Yesterday, I linked to a Washington Times story on teachers taunting children of deployed military members. The story pissed me off. Which, of course, was the intent of the writer, Robert Stacy McCain. In the comments section of the original post, Patrick Nielsen Hayden descibes McCain as having a "long and well-documented history as a neo-Confederate extremist and online far-right provocateur." Apparently, McCain, in typical fashion, exaggerated and embellished the story, making it seem more extreme than it was in reality. Read Flap over war criticism in schools ends swiftly by Tess Nacelewicz of the Portland Press Herald:
…accusations surfaced last week that some Maine educators were making insensitive comments to the children of guardsmen and their parents. The story was picked up by national and international media.
Now, National Guard Maj. Gen. Joseph Tinkham is saying that national media figures, including conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh and television commentator Bill O'Reilly, exaggerated the extent and nature of the problem.
I stand corrected. Special thanks to Patrick Nielsen Hayden and Cowboy Kahlil for their assistance in this matter.