{"id":8263,"date":"2013-09-07T05:41:39","date_gmt":"2013-09-07T09:41:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/?p=8263"},"modified":"2013-09-07T05:49:58","modified_gmt":"2013-09-07T09:49:58","slug":"sandra-day-oconnor-you-people-are-just-sooooo-stooopid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/?p=8263","title":{"rendered":"Sandra Day O’Connor – you people are just sooooo stooopid!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speech in Boise ID<\/a><\/p>\n

Now admittedly, McClatchy has their own agenda, but…<\/p>\n

“About one-third can name the three branches of government. Fewer than one-fifth of high school seniors can explain how citizen participation benefits democracy.”<\/p>\n

Any comments or observations?<\/p>\n

(The quote is from the newspaper, it isn’t a quote directly from O’Connor)<\/p>\n

After following a few bread crumbs, the source of her statistics is here:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/nces.ed.gov\/nationsreportcard\/civics\/<\/a><\/p>\n

A more detailed PDF<\/a><\/p>\n

Here is what passes for an acceptable answer from a 4th grader:<\/p>\n

Q: Your class at school has a new student from a country that has laws that are very different from those in the United States. Your teacher has asked you to help your new classmate learn about important rights that belong to citizens <\/strong>of the United States. [my emphasis]<\/p>\n

\nWrite down TWO important rights that people have in the United States that you think your new classmate should know about. Then tell why it is important to have each of these rights.<\/p>\n

A: Laws
\nWhy? If there were no laws, everything would be messed up.<\/p>\n

Eighth grade sample question about the balance of powers:<\/p>\n

“The chart below shows how each of the three separate branches of the federal government can limit the powers of the other two. Complete the chart by filling in each of the empty boxes. The completed chart should have one power for each branch of government and one way in which that branch\u2019s power is checked by another branch.”<\/p>\n

The question spots that Legislatures make laws and they can impeach judges
\n(Silly me, I thought controlling spending was a legislative power to limit the power of the executive branch)<\/p>\n

The example considered “acceptable” filled in:<\/p>\n

The legislature can be controlled by the other branches by vetoing their laws
\nThe Executive Branch gets its power by approving laws and can be controlled by taking them out of office.
\nThe Judiciary Branch gets their power because they think of laws. <\/p>\n

12th grade – how well is the indoctrination going?<\/p>\n

“Refer to the passage below.
\nAmerica is . . . the great Melting Pot! Here you stand, good folk, think I, when I see them at Ellis Island, here you stand in your fifty groups, with your fifty languages and histories, and your fifty blood hatreds and rivalries. But you won\u2019t be long like that, brothers . . . Into the Crucible with you all! God is making the American.
\n\u2014 Israel Zangwill, The Melting Pot, 1908<\/p>\n

Define what is meant by the term \u201cmelting pot\u201d as it is used in the Zangwill quotation.<\/p>\n

Good Answer:<\/p>\n

“America was often referred to as the Melting Pot. The meaning is that many different cultures live here and will meld together in harmony”.<\/p>\n

Do you think that the term \u201cmelting pot\u201d is appropriate to describe the United States? Give one reason to support your answer.<\/p>\n

“I do not believe Melting Pot is an appropriate term. Though there are many cultures and beliefs here now, we have not all blended together and become one. We are still diverse and different”.<\/p>\n

Ding! Ding! Ding! We must not let the Fort Hood Massacre get in the way of our diversity! Go to the head of the class – you pass!<\/p>\n

and God has nothing to do with America in 2013!<\/p>\n

If you don’t know the background of Israel Zangwill (I didn’t)
\nhttp:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Israel_Zangwill<\/p>\n

He was a Russian immigrant of Jewish background. The point of his play (and his philosophy) was that now he is an American, and no longer a Jew. Progressive Republican president Theodore Roosevelt leaned over at the theater and gave him a high five.<\/p>\n

There was no example of the answers that were considered only acceptable or worse.<\/p>\n

For those of you have to view everything from the perspective of race (aka the Education Department), here is the results broken out<\/p>\n

\"civics\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The second group of the lines is the group that voted 95% for president because they believe him to be of their tribe.<\/p>\n

Now that IS messed up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Speech in Boise ID Now admittedly, McClatchy has their own agenda, but… “About one-third can name the three branches of government. Fewer than one-fifth of high school seniors can explain how citizen participation benefits democracy.” Any comments or observations? (The … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-politics","category-collapse-of-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8263"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8280,"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8263\/revisions\/8280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamingradioguide.com\/startingover\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}