the book burning she cheney- who the hell does she think she is

[donsu]

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/news/opinion/9930742.htm

Lynne Cheney wages a quiet war against knowledge

-snip-

Now, Lynne Cheney, Vice President Dick Cheney's wife and the former head of the National Endowment for the Humanities, has placed herself in the company of dictators and slaveholders. At her urging, the Education Department destroyed more than 300,000 copies of a booklet designed to help parents and children learn more about America's past.

Cheney objected to the booklet's reference to the National Standards for History, guidelines for teaching history in secondary schools that were developed at the University of California, Los Angeles in the 1990s and that suggest that American history should be taught with an eye not only to America's successes but to its struggles and dark moments as well.

-snip-

What was so horrible about the National Standards for History that any reference to them would merit the mass destruction of several hundred thousand volumes of knowledge? According to Cheney, the standards failed to recognize the achievements of America's traditional heroes and focused instead on the accomplishments of women, minorities and radicals such as Harriet Tubman, the former slave who helped found the Underground Railroad. As Cheney wrote in 1994, "We are a better people than the national standards indicate, and our children deserve to know it."

-snip-

What Cheney really opposes is the prominent place that "social history" has assumed over the last 30 years. Known among its practitioners as "history from the bottom up," social historians argue that American history has too often been taught as the history of famous white men, political parties and industrialists.
-snip-
---------------------------

the bottom line is that the she cheney is a racist.


http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-nclb19oct19,0,215312.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials

No Silliness Left Behind

Of course, his award came from a PR agency that had been paid $700,000 by the Education Department to, among other things, conduct a survey rating media stories about the No Child Left Behind Act. Articles were ranked by how frequently and favorably they mentioned the law, and got extra credit for fawning on the Bush administration and the Republican Party.

Given those conditions, Paige pretty easily got the top ranking for an essay under his byline in the Seattle Times. Sometimes if you want something done right, like getting good press, you've just got to go out and write it yourself.

Sens. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) have asked the Government Accountability Office to decide whether the Education Department broke the law in awarding the PR contract. Congressional appropriations can't be used for propaganda aimed at boosting a political party or candidate.

-snip-

Lest one think this kind of politics-fueled misappropriation of funds by the Education Department was an isolated incident, consider Lynne Cheney's assault on the "National Standards for History," a guide for American schools and parents, laying out what children should learn about the past. The complaint by the vice president's wife against a government booklet that mentioned the standards led to the "recycling" of 300,000 copies, at a cost of about $100,000.
-snip-
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bottom line: our Education Dept. is corrupt.

[skylarmae]

1. this is one of those articles that causes me physiological trauma

mental anguish, and totally pisses me off.

[aden_nak]

2. Learning from / Admitting your mistakes is NOT part of the Bush Doctrine.

[Tyler Durden]

3. Lady in Waiting to Queen Laura. Who Else?

Just another Republican Overlord (or spouse of same) flexing their muscles and telling us we are too stupid to draw our own conclusions.

I wish Mark Morford would go back to pissing on li'l ol' Lynne. Funniest stuff I ever read; one of them even made the wife wet 'em.


SOCIALISM!

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. Typical repug tactics -- take over a bureaucracy and destroy it from

the inside.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

5. this from the author of "Sisters"???

[Beware the Beast Man]

6. As a history buff & former history grad; I find this horrifying.

In just a few short years, the Pukes have managed to undo everything progressive in the last seven decades, even the way we view our past. Wonderful, Lynne Cheney. Thanks.

on edit- another point: history isn't about just "celebrating" your heritage- it's also about learning from it.

[lectrobyte]

7. Right out of 1984. He who controls the past...

I guess I have to ask: is any part of our government untainted by this crew?

[Beware the Beast Man]

8. Nope, and that's the point.

Like I was saying in my above post, this administration has been a neo-con's wet dream- finally, they have the ability to undo 80 years of progress at every level. :grr: