VOCABULARY QUIZ....Bret Chenkin, a social studies and English teacher at Mount Anthony Union High School in Vermont, is in hot water for giving his students a politically loaded vocabulary quiz. AP's much-quoted story provides this example:
I wish Bush would be (coherent, eschewed) for once during a speech, but there are theories that his everyday diction charms the below-average mind, hence insuring him Republican votes.
Well, that seems funny enough to me. But let's test this. Suppose Chenkin were a conservative and had asked this question instead:
I wish Kerry would be (forthright, eschewed) for once during a speech, but there are theories that his interminable nuance charms the pretentious mind, hence insuring him Democratic votes.
Hmmm. It still seems kind of funny. I say, leave the poor guy alone. After all, if you can't make jokes about George Bush's diction even in Vermont, the terrorists have won.
—Kevin Drum 3:30 PM
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