes, I worked with many individuals who had served in the military and rarely did they talk about it in class. I was one of them and on many occasions I told students not to join ROTC because they didn't truly understand why they were joining the military. Reiner lives in a fantasyland. What happened after the North Vietnamese pushed into South Vietnam? Did they open fucking Disneyland? Ask any middle aged Vietnamese professional you see walking the streets of DC. Do you remember the Killing Fields?

I'm not sure I follow your logic. Riener cut off his thumb to avoid going to Vietnam presumably because it was not Disneyland. It's not like he was alone in avoiding service there. You can argue with his method. Perhaps he should have followed more in the footsteps of Dick "Five Deferments" Cheney who, as you'll remember, "had other priorities".

I remember the Killing Fields. They're in Cambodia, not Vietnam.

Which as we all know had nothing to do with the conflict in Vietnam.

Do they teach history in schools anymore?

[Anonymous]

Really? Nothing? If we hadn't lost Viet Nam, perhaps it wouldn't have invaded Cambodia.

[Anonymous]

And if we hadn't bombed Cambodia, perhaps it would have been just a little bit more stable.

(But I think that the "nothing to do with Vietnam" comment was meant to be sarcastic.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really? Nothing? If we hadn't lost Viet Nam, perhaps it wouldn't have invaded Cambodia.

Do they teach irony in schools anymore?

[Anonymous]

No, irony is not on the standardized test.

[Anonymous]

Of course I'm well aware of the location of the Killing Fields. My point: bad people exist and they will sometimes do bad things. And my point about ROTC/military service is that students shouldn't go into it just for money. The ultimate mission of the us service member is to locate, close with and kill the enemy not get money for college so you need to be aware of the ramifications of signing on the dotted line. This is the War Corps not the Peace Corps son. Once again, let me make it simple. Teaching should not be paid psychotherapy. Work out your issues on your own damn time. When you have my kid teach him/her to read write and add and subtract. Trust me, I'll handle the moral part. Riener, in his on-line letter, refers to the evaluation process as "silly and absurd." If you ask me anybody who must be ordered to put a clock in his classroom or enforce school rules and loses his job because of his petulance is silly and absurd.

[Anonymous]

<i>The ultimate mission of the us service member is to locate, close with and kill the enemy...</i>

Well, no. Actually, most military personnel are in support roles nowadays. The ultimate mission of a supply officer is not to locate, close, and kill the enemy.

You may have watched too many Rambo flicks...