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  • Yearbook Hitler Quotes

    Hitler quotes in yearbook prompt apology

    NORTHPORT, New York (AP) -- Two high school seniors picked quotations from Adolf Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" to appear under their high school yearbook pictures, prompting school officials to apologize.

    The quotes were picked by Christopher Koulermos and Philip Compton, both 18. Koulermos' read "Strength lies not in defense, but in attack." Compton chose "The great masses of people ... will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one."

    "It's our responsibility and we failed miserably," said Northport High School principal Irene McLaughlin. "The fact that the book went out in the form it did was a grave mistake on our part."

    McLaughlin and superintendent William Brosnan said the yearbook's student staff and its adviser, teacher Robert Runyan, saw the quotations before they were published.

    The district plans to send a written apology to parents this week. School officials would not comment on whether they would discipline the two seniors or Runyan.

    Officials also are discussing with the yearbook's publishing company either reprinting the section in question or offering special tape to people who want to cover the quotes.

    Compton's father, Steven, said that his son meant no harm in picking the quote. "I guess he didn't seriously consider the source; he was more interested in the quote," he said. "He's a child."

    Northport is located about 47 miles east of New York City.

    http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/06....ap/index.html
    I understand that Hitler was a bad, bad man. I understand how the mere mention of his name can send some people into a panic. But unless there were specific instructions given to the students that said not to pick a quote by Hitler for their yearbook pictures, then I don't understand why an apology was needed.

    They did not pick a quote that said "Down with Jews". If you take away the source and the original context in which it was used, neither quote is offensive.

    I think it was in bad taste and the boys probably did this to rebel and knew exactly what they were doing when they chose them, but I still don't think it should have been this big of a deal.
    "To dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person you are."-Sholem Asch

    "I always turn to the sports page first, which records people's accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man's failures."-Earl Warren

    "I didn't intend for this to take on a political tone. I'm just here for the drugs."-Nancy Reagan, when asked a political question at a "Just Say No" rally

    "He no play-a da game, he no make-a da rules."-Earl Butz, on the Pope's attitude toward birth control

  • #2
    Agreed. I didn't see any offensive words in them.
    "The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world. So wake up, Mr. Freeman. Wake up and smell the ashes." G-Man

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by TopHatsLiberal
      I think it was in bad taste and the boys probably did this to rebel and knew exactly what they were doing when they chose them, but I still don't think it should have been this big of a deal.
      That pretty much sums it up.

      IMO, the one quote "The great masses of people ... will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one." is a rather profound statement, regardless of what kind of monster the speaker was.
      It is in fact a great learning lesson and warning for all generations, present and future.
      “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

      Comment


      • #4
        I don't find those quotes offensive. In fact, the 2nd quote, "The great masses of people ... will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one" gives us much to think about.

        I wonder what would happen if someone chose to put Lenin's quote "western intellectuals are useful idiots" in the yearbook. Lenin is the idol of just about every single public school teacher here. Let's see if they want to openly attack his words.

        edit: I'm merely trying to paraphrase Lenin. I do not remember the exact quote.
        "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

        Comment


        • #5
          Communism isn't as big of a hate idea as Nazism is.
          "The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world. So wake up, Mr. Freeman. Wake up and smell the ashes." G-Man

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by leibstandarte10
            Communism isn't as big of a hate idea as Nazism is.
            Don't let Sniper hear that...
            "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by gunnut
              I don't find those quotes offensive. In fact, the 2nd quote, "The great masses of people ... will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one" gives us much to think about.

              I wonder what would happen if someone chose to put Lenin's quote "western intellectuals are useful idiots" in the yearbook. Lenin is the idol of just about every single public school teacher here. Let's see if they want to openly attack his words.

              edit: I'm merely trying to paraphrase Lenin. I do not remember the exact quote.
              College professors certainly, at least in the social sciences, but not high school and elementary teachers.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Wraith601
                College professors certainly, at least in the social sciences, but not high school and elementary teachers.
                These were two 18 year old high school seniors - off to college (perhaps) here in a few months - they should be held at a higher standard than a lower classman.

                I am also surprised by the comment made by one of the 18 year old kids fathers
                Compton's father, Steven, said that his son meant no harm in picking the quote. "I guess he didn't seriously consider the source; he was more interested in the quote," he said. "He's a child."
                Last edited by THL; 14 Jun 06,, 02:42.
                "To dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person you are."-Sholem Asch

                "I always turn to the sports page first, which records people's accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man's failures."-Earl Warren

                "I didn't intend for this to take on a political tone. I'm just here for the drugs."-Nancy Reagan, when asked a political question at a "Just Say No" rally

                "He no play-a da game, he no make-a da rules."-Earl Butz, on the Pope's attitude toward birth control

                Comment


                • #9
                  I don't have a problem with either quote...
                  No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
                  I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
                  even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
                  He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    This is what happens when people with too few brain cells are allowed out unsuervised. (I'm not referring to the kids)
                    Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

                    Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by bigross86
                      This is what happens when people with too few brain cells are allowed out unsuervised. (I'm not referring to the kids)
                      Hahahahaha...truer words have never been said about the part of the American public that gets offended by anything and everything.
                      "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        You can't really comment on what their intentions were without knowing them. Even though those quotes may sound cool notice how almost all bad men make aggressive quotes?

                        The school didn't have to apologize just as much as WAB didn't have to apologize when massacre of Muslims was argued with Stalin's quote: "A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic".

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                        • #13
                          The boys should be ready and expected to defend their views. But, not to apologize for them.
                          "Any relations in a social order will endure if there is infused into them some of that spirit of human sympathy, which qualifies life for immortality." ~ George William Russell

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