A Tea Party Manifesto for Every Child

[thomhartmann]

California state Sen. Leland Yee (D) has introduced a bill to stop Texas textbooks from getting into California classrooms. Earlier this year, Texas cut Thomas Jefferson out of textbooks and replaced him with the religious right icon John Calvin - who argued that riches are the sign of god's blessing and poverty is a sign of god's curse - and also tossed out the word “democratic” from the description of the U.S. government, replacing it with "republic" which sounds more like "Republican" - an old rhetorical trick that goes back to Joe McCarthy's time. A new report in the Guardian reveals that the Texas dropped the phrase "slave trade" in favor of ‘Atlantic triangular trade." And newly proposed changes in Texas schoolbooks include teaching kids the importance of gutting social security & medicare and how the UN "is a danger to US sovereignty." The Texas school board will be meeting again this week and conservatives have promised to keep chipping away correct years of liberal bias in history classes. Texas serves 4.7 million students and accounts for a large percentage of the textbook market, and they influence what is taught in the the entire US. Why are out textbooks for children becoming a Tea Party Manifesto?

[RKP5637]

1. More reasons I've never thought much of Texas for decades and decades... n/t

[benchwarmer]

2. Texas

Texas and other conservative leaning states have done things like this for years. Even blacking-out passages that they don't agree with. It's appaling and it's the same kind of thing you still see today in communist countries and dictatorships. It's an injection of political brainwashing that seeks to turn the children of a nation toward a single idealogy (whether that be religious extremist, communist sympathizer or "teaparty" advocate).

If ever there was a place for federalism, it is in the standardization of textbooks in the class room. Go ahead and call this idea socialist, I don't care, I call it national unity and consensus building. The idea that politicians of any stripe (liberal or conservative) can pollute young minds of children (children not their own) in an obvious attempt to promote their agenda now, and also seed it for the future, is sickening.

We need a national standard created by a consensus committtee of the best HISTORIANS this country has to offer. Yes I agree much in history is open to debate, and it should be debated, but not by politicians or idealogues. What are children read at young ages should be thoughtful and balanced. They can take on idealogical bents when they get into college and much before that from listening to their parents.

[damntexdem]

3. What we need in Texas is for the Texas legislature to pass such a law.

That might even be possible, but Perry needs to be defeated so he couldn't veto it.