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High schooler objects to ‘Sicko’ final exam, says teacher called her a ‘Teabagger’ in front of class

9:03 PM 05/19/2010
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There’s nothing wrong with the fact Debra Blessman kept secret from her students the name of the film she would require them to watch and analyze during finals week at Francis Howell High School. Today, however, the teacher might be wishing she had not kept her superiors in the St. Charles, Mo., school district in the dark about it. She planned to base final exams on the Michael Moore film, “Sicko“.

Apparently, however, Blessman did not expect any of her students to raise objections about the film. But one did.

Full story: » High Schooler Objects to ‘Sicko’ Final Exam, Says Teacher Called Her A ‘Teabagger’ in Front of Class – Big Government

Tags: Cinema of the United States, Film, Michael Moore, Missouri, Teacher
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  • oeno

    The teacher shouldn’t have been teaching any documentary in a Literature and Composition course (especially to a Senior class)in the first place. Plenty of early 20th-century American literature of a leftist bent that she could have chosen from to use for the final. That is perhaps the most embarrassing part of the story.

    If the teacher said what she said, she should be properly disciplined. Disparaging a student in front of the class with a sarcastic tone, even without the pejorative, is uncalled for, period. She should have had the student wait until after class to explain that attending a Tea Party rally is in no way comparable to civil disobedience, let alone like the marches of MLK. She’s young, so comparing herself to MLK can be chalked up to a combination of being young and ignorant.

    • des1

      “She’s young, so comparing herself to MLK can be chalked up to a combination of being young and ignorant.”

      I’m not sure why you say that. She didn’t say that her participation was equivalent to MLK’s civil rights marches, only that she compared the two. For all we know, her comparison could have been, “I was inspired to participate in something that would see me faced with slurs and anger because of a man who faced much worse.”

      It seems you’re jumping to a conclusion, and I’d guess it’s because you don’t want this story to be a complete negative for the Left (although that’s only my conclusion, so you’re welcome to correct me). If her comparison was something on the lines of, “My march was just like MLK’s marches,” then I’d have to agree with you, however there is nothing to indicate that’s what she said.

      • des1

        People need to get over the knee-jerk assumption that every time you make a comparison you are saying the two are the same thing. I’ve heard plenty of people compare the propaganda and lack of transparency of the current White House to Socialist or even Nazi regimes, which while a stretch, can be a discussion worth having. Of course the immediate reaction of someone who is a supporter is, “You’re calling Obama Hitler! Are you insane?”

        It can be interesting to compare two things which on the surface have little in common, that have undercurrents that are uncomfortably similar as Jonah Goldberg did in his book Liberal Fascism.

        • oeno

          There is nothing knee-jerk about saying that “comparison” has a certain definition. The great thing about making historical comparisons is you have to actually back them up with some sort of facts. I haven’t read Goldberg’s book, but even conservative commentators thought he was out on a limb sawing away at the branch. I have this horrible habit of reading historians of the movements (yes, Fascism as a singular makes sense only in the context of discussing early 20th century Italy) who spend their time in archives.

      • oeno

        It’s late, but it is foolish for her to “compare” her attending a Tea Party rally to MLK. Just look at the word (because I’m to tired to look up the etymology at the moment) with “par” (Latin for equal) right in the middle. I went for a walk today. Jesus went for walks. More evidence that her Literature and Composition course did her no good whatsoever.

  • jonavark

    DO the report. Include details like:

    Michael Moore uses NON_UNION labor in his docs.
    Michael Moore twists facts to suit his agenda. This makes his work propagnada. Not documentaries.
    Michael Moore, while complaining about capitalism, is one of the richest documentarians in the world.
    Many entities have done exhaustive work pointing out lies and untruths in his work. Highlight that.

    Then, after that is done file a civil suit against the teacher for calling you a teabagger. Take her job, her home and her income away for ten years.

    That ought to just about do it..

    Oh.. one more thing.. Make a documentary about it all as you do it.

  • rogueone

    First of all if you need Michael Moore joke-a-mentary as curriculum to teach your class, your not smart enough to be teaching. Second of all the student who was called a tea bagger, should carry the title with honor, for history will show that the tea party was instrumental in saving America’s future,

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