"I feel......"

"I feel......"  I've heard that more than once over the course of the last week or so.  To start, there's nothing wrong with feeling, if in the right context.  But when feeling replaces thinking, there's a problem.  I think we've reached that point.

I don't think it was coincidental that each of the "I feel" comments came from past or present teachers.  I know for years, in class, I had students in their essays write things they felt, rather than what they knew.  And there were many teachers who encouraged that, feeling instead of knowing, with, for instance, writing daily journals.  So much for the misnomer "critical thinking."

"I feel they," the NFL kneelers, "have a right of free speech" or something of that nature.  That, again, is not coincidental that this comment came from teachers.  It shows an ignorance of the concept of free expression/speech.  And it's certainly not just teachers who misunderstand this.  (I just heard the comments from teachers.)  No doubt, these people would cite, in supporting their feelings, the First Amendment.  I'm certain few of them know what the First Amendment reads:  "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...or of speech, or of the press or of the people to peaceably assemble......"  The key word is "Congress."  The First Amendment restricts government, not private employers.  There is no "freedom of speech" for the NFLers unless the owners want to give it to them.  What if, say, back in another lifetime when I was teaching in the schools, I opted to post banners in my room asking that the millage be defeated because the school board and administrators will just waste the money?  Do I have the right of "free speech?"  Read the amendment and then consider the school district is a level of government.  If anything, I should be able to post such a statement, without repercussions.  Now, how far do you think I'd have gotten with that one?  (I did have on my bulletin board, often the only thing, a quotation from Mark Twain, "In the first place, God created idiots.  That was for practice.  Then he created school boards."  Yes, principals and at least one superintendent were aware it was there.)

Such ignorance of the First Amendment is not unexpected.  I've written this in the past that I think many teachers' college degrees are fake degrees, work required for them not nearly as rigorous, the curriculum not nearly of the quality, of real degrees.  I have some standing to make such a statement.  I have two real degrees, that is, not from the schools of education, as well as two degrees from schools of education, teaching degrees.  I know of what I speak/write.

Is it any surprise, then, that people who have gone through the public schools don't comprehend the meaning of the First Amendment?  Their teachers don't even know it.  (Oh, the stories I could tell!)

But, as is being proven more and more, "I feel" is good enough.

I think it's been blown out of proportion, esp in light of the real problems we face, but this NFL QB snafu is ridiculous.  What did he say?  Something about being asked about pass patterns by a girl?  To me, the women doing sports are just as bad as the men, maybe worse.  I say "worse" only because some of the men are former players who can tell funny or relevant stories. 

A columnist this AM has it all wrong about female reporters covering sports.  No, they should not be allowed in men's locker rooms.  Well, they should, but only if they, too, strip down to their bras and panties, wearing towels wrapped around their bodies.  Otherwise, I don't want to hear about it.

Another one wrote this, claiming that the Trump administration's ruling to roll back the Obamacare requirement of providing birth control in insurance packages.  That, of course, stems from some people's/employers' religious and moral objections to this.  But this editor claims the Trump decision will lead to "more unplanned pregnancies...more abortions...more children with preventable disabilities."  Huh?  So, now it's our fault, my fault for all these terrible things!?!?!?  Hey lady (Yes, I'm being snide here!), what about people curbing or controlling their sexual urges?  NO NO, we can't have that.  (Gee, Hugh Hefner just died last week, you know, the one most responsible for the "Moral Revolution," which I call the "Immoral Revolution."  NO NO, we can't have that, controlling sexual urges.)  Why don't these complainers purchase their own insurance policies or, get riders, that cover birth control?  NO NO, we can't have that.  People actually be responsible for their own lives?  C'mon......  For that matter, why doesn't this lady start something, maybe a Face Book page or a Go Fund Me or whatever those things are, to pay for such policies for those she's lamenting?  Or, even better, why doesn't she (and those who agree with her) pay out of their own pockets for the birth control policies?  I know why and so does she.  But how rich, blaming the Trump administration for "more abortions" and "more unplanned pregnancies."  There's a lot to lament about Trump, but this isn't one of the things.  But, of course, this lady "feels......"