History Texts Downplay Clinton Impeachment
POLITICS
COMMENTARY
It's interesting to see how simply replacing the wrong words with the right words can stop the spin in a news headline.
Take for example the headline: History Texts Take Up Clinton Impeachment. According to the quoted article, of President Clinton in the Lewinsky scandal, history textbooks ask, "whether his actions justified impeachment," and attempt to place the president's terms of office in the context of how he handled the economy, etc. Wait a minute. As I recall, the boom days of the Clinton years actually rode in on Reagan era economic programs only to be derailed by the indiscretions of the late 90s. So maybe the headline should actually read: History Texts Downplay Clinton Impeachment.
The article clearly states that the texts water down the facts and even attempt to spread the blame because the "material that has by no means been settled." Excuse me, how much more settled can the facts be?
I shudder to think of how the same history texts will portray President Bush in a few years.
NEWSLINE
"The books not only influence the students, they influence the teachers," he said. "And given that many students don't go on to college -- and even those who do may not revisit the material -- the textbook may be their most significant impression."
NEWSBYTE
History Texts Take Up Clinton Impeachment
WASHINGTON (AP) - The impeachment of former President Clinton is in a gray area of history, too long ago to be a current event, too recent to be judged in perspective.
Yet history is already judging Clinton in the place where millions of students get their information about him -- textbooks.
TENSION: Spun
GRAVITY: Revised
Tags: News and Politics, Current Events, Democrats, Republicans, Politics
COMMENTARY It's interesting to see how simply replacing the wrong words with the right words can stop the spin in a news headline.
Take for example the headline: History Texts Take Up Clinton Impeachment. According to the quoted article, of President Clinton in the Lewinsky scandal, history textbooks ask, "whether his actions justified impeachment," and attempt to place the president's terms of office in the context of how he handled the economy, etc. Wait a minute. As I recall, the boom days of the Clinton years actually rode in on Reagan era economic programs only to be derailed by the indiscretions of the late 90s. So maybe the headline should actually read: History Texts Downplay Clinton Impeachment.
The article clearly states that the texts water down the facts and even attempt to spread the blame because the "material that has by no means been settled." Excuse me, how much more settled can the facts be?
I shudder to think of how the same history texts will portray President Bush in a few years.
NEWSLINE
"The books not only influence the students, they influence the teachers," he said. "And given that many students don't go on to college -- and even those who do may not revisit the material -- the textbook may be their most significant impression."
NEWSBYTE
History Texts Take Up Clinton Impeachment
WASHINGTON (AP) - The impeachment of former President Clinton is in a gray area of history, too long ago to be a current event, too recent to be judged in perspective.
Yet history is already judging Clinton in the place where millions of students get their information about him -- textbooks.
TENSION: Spun
GRAVITY: Revised
Tags: News and Politics, Current Events, Democrats, Republicans, Politics
posted by Steven Moyer at 8:03 AM
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