College Board bars AP Government from teaching US Constitution, US wars

The Examiner
Carl Herman

I have been removed from the Advanced Placement (AP) Government listserve for documenting US Constitution promises compared with these recent US ‘laws’ and actions:

• assassination of Americans upon the non-reviewable dictate of the president,
  
  
• control-drown/waterboarding anyone dictated as a “terrorist” despite all US and international case law finding this to be torture,
  
  
• NDAA 2012 and 2006 Military Commissions Act that state a president can dictate any person as a “terrorist suspect,” and then disappear them without challenge,
  
  
• presidential executive order saying the US government can seize any resource, any person, at any time for “national defense.”
  
  
• US wars and armed attacks that violate treaties after both world wars that make use of military unlawful unless a country’s government attacks first (Kellogg-Briand and UN Charter).

There are ~ 2,000 AP Government teachers worldwide; my communications via the listserve documented these important policies that was news to many who only look to corporate media (who also publish our texts). With these communications to teaching colleagues, I used my “academic voice” rather than the “civic voice” I use as a writer. The difference is my academic voice stays to the law and facts without my interpretation and policy position.

I was informed by the listserve moderator that a Bill Tinkler of the College Board had deemed these posts “non-academic,” of “personal nature,” and “unsuitable” for consideration of teachers in a college-level course on government.

Mr. Tinkler ordered the moderator to remove me from the listserve.

Mr. Tinkler never communicated with me to ask any question or state any argument.

I assume that such action would apply to any teacher who juxtaposed the US Constitution with US policies and wars. Therefore, I’m taking Mr. Tinkler’s initial indirect communication with me to voice the College Board’s opposition to AP Government classes teaching the US Constitution as applied to our most important current events. I welcome Mr. Tinkler’s clarification.

I e-mailed our moderator that:

1. Bill Tinkler will have opportunity to explain his position and cite the evidence.
   
2. If Mr. Tinkler cannot support his censorship, he will reinstate me and I'll post to our 2,000 teachers the professional academic standards of refutation for factual claims. If he can support his censorship, I'd be happy to correct my behavior both to the listserve and to the public audience of up to two million views a month.
   
3. Mr. Tinkler will have two choices: either academic professionalism, or my  ongoing public voice of my findings of AP Government leadership.

I invited our moderator to join my voice of obvious US War Crimes and destruction of the US Constitution, and to help our colleagues overcome cognitive dissonance.
I promise to write with Mr. Tinkler’s response.

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