Cassi Creek:
Being absolutely disinterested in football, movies about football, movies about dying players &/or coaches, bad movies in general, and Ronald Reagan movies in particular, any use of “The Gipper” leaves me suspecting another episode of “Name it after Reagan is about to take place.
I see Perry emulating Reagan, as do so many of the teavangelists. Cohen seems to think that this may play to his benefit. Given the mindless lionization of Reagan by a generation that grew up during his terms in office, I have to agree that the ploy may bring in votes. Cohen scores points in discussing what has become of Texas education. The recent school book rewrites that ignore science in favor of religion that paint Texas as having no history but Gringo history, and that pumps out students who can increasingly fail in competition with the students of other nations in math, science, and basic language/reading skills. Texans should be up in arms about the downgrading of education. Instead, they seem rather proud of it.
I agree with Cohen. We need a national standard for public education. The idea of local school boards ruling on educational programs has given the U.S. Such wonderful rewards as Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, & Alabama, school systems that pump out poorly educated students who are barely literate enough to read cereal boxes, who require pictures on their fast-food cash-registers and are unable to make change without electronic help.
The local school boards are bad enough when dealing with curriculum matters. Add in those social conservative buttons and the picture becomes very ugly. Sex education, disease and pregnancy prevention are determined by the local religious communities. That is to say, nothing of value or validity is allowed. The GOP/teavangelists rail against unwed pregnancy while doing everything possible to make it happen. Texas is not only pumping out illiterates but single parents and children with no source of adequate food, housing, health care and basic education. Rather a vicious cyclic tragedy. But that's alright, hang Reagan's name on it and the base will buy it.
Here's what caught my eye this morning.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-texas-gipper/2011/08/15/gIQA2SQGHJ_story.html
Richard Cohen
Opinion Writer
The Texas Gipper
“ He occupies the cultural and intellectually empty heartland of the Republican Party. He vows to diminish Washington’s influence — a conservative applause line but a moronic policy. What America desperately needs is more, not less, Washington — more economic stimulus and more national education standards.
“Perry has characterized Texas as one huge job-creating machine, but what lured jobs from other states cannot work on a national level — unless we drain Canada. What does create jobs — well-paying jobs, in fact — is education. But while Perry has hardly been oblivious to the importance of education, he nonetheless opposes national standards. This is catastrophic. America trails China, South Korea, Japan and other countries in math and science, and our huge minority population does about as well as school kids in developing nations.
“Perry has exactly the wrong approach. He says the federal government needs to stop “dictating” school policy when this is precisely what needs to be done. He says “government doesn’t create jobs,” when in fact it can and does. He blasted the stimulus programs, yet without them the American economy and its financial institutions would be much worse off. He repeats bromides about small business, but what small businesses really need is not tax relief but orders from big business.”
And if Texas isn't messy enough, read this:http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/steven-pearlstein-blame-for-financial-mess-starts-with-the-corporate-lobby/2011/08/08/gIQA3zMlDJ_story_2.html
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