Fuzziness

FUZZINESS

Though not new, it’s certainly a PR strategy that’s been in the news—for lack of a better term—lately: in America, if you don’t like the truth or anything closely resembling the truth, revise and edit to make things fuzzy. Take a look at corporate America’s latest “fuzzing” of Wikipedia; if they don’t like something, they fuzzy it. Very Orwellian—yes, but I think it's more simple than that because many of the fuzzies haven’t read Orwell. Sorry. Remember: our President’s mantra in 2000 was “fuzzy numbers”; one never knew that that also meant “fuzzy realities.”

Invoking the name of General David Petraeus in the last few weeks as if he were banging his chest at a keg party, Bush has sought refuge in the General’s overseeing of the “surge”—really an escalation—and his forthcoming report on September 15th. Yet, this week we learn that Petraeus WILL not write the forthcoming report; it will be written by—frightening, I know—George. Bush and this team—I’m sure—will revise and edit whatever Petraeus reports; folks, any high schooler well-versed in cheating, lying, editing and revising knows that this is NOT a good thing.

Even Thomas Friedman, who makes me frequently “invoke” my impression of Linda Blair in The Exorcist, knows this is not a good thing. One might think that Friedman would have his pom-poms in a stir for this fuzzy Petraeus report, but no. In today’s column, Tom says it best:

Had the surge happened in 2003, when it should have, it might
have prevented the kindling of all of Iraq’s sectarian passions.
But now that those fires have been set, trying to unify Iraq feels
like doing carpentry on a burning house.

Nothing fuzzy ‘bout that. Love the “burning house” metaphor, Tom. So as Iraq burns and our soldiers yearn to get out, George W. Bush and much of his media continue to smokescreen the American public yet again by “fuzzying” reality to obscure the truth.

ADDENDUM: Please check out this post at Drinking Liberally for a more thorough overview of some of the fuzziness going on.

Classroom Realities Left Behind: Flatlining

FLATLINING

In this age of education reform, in the era of NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND, in this technologically-advanced period that geo-political guru Tom Friedman has appropriately tagged as “The World is Flat,” it’s mind-boggling how much our students DON’T know. Folks, for those of you outside the walls of public education, I’ve got a CNN newsflash. Brace yourselves. Hold tight. Crash helmets on. Get in the launch position: knowledge is out and skills are in. Yeah baby!!!

What do I mean? It’s simple: public education has sided with “skills” at the expense of knowledge. This disastrous approach starts when the cherubs are young. Memorization is de-emphasized, practically gone, replaced with the focus on…skills. The hell with multiplication tables. Screw spelling words correctly. Historical facts? And no you don’t: grammar rules? Forget ‘bout it—and that’s their excuse—the Stalinist proponents of the “skills” doctrine: why do students need to know…things??? Alas, the knowledge deficit sets in.

The truth is skill development is fine but not at the expense of developing and broadening our students’ knowledge. There are so many basic concepts that even the brightest students simply don’t know and haven’t mastered, whether it’s multiplication tables, understanding the three branches of U.S. government, or implementing the basic rules of grammar. What’s even more alarming is that the more advanced areas of learning require some basic mastery of this…stuff. Foreign languages, other cultures, different organizational systems, and global issues are what our students desperately need to know in this global economy, in the Bushie global war on terror, and in this galaxy of globalism. Thus the question remains: in this flat, flat world, why would we ever allow our students to flatline on knowledge?

QUIET AMERICANS

QUIET AMERICANS

Today, I found Thomas Friedman to be, well, flat. In his column, which pays part homage to the undergraduate, graduating class of 2007 and part congratulations to his own daughter who is a part of this class, Friedman paints a rosier than rose picture about the graduates, the world of which they are a part, and the future they have the potential to shape. And he seems to be addressing a small minority of graduates: the wealthy and able.

Mr. Friedman dubs the class, rather one-dimensionally as “The Quiet Americans.” He claims that they probably don’t “take to the streets” to protest because, he suspects, they are “protesting on-line.” He lauds, what he has observed, their efforts of community service, of reaching out, of helping those less fortunate. He touts the number of graduates who have enlisted in the Armed Services, despite the nightmare known as Iraq. He frames their geopolitical, generational conflict as one of terrorism and fear versus optimism and opportunity. In short, he believes that this generation has the “determination” to “extend” their experiences into “adulthood” to become lawyers, doctors, consultants and bankers who need to stay “involved” to fix big problems like social security, globalism, and who the hell knows what else.

Certainly, any commencement speaker or scribe must be positive. And it’s completely understandable why Daddy Friedman wants what any parent wants for his child: a safe and potentially secure future in which individuals can thrive. But what I find so troubling about Friedman’s column is that while his observations certainly apply to some graduates, they clearly don’t apply to all.

Most “quiet Americans” are worrisome about the future. Many of them are negotiating ways to pay, in some cases, exorbitant college loans while trying to secure full-time employment. Many of them are weighing the possibility of graduate work and more incredible debt versus quickly entering the workforce to place professional dreams on-hold. A majority of them are trying to secure a “decent” paying job that will provide affordable health care, some funds or credit perhaps to purchase and fuel a car, and some modicum of independence. And quite frankly, many of them don’t fully understand our involvement in Iraq, before our entry, when we invaded, and now during our stay because these students are simply trying to survive and also because the mainstream media has done a terrible job providing American citizens with fair and balanced reporting on the war. Funny, on Memorial Day Weekend, we still don’t see one American casket, one nation-wide celebration to honor the fallen in Iraq, or one member of the Bush administration to lead a service for our fallen and disabled heroes.

Like Friedman, I believe in our students and their possibilities to do great things for the future. Unlike Friedman, I think most Americans are quiet for reasons other than their “can and will do” potential.

Addendum: Bush attended a photo-op today at Arlington and gave some lame speech about sacrifice.