Feeling left out, Ryan Walters strikes again
Oklahoma schools need Israel-Iran guidance in the middle of summer? Really?
Because, I presume, the Thunder had been receiving all the attention, not him, state superintendent of public instruction Ryan Walters chose to do something stupidly grandiose, entirely self-serving and just plain dumb on Tuesday.
The Thunder’s world championship parade complete, sensing his moment, Walters sent out a memo to state school districts offering guidance about teaching the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict.
You know the one.
The one Donald Trump congratulated himself for ending with a few U.S. strikes upon Iranian nuclear sites, only to also say, “We basically have two countries that have been fighting for so long and so hard that they don’t know what the #$%@ they’re doing,” all in the same week.
It’s a curious thing.
Given the date on the calendar, school is mostly out of session.
Given the conflict only erupted two weeks ago, it’s unlikely any districts have been busy constructing any teaching plans around it to begin with.
And given the geography of where it’s happening and the date, good chance no administrators in any districts have even placed lesson plans around it on the back burner, as something to explore come, say, August.
Perhaps Walters simply couldn’t wait to get his name in the paper and on the news again, the quest for an NBA championship having occupied Oklahomans’ hearts and state media attention for the last several weeks.
Here’s the way the Oklahoman’s Murray Evans led his story about it:
State schools Superintendent Ryan Walters has sent a memo to Oklahoma school districts about teaching about the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict, saying “there will be zero tolerance for a Liberal, pro-terrorist agenda indoctrinating Oklahoma students.”
“Oklahoma kids will be taught facts, not indoctrination,” reads the memo, issued via email on Tuesday, June 24. “That means presenting the history of Israel and their fight to rightly exist in the world, including the atrocities of the Holocaust and the current struggle with Iran, in a way that is historically grounded, intellectually honest, and free from antisemitic bias.”
Walters, a far-right Republican, this year has successfully pushed through the adoption of controversial new social studies academic standards that are infused with multiple mentions of how he believes the Judeo-Christian faith system has influenced American history. Walters has also repeatedly expressed his strong political support for Israel during his more than two years in office, and is also a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump's agenda.
Gee, and I was really looking forward to the liberal, pro-terrorist take.
Also, as always, nothing’s richer than Walters insisting on facts ruling the day, rather than indoctrination, when all he’s done since entering public life is attempt to indoctrinate.
• Bibles in classrooms, hello.
• PragerU, come on down.
• Booking himself on wackadoodle conservative media, calling teachers’ unions terrorist organizations and calling harmless books in school libraries porn, you bet.
Come to think of it, since coming on the scene, Walters’ first order has been to scare and indoctrinate adults — aka, voters — into a fear-laden panic; after which, now wielding real power as superintendent, attempting to indoctrinate students, all the while building his national profile and hoping to get rich along the way.
You can read the entirety of the memo here and, truth be told, much of it doesn’t sound so draconian or wrong.
For instance:
“In Oklahoma, we are committed to ensuring that our students receive a fact-based education free from ideological bias.”
Because who doesn’t agree with that?
Yet, no statewide office-holder in memory has cared less about facts or been more ideologically biased than Walters.
Or, as Evans quoted in his story:
“That means presenting the history of Israel and their fight to rightly exist in the world, including the atrocities of the Holocaust and the current struggle with Iran, in a way that is historically grounded, intellectually honest, and free from antisemitic bias.”
Sounds great, but are we to also pretend Israel’s tactics have always been justified?
None other than former president Jimmy Carter penned a book entitled “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.”
Or that Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t still under indictment and in the middle of a slow-moving trial in the nation he purports to lead? Or that many experts believe Israel’s literal overkill in the Gaza conflict is derivative of Netanyahu’s wish to slow the trial and remain in power?
Or that Trump’s very own director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, didn’t tell Congress earlier this year Iran was NOT building a nuclear weapon.
Here’s guessing all that’s a little too much context for Walters’ liking.
Whatever, he got himself booked on Fox News last night, so … mission accomplished?
It’s enough to make you wonder what the memo and headline would have been at other moments in history.
Say, in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis?
“Ryan Walters tells state school districts, sure, Kennedy eluded nuclear armageddon without sacrificing life, but Richard Nixon actually won the previous election thanks to dead voters in Chicago.”
Or in the aftermath of Iran-Contra, when Lt. Colonel Oliver North hoodwinked both president Ronald Reagan and the U.S. Congress, getting Iran to fund the Nicaraguan Contras.
“Ryan Walters tells state school districts Oliver North is an American hero and shall not be besmirched no matter how flagrantly he sold out his country, covering up his misdeeds along the way.”
Or, after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
“Ryan Walters tells state school districts they should teach the historical significance of the Cold War’s ending, but not be too hard on Russia because should an old KGB agent take power and one day threaten Russia’s neighbors all over again, we might want to be on his side.”
I’m spitballing here.
But I wouldn’t put it past him.
Would you?
Clay, I wish you had not given Walters even more ideas on how to rewrite history.
If Ryan Walters somehow becomes governor, I think I'm going to have to leave Oklahoma, where I've lived for 30 years. I cannot begin to imagine what chaos and idiocy he could bring to the position.