# NC teacher captured on video suggesting student could be arrested for Obama criticism **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 21, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606 "2012-05-21T15:05:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/21 "2012-05-21T18:22:00Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I don’t say this because i have a hard-on for teachers. I think teaching is an incredibly important profession, and i’ve worked with school teachers who are models of intelligence, curiosity, thoughtfulness and erudition. But i’ve also spent a considerable amount of time over the past couple of years teaching college students who are hoping to become school teachers, and it’s amazing how much these people don’t know. More troubling than that, however, is how uninterested some of them are in alleviating their ignorance. Yes. I have done the same. Teaching is thought of as a low level occupation in this country. Therefore it attracts the very low end of the college students. I saw a stat once which showed that half of all teachers come from the lower quarter of the college class. In terms of the GRE, education students scores REALLY suck. You can’t expect this group to behave with intelligence, curiosity, thoughtfulness and erudition. They were my least favorite students. They were much lazier than normal, usually lacked curiousity. They just plain seemed to not really care about learning. I know it seems many students are this way but this group just seems to be overwhelmingly this way. These are the people society wants to be teachers because that is who society recruits to be teachers. If you do this, don’t bitch about what you get. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/22 "2012-05-21T18:34:08Z")
My wife is an elementary school teacher, and I’ve accompanied her to many social functions with her colleagues from her school. So I can tell you that there are a LOT of very dumb or ignorant teachers out there. My wife is not one of them, of course. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/23 "2012-05-21T18:49:49Z")
That teacher goes from zero to emotional in no time flat. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/24 "2012-05-21T20:22:15Z")
I heard equally stupid things come out of my high school teachers. The interest here is that it is political and Fox news has the story. If she had been spouting off in favor of intelligent design, an equally ill-informed position, it wouldn’t even be news. > [@Bricker](#): > > In light of the fact that the teacher doesn’t know the basic fact you’ve laid out above, what, if anything, do you think should be done about her career as a teacher? Firing? More training? A counseling session from the principal? Promotion to school administration of course. She needs to continue moving up until she finds the right fit for her brand of stupidity, it’s the American way. My high school physics teacher was constantly proven wrong in the “facts” he taught until finally parents became involved and he had to be moved to administration. Later he became a city council member. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/25 "2012-05-21T21:19:11Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > My high school physics teacher was constantly proven wrong in the “facts” he taught until finally parents became involved and he had to be moved to administration. Later he became a city council member. That’s too cool for school, as it were. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/26 "2012-05-21T21:56:09Z")
Well, it’s true, you’re **not** supposed to slander the President. Or anyone else, for that matter. Although you won’t be arrested, you’ll just be sued. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/27 "2012-05-21T23:33:53Z")
What she actually said was that people had been arrested for saying bad things about Bush, not that he could be arrested for criticizing Obama. A slight difference, but still a difference. Can a case be made that some people were at least detained for negative statements about Bush at rallies? This guy might be a Breitbart Jr or something… The teacher ain’t none too smart, but this was a set-up. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/28 "2012-05-22T00:17:20Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Can a case be made that some people were at least detained for negative statements about Bush at rallies? I don’t recall one specifically about Bush, but a guy was arrested in Colorado for telling Dick Cheney that the Administration’s policies in Iraq were disgusting. The US Supreme court [heard arguments](http://www.npr.org/2012/03/21/148606249/confronting-the-vp-may-be-impolite-is-it-a-crime) on the case a couple of months back. We discussed the case [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=391205) when it originally happened. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/29 "2012-05-22T02:11:14Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Wow. At least one person on the left is an asshole. Well, to be fair, at least two. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/30 "2012-05-22T02:15:13Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Well, to be fair, at least two. I always had you pegged as a conservative. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/31 "2012-05-22T02:57:08Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > From the video: > > > [@](#): > > > > Student: “Whenever Bush was president, everybody talked shit about him.” > > Teacher: “Because he was shitty.” [shrug] Fair point, that. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/32 "2012-05-22T03:11:19Z")
Yeah, that was pretty blatantly inappropriate. That said, absent the yelling and the stuff about Bush, I don’t think “don’t disrespect the President in my classroom” is objectionable. All that being said, in this Breitbart (or post-Breitbart) world I’m sort of curious to hear the entire conversation; ie., including the bit where the teacher went nuts. If nothing else, I want to know what the student said that set her off. > [@magellan01](#): > > Well, to be fair, at least two. 😃 Well played, sir. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/33 "2012-05-22T03:14:39Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > All that being said, in this Breitbart (or post-Breitbart) world I’m sort of curious to hear the entire conversation; ie., including the bit where the teacher went nuts. The entire conversation is on youtube, linked to in the article that was cited in the OP. Knock yourself out. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/34 "2012-05-22T03:18:30Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Well, to be fair, at least two. Are you trying to get a rise out of me, detective? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/35 "2012-05-22T03:19:15Z")
Its seems the Rightarded are somehow eager to present Obama and/or his supporters as Stalinists bent on stifling dissent. Barry Obama, the iron-fisted tyrant. Uh huh. Like being persecuted by a Unitarian fanatic. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/36 "2012-05-22T03:23:10Z")
😕 I don’t see much of a Stalinist theme to the narrative in the OP. Just, “hey, this chick’s stupid.” You know damn well if a crazy right-wing teacher had done the same thing when Bush was in office there would be a dozen threads about it. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/37 "2012-05-22T03:30:35Z")
Shit, that would be like busting Jeffrey Dahmer for health code violations. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/38 "2012-05-22T03:33:13Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > 😕 I don’t see much of a Stalinist theme to the narrative in the OP. Just, “hey, this chick’s stupid.” You know damn well if a crazy right-wing teacher had done the same thing when Bush was in office there would be a dozen threads about it. I’m not sure about that. We have enough _elected officials_ saying crazy things on the right that we don’t have to show vids of random members of the public. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/39 "2012-05-22T03:36:55Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > The entire conversation is on youtube, linked to in the article that was cited in the OP. Knock yourself out. Thanks, didn’t see that. Her behavior is indefensible. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606/40 "2012-05-22T06:48:34Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > No. > > From the video: > > > [@](#): > > > > Student: “Whenever Bush was president, everybody talked shit about him.” > > Teacher: “Because he was shitty.” I couldn’t make out half of what was said, but your point is… not on point. She seemed to be saying that, even though Bush was in fact shitty, people were not right to say so while he was still president. Since he’s no longer president, she can call him shitty without any contradiction to her terribly distorted view of how the world works. But if I missed something and she admitted to calling Bush shitty during his term, I retract what I just wrote. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama-criticism/622606.md?page=3)