Monday, July 13, 2009
I Am Livid
There's a reason I wrote this post. There's a reason I will defend what I said in it for as long as there's a need for the debate.
This.
Ed Brayton's take.
There are no words to describe the sheer, unadulterated jackassery of the people involved in creating the school curriculum in Texas. None whatsoever.
Cesar Chavez, Anne Hutchinson, and Thurgood Marshall don't deserve prominent places in American history? Thurgood Marshall isn't good enough? THURGOOD MARSHALL?
And we can't describe America having "democratic values" any more but we have to switch it to "republican values?"
This complete and utter bullshit is beyond the pale. And the fact that conservative Christian crackpots are overrepresented on the Texas Board of Education means the recommendations in the article might actually be implemented.
Fuck them.
Can we start asking why they hate America yet? Please?
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14 comments:
What the...?
But...
It...the...
*sputter*
You know, I'm starting warm up to the opinion I've seen tossed about lately on Slacktivist, that it might be a good thing to allow Texas to secede...
I concur... THURGOOD MARSHALL?!
I read this stuff a couple days ago, and I just wanted to know what the parents thought about all of this. That information doesn't seem to be available, but rather than assume all Texans are willfully ignorant, racist, and sexist, I'd like to think that's a valid question.
They should really just go all home school. That way, once they get to college, those with minds can have them blown, and those without them can play football or baseball. I guess the end result is the same, though... Kids still have to make the choice to stay ignorant at some point.
Anon:
You mean the parents who voted for the woefully inept BOE members who are in league with the fucknuts who want to remove Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Marshall from their rightful place in American history?
I like the way you seem to think I'm calling everyone in Texas willfully ignorant, racist, and sexist. Because that's what I totally said. Assuming you're the same Anonymous who's been posting a few times and aren't the one I know in real life, I'm starting to seriously question your reading comprehension.
No, it's the one you know. And I wasn't saying you were saying that at all- you took what I was saying the wrong way.
I just saw (in the original news story) that half the board was appointed by the three radical right-wingers, and the other half by the rest of the board, supposedly a mix of both sides. For whatever that's worth. I wanted to believe that, given the option, the parents of kids who go to public schools would not want people like this running things. That was what I was saying with my "Rather than assume..." line.
If this is indeed what the people of Texas want, and not just the top political voices, then fuck 'em all. I just spent a while searching for anything, from opinion polls, to referendums, anything that says people are asking for this, and I can't find it.
That's all. I agree with you and I wasn't misrepresenting you at all.
Ah. I see. It seemed that the "rather than assume" was directed at me and I couldn't see where I'd made that assumption. I was pissed, but I always at least try to make the target of my anger obvious...
I know that there are people in Texas who are pissed off about the shenanigans that are going on with the BOE. Apparently nothing much can be done about it until the legislature re-convenes in 2011, either. Gov. Rick Perry is a giant, flaming pile of sheepdip who is a major player in the whole sordid mess, probably did it for political capitol and is currently ahead of his closest Republican challenger, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, by about 10 percentage points. It's, like, 33 to 22 or something, so that's not great, but it's still disturbing.
And I'm sure there are parents who are outraged, but the wingnuts hold sway in Texas.
The big problem is that Texas is so big that its decisions have an effect on the options the rest of the nation's school boards can choose from. Textbooks are low profit margin, so publishers tend to print what they know will sell in the big states. Texas and California, then, have influence out of proportion with their size.
Which isn't to say that the Texas BOE determines curriculum for every other school in the nation, but it certainly makes it that much harder for the rest of the schools to get sane books...
Glad I could clarify. And on that note, the only reason I can think of to keep Texas in the union is if you drive. We'd lose a shit ton of oil. I'm sure there would be an effect on the 7 pro sports teams I give a shit about that play there. For example, the Pittsburgh Steelers inheriting the title of America's Team. But I think those changes would be a push at worst.
But given the differences between, say, New York and California on one side and Texas on the other, I'm thinking the threat of "Republican" history books nationwide is kind of unrealistic.
Sorry to doublecomment, just read your last comment on the "In Defense..." post. Wanted to follow up.
"Freedom for all takes precedence over the comfortable ignorance of the few."
Yes, exactly. So we stand against the comfortable ignorance, when it threatens the freedom of anyone else? If that's what your general motivation is, count me in. I could get into a debate about 'power' with you, because I think by nature of how we were raised, we see the power of Evangelicals differently. But if innocent people are threatened, as in this case, then yes, absolutely. Someone with the power of reason needs to get the ear of someone with a willingness to listen to reason and, so to speak, fuck their shit up.
But...but...
Cyllan smash.
Yes, it's purely political, and yes, Governor Perry is trading the quality of my son's education for political points, and yes, I'm very nearly homicidally angry about it.
Texas is... well, it's so big that it's hard to generalize about it, but I think I can safely say that there's a huge divide between the cities (more educated, if not always more progressive) and the smaller towns (which can be isolated and insular to a degree which makes some H.P. Lovecraft's towns look positively well adjusted - and before you ask, I am thinking of Innsmouth, here).
What worries me is this may be a fait accompli. We may not be able to stop it; we may have to make the extra effort to undo it later, instead.
Can someone please put the adults back in charge?
Thanks for your perspective, Michael. I'm terribly sorry you have to face the possibility of your children "learning" in the Texas schools.
Methinks this is the sort of thing that can't be fixed by a, "Don't Blame Me, I Voted for the Other Guy" bumper sticker, either. That's the thing that gets missed. A President can generally only do so much damage. A Board of Education can fuck up an entire generation.
Yeah. I'm doing what I can to help clear the deadwood and get some leaders who will actually, y'know, govern... but it's very much a "swimming upstream" experience, here.
Non-Texans don't realize how badly Delay, Craddick, and Perry gerrymandered districts back in 03,04(?) which seriously undermined the Ds. There is also an immense amount of personal cash available to the anti-public school forces, mainly from Dr. James Leininger. Don't forget Bob 'Swift Boat' Perry either. TX Dems range from progressive to conservative, but the one thing you can say about them is half the time they don't even run a challenger so races are often left to a Republican and a Libertarian who gets all of 6 votes. Maybe Dean's 50-state-strategy could've helped but the Beltway 'pros' made sure to kill it off and dump any momentum Obama whipped up. TX D candidates are often charisma-free logs like Kerry; with all the 'support' you currently get from the losers in the state and national parties, the urban/rural divide, money from rich lunatics, backstabbing, and gerrymandering, is it any wonder their candidates usually suck ass? Who'd want to go through all that?
'Texans are morons' is a convenient meme but it's only partially true. The good guys are so fucked by their own party it's not funny. I wish for a sane, organized, vibrant third party (and not Ron Paul ffs) or an invasion by Canada. Pull an Inchon at Corpus Christi, drive the armor up to Wichita Falls along I-35, pin down Fort Hood, and set up the Tim Horton line through the middle of the state.
I for one welcome our new hockey-playing overlords, eh?
apthorpe:
I can totally dig the idea of the good guys getting fucked.
I hail from DuPage County, an alomost totally Republican county nestled in next to Chicago. Back during the 2004 Primary I asked for a Democratic Party ballot, walked over to the booth, looked down and realized that there was no one to vote for. It was kinda sad.
I can't imagine how depressing it would be to live in an entire state of DuPage Counties. I mean, even if I totally agreed with a single party's platform (which I don't for either party), I can't imagine being able to think, "Yeah, it's a great idea that there's only one option here on the ballot." Only having one option is never good, no matter the political party.
as someone who used to live in the Chicago area no living in the northern DFW Metroplex, all I can say in re: apthorpe is...
Fuckin' A.
Seriously, I want out of this state quite desperately.
When I saw obvious criminal John Cornyn get re-elected despite a powerful campaign from Rick Noriega in the U.S. Senate race by an almost full 12 point margin my heart sank like a rock.
No matter what you do, incumbents just don't lose here, and almost all the incumbents are Republicans who worship at the feet of the Bushes and Rick Perry.
If you'll excuse me, I'll go vomit now.
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