RUSH: Adam in Rockford, Illinois, welcome to Open Line Friday. Hello.
CALLER: Hello.
RUSH: Hello.
CALLER: Hello.
RUSH: Hello. Hi.
CALLER: Yeah, I have an economics teacher, Mr. McCoy. He is a screaming liberal, and I challenge him in his class, so he plans his lesson around me, and he tries to set little traps for me. Is there anything you can help me say just to shut him up and put him in his place?
RUSH: Well, not without knowing some of the traps that your teacher — his name is Mr. McCoy?
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: You’re calling from Rockford, Illinois?
CALLER: Yep.
RUSH: And you’re in high school?
CALLER: Yeah, I’m a senior at Auburn High School.
RUSH: Senior at Auburn High School, professor McCoy did you say is his name?
CALLER: Yes, sir.
RUSH: Screaming liberal.
CALLER: Yeah, I actually have a paraphrased phrase of his right there that he said to me in class because I am the only conservative in his class. He says, “Like Adam, all conservatives hate public good. They want the lower class to suffer because they don’t have enough money.”
RUSH: You have a teacher actually telling you this?
CALLER: Hm-hm.
RUSH: This is not by any means the first time I’ve heard stuff like this from people. The same kind of stuff happens in schools in south Florida, I can tell you.
CALLER: Right.
RUSH: Okay, so you want me to give you some assistance in dealing with professor McCoy?
CALLER: Yes. Anything that would help —
RUSH: Like how?
CALLER: — put him in his place.
RUSH: Well, that’s tough without knowing what he’s going to say to you at any moment and you want a specific reply to him. You could always, when he gives you an opinion like that, tells you that Republicans want the lower classes, conservatives want the lower classes to suffer, ask him, “What’s in it for conservatives to have people suffer?” Make him explain this. Why? Beyond that, I’ll tell you what you really ought to do is say, “Mr. McCoy, I don’t accept your premise. You can’t prove this. This is nothing more than liberal claptrap that I can read on any left-wing blog. You’re supposed to be teaching me things I don’t know, not trying to indoctrinate me.”
CALLER: Well, see, any time I try to follow-up questions or anything, he just changes the subject.
RUSH: Well, you’re dealing with a problem that there’s not much you can really do about. I mean in a classroom you’re the serf and he’s the authoritative figure.
CALLER: Hm-hm.
RUSH: He does have all the authority in there.
CALLER: Oh, yeah.
RUSH: And you’re supposed to be subservient to it. I’d just, you know, smiling at them and laughing at them tends to frustrate them.
CALLER: Well, one day I actually told him I am a Rush Baby, and in enough words he said I am lost and can’t be found again basically. He basically said that it’s worthless trying to convert me because I am a Rush Baby.
RUSH: Oh, well, the comeback to that is, “Mr. McCoy, this is a school. I didn’t think you were here to convert me. I thought we were here to teach me. I’d like to learn something in here, Mr. McCoy, not just be subjected to what you think.”
CALLER: He actually is a really good teacher and I do learn things from him but his classes —
RUSH: Well, is it possible that Mr. McCoy is just using a technique and maybe he’s not a screaming liberal, maybe he’s just pretending to be one to get your goat to promote your thinking?
CALLER: No, no, he is definitely a screaming liberal because my mom, who listens to you every day, we went we went in there for a parent teacher conference —
RUSH: Okay, wait a minute, now, why is he a good teacher, then?
CALLER: I have learned things in his class.
RUSH: Like what? Let’s be sure you’re learning here. What is something that’s true? Give me something that got you excited when you learned it, when he taught it to you, when you found out what you didn’t know, can you think of anything off the top of your head?
CALLER: Well, I don’t know about excited, but I have learned things like externalities, incentives, price war, price ceiling, a whole bunch of that stuff.
RUSH: Incentives, price floor, price ceiling. Okay, what did you learn about incentives?
CALLER: Incentives, he says that incentives are good or bad things that make a person do or not do something.
RUSH: Well, yeah, but in relation to what? This is an economics class?
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: Did he ever talk about the incentive of work?
CALLER: He talked about incentives of work as in if you don’t get a job he has to pay for you through his taxes because you don’t have a job.
RUSH: If you don’t get a job he has to pay it through taxes because you don’t have a job?
CALLER: Yeah, in more or less words.
RUSH: In other words, his taxes go up to support you?
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: Well, it sounds to me like this guy has deep resentment for people that don’t work. He’s taking it personally.
CALLER: He teaches in Rockford, top ten unemployment. It’s pretty bad.
RUSH: Top ten unemployment. You know, it sounds to me like you’re doing pretty well in this class, because what is happening here — I know you’ve called me and asked for assistance, and I know millions would like to get that from me, but you’re out there, you’re thinking that whatever this guy is doing, whatever he’s teaching he’s still inspiring you to think critically and that’s the most important thing. I don’t care what else you get out of school with, whatever grades you get in classes and so forth, but if you get out of there with the ability to think critically and challenge things that don’t make sense to you off the top, that’s good. Critical thinking is what is not taught anymore.
CALLER: Oh, I agree.
RUSH: If he’s trying to indoctrinate you it isn’t working.
CALLER: Oh, no. Not in the least.
RUSH: I think you’re in pretty good shape here. If he starts making assertions like conservatives want people to be poor —
CALLER: Well, he’s actually said conservatives are evil.
RUSH: Yeah. You need to ask him to explain it and give you examples.
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: No, you do. And you need to have him define terms.
CALLER: Oh, no, I’ve tried to. He just changes the subject every time I try to say anything. Unless he wants to get in a big argument, which we do almost every day.
RUSH: Well, you know, that’s about all you can do because you’re facing an authority situation.
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: As long as you’re able to maintain your open mind with all this stuff and realize that those kinds of assertions are really childish and immature for somebody who’s supposed to be responsible for expanding somebody’s mind. I mean that is one of the silliest assertions, it’s a cliche. In fact, you might even say, “Mr. McCoy, I have a lot of respect for you as a teacher, I’d like to be taught something other than cliches.”
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: You think you can remember that?
CALLER: Oh, yes, definitely.
RUSH: “Mr. McCoy, I just don’t accept that premise. I want to learn something here other than cliches. I can see that any day I want on the Internet what you just said. I don’t need to come to this class if you’re gonna say things like that.”
CALLER: True.
RUSH: Is that Mr. McCoy in the background?
CALLER: No, that’s my sister.
RUSH: Oh. Okay. Well, you keep in touch and let us know how this goes, okay?
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: Anything else, Adam, we can help you with?
CALLER: My mom and me, we have discussed with him at length about everything, and they actually sat down and had a two-hour argument about politics and your show actually came up. I wasn’t there for the whole time so you’d have to ask her. But the only thing, ’cause I left the room right after because I had to go see another teacher, he hates iPods and my mom wanted me to tell you that.
RUSH: He hates iPods?
CALLER: He hates iPods.
RUSH: Now, that’s just unacceptable. I don’t care whatever else the guy does. That’s fighting words, he hates iPods, he hates iPads. This guy is a dinosaur. Let me tell you something, though. Your mom is special. Most parents won’t get near what your mom did because they fear whatever they do will be taken out on their children. They will just tell you, “Look, okay, just try to get through it. I don’t want to harm your grade,” and these teachers don’t get challenged that way. Your mom did a brave thing. Don’t forget that.
CALLER: I won’t. Never do.
RUSH: All right. Adam, take care, and thanks for calling.