Every September I show "The Emperor's Club" to my World History students. Today the ending had a deeper meaning for me. In this clip, Mr. Hundert (Kevin Kline) confronts his old student, Sedgewick Bell (Joel Gretsch), for cheating again. Mr. Hundert realizes the mistake he made 25 years before when he did not confront Sedgewick's bad behavior as a kid. Listen to Sedgewick Bell's response. It sent chills down my spine thinking about the man who could be our next president. The kid who hears the confrontation is Sedgewick's son.
Sedgewick's son reminded me of our kids who will one day read about the last eight years of American history. And we'll be confronted by them with questions that will be easy to understand: ABU GHRAIB, HALIBURTON, CLIMATE CHANGE, BLACKWATER, EXECUTIVE POWER, BODY ARMOR, KATRINA, GUANTANAMO, WATER BOARDING, MILTARY TRIBUNALS, KYOTO, THREAT LEVEL-ORANGE, RECOUNT, REDEPLOYMENT, 5 MILLION MISSING EMAILS, WARRANTLESS WIRETAPPING, TORA BORA, PAT TILLMAN, HABEAS CORPUS, DOWNING STREET MEMO, FEMA TRAILERS, PLUMMETTING DOLLAR, THE PET GOAT, GAS PRICES, VALERIE PLAME, BUDGET DEFICIT, ROLLING BLACKOUTS, UNILATERALISM, SWIFT BOAT, WAR PROFITEERING, RUBBER STAMP CONGRESS, IRAQ STUDY GROUP, and of course CURVEBALL. The next question will be, "After eight years of that, how did John McCain become president?" And I will be as honest as I can be, "America, my son, lost its soul."
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