So, doesn't the willful partisan ignorance of the Texas Board of Education make it pretty clear

[Atticus]

that we need national standards for public education?

Thomas Jefferson coined the phrase "separation of church and state" so that's enough to drop him from a list of people whose writings inspired later revolutions?

Kids should learn about Martin Luther King---AND Phyllis Schlafley?

See: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/education/13texas.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Is it really unthinkable that George W. Bush may someday soon be described as "having rescued our Christian nation from the Muslim hordes who hijacked our oil despite treasonous opposition by communist Islamist Democrats in the homeland"?

Oh, and "influential philosophers of the early 21st century?" How about Jerry Falwell, Karl Rove, Pat Robertson, Grover Norquist, Ann Coulter---are you getting sick yet?

[RainDog]

1. Yes. We have to get rid of the idiot influence that is Texas

they are harming this nation.

any assholes who want to leave Jefferson out of American history books should have their teeth kicked in.

[ellaydubya]

2. There are idiots everywhere...

But don't mess with Texas- we don't all think that way- surely you know that.

[Atticus]

4. I'll "mess with Texas". This country has had all that simple-minded swaggering cowboy

bullshit it can take!

It may be true that you "don't all think that way", but a clear majority of the Texas Board of Education does and that is damned embarrassing---surely you know that.

[RainDog]

10. I know Texas fairly well

my sister has lived there for most of her adult life and I've visited often. I did some freelance work that meant I lived there for a bit.

I'm from Tennessee. so I know that part of the world.

And, of course, not all people are like that. but the south has lots of fundie stink about it. And Texas is central to textbook choices all over the nation.

thankfully republicans got rid of one of the stank fundies this week via a primary (the guy who claimed evolution had no bearing upon an understanding of biology). but there are far too many with this mindset in the south.

which is why I would never live in the south when my kids were younger and really have no desire to spend time there ever, myself.

I detest the overarching mindset, and central to this mindset is the fundie stank.

[RECain]

8. idiot influence

I'm from Texas, and I think Thomas Jefferson was probably the
greatest American who ever lived.  Its not Texas that is an
"idiot influence", its the Radical Religious Right
who unfortunately make the most noise, telling their lies and
trying to rewrite history that are truly influencing the
idiots.

[Marr]

3. Wow. Talk about sickening.

The people who complain endlessly about some perceived (though imaginary) political bias in the curriculum are just fine with openly forcing their own political agenda into the curriculum.

From what I understand, the problem is with the way textbooks are purchased and published. I definitely think something needs to be done about this open crusade on the part of conservatives to politicize the school curriculum, but I have no idea what.

[glowing]

5. There is a reason the Bush family owns a publishing company for educational

text books... This way they control the history.. This way people don't know about the gradfather who worked for the Germans or tried to over throw the govt back in the day. You won't hear about the names attatched to the fist Great Depression to notice that the same names pop up today with the Great Recession.

[Zoeisright]

6. The Bigot Belt strikes again.

Bible Belt my ass.

[donco6]

7. Just the OPPOSITE.

Why on earth would you think national standards wouldn't come out with a RW bias? We can't even see success in Congress with a supermajority. Just wait until some national Board of Ed gets stacked with these RW religious nutjobs.

[RECain]

9. Partisan Ignorance

This is typical of what happens any time we have a Republican majority, whether local, State or National...