by David Huber
In a perfect world, people like Alison Scott, a teacher in the Oklahoma-based Ardmore City Schools district would have the self-control not to post stupid stuff on social media after a U.S. presidential candidate is almost assassinated.
The high school music teacher responded to a Facebook user’s post saying they were going to donate $500 to would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks for “tryin’ to save us,” according to a screenshot obtained by Libs of TikTok.
“Same!” wrote the teacher. “Wish they had a better scope” — followed by an “oh well” emoji.
Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters subsequently posted on X that the teacher’s comments were “unacceptable” and added: “We will not allow teachers to cheer on violence” against President Trump.
Later the same day Walters posted “I have investigated it enough. I will be taking [the teacher’s] teaching certificate. She will no longer be teaching in Oklahoma.”
As of Friday, the Ardmore school district website had a pop-window notice of a district news release which stated officials had started a “thorough and swift” investigation, and that the district “strongly condemns acts of physical violence and any words that seek to encourage it.”
According to the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, the Ardmore staff “Master Contract” states the “Superintendent and the School Principals will annually remind staff members and orient new staff members concerning the importance of maintaining proper decorum in the on-line, digital world as well as in person.”
Libs of TikTok and other accounts have chronicled the hideous remarks of many others regarding the attempted Trump assassination, including those of other educators. Some, like a fire chief from a town not far from where the shooting occurred, not only apologized profusely but backed it up by resigning.
Again, in a perfect world, people would “pause before [they] post,” as a recent Education Week article put it. (It also noted the travails of two other teachers in addition to the Ardmore case … not to mention that of Superintendent Walters himself who had tweeted “The left, the liberal media, and the radical extremists of Joe Biden’s party tried to assassinate @realDonaldTrump.” Ed Week only attempted to contact Walters for comment, not the teachers.)
If everyone understood and applied the the First Amendment (and the law) consistently, there wouldn’t be as much outrage as we see presently. Offensive speech is still free speech.
There is the matter, of course, of Trump being a former president (who may be elected again), which makes even borderline threats something to give pause.
On the other hand, conservatives were outraged at progressives and the media for going after kids who allegedly insulted Native Americans by wearing face paint of their favorite team’s colors … and disciplining a six-year-old for writing “any life” on “Black Lives Matter” placard the kid herself made … and trying to ruin a kid’s (and his school’s) life and reputation by lambasting them as “white supremacist” just for standing there with a grin while an old Native guy chanted at him.
And need I mention all the offended college students who wanted a professor or fellow student either disciplined or terminated because of something they said? Or the professors and academics who stretched hyperbole to the Nth degree regarding President Trump … like saying he is worse than Hitler, Stalin and Mao?
The College Fix archive is chock full of such examples.
While liberals and other Trump haters shouldn’t necessarily be piled on and have their jobs investigated over personal, emotionally charged, spur-of-the-moment political comments, isn’t turnabout fair play? After all, the Left champions equity.
Progressives made cancel culture a thing due to taking the slightest offense at something … and they absolutely hate that others now play by their rules.
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The College Fix’s Dave Huber has been writing about education, politics, and entertainment for over 20 years, including a stint at the popular media bias site Newsbusters. He is a retired educator with over 25 years of service and is a member of the National Association of Scholars.
Photo “Donald Trump” by Daniel Scavino Jr..
We used to call it “running it through the brain before running off at the mouth”, but that’s no longer used.