It gets better...my son has some scholastics sheets to read.

[Maddy McCall]

The teacher I mentioned in the "Latest episode" thread a few minutes ago is the one who comes up with the questions. My kid was out with pneumonia last week, so he is doing his make-up work tonight.

DUers, help my fifth grader come up with answers to these questions:

Sheet one: Nov 2.
1) Why is high voter turnout important?

2) Who do you think will win the election? Why?


Next sheet: Nov. 4.

1} What does it mean to concede?

2) Do you think that Kerry should concede? (This question was asked on Nov. 4th, after Kerry had conceded)


Next sheet: Nov. 5.

1) What did Bush say was {sic} his top priorities for his second term? (Great grammar, eh?)

2) What does political capital mean?

Edit: Y'all, I am seriously considering homeschooling my son for the rest of the year. His week's worth of make-up work, by the time he is finished, will have taken him two hours. I can do better than this. I know I can.

And, second edit: When I just told my son that DUers would help him with his answers, he gestured thumbs-up and said, "YESSS!"

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. have you considered home schooling?

I am not shotting you here

In fact if and when I have children, I think I will home school them too

[Maddy McCall]

2. Read my edit...LOL

I was editing when you were posting. :-)

[WindRavenX]

3. I have no problems with politics being discussd at the HS level...

...but at this early of an age, and with the BLATANTLY OBVIOUS bias in the teacher, I say you move your kid to a more politically nuetral teacher.

[teach1st]

4. I'd go to the teacher

and ask him or her for the answers.

Then I'd ask for my child to be moved to another classroom.

Then I'd homeschool.

[lovedems]

5. I know you can't do this but it would be great if you could find a way

to answer a question with "Bush's priorities in his second term are to get teachers to teach rather then offer their opinions." Or something along those lines. I know he would get in trouble and we don't want that but wouldn't you just love to smack her down a little bit?

[Maddy McCall]

7. LOL! Love that one.

:thumbsup:

[NYC Liberal]

14. OK, I just read the other thread.

You totally do that!

[Sabriel]

27. Try this on her:

"One of **'s priorities in his second term is to privatize as many public schools as possible. I hope you'll like being de-unionized and working for less pay."

[lovedems]

28. Good one!

:thumbsup:

[Red_Viking]

6. Nutcase!

The teach, not you. :P

Maybe you can help your son come up with some tasty answers to her poorly-worded questions. Perhaps quote from our founding fathers about the importance of democracy, dissent, and keeping the corporations out of government.

Perhaps he should just fold the question sheet and place it inside a copy of _1984_, which I'm sure she's never read.

Ugh, I'm sorry for your son! But lucky for him, he has you backing him up. Go mom!

RV

[StrongbadTehAwesome]

8. I don't have kids yet, but I've given serious though to homeschooling

In your specific case, would your son get in trouble for giving wise-ass (but correct) answers? You should tell him to say that political capital is power in politics that comes from having success or having the support of most of the American people...but that Bush doesn't have either. ;)

[NYC Liberal]

9. Hmm, OK.

Sheet 1

1} High voter turnout is important because that means more Democratic candidates will win.
2} John Kerry will win the election because he has a better plan for the future of America, and will not take away any of our First Amendment rights.

Sheet 2

1} 'Concede' means that you will not continue to challenge any election results.
2} Kerry should not have conceded because not all the votes have been counted, and there is evidence Geoge Bush stole many votes.

Sheet 3

1} George Bush said his top priorities were privitizing social security and to keep letting our soldiers and many innocent people die in Iraq for no reason.

2} 'Political capital' is a term used by Bush to describe what he didn't have in 2000, but spent anyway.

Well...you asked.

;)

[KitSileya]

10. Well, considering that teacher who talked about abortion in her class

I'd write

1. His top priority is killing Iraqi babies, and making sure leeching all of middle class America so that his rich friends can get richer, and have more poor people to exploit.

2. Political capital means not giving a jot about the fact that 70% of Americans either voted for the other guy, or not at all, and doing exactly what you want to help your rich buddies.

I'm still a bit angry, as you can see. But seriously, this is blatant bias, and should be taken up with the teacher.

[skygazer]

11. My answers

Sheet one -
1) High voter turnout is important because in a democracy, the people theoretically choose their leaders. Therefore, the more people who vote, the more accurately the people's desires will be represented.

2) Bush, because he cheats.

Sheet two -
1) To concede means to gracefully admit defeat.

2) Yes. Since Bush cheats and will "win" anyway.

Sheet three -
1) Banning gay marriage (and I would point out the grammatical error).
2) More dirty elections.

[Tesibria]

12. homeschooling is a FABULOUS idea !!!

my sister's kids are homeschooled -- and they
(a) are very active in teh community
(b) are very mature
(c) aced the advanced placement tests (the two that are old enuf to do so)
(d) started college as 11th graders (the two that are old enuf..)
(e) are holding 4.0s in college -- as 11th and 12th graders.

Ok -- she IS mennonite -- and -- all that. But her SCHOOLING is really terrific, and her kids are amazing. If I ever have kids, I plan to home school them.

------------------
"Rage" store: www.cafepress.com/tesibria.com
blog: www.democracyiscoming.com (explains purpose of rage store)

[Tesibria]

13. On "Why is high voter turnout important?"

1) Why is high voter turnout important?
High voter turnout is not important. In fact, high voter turnout can be dangerous if the voters who turn out are not informed of the issues. It is important that individual voters become knowledgeable about the issues, so that they can make wise choices at the election. When a person votes for an individual only because his teacher told him to do so, or because his pastor told him to do so, that person has failed as a citizen.

[lovedems]

29. You rock!

:toast:

[Tesibria]

15. On Who do you think will win the election? Why?

2) Who do you think will win the election? Why?
I think that George W. Bush will win the election. The reason I believe that George W. Bush will win is because of what I see on TV. People who are asked questions on TV show that they are not informed about the real issues. They keep talking about unimportant things, like “it’s bad to change courses mid-stream.” This is a silly argument, because it’s like saying that even though your football team is down 14 points in the 3rd quarter, and your quarterback is constantly making bad plays, you should leave him in. No winning team does that. Unfortunately, it looks like our country will do that.

[Maddy McCall]

16. EVERYONE, keep responding...

we are using everyone's input in these answers.

:thumbsup:

[NYC Liberal]

18. Print out and attach some of the BBV info

to the sheet too. :evilgrin:

[John Q. Citizen]

17. Here's some, but I wouldn't use them if I were him :)

1) Why is high voter turnout important?
So that black people can stand in line for hours to pretend to vote.

2) Who do you think will win the election? Why?
A: Bush. Because it's still rigged just like last time.

Next sheet: Nov. 4.

1} What does it mean to concede?
It means to admit your opponent is better at stealing elections, so what's the point of fighting on.

2) Do you think that Kerry should concede? (This question was asked on Nov. 4th, after Kerry had conceded) Yes, unless he wants to be ridiculed (Gored) for combating election election fraud.

Edit: Y'all, I am seriously considering homeschooling my son for the rest of the year. His week's worth of make-up work, by the time he is finished, will have taken him two hours. I can do better than this. I know I can.
Next sheet: Nov. 5.

1) What did Bush say was {sic} his top priorities for his second term? (Great grammar, eh?) To destroy Social Security and to Conquer Iraq

2) What does political capital mean?
Political capitol means never having to say you're sorry, no matter how bad you mess things up, steal, or kill people.

[NYC Liberal]

19. No, use them.

That teacher needs a serious sticking-to.

[Tesibria]

20. On conceding.

1} What does it mean to concede?
In the political arena, to “concede” means to call your opponent and acknowledge that more votes were counted for him than for you. It is a formality.

2) Do you think that Kerry should concede? (This question was asked on Nov. 4th, after Kerry had conceded)
I don’t think it mattered very much. I did not think that he should have conceded before all of the votes were counted, especially since it appeared that there was so much voter fraud in Florida and Ohio. But I guess it was ok for him to concede, since that concession has no binding legal authority. I only hope that the fraud that occurred is uncovered before the electoral college meets.

[Tesibria]

21. On what did Bush say was {sic} his top priorities for his second term

1) What did Bush say was {sic} his top priorities for his second term?

During the campaign, Bush said that his top priorities were to keep us safe from terrorism and to win the war in Iraq.

However, now, he is saying that his top priorities is to overhaul the tax code and to break the social security trust in place for the past 60 years by privatizing social security. It really is too bad that so many people believed his lies on the campaign trail. Unfortunately, too many voters were uninformed, and so now they are going to be very disappointed that he is already going back on his promises.

Note: Dear Ms. TEACHER, Shouldn't the question have read "What did Bush were his top priorities for his second term?"

[Tesibria]

22. On "What does political capital mean?"

2) What does political capital mean?
“Political capital” is like money. You can choose to save it, and make interest from it, or you can choose to spend it. When you preserve and build your capital, you end up with even more capital. When you spend your capital, you end up with nothing.
For example, after 9/11, President Bush had a lot of political capital worldwide. Instead of “investing” that capital, however, he chose to spend it all by insulting our foreign allies and waging an unjustified war on Iraq, based on inaccurate information. Now, he has no “money” or capital left with those countries. Many of them (except for Poland and a few other small countries) are very angry with President Bush.

====================
OK -- those are my suggestions !! enjoy :)

------------------
"Rage" store: www.cafepress.com/tesibria.com
blog: www.democracyiscoming.com (explains purpose of rage store)

[NYC Liberal]

23. Isn't Poland pulling out?

[Tesibria]

24. i thot that was Hungary ... but .. if so ..

then still SHOULD mention Poland -- b/c of the debates -- but then note that they, like Hungary and others, are pulling out b/c of all the "spent capital."

I'm working on a T-Shirt w/ that Bush quote -- and a picture of a soldier on it .....

[Cerridwen]

25. Hi, jchild's son. Glad you're feeling better. Your mom should

read my response before you do, okay. I'm feeling a little rowdy.

1. High voter turnout is important to the Democratic Party because Democrats know that in a true Democracy every person should have a vote. and take an active part in keeping their Democracy. Sometimes it's hard to get everyone to vote because some people don't have a home or a vehicle and some are too sick to leave their home and sometimes absentee ballots don't arrive in time. The Republican Party attempts to limit the number of voters. I don't know why. (We really know, but we're gonna play, dumb. Okay?)

2. The person who I think would win the election if it were fair is Senator Kerry. But the Republican Party has been doing some strange stuff so it might not happen that way.

Next Part:

1. To concede means to fall back and re-group during a time of potential great unrest, like maybe a civil war.

2. I think it was a smart move by Senator Kerry to concede. Now he can try to find out why the Republican Party was doing that weird stuff and a lot of people and organizations are "showing their true colors" thinking they have won.

Next sheet:

1. President Bush said his top priorities WERE to make sure Social Security will be my and my children's debt to pay for many generations to come. He also wants to ensure we make everyone here safe by killing women and children in Iraq because the terrorists are from Saudi Arabia. I don't understand that but I'm not the President. He also wants to make sure we have a good economy by sending U.S. jobs overseas. That doesn't make any sense, either. But I'm not the President.

2. Political capital is a kind of power thing politicians think they have after they win an election. Politicians are very concerned with power.


edited to add: I might point out to the teacher that it's common courtesy to refer to elected officials by their titles.


----

And there ya go. Use, discard, edit, torch, have fun!

I'm so happy you're feeling better.

And I agree, home schooling is definitely the way to go. Maybe it's time we started really "leaving children behind" if this is the kind of clap-trap to which they're subjected.

[Maddy McCall]

26. HERE ARE HIS RESPONSES:

Sheet one: Nov 2.
1) Why is high voter turnout important?

Response: It's important to include all people in a Democratic Republic's decisions. The danger, though, is that many voters aren't informed and just vote for someone because their teacher, pastor, or husband tells them to. That person fails as a citizen.

2) Who do you think will win the election? Why?

Response: Bush will win for two reasons. First, he and the Swiftboat Veterans (proven liars) have run the nastiest smear campaign in American history. Second, uninformed voters don't focus on issues but say silly things like "It's bad to change course mid-stream." But if a football team is losing by 14 points in the 3rd quarter, would the coach leave the qb in to make more bad plays? No winning team does that, but unfortunately it looks like our nation will.

Next sheet: Nov. 4.

1} What does it mean to concede?

Kerry won't continue to challenge the election results.

2) Do you think that Kerry should concede? (This question was asked on Nov. 4th, after Kerry had conceded)

No. All the votes haven't been counted, and there is evidence of voter fraud in favor of Bush.


Next sheet: Nov. 5.

1) What did Bush say was (My son scribbled out "was" and wrote "were" above it. :evilgrin: ) his top priorities for his second term? (Great grammar, eh?)

Bush plans on further helping the rich by privatizing social security and enacting more tax cuts (for the rich).


2) What does political capital mean?

Bush thinks political capital means that he has power from political success and the support of the majority of Americans, but in reality he has neither.

*********

If there is a backlash, I'll let you all know. Right now, I am almost certain that I will take my son out of school during the Christmas holidays and homeschool.

[lovedems]

31. Yeah! I hope his teacher takes it personally!

I don't want him to get in trouble but really, I hope that fraud of a teacher takes it personally bruises her jaw as it hits the floor!

Edited to add: Breaks her jaw. I don't want to play nice anymore.

[Maddy McCall]

32. The beauty of his responses is that if she does take it personally...

it will reveal her blatant biases. :-) More ammo for me. :-)

[lovedems]

33. And you will have "earned that political ammo"

I am eager to hear how it all turns out. Kudos to your son for a fine job.

[Tesibria]

35. I agree

IF he gets ANYTHING other than an A -- you need to shout from the bloody rooftops.

1) Grammar is correct
2) Questions are answered
3) Where definitions requested, he gave proper definitions based on standard dictionaries/common acceptance of terms.

The only way that he does not get a perfect score - is if she is grading based on political views.

If he doesn't - I think you should call the ACLU!

[SarahB]

34. I wouldn't blame you.

Oh man, I am so sorry you have to deal with this stuff.:hug: It's really another world you have to deal with. :wow:

I love the replies by the way. :thumbsup:

[AlFrankenFan]

30. I can't believe his teacher has him do stuff like this!

I wish MY teachers would!