"I support the troops, but not the war."

This started me thinking:

Lee Drury De Cesare's Casting-Room Couch:
The Riots Go on in Iran; the Teachers Get Punished by the School Board

It took me a few days, but I came to realize how difficult it is for teachers to be "in the trenches"

Defense of Public Education Home Page - By Dennis Fermoyle:

"In The Trenches:
Our public education system is under attack. University professors say it doesn’t have high enough standards, economists blame it for dragging down the American economy, politicians say it is not giving children the education that the American people demand, religious leaders say it refuses to allow God in schools, the news media portrays it as an overall failure, and one journalist even complains that public school teachers are fat!"

Blaming teachers is similar to blaming soldiers:

Support the Warrior Not the War: Give Them Their Benefits!:

"And today we are told that we must 'Support Our Troops.' 'Wear a yellow ribbon, wave your flag, support the Bush Administration's War on Terror and War on Iraq.' Questioning the war is equated with deserting our troops or treason. And yet how are the warmongers supporting our troops? By eliminating their healthcare and slashing their pensions. Let us support the warrior without supporting the war."

Support the Troops, Oppose Their Actions - by Joshua Frank:
"The antiwar movement must try to understand these inconsistencies and contradictions. When natural human agency and behaviors are thrown into situations like that of U.S. soldiers fighting in Iraq – things get complicated. But as those situations worsen, and the antiwar movement gains strength, the inner feelings that so many U.S. soldiers have will be more prone to come out.
If and when they do, we must be here for them. That's what 'supporting the troops' is all about."

"I support the troops, but not the war.":

"From Dissident Voice:
Our military is engaged in war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against peace in both Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention the more than 100 other countries where we maintain a military presence. We instigated wars of aggression against two nations whose governments did not attack us, nor did they pose any threat to us. Our forces have destroyed untold billions of dollars worth of civilian infrastructure and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children. As American citizens our jingoistic support of the military in such endeavors has enabled this abusive behavior."

One answer is to simply get rid of the enemy:

Florida & Tampa Bay schools blog - The Gradebook#comments:

"A very simple fix to this problem...Get rid of the kids that hinder the learning process. Make those parents responsible for those heathens supervise them feed them and educate them. Once they are ready to come back to the educational system they should go before the school board prior to returning to the classroom. The next problem that occurs.....Expulsion. Dump the garbage and let's move on.
Posted by: Reality Check | June 18, 2009 at 10:42 PM"

Framing how we can support our teachers but not the war should come from the bully pulpit, so to speak.