SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING.....we teach our children to do so; shouldn't we expect at least as much and more from adult citizens, especially those with access to power?
As a retired teacher, a PUBLIC school educator, who mostly taught 6th grade for much of my career, I am finding myself dumbfounded at the shallow, media response these days to those who come forward with the truth, six months or so later than they should have. When you teach younger children, starting with Kindergarten you want to help children to know the difference between “tattling over every little thing” and getting to a teacher/parent when it is something so dangerous, you cannot/should not handle it on your own. It was walking a tight rope with 6th grade students who were no longer little ones prone to tears over the slightest thing; yet not quite mature enough to TOTALLY understand the difference between what must be told and what must be handled on one’s own. For example, one year, in my 6th grade (at a time when 6th was still in elementary so I had my same 25 most of the day, and the class was like a community), my female students came to me in a panic, during our lunch time. That year I had a particularly good class in terms of bonding as a group. We had just gotten a new girl, a problematic one (I knew why but my students did not know why). Some of my better (at intuitive sensing) students noticed K was a bit on the odd side behavior wise, very needy and clingy. But I asked them to be and they were patient, even when she tried to stir some resentments between them. One day though, two of my most mature female students came to the staff lunchroom for me. I knew it had to be important because they knew my “adult time” was important to me. The did the right thing. The girls told me that K told them she had “sex, REAL sex” with her stepfather. They were in tears. They knew this was wrong, whether it was real or a lie. Of course as an educator, as a human being I was compelled to inform the Social Worker and Principal, who then had to call the police. As it turned out, stepdad had just, two weeks before, gotten out of jail (for pedophilia); negligent mother had allowed her daughter to spend the weekend with him. I know, go figure. Police came; all including the victim, the girls and their parents (who I had to call because police had to have permission to talk to the girls). They HEARD SOMETHING they knew at age 12 was wrong; they KNEW to SAY SOMETHING. And yes, it was hard for them, especially hard when they had to talk to police. It was hard for me when K saw the police, began to run, screamed at me to not let them “take her.” The two police officers, as well as my principal and I, all had to choke back tear, keep calm and assure her that she would be safe. Then I had to go back and reassure the girls who heard the story that no matter what they did the right thing. There were no rewards for the any of us nor did we want any because as hard as it was, doing the right thing was inherently its own reward. THIS IS NOT A UNIQUE STORY. Teachers, students, staff at schools do the right thing, often at personal risk, all the time to protect others. So do people in the military, like Vidman, Yovanivitch, Hill, Sally Yates. None of them were rewarded FINANCIALLY for doing the right thing. So do most decent human being.
SIGH! So can someone, anyone tell me why the media is fawning over Woodward, or this Pence Aid, Olivia somebody, like they are heroic figures??? Both KNEW six months ago that Trump was lying; the Trump COVID team headed by Pence was LYING. 200,000 dead people later they are speaking out. Finally. I am glad. BETTER LATE THAN NEVER. But DAMMIT am I the only one p*ssed as h*ll that they are being hailed like heroic figures for waiting six months to do the right thing. Why wait for a book to sound the alarm? Why the woman waited I do not know but I was DISTURBED by her insisting Pence, who lies for DJT, when his lips move, was STILL a good guy. It has been a TWILIGHT ZONE year for sure but still, how can people in the media still miss the truth. Woodward, this woman, Mattis, Kelly, Mueller...NONE OF THEM ARE HEROES. Hell I don’t think any of them are admirable. THEY KNEW about all kinds of abuses of power long before the rest of us, THEY KNEW. F*** the memo. F*** the “chain of command”. DJT should have been stopped. His incompetence, his traitorous actions with Putin, with dictators around the world; his blatant disregard for the welfare of citizens has been obvious for three years. But once the deaths of innocents started, no one should have hesitated. Their silence speaks volumes and none of it is good.