I always say that to become an American citizen, immigrants ought to have to learn American history. But maybe we should also have a voting standard that says to vote, as a native born American, you should have to learn American history. You realize how many of our high school graduates because of the decay of the educational system, couldn't pass a citizenship test.
Yglesias, and others jumped on this as a racially-motivated remark. Yglesias calls it "a straightforward call for the revival of the kind of techniques that were used to prevent African-Americans (and many poor whites as well) from voting in the Jim Crow South."
Maybe. But, you have to remember that "conservatives" tend to claim that they are the only people who know US history, the only people who know the Constitution. And, they believe that the Constitution holds the keys to dismantling the wicked liberal welfare state. If everyone just read the Constitution and learned the history of the hallowed founding fathers, the theory goes, they'd see that much of what our government currently does is clearly illegal. And then we'd be able to return to that glorious pre-New Deal era of small government and free markets.
Newt calling out for us to "learn history" is evangelical - spreading the good word of the Constitution so that all may learn how wicked we've become, see how far we've strayed from the Founders' intent, and that we may at last gaze upon the beautiful light of small government. And those who refuse to see the light, well, they should not be allowed to partake in the bounty it offers.
Or, maybe he's just a racist prick.
because of the decay of the educational system
This would be the educational system that the right has worked day and night to undermine, defund, marginalize, voucher-charter-home school to death for the past, oh, I don’t know, 57 years or so.
Public schools were just fine when 95% of the funds could be spent on the white schools and the rest on the separate “but equal” colored schools. Now, not so much. Feh.
Also, as to your last sentence, why not both!
I see Trump has dropped out of the 2012 race.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13418636
Too many skeletons in that particular cupboard methinks.
I see Trump has dropped out of the 2012 race.
a sad day for comedians.
I saw this on reddit and just had to share.
http://i.imgur.com/g3k4X.jpg
Yikes.
U!S!A!
I think I would ram the back of that car, just for the hell of it.
I agree with Ugh. It does double duty.
Constitutional fundamentalism, religious fundamentalism. What is it with these cretins and their text worship?
some people really dig the notion of unquestionable absolute truth
What a disappointing place the world must be for those people. I could muster a little more sympathy if they’d just stop voting for assholes.