Some students have become so trained to only care about what is on test.

In high school, it seemed like almost all teachers “taught to the textbook.” In college, I’ve really began to appreciate the professors who will toss away the syllabus if there is interesting news occuring in the real world that relates to the class. For example, in a class called “Electoral Reform,” we were supposed to learn about the rules and such about the nomination process and then the general election process. However, since the Democratic primary was so fascinating, we would spend the first hour of every class discussing the current race. Good stuff. Speaking of “Electoral Reform,” I should be writing the final paper for that as we speak! Back to work!

Steve, while you are correct to point out that Iran is located between Iraq and Afghanistan, your statement about Iranian “resentment” is a non sequitur. Iranian boats approached and harassed U.S. Navy ships, not the other way around. Don’t let Farsnews or the DailyKos convince you otherwise. In addition, Iranian Quds Forces have continually sent advanced weapons and insurgents (not to mention huge sums of money) to undermine coalition stability operations in Iraq. Contrary to the knee-jerk response of liberals and the academy, the U.S. is not to blame for the world’s ills. The U.S. has been the greatest force for good in world history. I know that’s hard for many liberals to accept. They love to assuage their feelings of guilt with arguments about the sins of “imperialism” and “orientalism” and about the need for “moral relativism” in the face of competing ideologies. But, at the end of the day, when driving home in their Lexus to their spacious house on a tree-lined cul-de-sac in Bryn Mawr or Ardmore, even they must realize how good they have it.

Thanks for the great post — and the eye-opening Washington Post article. Jacoby’s remarks about geography ring particularly true. I think if more Americans knew that Iran was sandwiched between - gasp - Iraq and Afghanistan, they might be more receptive to Iran’s recent resentment of U.S. naval boats floating right at their gates.

Aaaand just for irony’s sake, I’ll leave you with a famous pop-culture quote… “Don’t wanna be an A-mer-i-can Id-i-ot!”

Steve