Student artwork at Steinert causes Trump fans to lose their minds

The first two comments on Hamilton resident David Henderson’s Facebook post last week set the stage for what was to come.

“Teaching? More like indoctrinating,” came first, which was followed with, “We underestimate the youth of today. Freedom of thought is a wonderful thing.”

They were commenting on the picture Henderson got his hands on, a pair of antiTrump pieces of art hanging on the walls of Steinert High School. Henderson’s original post read, “this is what Steinert High School Art Class is teaching our youth” along with a pair sad and disgruntled emojis.

Things got bonkers from there, with over 1,300 comments at last check. People were losing their heads over this, and it made me disheartened to see how backwards some people have America in their minds.

Now understand: Henderson is all over Facebook and is unabashedly pro-Trump. And when it comes to his posts, he puts both the rabble and the rouser in rabblerouser. (He also can’t stand people who take up two parking spots with their one car, but that’s a story for another day.) (And yes, he also filed a criminal complaint against Hamilton Mayor Kelly Yaede. Rabbling, rousing.)

This post, though … hooboy. The crowd got nuts. Virtual pitchforks were deployed.

“Terrible. Teacher should be disciplined or fired,” wrote one person.

“Is this what my tax dollars are supporting? Highly offensive and teacher should be fired. No respect!” wrote another.

“Call the news channel on this sick bitch,” came soon after.

Soon, people who understand what America is all about came to the defense of ... well what America is all about.

“It’s art. It speaks to what the artist thinks. Also, it’s an expression of speech, free speech. Art, at its best, has always evoked emotional reaction, so, good art,” wrote one person.

Many others rushed to the defense of the artists, or, at the very least, to the notion of free speech.

Talking with Henderson post-post, he agreed.

“The majority of posters are missing the point I’m trying to make,” he said. “Certainly students are entitled to their First Amendment rights and are allowed to create pieces of art critical of the president. I’m the last person to try and stifle that.” But .... “I’m struck by the lack of other politically controversial topics, and struck by the fact others contacted me and told me they were discouraged from creating positive Trump projects.”

And there’s the rub: Is that true? Were Steinert art students “discouraged” from showing Trump in a positive light? Henderson showed me a post from a student who claims he was …

“No,” said Principal Nate Webber. “I spoke to the teacher, to see where he’s coming from. The assignment was about social issues, which could be political in nature. There is another art class, where this was not the assignment.”

Well, that’s pretty much that, you ask me.

Henderson has continued to pursue this, repeatedly asking to see all the other artwork, to see if there was any pro-Trump pieces — or, for that matter, any pieces on other controversial subjects recently in the news. The administration hasn’t granted his request as of this writing. (After this piece was originally posted, Henderson got a tour of the art. He claims there were no other controversial pieces.)

“My point wasn’t to suppress the First Amendment but to find out what the various teachers are telling the kids because of lack of any other controversial pieces,” he said.

In short, Henderson and many of his followers are worried teachers are spouting a left-wing agenda in the halls of Steinert.

Um … I’m going to go with a solid “yeah, probably not, let’s put the tin foil hats away” although sure, it’s possible some political talk gets bandied about from teachers to students in high school. Honestly, I would hope that’s the case. After all, discourse and such.

‘A lot goes through the art classes, this assignment dealt with social issues and current events,” Webber reiterated. “This was the project and this is what occurred. There were a lot of different, creative pieces of art.”

The truth of the matter? There is no truth. If you think Hamilton art teachers are indoctrinating their students with left-wing blather, no one will ever be able to convince you otherwise. Conspiracy theories will continue to abound on the original Facebook post, but it’s the utter lack of understanding of what America is all about will astound me forever.