# Another Teacher Rides the Incredibly Stupid Train **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 18, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896 "2010-05-18T16:15:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/1 "2010-05-18T16:15:07Z")
A teacher in Alabam thought a good way to teach geometry was through [ahhoting angles to assasinate the President](http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/05/jefferson_county_geometry_teac.html). Yes, you read that correctly: > [@](#): > > The teacher was apparently teaching his geometry students about parallel lines and angles, officials said. He used the example of where to stand and aim if shooting Obama. > > "He was talking about angles and said, ‘If you’re in this building, you would need to take this angle to shoot the president,’ " said Joseph Brown, a senior in the geometry class. According to the article there will be no disciplinary action taken, so wahtever. Now I know someone is going to come in here and say something about when Bush was President …blah blah blahh…" Well when anyone is President the lesson in geometry shold not be taught using examples of how to kill the President, much less anyone…well almost anyone, I supposes if the example had been Osama Bin Laden or Hitler it would be ok, or at least not INCREDIBLY STUPID! My recommendation, a Scarlet letter…or letters more precicesly…“WTF”. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/2 "2010-05-18T16:25:41Z")
And now Alabama officially makes Mississippi look good. It’s a proud day. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/3 "2010-05-18T16:27:54Z")
Parent quoted in article: “Everyone’s got their own opinions, but we have to be aware of our surroundings.” Uh-huh. Contemplating assassinating our President is something everyone’s doing - you just need to be a bit discreet about the details. Save that talk for when you’re amongst your own. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/4 "2010-05-18T16:30:07Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > A teacher in Alabam thought a good way to teach geometry was through [ahhoting angles to assasinate the President](http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/05/jefferson_county_geometry_teac.html). > > Yes, you read that correctly: Actually, I’m not sure I did. What’s an ahhoting angle? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/5 "2010-05-18T16:33:45Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > Actually, I’m not sure I did. What’s an ahhoting angle? 😃 Give me a break, I was never taught how to spell when in a snit. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/6 "2010-05-18T16:34:13Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > Now I know someone is going to come in here and say something about when Bush was President …blah blah blahh…" When I was taking a Semantics class in college (this would have been around 2003-04), my professor used as an example, “Now if you take the set of everyone who is George Bush and intersect it with the set of everyone who’s an idiot,” or something similar to that. I thought it was horribly unprofessional at the time, even if I agreed with him. But…assassination. Good lord. That goes beyond unprofessional. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/7 "2010-05-18T16:39:21Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > According to the article there will be no disciplinary action taken, so wahtever. Perhaps not by the school, but I wonder if the teacher will be getting a visit from some federal agents with sunglasses and badges, who explain to him in very small words about the foolishness of his actions. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/8 "2010-05-18T16:42:55Z")
OK, will someone please tell me how to install something on my keyboard that will punch me in the face if I post before checking my spelling? Is such a thing available? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/9 "2010-05-18T16:43:26Z")
Now, if he’d combined it with a history lesson, it would have been different. “Kennedy was here. Oswald was there. What angle would Oswald have to have been aiming in order to actually make his hits?” ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/10 "2010-05-18T16:48:29Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Perhaps not by the school, but I wonder if the teacher will be getting a visit from some federal agents with sunglasses and badges, who explain to him in very small words about the foolishness of his actions. The Birmingham branch of the Secret Service investigated, talked to him, but did not find a credible threat, so they closed the investigation. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/11 "2010-05-18T16:59:59Z")
I would love to come up with some alternate explanation other than ‘the teacher (and probably the majority of his class) are bigots who hate the President of the United States because he is of mixed racial heritage’ but I can’t seem to come up with anything else. I know of no such similar nonsense occurring when Mr. Bush was POTUS, and I can’t imagine Fox News or Limbaugh (et al.) neglecting to bring this to our collective attention if such an event had happened. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/12 "2010-05-18T17:06:17Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > The Birmingham branch of the Secret Service investigated, talked to him, but did not find a credible threat, so they closed the investigation. Just what I thought would happen. I’m sure that the teacher was given plenty of information about how seriously they take (even non-credible) threats, what exactly will happen if he does it again, what will happen if he reveals the contents of their conversation, and was told that he now has a nice file with the Secret Service. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/13 "2010-05-18T17:08:36Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Perhaps not by the school, but I wonder if the teacher will be getting a visit from some federal agents with sunglasses and badges, who explain to him in very small words about the foolishness of his actions. He already had that visit. > [@](#): > > “We did not find a credible threat,” said Roy Sexton, special agent in charge of Birmingham’s Secret Service office. “As far as the Secret Service is concerned, we looked into it, we talked to the gentleman and we have closed our investigation.” I wonder how many times the word “dipshit” appears in that particular report. ETA: Damnit…I _really_ need to refresh the page before I go making posts pointing out things that have long-since been pointed out. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/14 "2010-05-18T17:09:02Z")
> [@](#): > > I would love to come up with some alternate explanation other than ‘the teacher (and probably the majority of his class) are bigots who hate the President of the United States because he is of mixed racial heritage’ but I can’t seem to come up with anything else. Don’t make it a racial thing. He’d have been just as happy talking about shooting Hillary Clinton if she’d been elected. > [@](#): > > I know of no such similar nonsense occurring when Mr. Bush was POTUS, and I can’t imagine Fox News or Limbaugh (et al.) neglecting to bring this to our collective attention if such an event had happened. There was the “mockumentary” _[Death of a President](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_a_President)_ made in 2007 about a fictional Bush assassination. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/15 "2010-05-18T17:10:10Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > According to the article there will be no disciplinary action taken, so wahtever. I would believe, though, that after the Secret Service had a “friendly” conversation with him on the matter, the school requested that he purchase new underpants. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/16 "2010-05-18T17:12:01Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There was the “mockumentary” _[Death of a President](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_a_President)_ made in 2007 about a fictional Bush assassination. Which was filmed in the UK, where the Secret Service has as much authority as they have in Timbuktu. Your point being? ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/17 "2010-05-18T17:20:12Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > And now Alabama officially makes Mississippi look good. > > It’s a proud day. Eh, Haley is due to say something idiotic in the next couple days. Probably about how oil spills are black gold, and everyone should be out there with buckets making money. > [@C3](#): > > Parent quoted in article: “Everyone’s got their own opinions, but we have to be aware of our surroundings.” Uh-huh. Contemplating assassinating our President is something everyone’s doing - you just need to be a bit discreet about the details. Save that talk for when you’re amongst your own. See, that’s the lovely thing about The South. There are racists everywhere in the country, but most places they have the sense to keep their idiotic opinions to themselves unless they’re around people of ‘like mind’. Down here, though, if you’re white, you’re obviously of like mind. Cuz you’re white. Therefore you think that way, too. Cuz you’re white. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/18 "2010-05-18T17:23:09Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > I would love to come up with some alternate explanation other than ‘the teacher (and probably the majority of his class) are bigots who hate the President of the United States because he is of mixed racial heritage’ but I can’t seem to come up with anything else. Well, they could simply be full non-racial political hate. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/19 "2010-05-18T17:24:52Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > And now Alabama officially makes Mississippi look good. > > It’s a proud day. Bwaha! > [@Merijeek](#): > > Eh, Haley is due to say something idiotic in the next couple days. Probably about how oil spills are black gold, and everyone should be out there with buckets making money. Waitaminnit … you mean they’re NOT? NOW what the hell am I gonna do with all these damn buckets. Sheeeeit. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896/20 "2010-05-18T17:25:25Z")
Hmmmm. Alabama. . .Isn’t that the state where a Gubernatorial candidate is denouncing as a lie the claim that he believes in evolution? [Alabama candidate denounces ‘lie’ that he believes in evolution](http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0510/Alabama_candidate_denounces_lie_that_he_believes_in_evolution.html) On first glance I assumed that it was an Onion article. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-teacher-rides-the-incredibly-stupid-train/539896.md?page=2)