Tread lightly or prepare for obscurity...

Ahhh, the land of the free…

I want to state quite unequivocally what I personally believe, “President George W Bush has a lot of similarities to Adolf Hitler, who also wanted to conquer and dominate the world, who wanted to do away with democratic agendas."

"Adolf was right and so is George W, and everyone else is wrong! Neither Hitler nor Bush should ever have their motives or actions questioned. Both men were (are) not only above the law, they were (are) the law.”

What I have just written is surely bound to get me into a lot of strife if I ever try to cross the borders of the United States of America, even though I maintain duel-citizenship of both the United States and Australia.

Mind you I am only stating what a World Geography teacher in Colorado said to his class, and, I happen to whole-heartedly agree with him.

Jay Bennish, a day after George W presented his State of the Union speech addressed his class, “Sounds a lot like the things that Adolf Hitler used to say. We're (the US) the only ones who are right, everyone else is backward and our job is to conquer the world."

Jay went on to say that American troops had spent 30 years fighting the drug war in Colombia and using chemical weapons to eradicate coca fields. Jay called the U.S. "probably the single most violent nation on planet Earth," saying it had committed more than 7,000 "terrorist sabotage acts" against Cuba.

During the class, Jay questioned why the United States was allowed to wage war in the Middle East but Palestinians were condemned as terrorists for attacking Israel. A student interjected that the U.S. did not single out civilians, unlike Palestinian terrorists. The teacher asked students how Israel was created, telling them that Zionists used assassination and bombings to create their state. According to the transcript, Jay concluded by telling his students, "I'm not implying in any way you should agree with me! What I'm trying to do is to get you to think about these issues more in depth."

Jay then thanked them for asking questions. Even though Jay made it quite clear he wasn’t equating Bush with Hitler, the damage was already done. One of his students recorded the lecture on a MP3 device and gave it to a local radio talkback program.

Such a fuss; the teacher has been suspended this past week on paid leave from his school district until a thorough investigation by the school board has been completed. Of course this raises the issue of the right of free speech (1st Amendment of the US Constitution). A spokesperson for the school board said, "Teachers do have the right to their own opinion, but it must be in the context of the material being taught and it must provide a balanced point of view."

The school lost about 150 students, who walked out of class Thursday in protest of Jay’s absence. Meanwhile Jay had threatened district official Friday with a federal lawsuit. Isn’t it the job of a teacher to present views that are intended to get students thinking about current events?

Perhaps it might not be the way the majority of the middle-class Americans think, but what if the rest of the world agrees with Jay? As one of the attorneys’s involved in this fiasco stated, if Jay had spoken strongly in support of George W, he wouldn’t be in the strife he is currently in.

A spokesperson for the school district, said officials were investigating whether or not Jay had violated a policy that prohibited teachers from intimidating students who held political beliefs different from their own.

It would seem, in America teachers have 1st Amendment rights to speak on matters of public interest in the general marketplace, but they don't have as great a level of rights when speaking inside the classroom on matters related to the curriculum."

Jay was initially gagged by a school administrator who told him if he spoke to the media, his comments would be viewed and considered as insubordination.

Since Friday Jay has backed away from his threat of suing the school district but will reserve his final decision will rest on the outcome of the district’s investigation.