We missed this yesterday as it went viral, but maybe that’s for the best since now I can bring you the exciting conclusion: She’s been suspended (with pay).

An employee at the Rowan-Salisbury School System said they have been flooded with calls from around the country on Monday…

The district released a statement on Monday.

“The Rowan-Salisbury School System expects all students and employees to be respectful in the school environment and for all teachers to maintain their professionalism in the classroom. This incident should serve as an education for all teachers to stop and reflect on their interaction with students. Due to personnel and student confidentiality, we cannot discuss the matter publicly.”

I’m 99 percent convinced that she’s a liberal who was forced to fall back on the inane “presidents can’t be criticized” argument to seem “even-handed” while imposing a gag order on O’s behalf, but one percent of me is holding out for the possibility that she really might believe it. Actual quote from the clip: “As a social studies teacher I cannot allow you to slander any president in here, past or present. If that’s the case, somebody could say negative things about the Tea Party.” …Yeah. Imagine if people started saying negative things about the tea party.

Maybe she just meant that she wanted to keep the classroom more or less free from political contention? I.e. no bashing Bush, no bashing Obama, no bashing the tea party, etc. Although in that case, what’s with her claiming that people were arrested for criticizing Bush? Are we dealing with a lefty hack here or, more terrifying, a social studies teacher whose grasp on the First Amendment is a lot less tight than her students’? Two clips for you, one the abridged version with highlights from Fox News and the other the director’s cut.