Paging Simon Wiesenthal

I guess the idea of stimulating your students is old fashioned today. Curious that this story should pop up now due to the fact that I had a discussion with a teacher the other night about this very debate. Not the Bush = Hitler one, but the idea of teachers being restrained from deviating outside Administration policies and thinking for themselves. It was interesting to say the least. During our discussion, she indicated her frustration with coworkers and the forced curriculum for failing to encourage critical thinking skills in those they taught. "Education has become a business...nothing more" she said. How right she is in my opinion. Businesses have rules. Businesses have schedules, doctrine, and single mindedness of purpose that really are not conducive to free critical thinking. A teachers job has therefore become a "chapters are sales goals" mentalilty where success is measured in how far into the syllabus you can get in the allotted time.

Much more superficially, I happen to agree with Mr. Bennish in his rhetorical point of view. As a dedicated student of Military and World History, I know that the argument is at least valid. Bush's propaganda is nearly identical to the platform of the early Nazi movement in it's delivery and dogma. Appeals for action in the name of a greater good, promises of solutions designed for the betterment of Citizen's lives, protection from those that wish to harm us, and the consensus of being backed by God in these undertakings are ALL components of both Bush and Hitler. It is a fact...live with it and let's talk about it from a point of view of how far it might be taken. It is clearly propaganda designed to reiterate the deeply held beliefs of the Party, whichever one you choose; and it's purpose is to mitigate or to re-enforce the mood of the populous. Mr. Bennish clearly stopped short of the huge difference between Hitler and Bush because there is no rationale for comparison in the area of actionable support for said propaganda. George Bush is not advocating and formulating a plan for the ethnic cleansing of 8 million people. He is not BLAMING terrorists and Muslims for U.S. domestic woes, as Hitler singled out the Jews for Germany's. He has no fetish for reclaiming long lost lands, or for reunification of master races and nationalities as did Hitler. Mr. Bennish is clearly exposing what is the truth in the dogma and delivery of historical propaganda in order that his students get a larger picture of the shaping of the World Politic. Critical thinking would allow his students to take that lesson wherever the so desired. They MIGHT then ask themselves "where might this lead?" What might be the cost? What are my duties as a US Citizen in evaluating this leadership and it's direction? There is no "contrary position" to the process of critical thinking. Balancing the content would have dictated that Mr. Bennish portray the normal state of affairs of dullard lemmings. His goal was simply to fire the thought process beyond regurgitation of fact and the study of theory to get to underlying processes not always called on by the average Citizen.