Music Appreciation, Friday 1st period

[sharp_man]

//I trust you all survived China?// Jono looked faintly amused as he leaned back against the desk at the front of the classroom. //And your first week back from break. Brutal, innit? I feel lucky, unlike the rest of you,// and Hannibal, //I've only got to be in this building for one class a week.//

... He made up for that with trips back to New York to teach a class of young mutants, but those weren't details he really needed to share, were they?

//At any rate, we'll be jumping back into it again today, easing you into learning about music by re-introducing you to... well... music, I suppose.//

( Read more... )

Lies Your Other Teachers Told You, Friday, March 16, 2018

[heroic_jawline]

"Welcome back," Tony said with a smile. "Hopefully you enjoyed the break."

And didn't steal a panda.

"Today we will be discussing the first instance of impeachment with a US President." NO REASON WHY.

"There have been three impeachments in American history so far," Steve added, "and the first one was--on paper, at least--for Andrew Johnson firing the Secretary of War in violation of the Tenure of Office Act, which said that he couldn't fire someone who had been confirmed by the Senate. Granted, the Radical Republicans had passed the Tenure of Office because they expected Johnson to fire someone. He had a Cabinet full of people he hated."

"Johnson, in case you don't recall, was the Vice President under Lincoln, becoming president through his assassination," Tony said. "He was a southerner and held southern sympathies despite remaining loyal to the union. Under him, attempts to solidify many of the rights for the newly freed slaves were vetoed. Which placed a target on his back--and rightly so."

"Yeah, he was a pretty crass, ignorant racist," Steve said, not saying that it sounded familiar because he was Being Good, Darn It. "He was also heavily outnumbered by the Radical Republicans in Congress, a party that looks much more like the modern Democrats of today. They passed civil rights legislation that allowed black men to testify in court, to sue, and to buy property. Johnson vetoed that bill, Congress overrode his veto by one and it was pretty much a political disaster from that moment on.

"The writing was on the wall for where this standoff would end," Tony said, giving him a proud look for not going there immediately. It was like they were growing as people! "Congress maneuvered the reconstruction of the South into their hands and made it a military affair. The military being much more supportive of their agenda than the president. So, it was under the purview of the Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton. And beneath him, the general we mentioned in passing before, Ulysses Grant."

Steve nodded. "In a Cabinet meeting in August, Stanton told Johnson that the military governors would now answer to the Congress and not the President and that every order would pass from Grant through the House of Representatives. Johnson, infuriated, fired him and tried to replace him with Grant. Maybe he should've done it via tweet because Stanton refused to leave his position, which was...fairly awkward."

"However, Congress had basically assumed Johnson would do this." You know, like they were psychic or something. "So, they had also passed--despite his veto--the Tenure of Office Act which prevented the President from firing people in certain jobs without Congressional approval first." Tony shrugged. "Baited and then trapped."

"In their defense, Johnson was a really, really terrible president," Steve said. "So he was impeached, but not convicted. No President--again, so far--has been convicted by the Senate."

"So, question time!" Tony said, clapping his hands together. "Was Congress right to do this? If their policies were reversed, would you still maintain your answer?"