UPDATED BELOW

I have to start with my ethics, because I’ve spent more than 48 hours wrestling with whether what I’m about to do is the RIGHT thing to do. Right as in “correct,” and “proper,” and not as politics, as is in common parlance.

George Washington statue at
Independence Hall, Philadelphia

You see, I posted three hours of a radio interview into six years of investigative reporting that’s been recognized by outlets from PBS’ “NOW” to the Portland Oregonian.

And then a conservative blogger responded with hate speech of at least vaguely grammatical insensate rage.

And he did it on the Oakland Schools, White Lake, Commerce Township, Michigan server. On the official government k12.mi.us servers. I have zero doubt that this is — apart from the hypocrisy of railing against “big government” and tax fraud and waste on the government’s dime — clearly a violation of local and state policy.

Thus, my ethical dilemma. Do I “snitch” and possibly get this man in job trouble in tough economic times?

I have to take responsibility for that, and yet I still feel awful about Denny Flahault. (Deserved though it might have been.) Or do I let it slide, as is my liberal habit?

And then, alas, I read the comments and the hatred directed at Whitney Houston’s in the 5000+ comments on the story at Fox News, and I realized that some forms of tolerance ARE collaborationism, as the “Conservative Teacher” suggests in comment #6642 [emphasis added]:

A Conservative Teacher aconservativeteacher.blogspot.com x aconservativeteacher@gmail.com 216.11.79.22

Submitted on 2012/02/11 at 5:59 am You’re a liar and a hypocrite and a bad person. Right now, you support the President of the United States attacking publically and politically individual soverign citizens of the United States because you don’t like those people, and by doing so establish and support the President’s ability to do this. But in future years, when the President turns on people who you like, or who you support, or perhaps when the President of the United States goes on TV and tells everyone that you personally are a bad guy and should be treated as stuff, you will howl ‘unfair’ and ‘wrong’ then- except there will be no one to save you. You’re the same sort of person who let the fascists murder Jews and innocent people in Germany because they were political enemies of yours- you are the same sort of person who did nothing in the Soviet Union while Ukranians and liberals were killed because you thought they were really bad people. I’ve got your back, for what’s it worth, and the minute a Republican or conservative President turns on individual citizens and uses the office and the power of the office to attack individual soverign citizens of our nation, I’ll help you out. I do this not because you are a good and decent person who deserves that, but because I am a good and decent person.

Thus, my dilemma has been resolved by the unlikeliest of advisors, the perpetrator himself. Much as I’d like to let this pass with a witty retort and an acknowledgement that such is always the case if you’re going to voice an opinion, going back, at least, to Aristotle:

Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.

So, being called a Hitler genocide enabler is not the worst thing I’ve been called, and is not particularly offense to ME. You get (e)mail like this all the time, in my profession. My letters in the [Eugene] Register-Guard  and Weekly used to get me multiple-page actual anonymous letters, dot-matrix printed and yellow-highlighted prophetic Fire and Brimstone, condemning me to Hell for questioning George W. Bush, God’s Anointed Ruler, etc. etc. etc. And so forth.

But, as Kant would say, there is a moral imperative here. Whether uncomfortable or not, the simple facts deserve to be known by the public who funds this letter.

And here is the documentary proof (which you are invited to examine on your own). I will only swear that I have not altered so much as a jot or tittle of the digital record. I have rendered each of the following screencaps as .pdf files from the original screens, which are linked to the screencaps below.

First, look up that URL capture number:

Highland, Michigan.

Sitemeter says that it is Commerce Township, Michigan, and “What is My IP address”  says it’s White Lake, Michigan.

According to Geo Bytes, all of those towns reside within a 15 mile radius, so the exact city isn’t particularly an issue.

Miles.tenths. City.State.Country
0 0 Highland, MI, US
8 5 Hartland, MI, US
9 5 Milford, MI, US
9 5 White Lake, MI, US
11 6 Commerce Township, MI, US
11 6 Davisburg, MI, US
14 8 Union Lake, MI, US
15 9 Fenton, MI, US

Second, we look at the visit record from SiteMeter (sorry, it’s behind my account firewall):

That was what caught my eye.  And the comment quoted in its entirety above was the result (see my comments policy at the bottom of my blog, clearly stated).

I noted that the URL capture from Sitemeter (completely independent of WordPress) matched the WordPress capture. So, I went to “A Conservative Teacher”s blog. Here is his self-description [emphasis added]:

Contact me
Email [= aconservativeteacher@gmail.com ]
On Blogger since June 2008
Profile views – 5437
My blogs

A Conservative Teacher
About me

Industry Education
Location Michigan, United States

Introduction A Conservative Teacher is the pseudonym for the author of A Conservative Teacher, one of the most popular education and politics blogs in Michigan. As the premier blog written by a conservative teacher, my posts have been picked up by top-tier blogs and I have been a featured guest writer on many more blogs. Those looking for a conservative teacher to interview frequently find their way to me, and I have been invited as a guest on radio programs to talk further about some of my more explosive and exciting posts. Whether as a public high school teacher where I have taught many subjects in social studies, a local elected official, a policy advisor working for the government, an executive on union and government boards, or as a member of one of several government committees on education, I have been on the front lines of communication for many years. Whether in print or on radio, I can always be counted on for knowledgeable, exciting, positive, passionate, and honest commentary on education, government, best practices, politics, the media, testing, the environment, religion, book or movie reviews, elections, technology, or local events.

Here is a snippet of this “knowledgeable, exciting, positive, passionate, and honest commentary” from December 8, 2011 (since it is cross-posted with the same bio, verbatim, and seems utterly germane to this “conservative teacher”s educational agenda):

Teaching and Brain-Dead Liberal Students

Public Schools
Dec 08, 2011

Of all the students in my class, the ones who are the least intelligent are the liberal ones. As Ronald Reagan once said, it isn’t that these students are ignorant- in a great many cases, these students earn A’s in all their classes and have a considerable wealth of knowledge on the issues and the subject matter. But what makes them just so darned unintelligent is that they know so much that isn’t so.

For example, one of my students every day talks about the right to occupy public places that the people in the Occupy Wall Street movements are exercising. He knows that individual citizens have the right to squat on public places and protest, regardless of time, place, and manner restrictions, and he knows this beyond a doubt in his little mind. But what he knows isn’t so- at no time has any court or legal scholar ever argued that people have an unlimited right to live on public lands without being molested- in fact, there are considerable and respected time, place, and manner restrictions on protesting on public property, and this includes not being able to sleep overnight in tents in public parks. My student isn’t ignorant of the laws and rules and regulations regarding the First Amendment; rather, it is that he knows things where aren’t so.

Another one of my students knows that under President George W. Bush and the Republicans, our nation was plunged into a severe recession that President Barack Obama has had to battle his entire time in office. She knows that the recession began under Republican control of Congress and the Presidency, and here in Michigan she knows that the recession can be blamed on a Republican Governor and state Congress. She is not ignorant- if I were to ask her when Congress was taken over by the Democrats, when President Obama took office, when the Great Recession started, or when Democrats lost control of the Michigan Congress or Governorship, she’d be able to tell me. It is just that when I ask her to put all this information together, she suddenly knows things that aren’t so, because the truth of the matter is that the Great Recession began in 2008 during the last year of Bush’s presidency, under a Democrat* Congress, and in Michigan there was a Democratic Governor and Congress too. What she knew wasn’t so!

Another student last week knew that global warming was happening- that is, she knew that ever since the industrial age began, human activity has been causing a steady and progressively accelerating of the global temperatures. She knew this to be so, and she was a good student who every day would quote from the New York Timesor Barack Obama, so she wasn’t ignorant- it was just that what she knew wasn’t so. The temperature of the globe has not been steadily rising in temperatures since the industrial age, and to be honest, it is difficult to determine beyond a shadow of a doubt whether it is rising even now, what with data being manipulated by scientists, a lack in measuring stations, and an overall problem of putting thermometers near industrial and populated areas that naturally emit a lot of heat.

Just why exactly are the liberals and left-wing of our nation brain dead? [...]

[* If this partisan pedant were actually concerned with "facts" he'd know that it is the "Democratic Party" and, therefore, not "Democrat Congress." The former is an intentional slur -- albeit not necessarily from A Conservative Teacher, who might just be ignorant on this issue.]

Really? “Brain dead” and “his little mind”? Is that an appropriate way to talk about your students in a private social network? And would it be appropriate to talk about one’s students publicly as a “media celebrity” (if you read his stuff, low self-esteem doesn’t seem to be one of his problems) in a public forum?

[* There's a cache of his backlogged stuff at  "Conservatives on Fire" as well. He's not obscure in blogging circles.]

Or, one need look no further than February 13th’s A Conservative Teacher blog posting which begins with:

click for original

As a public school teacher, every day I battle to advance the principles of liberty and freedom. This is my story.

“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.” – Socrates
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2012

Elementary Students Turned Into Pawns by Liberal Teacher?

Elementary Students Forced to Write Advocacy Letters to Governor Criticizing Education Cuts, via Michigan Capitol Confidential:

…

This news does not shock or surprise me. In my post Liberal Teachers I wrote:

Whole generations of students are being brainwashed by this liberal thinking. And I do mean they are being brain-washed. Teachers are systematically trying to force the students in their classes to think in a certain way. They are forced to only hear one viewpoint on issues, they are forced to only provide answers that the teacher considers right, and they are forced on penalty of shame to admit to and agree to the liberal agenda. True, many students rebel against this system, usually be shutting down mentally or saying they hate school, but most students are worn down bit by bit, and eventually agree that 2+2 does equal 5*, and the liberal agenda in this nation is advanced that much further.

There is considerable evidence to me that this is so- textbooks, state curriculum, lesson plans, standardized tests, student comments, and my own observations. On big issues and little issues, the liberal agenda is pushed down students minds, and the cumulative effect of decades of this is beginning to show in our current political environment.

And so forth.

[* =

See "Nostradammit" 29 Jan 2011 for details

end of internal footnote.]

And here is a recent radio appearance from the link on his blog:

Click for .mp3
HE is definitely a guy, and anyone at the Oakland Schools
ought to be able to identify him from his voice. 

My point is this: if he’s so worried about big government, and so afraid of taking responsibility for his own opinions in his own name, why is he calling people Nazi collaborators on the taxpayers’ dime?

There is supposed to be a firewall between this hate-filled egotist’s anonymous public sneering at his students and those who differ with his cranky political agenda — and his taxpayer-paid, salaried, tenured job TEACHING Michigan’s young men and women, according to the democrat – small ‘d’ – consensus of Michigan’s elected representatives.

Sorry, I meant “democratic” consensus — small ‘d’ — whoops!

No. A line has been crossed that I have to point out to the taxpayers of Michigan, who just paid to have me called a Nazi. I might have shined it on, but it is precisely tolerating this kind of savage intolerance that has produced the political climate that ALL Americans — save for a few agitators never so happy as when they’re playing “let’s you and him fight” — are properly appalled and repulsed by.

The irony is that, if high schools had recess, the kind of anonymous baiting and insulting the beliefs of others that “A Conservative Teacher” regularly engages in, behind his Dorian Gray mask of anonymity would NOT be tolerated by the Administration.

Three Medford, Oregon teachers who were thrown
out of a 2004 George W. Bush rally for
wearing these awful t-shirts. 

Or teachers like “A Conservative Teacher.”

Who used your tax dollars to send this response to my three hours summarizing my demonstrably correct investigative reporting on Koch-related entities, foundations and political operations:

You’re a liar and a hypocrite and a bad person. Right now, you support the President of the United States attacking publically and politically individual soverign citizens of the United States because you don’t like those people, and by doing so establish and support the President’s ability to do this. But in future years, when the President turns on people who you like, or who you support, or perhaps when the President of the United States goes on TV and tells everyone that you personally are a bad guy and should be treated as stuff, you will howl ‘unfair’ and ‘wrong’ then- except there will be no one to save you.

You’re the same sort of person who let the fascists murder Jews and innocent people in Germany because they were political enemies of yours- you are the same sort of person who did nothing in the Soviet Union while Ukranians and liberals were killed because you thought they were really bad people.

I’ve got your back, for what’s it worth, and the minute a Republican or conservative President turns on individual citizens and uses the office and the power of the office to attack individual soverign citizens of our nation, I’ll help you out. I do this not because you are a good and decent person who deserves that, but because I am a good and decent person.

 That last might not be the universal consensus, however.

But, all of this would be meaningless, if I did not confirm that the commenter and “A Conservative Teacher” were one and the same anonymous person. People get spoofed all the time. So, I sent a letter, politely asking for confirmation, quoting the comment from the k12.mi.us server.

from Hart Williams
to aconservativeteacher@gmail.com
date Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 2:00 AM
subject A Question

Dear Conservative Teacher:

I would like to respond more thoughtfully on my blog to your comment, but first, is this your comment, or is someone spoofing your identity? (In which case, I thought you’d like to know.)

Submitted on 2012/02/11 at 5:59 am
You’re a liar and a hypocrite and a bad person. Right now, you support the President of the United States attacking publically and politically individual soverign citizens of the United States because you don’t like those people, and by doing so establish and support the President’s ability to do this. But in future years, when the President turns on people who you like, or who you support, or perhaps when the President of the United States goes on TV and tells everyone that you personally are a bad guy and should be treated as stuff, you will howl ‘unfair’ and ‘wrong’ then- except there will be no one to save you.

You’re the same sort of person who let the fascists murder Jews and innocent people in Germany because they were political enemies of yours- you are the same sort of person who did nothing in the Soviet Union while Ukranians and liberals were killed because you thought they were really bad people.

I’ve got your back, for what’s it worth, and the minute a Republican or conservative President turns on individual citizens and uses the office and the power of the office to attack individual soverign citizens of our nation, I’ll help you out. I do this not because you are a good and decent person who deserves that, but because I am a good and decent person.

If so, Thank you for reading, at least.

Cordially,

Hart Williams,
his vorpal sword, Prop.

You’re never too old to live and
you’re never too young to die ..

There was no reply.

So, I thought for a moment, and devised a small subterfuge. Since this guy has such a high opinion of himself, I thought, if I feign anger and then INSTRUCT the all-knowing teacher* it just might push his buttons.

[* Who modestly posts this Biblical citation at the bottom of his blog master page:

ECCLESIASTES 12:9-11 (NIV)

Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true. The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails-given by one shepherd.

Ecclesiastes 12:9-11 (NIV)

Right under this, of course:

I call on all good Americans to resist these Bizarro's and their Bizarro agenda.

BIZARRO SUPERMAN

A Modern Day Liberal

And so I wrote this to the email address listed both on my comment page and his blogger profile page:

from Hart Williams
to aconservativeteacher@gmail.com
date Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 12:18 AM [all times PST]
subject As I suspected

To “A Konservuhtiv Teechur”:

No response, which is, by virtue of its silence, all the confirmation I actually needed. Silence, in this case, indicates ownership.

There wasn’t much doubt of the fact, given your M.O.*, but I thought I’d give you a chance.

Too gutless to show your face; too craven to take responsibility for your words, even though spoken anonymously.

Taking the word “pusillanimous” furtively into the new century, I see.

Glad to know that “role models” like yourself are edumacating our next generation of leaders.

Hart Williams

You’re never too old to live and
you’re never too young to die ..

[*"Modus operandi," a Latin term that is used in English to mean: "Method of Operation."]

As we all know from our Direct Mail Advertising manual, the KEY to any marketing letter is in that “P.S.” (Look at any political or charitable fundraising letter you get as junk mail, sometime.)

In other words, never “instruct” a teacher. But if you do, make sure to put it in the PS.

I received the following response the same day from the email address listed both on my comment page and his blogger profile page:

from . . aconservativeteacher@gmail.com
to Hart Williams
date Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 7:24 PM
subject Re: As I suspected

7:24 PM

Thank you so much for contacting me. You are a vile person, but even
still, when the government turns on you please look me up for support
and help. In the meantime, please attempt to further your education in
everything meaningful. I feel badly for you and your life.

He’s nothing if not consistent.

Here’s a .PNG of his response, quoting my followup letter.

click for full size

No matter what disciplinary action is taken by the authorities, this much is certain: his “identity” cannot and must not remain outside of the public record. By making and confirming these comments, initially at taxpayer expense, he has no expectation of privacy in this matter, and Michigan taxpayers deserve to know which of their employees is calling his students “brain-dead” and “little-minded” … and accusing legitimate investigators of being “vile” persons and

You’re the same sort of person who let the fascists murder Jews and innocent people in Germany because they were political enemies of yours- you are the same sort of person who did nothing in the Soviet Union while Ukranians and liberals were killed because you thought they were really bad people.

Now: the question is, having myself determined that it is worse to ignore this than to confront this, what are YOU going to do, Oakland Schools?

Michigan Department of Education?

Media?

Citizens?

I await your decision on how best to spend your tax dollars.

Courage.

=======================

Note: I have an .html, a .pdf and a screencap PNG file (or an .mp3) of each instance cited herein, so don’t try to “scrub” the online evidence.

UPDATE 8:46 AM 2-15-2012:

I have received permission to quote this letter from the Oakland Schools Superintendant, received at 7:34 AM:

Dear Mr. Williams,

Thank you for bringing this to my attention.  My staff will investigate this immediately.  Oakland Schools manages all of the IP addresses for all of our school districts throughout the county via the ONE network which means this could have come from any mobile device being used in our 28 school districts.  We will find the source and inform the appropriate parties.

Thank you so much for giving us an opportunity to investigate and correct this,

/s/

Update 2: It seems that I am a thug (this comment was left on the original piece):

A Conservative Teacher
15 February 2012 at 2:48 pm [PST]

Nice- so I suggested that your support of Obama’s policies to attack personal people was thuggish, and you respond with this post, which is essentially thuggish. I felt that people should be more decent to one another, and that your support of attacking people in mean and spiteful manners like Obama was doing was wrong in this nation. And you replied to my comments like this?

This is shameful. I know you think that it is funny and amusing, but you probably should reconsider posting posts like this and remove it. A war of words is one thing, but attempting to destroy my family and force me to lose my jobs and have my children suffer just because my comments hit too close to home is another.

=======================

A writer, published author, novelist, literary critic and political observer for a quarter of a quarter-century more than a quarter-century, Hart Williams has lived in the American West for his entire life. Having grown up in Wyoming, Kansas and New Mexico, a survivor of Texas and a veteran of Hollywood, Mr. Williams currently lives in Oregon, along with an astonishing amount of pollen. He has a lively blog His Vorpal Sword. This is cross-posted from his blog.