real amurricanz

tomorrow is constitution day, the 222nd anniversary of the completion of the constitutional convention. before y'all run off in your powdered wigs to party consider
this.

an outfit calling itself the oklahoma council of public affairs conducted a survey of 1000 high school students. they asked them 10 questions randomly selected from the current test immigrants take to become citizens. 92% of aspiring americans pass that test on the 1st go. 3% of the students passed. 3%. teens born and bred here, having been taught social studies and history since kindergarten. 75% could not name our first president, and the most commonly given answer to the 10 questions simply was, "i don't know."

oklahoma is not alone in this ignominy. arizona had similarly dismal results.

our founding fathers understood that free public education would be a cornerstone for maintaining the republic. that our citizens would need and have a grasp of civics, history and the ethics required for democracy. thomas jefferson wrote in 1789 that "whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government." later still he wrote, "enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day."

golly, i hope those local school boards ordered enough intelligent design textbooks. i'm sure the kids are much better at (ahem) science.