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2003-09-30 -Short Attention Span Theater-

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Posted by Yosemite Sam 2003-09-30 1:55:21 PM|| || Front Page|| [11134 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 How could someone so idiotic even manage to get a job teaching young adults? This guy needs a brain transplant stat!

Posted by Dar 2003-9-30 2:01:43 PM|| 2003-9-30 2:01:43 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 If you cheer the nazis, even in jest, expect to be booed. Unless you live in "Palistine" in which case if you boo the nazis you get a toe tag.

Posted by Katz 2003-9-30 2:06:17 PM|| 2003-9-30 2:06:17 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 âWe had an error in judgment,â band director Charles Grissom told the Dallas Morning News.

Students: "What's this 'we' stuff, kemosabe?"

The only possible explanation I can think of that involves an IQ higher than room temperature is that the director has seen "The Producers" and thought it was a documentary...

Posted by snellenr 2003-9-30 2:06:19 PM|| 2003-9-30 2:06:19 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 Dar,

Three words: National Education Association.

(i.e. the 'Teachers Union').

Posted by CrazyFool 2003-9-30 2:06:43 PM|| 2003-9-30 2:06:43 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 um, they weren't "cheering the nazis". They were doing a WWII-themed show. Going to be kinda hard explaining to your children what all the fuss was about winning that one, after you've purged all references to the asshats who started it.

Posted by BH 2003-9-30 2:13:07 PM|| 2003-9-30 2:13:07 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 and actually, Haydn's Jupiter Suite (containing the march that became D Uber Alles) was more of a WWI song and was suppressed thru much of the Nazi regime in favor of Nazi songs

Posted by mhw 2003-9-30 2:24:43 PM|| 2003-9-30 2:24:43 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 BH--Perhaps they could have chosen a better time and venue to present their little interpretive dance than halftime at a ballgame on Rosh Hashana. Sending a student running onto the field waving a Nazi flag is a good way to collect buckshot.

Posted by Dar 2003-9-30 2:35:57 PM|| 2003-9-30 2:35:57 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Yeah, didn't they remember that Texas is a concealed carry state?

Posted by Steve 2003-9-30 2:49:14 PM|| 2003-9-30 2:49:14 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 Dar - so if they had waited a day, it would have been okay? I'm not familiar with the bustling metropolis that is Paris, Texas, but I'll throw a swag that there are any Jews in the band that could have clued them. Your post suggests that EVERYBODY should know the Jewish holidays and suffer violence if they give offense. How do you say sharia in Hebrew?

Posted by BH 2003-9-30 2:54:53 PM|| 2003-9-30 2:54:53 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 correction - that should have been 'there are no Jews'

Posted by BH 2003-9-30 2:56:01 PM|| 2003-9-30 2:56:01 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 Er, the tune is still the German national anthem. Only now they use the third verse, about 'Recht und Freiheit'.

In fact the 'Deutchland' stuff was a later graft-on by people wanting to further the cause of German unity (hence, it was 'Germany' over local petty allegiances, not Germany over the rest of the world). Originally the tune was for the -Austrian- anthem, 'God Save Our Emperor (Franz)'.

What gets me, though: No one was offended by the hammer and sickle!?

Posted by someone 2003-9-30 3:01:15 PM|| 2003-9-30 3:01:15 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 Now will someone explain to me why blacks shouldn't get upset when the Stars & Bars get displayed?

Posted by Mercutio 2003-9-30 3:10:00 PM|| 2003-9-30 3:10:00 PM|| Front Page Top

#13 Mercutio - Depends. Stars & Bars on the Capitol dome is a Bad Thing, IMO. Stars & Bars at a Civil War reenactment? Necessary and expected.

Posted by BH 2003-9-30 3:21:50 PM|| 2003-9-30 3:21:50 PM|| Front Page Top

#14 Hmm I'm just overwhelmed by the abundance of knowledge re: Nazi Germany to be found here! Yesterday the Waffen SS today the Deutschland Uber Alles tomorrow the art of Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph des Willens followed up by a panel discussion on the art of "Tiefland" ?

Posted by Not Mike Moore 2003-9-30 3:26:34 PM|| 2003-9-30 3:26:34 PM|| Front Page Top

#15 BH--What I'm saying quite simply is there is a better place and time to cover controversial topics like Nazism than halftime at a football game! That it's on Rosh Hashana is extra icing on the irony cake--and I'm not advocating violence, but YOU try a stunt like this at school near you and see what kind of reception you get! Believe it or not, not everybody at a high school football game gives a damn about the half time entertainment, and they might miss the announcement about why you're running across the field streaming a Nazi flag in a triumphant manner, and they might decide to meet you at midfield and let you know what they think of your desecration of their field, their team, and their hometown!

Posted by Dar 2003-9-30 3:28:50 PM|| 2003-9-30 3:28:50 PM|| Front Page Top

#16 NMM: Ever hear of the idea "know thine enemy"?

Does reading "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" make me a Nazi? Does reading Norwich's "History of the Byzantine Empire" mean I pine for the days of Constantinople?

WWII was one of the pivotal events of modern times. That people have knowledge of it -- even knowledge that borders on the trivial and obsessive -- says nothing about their allegiances.

Posted by Robert Crawford 2003-9-30 3:33:29 PM|| [http://www.kloognome.com/] 2003-9-30 3:33:29 PM|| Front Page Top

#17 Sounds like one a them there "bias crimes."

Posted by (lowercase) matt 2003-9-30 3:49:46 PM|| 2003-9-30 3:49:46 PM|| Front Page Top

#18 The big problem with all this is that the people that planned and executed this had such a shallow understanding of the crowd they were playing TO!

Paris, Texas is the former home of a major US Air Force training facility during World War II. There are a LOT of local sentiments for the men who lost their lives in World War II in Paris, where many of the local sweethearts married airmen who later were killed. Texas football is only slightly below hunting on the topic of every member of every community from Brownsville to Dumas, from Orange to El Paso. Texas is also home to the 4th ID at Fort Hood, between Waco and San Antonio. I don't think I need to draw any relationships there - we read about it almost every day in the newspaper. Finally, Texas is one of the most patriotic states in the Union - population-wise, Texas is one of the leaders in providing the military with the men and women it needs to conduct its mission.

There are worse ways to mess up in Texas, but you really, really have to hunt hard to find one.

Posted by Old Patriot 2003-9-30 3:58:27 PM|| [http://users.codenet.net/mweather/default.htm] 2003-9-30 3:58:27 PM|| Front Page Top

#19 Robert--Well said! I was going to address Cyber Sarge's similar comment last night but it was way late and I figured I'd be the only one to see it.

I think it's critically important to study history so we don't repeat the same idiocy again and again. Thank God WWII was so well documented that we can study it, its causes, and its effects in depth. If we let that happen again, we're idiots for ignoring the lessons humanity learned at such cost.

One of those first lessons that many still choose to ignore:
Appeasement doesn't work!

Posted by Dar 2003-9-30 4:25:31 PM|| 2003-9-30 4:25:31 PM|| Front Page Top

#20 What is weird is this stupid occurrence has nothing to do with Jews or their holidays. The reporter is obviously an idiot, who can't figure out that the Nazis were not just the enemies of the Jews, they were the enemiew of America and for the concepts for which it stands.

The intuitively obvious fact is that many loyal Americans gave their lives fighting to save the world from these Nazi Bastards.

I never understood why the local VFWs didn't protest any American Nazi marches. IMHO, they owe it to their brothers in arms who died fighting these idiots.

Posted by Penguin 2003-9-30 4:31:47 PM|| 2003-9-30 4:31:47 PM|| Front Page Top

#21 This reminds some of the bogus complaints about re-enactors dressing up as SS troops or swastikas on museum exhibits and historically accurate models. This was not a re-enactment, however, and the verisimilitude provided by the flag was not necessary for any legitimate historical purpose.

Nevertheless, I also think we should draw a distinction between booing the flag itself and booing its use in the show. The former without the latter would be consistent with the atmosphere of a half-time show.

Some years ago, I, a practicing Jew, was invited to participate in a WW2 re-enactment. It was a big deal with enough costumes for everyone. I got first choice for various reasons, and volunteered to dress up as an SS Standartenfuhrer, basically a Colonel, complete with fancy hat and death's head badges.
I was amused by the outrage this would cause to actual Nazis, and at the notion of Himmler and Skorzeny rolling over in their graves.
The presentation came off, but there was an awful flap over it, with some PC weasel of a state legislator representing the re-enactors as Nazi sympathizers. I felt like breaking the bastard's nose and might well have if I had caught up with him before I cooled off. The governor set him straight, and he admitted that he was wrong, but he refused to apologize, claiming that his heart was in the right place. Apparently, his lying heart has no problem with slander.

Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2003-9-30 5:06:45 PM|| 2003-9-30 5:06:45 PM|| Front Page Top

#22 RC & Dar my comments were meant to be a humorous reference to Cyber Sarge's remarks yesterday--and btw--Constantinople might be a better choice than Istanbul /sarcasm off

Posted by Not Mike Moore 2003-9-30 5:17:25 PM|| 2003-9-30 5:17:25 PM|| Front Page Top

#23 Atomic Conspiracy--
With the SS Colonel uniform it sounds like it was more of a Star Trek convention re-enactment. Were you McCoy playing the SS doctor?

BTW I love ogling the Frauleins in the beer halls of Munich too.

Patterns of Force

Posted by Zeon Pig 2003-9-30 7:18:34 PM|| 2003-9-30 7:18:34 PM|| Front Page Top

#24 I would just like to say, for the record, that here in Wisconsin, we have, as every other state, a group that creates policies regarding our sports that the schools must adhere to. This year, one of the new policies was that we are not allowed to play on Jewish holidays. All the main teams in the conference played on thursday instead. Also, we have these student planners (again, the same type everyone else has) that state ALL religoius holidays. How can everyone in that school, esp. those in the band not realize what day they would be performing on? We would not be able to get away with that here, I hope the director doesn't get awway with it there.

Posted by S 2003-9-30 7:45:20 PM|| 2003-9-30 7:45:20 PM|| Front Page Top

#25 "Hmm I'm just overwhelmed by the abundance of knowledge..."

Well, wouldn'cha know?! A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Maybe you should bone up a little yourself. Perhaps, perhaps, you don't know enough.

Posted by Bulldog 2003-9-30 8:05:49 PM|| 2003-9-30 8:05:49 PM|| Front Page Top

#26 S-
I am a bit familiar with northern Wisconsin. I bet you would be hard pressed to find many Jewish families in the rural areas of the state. I know, because I am from one. I think it is pretty silly for these schools to not be able to play sports on the Jewish High Holidays. Especially since observant Jews won't even play sports on Friday evenings or Saturdays.

I have to admit. This incident in Texas is bizarre.

Posted by Penguin 2003-9-30 8:36:10 PM|| 2003-9-30 8:36:10 PM|| Front Page Top

#27 Penguin
I believe the rules only apply to the Big Eight conference schools, which are mainly larger communities. We all thought it was kind of silly too, I'm not quite sure why this rule was even put in place.

Posted by S 2003-9-30 8:42:46 PM|| 2003-9-30 8:42:46 PM|| Front Page Top

#28 Buldog--this from the land that brought us Mosely?--gimme a break--at least the US of A doesn't harbor wanted Islamofascists wanted by France and wasn't the chief "Appeaser" in WWII--as Goebbels said "Britain is willing to fight to the last American" preserving their petrified class system! Americans need to realize that until Tony Blair--we were always looked at as the cannon fodder for their creaking "democracy"

Posted by Not Mike Moore 2003-9-30 11:10:31 PM|| 2003-9-30 11:10:31 PM|| Front Page Top

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