Mr. Mueller Goes to Washington

Today Robert Mueller will testify in Congress.  I will not be watching or listening to the testimony.  I will be filling in for not one but two teachers who are out today.

He'll probably still be testifying when I'm done subbing.  I'll wait for the good folks at NPR to give me the highlights.

I know that he would probably criticize me for taking that approach.  I know that he might be shocked to know that I haven't read the 400+ pages of his special report.  I have no plans to read it.  Life is short, and my list of books I want to read grows longer every day.

In that way, I am like many students.  I don't understand why teachers assign textbooks.  Like Robert Mueller, we want to believe that students will read the text and that the text will answer all their questions.  Most students will not read the text, not one page of it.

Some of us will mutter about the sorry state of modern students.  I've been teaching since 1988, and I'm here to tell you that even back then, students weren't reading the text.

We are not a nation that nurtures critical thinking skills, so even if we read the text, we don't understand the text.  That's why we need commentators and teachers and if we're lucky, the people who wrote the text.

Maybe we'll be so inspired, we'll return to the text.

Once I went to a Charleston Symphony performance that was designed for the whole family.  The conductor spoke before each piece and told us how to listen to what we were about to hear.  It was one of the better artistic experiences I've had.

I know that the snooty people amongst us would say that we shouldn't need that kind of instruction, that it's cheating somehow.  But we're not born with that knowledge.  We need someone to teach us.

Robert Mueller wrote a report of his findings; it's a long report, and it's been redacted.  Even for those of us with critical thinking and reading skills, we might miss something.  We need someone to make sure we see the most important parts.

I don't understand why Mueller is so resistant to do that job.  He's got a chance that many authors will never receive.  I'm sure there's much more to this story than we will ever know.  I would not be surprised to find out that Mueller is hoping to keep the nation from knowing the story in its full ugliness.

Perhaps this day will be momentous.  Perhaps it will mark a turning point.  Maybe this day will be the one where we see a collective way forward, whatever that way might be.