Rather than actually hosting a book burning, so popular in repressive societies, Fox News provides a platform for "outrage" over school texts that don't conform to the right wing world view and which, OMG, actually serve to stimulate critical thinking, not popular in repressive societies. In 2009, Fox & Friends did a multi-month series, part of "the trouble with schools" in which a right wing professor vilified texts that he felt were biased. (Got irony?!)The happy friends even supported the Texas Board of Education's attempts to force textbook publishers to rewrite history according to the gospel of the right wing. Recently, they hosted a parent who claims that her son's curriculum blames the US for 9-11. (It doesn't) and this morning, following up on Todd Starnes "Outrage #1,878,001," Gretchen Carlson interviewed another conservative mom who, in this case, is outraged that her son's textbook is anti-Semitic. It isn't - but it fits the meme of the Fox defined "trouble with schools" so it's all good.

In introducing the topic, Gretchen Carlson solemnly intoned that "it's supposed to be a high school textbook about global culture but some parents say "that The Cultural Landscape" is teaching a very different lesson." She cited a passage that "has some parents upset."

"Distinguishing terrorism from other acts of political violence can be difficult. For example, if a Palestinian suicide bomber kills several dozen Israeli teenagers in a Jerusalem restaurant, is that an act of terrorism or wartime, retaliation against Israeli government policies and army actions?"

Naturally she didn't read the whole passage which put the issue into perspective.

"Competing arguments are made: Israel’s sympathizers denounce the act as a terrorist threat to the country’s existence, whereas advocates of the Palestinian cause argue that long-standing injustices and Israeli army attacks on ordinary Palestinian civilians provoked the act.”

She Introduced JulieWest who is trying to get the book banned.  After complaining that the school has defended the book for six months, West referenced the Boston bombing and claimed that the school is saying that this is "OK if the people you're killing are Jewish."  (No, they're not) The chyron presented the requisite "controversy." "Controversial Curriculum  Textbook Used in Human Geography Class."

West said that she found out about this quote when you son asked her to whom does Israel belong. She claimed to have "verified" that the school teaches that Palestine is a nation that has been denied its state by Great Britain and the Jews. She complained that the curriculum describes Fattah, Hamas, the PLO as political parties (they are). Without citing evidence, she claimed that their lessons on the origins of Jewish holidays are wrong. The chyron promoted requisite Fox fear: "Dangerous MaterialTN department of Education Approved Curriculum." She again claimed that the school is defending the book and told she and her husband that they could fill out a complaint form at which point school personnel "laughed at them" and said nobody else cared about this issue. (Funny, Gretch is always whining about how one nasty atheist spoils it for everybody.)Gretch then showed a picture of the school superintendent with his name and e-mail (cue the death threats from the nice Fox Christians) with his statement that nobody has filled a request for reconsideration of the book.

To Gretch's question of why West hasn't done this, West repeated that they told her that it wouldn't do any good. Gretch said the book isn't being renewed but West is convinced the school is lying. The chyron reinforced the message: "Parental Outrage, Leanings in "The Cultural Landscape." Gretch chuckled as she said that "it's a good message that you always have to watch what your kids are learning even in the fine print."

Some background - the woman who is spearheading the "outrage" is "Christian-Zionist" and tea party activist (think John Hagee crazy talk) Laurie Cardoza-Moore who, like all "Christian-Zionists" exhibits some serious Islamophobia. She was part of a lawsuit to prevent a mosque being built in Tennessee on the grounds that Islam isn't a religion and, thus, Muslims have no constitutional right to build a mosque. At Pam Geller's rally against the so called "Ground Zero Mosque," she said that Muslims aren't real Americans because they didn't fight in the revolutionary war.

Back to the book - What exactly is "controversial" about asking students a question that shows how events are viewed through different perspectives?  Oh right, this is Fox & Friends which has only one perspective and it ain't fair & balanced!