Even When They Have a Good Point, They Haven’t Sharpened It
Texas Republican State Representative (See? You’re already giggling, right?)Bill Zedler wants to file a bill requiring that all high school seniors should have to pass a civics test before they can graduate.
Not a bad idea and I’m pretty impressed that a Republican came up with that. Until he didn’t know when to shuddup.
When asked whether he took a quiz, Zedler said, “No, but I think I would do pretty well. I know the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. I know World War II was started Dec. 7, 1941. I know what the Civil War was fought over.”
Close, Bill, but no cigar. World War II started a tad earlier than that.
On the upside, this tea party gun-toting fool didn’t give his answer to what the Civil War was fought over, but I bet the answer involved the words “northern aggression.”
And nobody asked him the exact date the Declaration of Independence was signed. I’ll be willing to wager a pony ride that he doesn’t know.
Thanks to everybody for the heads up.
Not only that, but I find it fascinating, and a trifle horrifying, that the only historical data he mentions have to do with guns and shooting people.
I was born in TX, and it’s the reps like that who make me happy I’m no longer there.
1Memorizing dates (even if done correctly) does not constitute an education in civics.
2Alas, the Texas School Board would probably get some of the Tea Party’s “experts” on the Constitution to teach those classes in Civics. You know, the ones that even Fox News thought to ignorant of basic facts in their claimed area of expertise to be put on the air?
I can see it now: “Welcome to Introductory Civics. The first thing you must learn is that the King James Bible is the basis of all law in the United States…”
3RepubAnon, I’m sure you’re right because we’ve seen it happen.
How about passing a civics test– written by people without an agenda– before you can become a state rep? Some of those now in office would flunk out.
4Dude doesn’t know the difference between civics and history (or between religion and science?).
5As for is declaration of 1941 as the start of the Second World War, wayyyyyy too many people think of 1941 and Pearl Harbor that way. If you press them a bit they will admit that there was something going on in Europe prior to that and it looked a bit like a military invasion, but by God and the Lord Harry, bombing our naval and air fleet at Pearl made the stuff in Europe look like a momentary fit of naughty behavior so WWII had to have started on Dec. 7 1941. It was only later when photos of the death camps became public and people began to realize that the camps had been built and put into operation before 1941 that there was a creeping realization that the first impressions on this side of the pond of what was going on in Europe might have been a tad off.
6When I took Civics in Florida, we had to re-write the Constitution in our own words. How many Rs would understand what they are reading?
7On a side note: Is it just me, or is he wearing lipstick?
8Don’t forget Ronnie Raygun claimed to have personally witnessed the freeing of one concentration camp during WW2 when he was never overseas during the war. He was never “active duty” as it was.
9I’ll bet ol’ Bill thinks bicameral is a camel with two humps.
10He probably saw the same newsreel that the rest of us did when going to a movie. I still remember it.
11@Maggie: The only history right-wingers want is American history. To them WW-II literally did not exist until the U.S.of.A started fighting in it. By definition there cannot be a “World” anything unless the U.S.of.A participates in it.
Mark my words if anyone gets to follow up with Zelder on that this is what he is going to tell them. Sure there was a war before that date, but it wasn’t “World War II”
12Bill Zedler has the kind of face that screams…REPUBLICAN! Just like that clown Louie Gohmert.
13If bicameral is a two humped camel,then dromedary is the location where they shoot soap operas about cow milkers.
14lest I ferget,if Poland had seperated itself from Soviet domination before WW2,they could have had NATO defend them from Hitler’s aggression. All Poland’s fault they got thumped good.
15The Republican’ts continue to rewrite history, so I can imagine what damage they’d do to Civics. Never met a fact they couldn’t deny.
16@e platypus onion: Actually, Poland was free of Soviet domination until the Germans invaded from one side, and Stalin invaded from the other. The Soviets massacred a large number of Polish military officers in the Katyn Forest. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/katyn_wood_massacre.htm
17The Declaration of Independence was NOT signed on July 4. Anyone want to weigh in on when it was actually signed?
18OK. He got one right, at least the year anyway. One wrong. And one answer that said he knows the answer to the question but isn’t going to tell us. So, that works out to 33 1/3 percent correct. If that is a pass in texas, we are in trouble.
19Many thanks for sharing your sharp perceptions. Any response to the gathering of potential Presidential candidates currently gathering in Iowa?
20This is becoming a trend. In AZ, they want high school students to take the civics test that wanna-be-citizens take.
21I’m pretty sure that these guys are not allowed to have sharp objects.
22Zyxomamma… making US Citizens take the US Citizenship test… actually, not a bad idea.
23RepubAnon-This is what I was referring to about Poland(I’m re-writing history so wingnuts won’t have to)
The Republican Ford had been gaining in the polls against his Democratic opponent, former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter. Both Ford and his advisers believed that a series of televised debates would help close the gap. Ford’s stumble came in the second one, broadcast live from San Francisco on Oct. 6, 1976. A reporter asked Ford about the United States’ relationship with the Soviet Union, a timely question during the Cold War. Ford’s lengthy response concluded with a statement that “there is no Soviet domination of eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford administration.”
24There seems to be some disagreement about when the Declaration of Independence was signed by all members of Congress. It was passed on July 4, 1776, but not all members were present and some say it took a month or more to get everybody’s John Hancock. source: Wikipedia
25You can castrate pigs with a dull knife and a bottle of no-salve,if you use enough force. Wingnut points are never sharp,but they keep right on hammering until they get driven in.
26Do they get a Nansen Passport if they fail the Ctizen’s Civics test.?
27One of our neighbors when I lived in a suburb of Atlanta was an old Southern belle who would not call the Civil War by that name. In her mind, those years in our history would forever be the “unpleasantries between the states.”
28@The Gerg – Anyone who has watched 1776 know the official voting passed on July 2. The signing wasn’t completed for months as they’d gone home before the official copy was completed.
I think the Civics test they need to pass is the same test that immigrants to the United States have to take to become citizens. Some of those questions are not easy.
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