Only one administration had several chances to capture or kill bin Laden, and that is not an opinion. The Clinton administration took the war on terror as seriously as…wait, there was no war on terror until the Clintons left the White House. Their entire foreign policy was to take no risks, anywhere, and they left all the important issues for the next administration.

Argue all you want about how Clinton’s refusal to do anything about terrorism is portrayed in a made-for-tv movie. It won’t change the salient fact that Clinton refused to do anything about terrorism.

In his last position paper in December 2000, President Clinton wrote that America had “no overriding external threats abroad”. Now he, and the Democratic party, and their herd of followers laughably want us to believe that Bill Clinton took seriously the very threat that did not exist according to…Bill Clinton.

And you people bought the whole sorry, pathetic act. Pitiful, but not a surprise.

I have been teaching since 1977 and have decided I can live the rest of my career without Scholastic products. Nine years until reitrement and Scholastic-free

“I read your press announcement regarding “Path to 9/11,” and I find it unsatisfactory, and actually outrageous. What you call a “teachable moment” still fails to address the central issue that the dramatization is blatant, partisan propaganda, i.e., LIES intended to defame specific individuals, and in doing so desecrates the memory of the thousands who died on 9/11.

There’s no “controversy.” This isn’t an issue of critical media consumption and the difference between a “docu-drama” and a “documentary.” This is an issue of intentional distortion as part of a concerted effort by partisan activists to rewrite history for partisan advantage. It’s sick.

And for you to whitewash your involvement by repositioning your product as a “teachable moment” only underscores your complicity, probably because you can’t stand to lose the money you’ve already invested in the materials. The only acceptable solution is to disassociate yourself from the project. Shut it down. Walk away. Don’t whitewash your involvement. Don’t try to weasel, while covering your backsides. The only place these materials belong is in the shredder. It’s a shame that you continue to damage Scholastic’s good reputation.”

By ukenuke

if they do not, let’s start calling our schoolboards to insist they indefinitely suspend or cancel their business dealings with scholastic…

at least until they provide the same distribution to something of opposite spin. or two. the problem there, though, seems to be giving equal weight to truth and lies. given the average caliber of critical thinking in US classrooms, that means that flashier production values wins.

American Heritage Dictionary –
stu·pid (stpd, sty-) Pronunciation Key Audio pronunciation of “Stupider” [P]
adj. stu·pid·er, stu·pid·est

1. Slow to learn or understand; obtuse.
2. Tending to make poor decisions or careless mistakes.
3. Marked by a lack of intelligence or care; foolish or careless: a stupid mistake.
4. Dazed, stunned, or stupefied.
5. Pointless; worthless: a stupid job.

stupider? I think you may be one of them.

Comment by Ben — September 7, 2006 @ 6:06 pm

Yes, Ben, you are stupider than you thought!

stu‧pid  /ˈstupɪd, ˈstyu‑/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[stoo-pid, styoo‑] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation adjective, -er, -est, noun
–adjective
1. lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind; dull.
2. characterized by or proceeding from mental dullness; foolish; senseless: a stupid question.
3. tediously dull, esp. due to lack of meaning or sense; inane; pointless: a stupid party.
4. annoying or irritating; troublesome: Turn off that stupid radio.
5. in a state of stupor; stupefied: stupid from fatigue.
6. Slang. excellent; terrific.
–noun
7. Informal. a stupid person.
[Origin: 1535–45;

stupider? I think you may be one of them.

Comment by Ben — September 7, 2006 @ 6:06 pm

Yes, Ben, you are stupider than you thought!

stu‧pid  /ˈstupɪd, ˈstyu‑/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[stoo-pid, styoo‑] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation adjective, -er, -est, noun
–adjective
1. lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind; dull.
2. characterized by or proceeding from mental dullness; foolish; senseless: a stupid question.
3. tediously dull, esp. due to lack of meaning or sense; inane; pointless: a stupid party.
4. annoying or irritating; troublesome: Turn off that stupid radio.
5. in a state of stupor; stupefied: stupid from fatigue.
6. Slang. excellent; terrific.
–noun
7. Informal. a stupid person.
[Origin: 1535–45;

Scholastic said it is “changing it’s teachers guide wording”. Do you see anywhere in that statement that they have disavowed themselves from showing this film to children. NO NO NO

Further, the original teacher’s guide has already been sent to thousands of teachers.

Do NOT give praise to Scholastic, like Disney, they intend to promote and encourage this seriouly flawed film as history OR specifically in the case of Scholastic “a teaching tool for critical thinking” Bullshit is bullshit no matter how you spell it.

As an educator who works for an online curriculum company, I can tell you that it is impossible to write materials overnight to accompany a one hour program, let alone a 6 hour program. Also, remember that the final version of the movie is not finished, according to ABC.

In order to write a good supplement to a movie, plenty of support and resources need to be provided. The 9/11 commission report is 585 pages. Students and teachers will need help navigating that document in the context of the movie. They will need additional materials that show the movie’s inaccuracies and biases.

Schools need the proper tools before they let their students watch this movie; I’m not convinced they’ll get them.

My main objection to the whole business was when they decided to try to tell schoolchildren that this is historically accurate. And that would have been the only justification for showing it to shoolchildren because otherwise it would be your tax dollars wasted showing propaganda films to kids. They certainly have the right to tell an inaccurate, unbalanced story loosely based on the events of 9/11. But don’t try to tell people it’s based entirely on the 9/11 Commission Report, when some of the scenes (from what we’ve heard) clearly contradict their source.

Now that the school side of this has been dropped (hopefully), all that’s left is for ABC to totally renounce any claims they made before about this film being historically accurate (assuming they went that far.) Or, failing that, they should at least make clear throughout the film that some of this shit was just plain made up out of whole cloth and bears no resemblance to the truth. Wouldn’t it be nice if a little “BS” symbol came up in the corner whenever a scene that was totally fabricated was on? Then the stupider viewers would know it wasn’t true.

But I’m still not going to watch ABC, or catch any baseball scores or football games on ESPN, or watch “Whose Line is it Anyway” on ABC Family, or watch “The Tick” on the Disney Channel. That’s it. They’ve lost me as a customer.