I could have titled this one "Vanquishing The Beast" again but I am getting sick of that one, and it could go on, ad nauseum forever - so let's Change! since that is the Theme O' the Day for us Democrats.
I have a friend who is convinced that the Conservative machine has been systematically undercutting our government, piece by piece, little by little, over the last 40 years and that, for the most part, we liberals have been asleep at the wheel while this has happened and our Awakening these last 8 years or so has come way too late. It's over, finished, done with. We are doomed. According to her.
There's a depressing amount of data to support her thesis. Especially here in Texas, where we have been living with a Republican-dominated society for some time. In particular (and Pam, perhaps you can verify this from your own personal experience) we have seen a concerted effort by the rightwing to destroy public education. The "No Child Left Behind" Act was part and parcel of that effort, just as the "Clean Air Act" was part and parcel of an effort to remove environmental controls over industry. The obvious result of this long-term assault on our public education system has been to significantly lower our educational standards and, hence, our competitiveness in an increasingly global society.
Along with this dumbing down of America, we have seen the conservative machine take control of our standard sources of information, the infamous M-S-M. While loudly whining about "liberal bias" they have taken control of every single major news media outlet, and even created their own network which offers such controlled, openly Republican propaganda as to be almost a parody of the bias that it claims to "balance." What this effort has successfully achieved is that the majority of Americans no longer trust traditional news outlets to provide objective, truthful reporting - and we turn increasingly to partisan outlets for our information. Hence, objective "truth" becomes an ever more elusive bird to capture.
It matters, and this is one of the reasons why. Fascism is a deadly serious phenomenon in our society, and Jonah Goldberg's partisan bullshit only serves to further ensure that more Americans are more stupid about it than ever before. We all suffer because of this, whether we are conservative or liberal, religious or not.
Because I am a liberal and have been all my life, I can't be objective about conservatism. I can't even really talk intelligently about what "conservatism" is in today's world. I've certainly known and been good friends with people who call themselves "conservatives", and of course both my parents were committed Republicans, as are other members of my family whom I love dearly. I don't want a single-Party dominance in our country - I want to live in a society that allows open and free discussion of different political and social ideologies. But I believe that the factions that have dominated today's conservative movement through the Republican Party must be exposed for the destructive forces that they are and must be firmly, soundly, once-and-for-all repudiated. I am talking specifically about the factions that come together in the administration of George W. Bush and which he so clearly represents, which is the far "religious" right (as personified by the James Dobsons and Jerry Falwells and John Hagees of this world)and the neoconservatives. I firmly believe that the impeachment and criminal trial of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are vital steps in the process of this repudiation, in that we need a national dialogue that exposes and certifies their malfeasance. Frankly, I have little hope for that actually coming to pass, and without it, I don't know how we are going to keep our country strong.
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Speaking of "keeping our country strong", there was delightful article in the New York Times Magazine this weekend.
Thanks, President Bush!!
Thanks for providing that link, Mike. I saw the article but was too depressed to slog all the way through it! Nevertheless, I'm glad to have it on hand in case I need to refer back to it one of these days - and who knows, maybe one day I'll actually read the whole thing!
The obvious result of this long-term assault on our public education system has been to significantly lower our educational standards and, hence, our competitiveness in an increasingly global society.
Wow, Ann, what insight! How sad that we now find ourselves at a place where the only measure of educational achievement is mediocrity. The reason? From the beginning to the end of the school year the classroon teacher is teaching how to pass the TAKS. The test-driven curriculum is encouraging “one-size-fits-all” instruction designed to raise test scores of lower-achieving students while leaving higher-level students behind. Mastery of a subject is 85%, and once achieved, why would an exceptional student strive for more? There is no reward, save a personal "need to achieve" in a very few students. These students will never receive public recognition. That's right, I teach students who cannot be "praised" for outstanding work and who believe that mastery of a subject at 85% equals excellence! By law, the Texas teacher cannot recognize excellence because of the "discomfort" it will cause the "underachiever." (i.e. students who FIGHT to be left behind.) Remember "reward certificates at the end of a school year? We can only recognize perfect attendance and/or participation in an activity now.
Sorry to go on so long but having had what I consider to be a profound revelation about a Rebublican-dominated society, I feel that my blinders have been lifted. Sorry to say, I fear we may be years, if ever, trying to recover.
Ann, great post. Thanks for links,
Pam
During the years that I was a beat reporter at daily papers in Kerrville and Lubbock, I covered the education beat and wrote many stories about the problems with the TAAS (and now the TAKS). Teachers were upset about being required to "teach to the test" at the expense of all other subject areas. Their jobs were on the line depending on the test results because schools with low scores could be penalized with cuts in funding.
I talked with distraught students who had passed all their course requirments but could not get a diploma because they froze up every time they had to take the final "exit exam."
Needless to say, I'm no fan of standardized testing. I managed to make it through the public school system without ever taking a TAAS or TAKS and now I am concerned how these exams are going to effect my kids' education as I prepare to send them to school next year.
Thanks so much, Pam! I wish more conservatives, or Republicans for that matter, would have their "blinders lifted" and work from within their own Party to rid it of the noxious influence of the "religious" right and the neocons. Meanwhile, one thing you both can do to help education in Texas is give whatever support you can to the Texas Freedom Network. They really are a good bunch, they have been around for a long time, and they do yeoman's work in fighting the influence of the rightwing in Texas.
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