Left meets right: On Fox News Watch, Neal Gabler and Cal Thomas concur on trumped-up nature of Colorado teacher story
SUMMARY: On Fox News Watch, two Fox News commentators -- liberal media critic and author Neal Gabler, and conservative syndicated columnist Cal Thomas -- agreed that the controversy over a Colorado high school teacher's remarks about President Bush resulted from the exploitation of the incident by a high school student and the conservative media.
During the March 11 edition of Fox News Watch, two Fox News commentators -- liberal media critic and author Neal Gabler, and conservative syndicated columnist and Fox News host Cal Thomas -- agreed that the controversy over a Colorado high school teacher's remarks about President Bush resulted from the exploitation of the incident by a high school student and the conservative media. Teacher Jay Bennish was put on paid leave March 1 after a student, Sean Allen, recorded a lecture in which Bennish compared the style of Bush's January 31 State of the Union address to speeches made by Adolf Hitler. After Bennish's remarks were brought to the attention of a right-wing talk show host in Denver, the story received national attention when Allen appeared five times over a six-day period on Fox News' Hannity & Colmes.
During a Fox News Watch panel discussion, Gabler described the incident as "a case of a non-story becoming a story." Gabler continued, "[T]he parent -- the father -- went to a right-wing blog. Then they gave the audiotape to a right-wing radio show. The right-wing media flogged this story as another example of left-wing infiltration into our schools. Then the mainstream media were bullied by the right-wing media into picking up the story."
Thomas also took issue with the manner in which the story came to prominence. Noting that Allen never made a complaint to school officials about Bennish's lecture, Thomas said he was "very suspect of what the kid did" by "immediately going to the conservative media to make some big point rather than go through the system in the educational department." From March 2 to 8, Allen appeared five times on Hannity & Colmes. Only once during that period did the show host anyone representing Bennish -- the teacher's attorney, David Lane, on March 3.
Allen and his father released the tape to a local conservative radio host, Mike Rosen of Denver-based KOA radio, who aired portions of the tape and posted the audio on the internet. Fueled by conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, conservative columnist Walter E. Williams, talk show host Rush Limbaugh (subscription required), and Fox News host Sean Hannity, among others, the story quickly hit the national media. On the March 7 broadcast of NBC's Today, Bennish told co-host Matt Lauer that, as of that time, he had yet to receive a complaint from any parent -- including Allen's -- about the lecture in which he made the controversial remarks (although the Cherry Creek School District did receive a complaint from a "parent and student," according to a statement the district released). Bennish also contended that the portion of the lecture that was picked up in the media was taken out of context, and Lauer played a further excerpt from the class in which Bennish told his students that he did not expect them to agree with him and that he was trying to provoke critical thinking. Bennish has since been reinstated.
From the March 7 broadcast of NBC's Today:
LAUER: Had you gotten complaints from students? Had parents called, said, "My student's not comfortable with some of the messages you're delivering in class"?
BENNISH: No, I have not. And you know, like I -- like you said, and I would like to reiterate that, this is 20 minutes -- most people are not listening to the entire tape, and this is 20 minutes out of a 50-minute class, and the rest of the class provides the balance.
LAUER: The family here -- the student's family -- didn't go to the school board with this tape. They went --
BENNISH: They never -- they never contacted me. They have still never contacted me with any type of concerns.
LAUER: They basically shopped it around to conservative media outlets, and when they finally released it to one, it created an uproar. And on the tape, you can hear Sean Allen asking you questions that seem to be egging you on a little bit. Do you feel you were set up?
BENNISH: Well, you know, the lecture initially was an introduction to world geography, and we were covering very, you know, stereotypical terms like mental mapping and cultural landscapes. And I was receiving questions from Sean as well as from other students, trying to get me to respond to the State of the Union address that was the night before, and I explained to the students that in the case of the State of the Union, this is applicable to a world geography class, because for many people around the world, this speech might impact their lives more so than the speeches that their own--own leaders give.
LAUER: And after the portion that we've heard, you did say something else, and I want to -- in fairness -- play that portion as well.
BENNISH [from audiotape]: I am not in any way implying that you should agree with me. I don't even know if I'm necessarily taking a position. But what I'm trying to get you to do is to think, all right, that -- about these issues more in depth, you know, and not just to take things from the surface. And I'm glad you asked all your questions, because they're all very good, legitimate questions. And hopefully that allows other people to begin to think about some of those things, too.
[...]
BENNISH: You know, my job as a social studies teacher is to argue alternative perspectives and viewpoints so that students are aware of those point of views. They do not necessarily reflect my own views, they are simply thrown out there to encourage critical thought, so that students are aware that those views do exist in the world, and that they can then contemplate them and decide to make up their own mind. And I would like to reiterate also that all of my students are encouraged to take those types of things and go home, reflect on that and look at other current events, and get extra credit regardless of what their viewpoints are.
From the March 11 edition of Fox News Watch, hosted by Eric Burns, with panelists Gabler, Thomas, American University professor Jane Hall, and political analyst and Newsday columnist James P. Pinkerton:
BURNS: It's time now for our quick takes on the media. Headline number one, "Teacher's Turn." Jay Bennish, the Colorado teacher whose student made an audiotape of him comparing President Bush to Hitler in the classroom took his case to the media this week. He appeared on NBC'S Today show on Tuesday to talk about all the coverage of his remarks.
[begin video clip from NBC's Today ]
LAUER: The reaction you got, is it what you expected?
BENNISH: From the students? Yes. From the national media and the attention from people all over the country? Obviously not.
[end video clip]
BURNS: Neal, is it what you expected?
GABLER: Yes. Actually, this is the case -- it's very instructive, a case of a non-story becoming a story. Because the parent -- the father went to a right-wing blog. Then they gave the audiotape to a right-wing radio show. The right-wing media flogged this story as another example of left-wing infiltration into our schools.
Then the mainstream media were bullied by the right-wing media into picking up the story. And therefore, something that is of no interest really to anyone outside of this small school district is now a national story on the Today show. We're talking about it here.
THOMAS: I'm very concerned about restricting free speech. I'm on the teacher's side on this one, to the extent that the answer to offensive speech is not less of it. It is more of other kinds.
Now, the Colorado school system has a policy about fairness and balance. Maybe this teacher didn't give that, but he should be required to do it. He shouldn't be put on paid leave and suspended, however. And I'm very suspect of what the kid did, and the father, immediately going to the conservative media to make some big point rather than to go through the system in the educational department.
HALL: I think it's problematic in that you have the young man on Hannity & Colmes, and you have the teacher on the Today show. I thought Matt Lauer was too easy on him, saying well you basically [were] set up. But then, the young man goes on Hannity & Colmes and he gets only his side across.
PINKERTON: As Jay Ambrose of Scripps-Howard said [in a March 8 column], Jay Bennish pretends to be a teacher and Matt Lauer pretends to be a journalist on this.
I'm with the kid.
GABLER: What does Hannity pretend to be?
PINKERTON: Well, you can answer that one. I'll just say that this is an illustration of what [Instapundit blogger] Glenn Reynolds has in his new book, An Army of Davids [Nelson Current, March 2006]. It is the fact -- bloggers, tape recorders are making a huge difference in the media. And this case proves it.
another example of Cal Thomas spreading conservative misinformation.
This article demonstrates pretty clearly one of the many ways conservative misinformation makes it to to the MSM. Kudos to Cal Thomas for seeing for what it is.
Needless to say I disagree with most of Cal's conservative stances, but he's definetly not one of the typical Foxites. When he does disagree with one of the Fox's stances he doesn't hesitate to say so. Cal is very conservative but he will argue the issue and not play games.
"Surprise surprise!" (think Gomer Pyle) Is Fox actually trying to be 'fair and balanced' on this one? They actually recognized the exploitation for what it is? Wow.
Media Watch is the BEST program on Fox. I watch it faithfully every Saturday, and it's NOT that unusual to get a fair, balanced&reasonable opinion from Cal Thomas. In fact the ENTIRE panel is a pleasure to listen to.
IMO Bennish overstepped his bounds as a TEACHER in his diatribe by NOT presenting BOTH sides and at least TRYING to appear non-partisan. But I do agree that the youngster who taped him should have brought the issue to the school board FIRST, and NOT to the Right-Wing media--who did of course exploit it for "political reasons".
Did you listen to the audio? Quite honestly parts of it sounded more like a snippet one would have heard from a teacher in the now defunct Soviet Union.
While I'm all for Social Studies in this country INCLUDING all the warts&blemishes of American history or current policy, Bennish should have ALSO included the accomplishments and positive contributions of the USA as well...then open up the discussion to his class to debate. IF a student wanted to compare Bush to Hitler, fine. BUT it's not the place of a PUBLIC school teacher to suggest such a thing. Teachers are entitled to their opinions&free speech--ON THEIR OWN TIME...BUT should remain IMPARTIAL when conducting their classes.
The current administration under Bush has, quite frankly BOTCHED our standing and respect in the world community...hopefully THIS is temporary and will be repaired by FUTURE administrations.
You say "IF a student wanted to compare Bush to Hitler, fine. BUT it's not the place of a PUBLIC school teacher to suggest such a thing." Why not? Don't we want to encourage a frank and open environment for ideas, and help our children think? I heard the tape, and I thought many of the teacher's points were well-taken. Let's have the debate -- help our kids think through arguments and defend positions. It's okay for teachers to bring their viewpoints to class -- so long as they are noted as such and not passed off as either fact or the only valid view.
I wonder IF you'd be so "open" to a teacher conveying THEIR opinion IF they were to have suggested that George Bush be compared to a Winston Churchill (as a poster further down mentioned)?? Or IF that same teacher had told his students that the invasion of Iraq was a brilliant piece of strategy in the "War on Terror" or that EVERYTHING the USA does is wonderful and went on to villanize the rest of the world.
Somehow I'm gonna bet you'd be up in arms.
Teachers should present a fair&balanced lesson, BUT be prepared to allow students to take the discussion wherever it may lead.
And even though I'm not a supporter of George Bush, my opinion on whether or not a PUBLIC school teacher should suggest comparisons between he and Hitler stands. He/She should not...
"I wonder IF you'd be so "open" to a teacher conveying THEIR opinion IF they were to have suggested that George Bush be compared to a Winston Churchill (as a poster further down mentioned)??"
>> Who cares who he's compared to, IF you can make a valid case for it?
"... Or IF that same teacher had told his students that the invasion of Iraq was a brilliant piece of strategy in the "War on Terror" or that EVERYTHING the USA does is wonderful and went on to villanize the rest of the world."
>> Again, IF the teacher can make a case for it, or help the students think through the argument, that's fine. Isn't that the basis of critical thinking?
"Somehow I'm gonna bet you'd be up in arms."
>> Somehow, I don't think you know me at all.
"Teachers should present a fair&balanced lesson, BUT be prepared to allow students to take the discussion wherever it may lead."
>> Yes, they should -- and I don't think the teacher in this case was preventing the students from taking the "discussion wherever it may (have) lead" -- unless it led to be off topic.
"And even though I'm not a supporter of George Bush, my opinion on whether or not a PUBLIC school teacher should suggest comparisons between he and Hitler stands. He/She should not..."
>> You are entitled to that opinion. I disagree with it. We need to make our young people think.
IMO, We should tread very carefully whenever comparing ANYONE to Hitler. For Bennish to do so was both inappropriate & misguided. But I'm more than willing to hear YOUR "valid" points in comparing Bush to Hitler.
I don't support Bush. AND It's becoming CLEARER with every passing day that he's in office that he will likely go down in history as ONE of the worst Presidents. AND if the day ever comes that Impeachment hearing against him begin--I'll be one of MANY here to exclaim HOORAY!! But compare him to Hitler?
Sorry, BUT the Hitler/Nazi thing that is often so prevalent among SOME posters HERE is a turn off. It smacks of an O'Reillyism (my word).
You want a BETTER comparison to Hitler, TRY Iran's President. He may not be there YET...BUT give him time.
Bush has proven to be an incompetent President and he's surrounded himself with others just as incompetent . They've made horrible decisions. They've set diplomacy back 50 years.
But Hitler? Sorry that's a stretch. TRY really thinking about WHAT Hitler did. And WHY he did it.
My son's World Civ teacher does what you have described here regularly, presenting information from a right-wing point of view, and never presents the other side. My son reacts to his teacher's bias by looking up the facts to argue his own point of view, so it works out well. My son took the information about Bennish to school, and his teacher supports Bennish and doesn't think he should have been suspended at all.
I would never make a complaint about a teacher without discussing it with the teacher first...let alone shopping it around to partisan media to see if I could stir up a controversy, as this family seems to have done.
Also, Bennish continues to maintain that he did balance out his presentation in the portion of the class that wasn't taped. The rest of the students in the class seem to support him. The school apparently reinstated him because they found these charges to be spurious. Why then, would you continue to take this one student's word for it that the teacher did not balance out the presentation?
Sorry this has to be short--but I'm at work....
"My son took the information about Bennish to school, and his teacher supports Bennish and doesn't think he should have been suspended at all."...by wanderwoman
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Well that doesn't really surprise me considering your son's teacher is "guilty" of pretty much doing what Bennish did (just with the OPPOSITE viewpoint)
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"I would never make a complaint about a teacher without discussing it with the teacher first...let alone shopping it around to partisan media to see if I could stir up a controversy, as this family seems to have done."...by wanderwoman
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We agree here, as I said in an earlier post, if the youngster and his family had a COMPLAINT, they should have taken it to the school board FIRST.
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"Also, Bennish continues to maintain that he did balance out his presentation in the portion of the class that wasn't taped."...by wanderwoman
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IF that turns out to be the case, THEN this was much ado about nothing. All I ever was concerned about was that BOTH sides be offered to the students.
"Also, Bennish continues to maintain that he did balance out his presentation in the portion of the class that wasn't taped."...by wanderwoman
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IF that turns out to be the case, THEN this was much ado about nothing. - from jeter2
No, if that is the case, then this entire thing is even more of an outrage. It would clearly be a case of a massive dishonest smear of a responsible teacher.
I agree Jeter. There are ways to bring up provocative points in the classroom in a balanced way.
The reason it is important to be balanced in a classroom is that teachers can be a strong influence on developing minds.
Children should learn to think for themselves and not follow a strong personality.
Children should learn to think for themselves........... so they don't grow up to watch Fox News..............
"The reason it is important to be balanced in a classroom is that teachers can be a strong influence on developing minds. Children should learn to think for themselves and not follow a strong personality."...by open_mind
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Exactly!
Open_Mind, you know what really gets me here... THIS crowd is always boo-hooing about the LACK of fair&balanced coverage in the media, BUT they see NOTHING particularly wrong with students hearing a ONE-SIDED opinion from a teacher. This irony obviously escapes them.
I don't believe that Bennish provided a "one-side opinion." It looks obvious to me that he was trying to get his students to look outside their own perspectives to see things the way others might. He wasn't trying to sway the students to what the right is erroneously portraying as his point of view. He was attempting to get them to see why others see their own points of view as legitimate.
I just don't believe that Bennish was haranguing his students with an anti-Bush, anti-American tirade.
I made this case in more depth a few posts after this.
Jeter
1 - Were you able to listen to the whole lecture?
2 - Bennish stated: "I am not in any way implying that you should agree with me. I don't even know if I'm necessarily taking a position. But what I'm trying to get you to do is to think, all right, that -- about these issues more in depth, you know, and not just to take things from the surface. And I'm glad you asked all your questions, because they're all very good, legitimate questions. And hopefully that allows other people to begin to think about some of those things, too."
This statement isn't "good enough" for you in that he was introducing his thoughts to get his students to critically evaluate the ideas and environment that we live in today?
3 - Do you think this is another example of a co-ordinated effort by some to squash any kind of criticism of the current administration?
I personally don't have a problem with what Bennish said - I'd love to hear the entire lecture he gave to hear the full context..
This reminds me of when I was a senior in high school (1982). I was in either my social science or civics class. The instructor was a very interesting guy. somehow we got on the subject of perceptions of different groups in this country.. I remember him saying that until perceptions about people and classes change that (and the discussion in particular related to Blacks in the United States) there would never be a Black Miss America.
I can remember being a bit shocked at the comment. Its the kind of thing where you're brought up thinking that you can do whatever you want to do, aspire to be whatever you want to be and then you get a cold hard taste of reality with regards to how your group is percieved here.
Little did we know that a short time later a Black woman would win the Miss America title.. LOL..
So definitely, even though the observation was a bit shocking to hear, his comments opened my eyes.. caused me to re-evaluate and think about how we are "sold one bill of goods" and how reality can be vastly different.
I hope Bennish did shock some of his students in the same way..
Spin, I'm a little pressed for time here (I'm at work) BUT I'll try to answer your questions as best as I can.
1) I heard the audio MMFA offered here. I'm under the impression (please correct me if I'm wrong) that what I heard was the entire lecture "taped" by the youngster in question .
2) IMO Bennish's "disclaimer" rang rather "hollow" and disingenuous. Listening to his diatribe it appeared what we were getting was HIS opinion. In fact he says : "I am not in any way implying that you should agree with me"...
Now, IF there is proof out there that he has in the past presented some of the issues he touched on from a DIFFERENT point of view, then I'd be more apt to buy his " I don't even know if I'm necessarily taking a position."...It's pretty OBVIOUS what his position is. AND he's entitled to have it--BUT not, IMO, present it WITHOUT a counter opinion to his students.
3) Well, I'm pretty sure the current administration would rather not have PUBLIC school teachers comparing Bush to Hitler, I'm not certain I'd qualify this incident as an "co-coordinated effort" to squash criticism. Certainly the Right-Wing USED it to exploit their *Liberals have taken over the classroom and our brainwashing the children* theory . LOL ;-)
But then again, nothing Bush&Co. do anymore shocks me.
Spin, I'm all for "open discussions" and every viewpoint being addressed&heard....I just would rather see TEACHERS remain as IMPARTIAL as possible. I don't think Bennish did that. And IF there's more to hear of his lecture I'd be very interested in hearing it.
And Pinkerton pretends to be an idiot. Oh wait, he's not pretending.
Why did Media Matters do this story? Isn't Faux News being fair and balanced in this case? I don't come here to see this. I could watch Faux News myself if that's what I wanted.
If it's not here, perhaps you can find what you're looking for elsewhere?
Kudos to Fox News for saying this. This is typical of much conservative mis-information. The student in question needs to be disciplined by the school for his take on diverse opinion. This story reminds me of one a few months ago in California when a religious nut teacher claimed he had been forbidden to teach the Declaration of Independence because of church/state issues. I pray to God this teacher is no longer in business, but the glee with which Sean Hannity pursued this outrageous piece was so disgusting that it was beyond prayer.
Finally, a conservative acting like a conservative.
Any real conservative would support the teacher.
Thomas was paraphrasing Brandeis: "The cure for bad speech is more speech".
Question: If the teacher has compared Bush to Churchill, would we be even talking about this?
How about Bush to Clinton. Would that have caused an uproar? Bush to Gandhi? How many liberals would that have offended yet would anyone in the media have paid it any attention? Or Bush to Achilles? There's another violent historic figure, however I doubt the conservatives would've cared, or known, the significance of the comparison enough to deride it as an outrage. Or Cheney to Darth Vader…oh, everyone’s alright with that one.
Hannity pretends to be a know-it-all, and a "super patriot". He had his chance to serve, and took a pass. People are constantly calling him "a great American". I can't see what for.
I'm really surprised they still allow him on. After what he said about O'Reilly and Gibson's Christmas War, and now this, I'm beginning to like this guy more and more.
It's ridiculous to assert that Bennish was on an anti-Bush, anti-America rant. While listening to him, it became obvious to me almost from the beginning that he was trying to open his students' eyes to other non-US perspectives on, well, everything. I'll bet that if we had more of the beginning of that lecture it would be even more apparent.
Try reading the transcript of his lecture. It's peppered throughout with phrases like these:
If you were Palestinians …
as far as they're concerned…
… when al Qaeda attacked America on September 11, in their view …
And so in the minds of al Qaeda …
I mean, to many Native Americans …
So it all depends upon varying people's perspectives varying. And of course, we're going to see ourselves as being in the right , at least the majority of us, because that's us.
… the Sept. 11 attacks were, according to bin Laden, a direct response to …
… in their eyes …
He's teaching his students how to open themselves up to other perspectives. This is reinforced by his closing comments. Throughout his lecture he compliments the comments of students who challenge him. It's significant that none on the right have been able to challenge any of his statements on a factual basis.
This is a very good teacher whose students will learn to view the world with open minds.
I don't know yet whether the refutations are accurate or not, but someone gave it a shot here
That link isn't doing the trick. Try this.
Neither of your links are working. Are you willing to challenge the factual basis of any of Bennish's remarks on your own?
so I'm not trying to attack him or anything. I think the gist of what he was saying was important and true and was a good starting point to get those kids thinking about those issues.
You wanted to know if anybody had attempted to discredit the facts he stated though, so I tried linking to someone who has. I don't know why the links won't work, but if you google the phrase "dignan dissecting rant", the first result will take you to it.
This guy didn't seem to want to get into the bigger picture (imagine that), but he did a pretty good job of nitpicking. For example...
Bennish: "For over 30 years, America has had soldiers fighting in Columbia in a civil war."
Fact: Military involvement in Columbia began in the 80's.
Okay, so it was 20 years, not 30 ... that lying commie! (sarcasm)
!
knowing that at any time, any one of their students could be secretly recording them in hopes of bagging 15 minutes of fame on Faux News?
How many "Hannity Youth" will be out there armed with recorders waiting to pounce on another unsuspecting teacher?
How will teachers react knowing that at any time, any one of their students could be secretly recording them in hopes of bagging 15 minutes of fame on Faux News? - from pete592
I had the same thought. It's a rather chilling idea. And these clowns are accusing Bennish with trying to brainwash students?
References to the Soviet Union, Jeter? That is pathetic enough, but why don't you just call him a communist?
If the goal should be fair & balanced teaching, which facts should be taught? Should we organize committees to decide which viewpoints are relevant? To maintain impartiality, should teachers/professors be fired for expressing their views in the classroom or in public?
Was Bennish's assertion inappropriate or irrelevant to the class subject matter? That's an issue best handled by the school and the parents, not by the casually informed public. What we don't need is more standardized teaching to the detriment of the development of critical thinking.
CD
Jeter2,what can you tell me me about the 30 or so minutes that haven't been heard? Do you or your hero Hannity have some secret brainbeam that heard the rest of the tape? Did you know that Hannity is famous for holding one in his mouth till it goes soft?
Conservatives, like Jeter, just don't like freedom of thought. They don't like freedom of speech, they don't like freedom of independent scientific research, they really don't like freedom.
Call it what it is: conservativism is facism all dressed up to look different.
As for Cal Thomas, this one agreement of the obvious in no way erases his long history of supporting facism.
In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, I became painfully aware of just how ignorant of the world many of our young people are.
My students (college freshman/sophomores) were absolutely shocked to learn that the whole world doesn't admire and respect and want to be us. They had never been introduced to the notion that people in other parts of the world might not like our foreign policy. They were horrified to learn that other countries don't necessarily think we know what's best for them.
How did they come to be so insulated from the reality that America's high opinion of itself as a bastion of All That is Good isn't universally held? Maybe it's because their parents don't know or don't acknowledge it. And they certainly don't get it from the MSM. At least here in the heart of redstateland, we merit an F in political awareness.
Of course I can only speak from my own experience as an educator, but I believe that our young people are frightfully ignorant of the world as the result of never having been encouraged to consider things from other points of view. They don't know history, they don't follow current affairs, they really don't even have a clue that their personal actions have a very real effect in the world. It's almost as though they exist in a vacuum.
If teachers do not help students to discover and understand other points of view, this country will continue to disintegrate into a mass of non-thinking, flag-waving, foreigner-hating hawks who believe the rest of the world is lucky if we decide to let them live.
Am I a little bitter? You bet I am. This ridiculous knee-jerk reaction to the possibility that kids might be exposed to something besides the "hurrah, we're America and we can do no wrong" point of view really riles me. Just look where this kind of crap has gotten us since 2000.
If the teacher got up on his soapbox and delivered a 50 minute diatribe against Bush, that's one thing. If the teacher encouraged his students to understand that there is always more than one way to look at an issue, then he's doing his job and should be left the heck alone. If Bush's rhetoric provided the basis for an uncomplimentary comparison, well, just consider how much negative fodder his regime has produced.
And no, I don't hate America. I don't hate Americans. But I do confess that, of late, I am much less proud to be one than I used to be.
We've got to teach our kids to think or we as a nation are sunk. Making a big deal over something like this is certain to shut down lots of teachers who might just want to teach those kids how to figure out the "making it better for all people" part.
Well put DEHA.
It makes me feel a little better that your students, at least, have you.