 |
Sat Aug 30 2008 | |||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Departments National Issues Parental guidance suggested by Mike Ferner November 16, 2005 A rare moment of truth – several of them, actually – occurred at last week’s meeting of the Toledo Board of Education’s Policy Committee when school officials, peace activists and military recruiters assembled to discuss a draft policy to control recruiters in public schools. Thanks to the federal No Child Left Unrecruited Act, kicking the snake oil salesmen out altogether was not on the table (frankly, I think the vast majority of school board officials around the country are glad “No Child Left Alone” gives them the political cover to tell peace activists “gee, we’d love to ban recruiters altogether, but the federal law, blah blah blah…”). So before the discussion fixated on how many pounds of Pentagon refuse per square foot of cafeteria space would be permitted on alternate Tuesdays, I asked to speak. Board President, Larry Sykes, who prefers to go by his first name, nodded in my direction. “Larry, I want to explain the depth of my concern and what motivates many of us here. If you’ve not been in combat or spent time in a military hospital, you can’t understand why we’re so concerned about recruiters in our schools. I worked as a corpsman in a Navy hospital during Vietnam for over two years. I’ve seen the results of war. And anybody who thinks it’s a good ‘option’ for our kids to be recruited into the military needs to spend a few days in a military hospital and see it for themselves.” “But it’s not just that young people get killed and wounded in the military. Even if there was no war, or even if a soldier gets assigned to Alaska or Germany, they still suffer the dehumanization of the military in boot camp. How else can we get young people ready to do what war requires?” Then I pulled out a page of march “cadences,” those charming little ditties familiar to any grunt who’s been through basic, collected from members of Veterans For Peace around the country. I wanted these policymakers to hear what their students would be exposed to after the recruiters got done sweet-talking them. With an example of the sing-song rhythm used by the drill instructors (DIs), I launched into the following. I want to go to Viet Nam I want to kill old Charlie Cong. I don’t know but I’ve been told, Eskimo pussy is mighty cold. **** See the little girl with the puppy; Lock and load another pointed round. Take the shot and if you’re lucky; You’ll watch their bodies hit the ground. **** A yellow bird with a yellow bill Was sitting on my window sill. I lured him in with a piece of bread And then I smashed his little head. **** I went to where the commie kids play; Pulled out my machine gun, began to spray. I went to McDonalds where the commies eat; Pulled out my machete and chopped off their feet. “And this,” I told them, “is what one Army vet, Hal Muskat, wrote about one day at Ft. Dix, New Jersey, where 1,000 young men were doing bayonet training.” “In between the call and response of ‘What’s the spirit of bayonet? KILL! KILL! KILL!’ DIs would pick up megaphones and scream, ‘See those C-130’s landing? They’re bringing in bodies of dead Americans killed by gooks. The gooks murdered our soldiers! Do you want to be a body on that plane? I can’t hear you! What’s the spirit of bayonet?’ ‘KILL! KILL! KILL!’” I stopped for a moment, looked at the board members and let it sink in. “That’s what our youngsters are exposed to in the military. Is that where we want 12 years of hard work with these kids to end up?” Dismissing the board’s draft policy as inadequate, I added that “counter-recruiting” opportunities did not rate very high on my list of policy ideas. “The military gets three billion dollars a year of our tax money just for recruiting! I’ll be glad to come to Toledo Public Schools and talk with students any time about the military, but don’t think that inviting us to come in on our own time, taking time off from work, printing up our own material – compared to the slick presentations and Humvees in homecoming parades and climbing walls on the football field the recruiters offer – is some kind of equal opportunity. It’s not!” Staff Sgt. Owens, who later stated he was employed by TPS as an athletic coach (!) responded, “That might have been the way the military was during Viet Nam, but things have really changed since then. Drill Instructors can’t run over recruits like they did…they can’t even swear at them any more.” That claim was so absurd it didn’t even need an answer. After a round of criticism of the board’s policy, Owens tried his patronizing best to mollify us with an “I-just-feel-like-people-here-don’t-really-understand-what-the-military-is-all-about-these-days” speech, to which I almost heatedly objected until he lobbed a perfect softball right over the heart of the plate. “Well, I just wish I could take you out and show you…” “Show us what?! Would that tour include a visit to the V.A. hospital?!” I demanded. “Oh, come on, we don’t address…” “YOU’RE DAMN RIGHT YOU DON’T TELL KIDS ABOUT THE V.A. HOSPITAL!! RECRUITERS NEVER TALK ABOUT THE V.A. HOSPITALS, DO YOU?” At this, the principals’ union president tried interjecting, “Well, I’ve seen plenty of athletic recruiters lie to kids, too.” “Maybe…but those lies don’t send kids to a burn unit,” I spat. Trying to turn the volume down a notch, Larry said, “Now let’s not get…” “Larry, these guys,” I said, pointing to the now-quiet recruiters, “get three BILLION dollars a year of our money to mess with the minds of our youngsters, and I’m not going to sit here quietly while they lie.” Satisfied with a point made for the moment, I watched that portion of the meeting conclude with Larry announcing the draft policy would be given a reading at the next full board meeting November 29. I can’t wait. --- Mike Ferner mike.ferner@sbcglobal.net lives in Toledo and co-chairs the Veterans For Peace committee to impeach Bush. Email this article to a friend |
Don't forget to check out articles from 2007 and 2008
"Rumsfeld admits to "ghosting" detainee"
December 30, 2005
David Swanson
"A man without a country"
December 28, 2005
David Swanson
"Impeach the Liar-in-Chief"
December 26, 2005
Stephen Crockett and Al Lawrence
"Bush wiretaps threaten national security"
December 25, 2005
Stephen Crockett
"Which Christmas is the 'War Against Christmas' against? "
December 25, 2005
Robert Lockwood Mills
"Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Project plans economic summit in New York City"
December 22, 2005
Rainbow PUSH
"Fear of the devil"
December 22, 2005
Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"It's time to impeach Bush for these blatant violations of the law"
December 22, 2005
Andy Ostroy
"December 3 in the USA: a partial report"
December 22, 2005
Ted Glick
"Bush spews more irresponsible rhetoric as senate Extends Patriot Act for Six Months"
December 22, 2005
Andy Ostroy
"The Constitution in Crisis report"
December 22, 2005
Edward Chu
"Privatize Me...Corporatize Me.... Blackwaterize Me..."
December 20, 2005
Jason Miller
"USA Patriot Act defeated: Libertarians celebrate victory"
December 19, 2005
Libertarian Party of Ohio
"The solution we aren't considering"
December 19, 2005
David Swanson
"Panic attack"
December 15, 2005
Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"Eugene McCarthy, prophet with honor"
December 12, 2005
Robert Lockwood Mills
"The iron fist of Jesus"
December 12, 2005
Jason Miller
"Progressive primary challenge to Hilary aunched"
December 6, 2005
David Swanson
"An invitation to a tea party"
December 6, 2005
Lucinda Marshall
"Precarious lives"
December 3, 2005
Paul Rogat Loeb
"Criminal trial related to California energy crisis may start soon"
December 3, 2005
Jason Leopold
"Hey board members, leave our kids alone!"
December 3, 2005
Jason Miller
"A Congressman for impeachment"
November 30, 2005
David Swanson
"Friday night Congress: what was that?"
November 23, 2005
David Swanson
"Teach our children well"
November 20, 2005
Todd Huffman, M.D.
"Greenhouse School secures major art donation"
November 18, 2005
Dan Welch
"Parental guidance suggested"
November 16, 2005
Mike Ferner
"Our mothers (and Thomas Paine) warned us about people like the disciples of Strauss"
November 13, 2005
Jason Miller
"Despite his demeanor, Rove's still a Target"
November 13, 2005
Jason Leopold
"Armistice Day 2005"
November 11, 2005
Stephen Edward Seadler
"The Bush-Cheney ethics refresher course"
November 7, 2005
David Swanson
"Vice President lied as White House sought to defuse leak inquiry"
November 7, 2005
Jason Leopold
"53% of Americans support impeachment; ImpeachPAC announced!"
November 5, 2005
David Swanson
"I can't wait"
November 3, 2005
David Swanson
"Nothing to Lose"
November 2, 2005
Daniel Patrick Welch
"The real Rosa Parks"
October 31, 2005
Paul Rogat Loeb
"How has it come to this?"
October 30, 2005
Jim Oberg
"Bush's wheels falling off"
October 30, 2005
Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
"Miers, White House surrender to ultraconservatives"
October 27, 2005
Josh Glasstetter
"Prosecutor secures indictment in CIA outing case, lawyers say"
October 27, 2005
Jason Leopold
"Hard conversations about the big easy"
October 24, 2005
Paul Rogat Loeb
"Coalition of 75 groups demand end to Pentagon's youth database"
October 19, 2005
Mike Ferner
"Vice President's role in outing of CIA agent under examination, sources close to prosecutor say"
October 19, 2005
Jason Leopold
"Hard questions about the big easy"
October 19, 2005
Paul Rogat Loeb
"Times reporter entangled in leak case had unusual relationship with military, Iraqi group"
October 19, 2005
Jason Leopold
"Try and catch the wind"
October 17, 2005
Daniel Patrick Welch
"More from the stormfront gulf central"
October 16, 2005
David Lewis
"A deep look at corruption culture"
October 16, 2005
Stephen Crockett and Al Lawrence
"Dems Go After Bennett, Salem Radio Network, FCC"
October 9, 2005
David Swanson
"Bill Bennett’s comments emerge from an ideology that is classic white supremacy, Rev. Jesse Jackson says"
October 5, 2005
Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
"Why the nomination of Harriet has to be looked at below the radar"
October 5, 2005
Cynthia L. Butler, an Attorney licensed in PA, NJ, DC, CA
"In support of weakness on national security"
October 3, 2005
David Swanson
"Bill Frist, The Former 2008 Presidential Candidate"
September 27, 2005
Jason Leopold
"Winds of change blow through DC, Bush flees"
September 26, 2005
Bob Fitrakis
"More New Orleans stories"
September 25, 2005
David Lewis
"From the stormfront: experiencing Rita in New Orleans"
September 25, 2005
David Lewis
"The GOP’s fiscal policies turned a natural disaster into a man-made catastrophe"
September 23, 2005
Jason Leopold
"The Devil in the Details: Carter-Baker, California, and the Integrity of American Elections"
September 22, 2005
Warren Stewart, Director of Legislative Issues and Policy, VoteTrustUSA
"Hurricane Katrina-Our Experiences"
September 21, 2005
Larry Bradshaw, Lorrie Beth Slonsky
"A Fraction of Democracy"
September 20, 2005
Greg Coleridge
"Bring back New Orleans: the politics of disaster"
September 20, 2005
David Lewis, Photos by Aaron Geiser
"Rev. Jackson Recommends a 21st Century Marshall Plan That Reinvests in the Gulf Coast"
September 20, 2005
Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
"Division of funeral corp. charged with desecrating corpses hired to collect deceased victims of hurricane Katrina"
September 19, 2005
Jason Leopold
"FEMA Chief Brown paid millions in false claims to help Bush win Fla. votes"
September 15, 2005
Jason Leopold
"Indefinite Detention"
September 9, 2005
Daniel Sturm
"Seems like more people died than prospered under Pres Bush’s leadership"
September 8, 2005
Jason Leopold
"Politics, timing and the so-called terrorist Nuradin Abdi: the mall bomber who wasn't"
September 7, 2005
Bob Fitrakis
"Paul Allen's other yacht"
September 4, 2005
Paul Rogat Loeb
"Katrina: A tragedy made worse"
September 4, 2005
Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
"The President’s priorities: state of marriage took precedence over state of Louisiana"
September 3, 2005
Jason Leopold
"Notes from inside New Orleans"
September 3, 2005
Jordan Flaherty
"Rev. Jackson Makes Second Rescue Mission into New Orleans"
September 2, 2005
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
"Bush Strafes New Orleans, Where's Huey Long?"
September 2, 2005
Greg Palast
"911 in New Orleans"
September 2, 2005
Paul Rogat Loeb
"Global Warming and Widespread Blackouts Are Just as Deadly as Terrorism"
September 1, 2005
Jason Leopold
"The mothers are coming!"
August 30, 2005
Sheila Samples
"Update from Leonard Peltier"
August 16, 2005
Leonard Peltier
"Leonard has been transferred to USP Lewisburg"
August 16, 2005
Michael Eckhardt
"Against Discouragement"
August 15, 2005
Howard Zinn
"Open Letter to Cindy Sheehan, Crawford, Texas"
August 11, 2005
Ralph Nader
"Regarding the 40th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965"
August 4, 2005
Sabrina Williams
"Lawyers, guns and money: Just put down that lawsuit, pardner, and no one gets hurt"
August 1, 2005
Greg Palast
"Forgotten Victims of America’s Plutocracy"
August 1, 2005
Jason Miller
"Spine, spine everywhere a spine"
July 29, 2005
Rady Ananda
"Speaking truth to Roberts"
July 28, 2005
Paul Rogat Loeb
"Business as usual with Judge Roberts; straight corporate, with Pepto-Bismol chaser"
July 21, 2005
Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair
"The Record of Judge John Roberts"
July 20, 2005
Gene C. Gerard
"The Enemy of Our Enemy May Still Be the Enemy of Democracy"
July 13, 2005
Paul Rogat Loeb
"Mr. Rove and the Access of Evil: Tell Us Your "Source," Judy"
July 13, 2005
Greg Palast
"The Economy Turned the Corner and Is Headed in the Wrong Direction"
July 8, 2005
Gene C. Gerard
"July 4th Declaration of Impeachment"
July 4, 2005
Mike Ferner, Veterans for Peace
"They Died for Their Country"
July 1, 2005
Paul Rogat Loeb
"Energy adviser who solicited Enron to help write national energy policy to be named Chair of FERC"
July 1, 2005
Jason Leopold
"Big Food Strikes Back; Ag industry aims to strip local control of food supplies"
June 26, 2005
Britt Bailey and Brian Tokar
"The fantastical world of Studley McMuffin"
June 25, 2005
Sheila Samples
"Counter-Recruitment: Preventing the Military from Getting More Youth for their Wars: An Interview with Counter-Recruitment Activist Clint Coppernoll"
June 25, 2005
Kevin Zeese
"A matter of education..."
June 23, 2005
Sheila Samples
"Violations of Civil Liberties are an American Tradition"
June 17, 2005
Gene C. Gerard
"Rumsfeld: Beyond the Point of No Return"
June 13, 2005
Gerald Rellick
"Peltier hearing to address Lakota Nation soverignty"
June 11, 2005
Russ Redner and Barry Bachrach
"Extraordinarily rancid justices"
June 10, 2005
Paul Rogat Loeb
"Former Army Sec, Enron VP, Thomas White Wants Gov't Funding For New Energy Project"
June 8, 2005
Jason Leopold
"Imposing minority views"
June 8, 2005
Stephen Crockett
"When is Someone Going to Toss Rumsfeld into a Cage?"
June 8, 2005
Jason Leopold
"Republicans: The Anti-Christian, Christian Party"
June 8, 2005
Stephen Crockett
"Watergate Proves That Even Presidents Will Break Laws To Achieve Goals"
June 1, 2005
Jason Leopold
"Oral Histories of the 1970 Kent State Shootings "
May 22, 2005
Candi Clevenger, Communications Manager, OhioLINK
"Blurb: End the filibuster -- in 2015"
May 20, 2005
Paul Loeb
"The Beginning Of The End Of The Age Of Reason"
May 16, 2005
Todd Huffman, M.D.
"Nuking Democracy"
May 14, 2005
Paul Loeb
"Conscientious Objection on Trial: The Court Martial of Keith Benderman"
May 10, 2005
Kevin B. Zeese
"Barnum on Steroids"
May 9, 2005
Jason Miller
"Mother’s Day Without Mom"
May 7, 2005
Phil Tajitsu Nash
"An Open Letter to Howard Dean"
May 5, 2005
Dennis J. Kucinich
"Appeals Court Nominee Janice Rogers Brown Merits the Filibuster"
May 3, 2005
Gene C. Gerard
"Activists Spur Historic Call to Exit Iraq"
April 24, 2005
William Rivers Pitt
"John Bolton & the Battle for Reality"
April 24, 2005
Robert Parry
"Videos expose false arrests at 2004 Republican Convention protests in New York"
April 24, 2005
Peter Daniels
"Wal-Mart's Free Market Fallacy"
April 24, 2005
Jonathan Tasini
"Howard Dean Becomes Leader of the Other Pro-War Party; Dean on Iraq: “We're There and We Can't Get Out”"
April 24, 2005
Kevin Zeese
"You have to pick your team"
April 20, 2005
Sonya Vetra Tinsley, as told to Paul Rogat Loeb
"What They Should Fight For"
April 20, 2005
David Swanson
"Vigilante Republicans"
April 13, 2005
Steven Rosenfeld
"Congresswoman Cynthia Mckinney Urges Reform of Voting Process at Historic Conference"
April 12, 2005
Anna Thompson
"Abortion and Schiavo -- The stories we tell"
April 5, 2005
Paul Rogat Loeb
"How and Why We're Working to Block the Bankruptcy Bill"
April 1, 2005
David Swanson
"Statement on the Passing of Terri Schiavo"
March 31, 2005
Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
"Veterans for peace call for Congressional action to impeach George W. Bush and Richard Cheney"
March 30, 2005
Veterans For Peace
"Zealot and Proud of It"
March 27, 2005
Jason Miller
"Non Volunteers, Non-Recruiters, And A Non War "
March 19, 2005
Eric Straatsma
"Meet Your New FCC Chairman: Kevin Martin"
March 17, 2005
David Bailey
"E.P.A. Nominee Supports Testing of Chemicals on Human Subjects"
March 11, 2005
Gene C. Gerard
"A luncheon break with Michael Jackson"
March 11, 2005
Robert Lockwood Mills
"Gannongate and Asian Pacific America"
March 9, 2005
Phil Tajitsu Nash
"I'd rather not say good-bye, Dan"
March 9, 2005
Greg Palast
"Free Trade and Frivolous Lawsuits"
March 7, 2005
Cyril Mychalejko
"Experiencing Hunter, Experiencing Death: A Eulogy"
February 28, 2005
Tom Luffman
"The inevitability trap"
February 18, 2005
K.C. Golden
"Bush’s Judicial Nominations are Hardly Mainstream"
February 17, 2005
Gene C. Gerard
"Senators Clinton and Boxer, Representative Tubbs Jones and others unveil major election reform bill"
February 17, 2005
Offices of Sen. Clinton and Rep. Tubb Jones
"The difference between bi-partisanship and non-partisanship"
February 15, 2005
Robert Lockwood Mills
"Bush & the Rise of 'Managed-Democracy'"
February 13, 2005
Robert Parry
"Yesterday's Gallup Poll Showing Bush Approval At 57% Had 9% More Republicans Than Democrats"
February 12, 2005
Steve Soto
"J20 Through my eyes"
February 11, 2005
Ryan Mishler
"Bush's Budget: The War on Working People Continues"
February 11, 2005
International Action Center staff
"Bush’s Budget is at Odds With His Rhetoric"
February 11, 2005
Gene C. Gerard
"Direct Action For Peace?"
February 7, 2005
Bill Scheurer
"State of the Union speech falls short, says Rev. Jesse Jackson"
February 3, 2005
Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
"The Black Perspective"
February 3, 2005
Judith Powell
"Save American Democracy: Curb Corporate Power"
January 29, 2005
Stephen Crockett
"Who's Paying for all this Freedom?"
January 29, 2005
Darryl Cramer
"Yes, there is a crisis in Social Security"
January 29, 2005
Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D.
"Agitation Time"
January 25, 2005
Ted Glick
"The 10 Worst Corporations of 2004"
January 25, 2005
Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman
"They Doth Protest Too Little"
January 24, 2005
Chris Colin
"Thousands take to the streets to oppose the inauguration of George W. Bush"
January 24, 2005
troopsoutnow.org
"A Warm Oasis in a Snow Storm; The Progressive Democrat Summit in Washington"
January 24, 2005
Cynthia L. Butler, Esq.
"The Politics of SpongeBob"
January 23, 2005
Gene C. Gerard
"Mis-Defining Terrorism"
January 20, 2005
John Janney
"Marines stretching movement"
January 19, 2005
Mike Ferner
"Bush’s Mythical Mandate and Social Security Piratization"
January 19, 2005
Stephen Crockett and Al Lawrence
"Happy Birthday Martin Luther King, Jr. "
January 16, 2005
Chuck Zlatkin
"Bush’s Choice for Energy Secretary Was One of Texas’ Top Five Worst Polluters"
January 16, 2005
Jason Leopold
"Bush, God, Fox, and the International Criminal Court"
January 13, 2005
David Swanson
"The real reason Bush wants to privatize Social Security"
January 12, 2005
Robert Lockwood Mills
"CBS' cowardice and conflicts behind purge"
January 11, 2005
Greg Palast
"Bring them home -- Sooner rather than later"
January 1, 2005
Sheila Samples
"The third wave of victims of Katrina/Rita"
November 15, 2005
"An inside look at the not so Big Easy"
November 15, 2005
"While Bush rested: The emergence of the new global terrorism and the meaning of Hurricane Katrina "
November 15, 2005
"Keeping his eyes on the prize"
September 8, 2005
"Four Years On"
September 8, 2005
"Sheehan uses the "f" word as Bush flips us off"
September 8, 2005
"WAL-MART - The high cost of low price"
July 20, 2005
"The timebomb is not Social Security in 2048, it’s global warming in 2015"
March 21, 2005
Read Articles by Year:
2007 2006 2005 2004
2003 2002 2001 2000
All content © 1970-2008
The Columbus Free Press
Disclaimer