Soapbox Tuesday
Tuesdays are fun because I get to look for the absurd news story of the day and then talk about it. The sad thing is I usually don’t have to look too far for a absurd story. Today it took all of five minutes.
This story starts in the little town of Northport New York where two senior students choose the following quotes for their yearbook. Christopher Koulermos picked: “Strength lies no in defense, but in attack.” Philip Compton’s choice was: “The great masses of people … will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one.” Now these quotes aren’t exactly friendly but not really Earth shattering. That is until you find out the book these two quotes come from; Mein Kampf by Adolph Hitler.
The fact that students picked two quotes from Hitler isn’t really that surprising. In my high school senior group shot there are three guys with their arms straight up either hailing Caesar or Hitler… one of them being an African-American. So seniors doing ‘shocking things’ just isn’t that shocking anymore. But some of the things in the story that really go my attention are the responses to the act.
The Principal and Superintendent both are apologizing for the publication of these quotes. The yearbook’s student staff and advisor saw the quotes but either didn’t think they should be edited or just didn’t realize where the quotes came from. But then again I wonder how many people off the street would recognize the quotes without the credit included. But that means if they staff didn’t see it, then someone got the quote and recognized it immediately… or, the two kids were dumb enough to brag to the wrong person that they got the quotes in. My guess… it’s the bragging thing.
Two of the things they are considering to rectify this grievous offense… either reprinting that section of the yearbook or… and I LOVE this one… offering special tape to people who want to cover the quote. So a piece of duct tape or a black marker isn’t good enough? Special tape has to be made and offered to all the people who bought the book? What makes the tape special? Does it have the words: “I’m sorry I was a dick.” On the tape to put in the original quote’s place? And what if you don’t request the tape, does suddenly everyone in the town think you’re a Nazi?
But the best part of the whole thing is the reaction of Steven Compton, the father of 18-year-old Phillip… I quote this from the CNN story: “I guess he seriously didn’t consider the source; he was more interested in the quote. He’s a child” Now there are a LOT of things wrong with Mr. Compton’s response. First… if his son didn’t seriously consider the source then someone didn’t teach him a damn bit about history. And for him to have picked the quote, it means that either he’s read the book or he specifically decided he wanted a Hitler quote and went and found one… I don’t think people accidentally come across quotes by Hitler. Second, the says his son was more interested in the quote… about fooling everyone with the big lie… this is something you want to admit? Your son’s favorite quote is about bullshitting the most amount of people possible? And third… he’s 18… he may be immature and stupid… but he’s no longer a child.
These two guys most likely said to each other… “Lets put in quotes from Hitler, it will be funny”. It’s not funny to a lot of people, but this is the stupid kind of things 18-year-olds do… have the kids write letters of apology to the people who bought the book and then suggest to anyone who is offended to just mark the quotes out. The last thing I think this story needed was nationwide attention. Then again, maybe I just made it worse by covering it here… oh wait, no one reads this anyway.
Tuesdays are fun because I get to look for the absurd news story of the day and then talk about it. The sad thing is I usually don’t have to look too far for a absurd story. Today it took all of five minutes.
This story starts in the little town of Northport New York where two senior students choose the following quotes for their yearbook. Christopher Koulermos picked: “Strength lies no in defense, but in attack.” Philip Compton’s choice was: “The great masses of people … will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one.” Now these quotes aren’t exactly friendly but not really Earth shattering. That is until you find out the book these two quotes come from; Mein Kampf by Adolph Hitler.
The fact that students picked two quotes from Hitler isn’t really that surprising. In my high school senior group shot there are three guys with their arms straight up either hailing Caesar or Hitler… one of them being an African-American. So seniors doing ‘shocking things’ just isn’t that shocking anymore. But some of the things in the story that really go my attention are the responses to the act.
The Principal and Superintendent both are apologizing for the publication of these quotes. The yearbook’s student staff and advisor saw the quotes but either didn’t think they should be edited or just didn’t realize where the quotes came from. But then again I wonder how many people off the street would recognize the quotes without the credit included. But that means if they staff didn’t see it, then someone got the quote and recognized it immediately… or, the two kids were dumb enough to brag to the wrong person that they got the quotes in. My guess… it’s the bragging thing.
Two of the things they are considering to rectify this grievous offense… either reprinting that section of the yearbook or… and I LOVE this one… offering special tape to people who want to cover the quote. So a piece of duct tape or a black marker isn’t good enough? Special tape has to be made and offered to all the people who bought the book? What makes the tape special? Does it have the words: “I’m sorry I was a dick.” On the tape to put in the original quote’s place? And what if you don’t request the tape, does suddenly everyone in the town think you’re a Nazi?
But the best part of the whole thing is the reaction of Steven Compton, the father of 18-year-old Phillip… I quote this from the CNN story: “I guess he seriously didn’t consider the source; he was more interested in the quote. He’s a child” Now there are a LOT of things wrong with Mr. Compton’s response. First… if his son didn’t seriously consider the source then someone didn’t teach him a damn bit about history. And for him to have picked the quote, it means that either he’s read the book or he specifically decided he wanted a Hitler quote and went and found one… I don’t think people accidentally come across quotes by Hitler. Second, the says his son was more interested in the quote… about fooling everyone with the big lie… this is something you want to admit? Your son’s favorite quote is about bullshitting the most amount of people possible? And third… he’s 18… he may be immature and stupid… but he’s no longer a child.
These two guys most likely said to each other… “Lets put in quotes from Hitler, it will be funny”. It’s not funny to a lot of people, but this is the stupid kind of things 18-year-olds do… have the kids write letters of apology to the people who bought the book and then suggest to anyone who is offended to just mark the quotes out. The last thing I think this story needed was nationwide attention. Then again, maybe I just made it worse by covering it here… oh wait, no one reads this anyway.
1 Comments:
Hey Dan, I read your blog!
But may I offer another view on the story. Maybe the kids were being ironic. Both quotes relate to the current administration's policies.
I never understood why everything related to hitler and nazis has to be instantly demonified, dismissed, and hidden away with an apology. Its history and we can learn from it just like any other facts without liking the facts themselves. Hitler and his writings are proof that any goverment can be stolen by a few people and used to do great harm. We see it daily now. If these 2 kids have swastikas tattooed on their arm and hate on their minds, then that's a problem, but we need to know more about what they wanted to say rather than what they quoted. The real scary part of the story is the foolish and comical actions of the school to attempt a public relations solution. It is not illegal to print, buy, borrow, or read Mein Kampf in this country so why should we be shocked if someone quotes it?
Our goverment has told us numerous lies over the past six years as justification for a pr-eemptive war. Sounds like something right out of the Hitler manual, doesn't it? I prefer to think those kids see the parellels and are tryign to shokc people out of complacency. There may be hope yet.
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