Author Archives: pandora

About pandora

A stay-at-home mom with an obsession for National politics.

The GOP Needs New Talent

And I’m not talking politics.  I’m talking about how Republicans love (and steal) the music of liberal performers.

Senate candidate Chuck DeVore (R-CA) got burned for using for using altered-lyric version of Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer” and “All She Wants To Do Is Dance” for his campaign’s Web ads. David Byrne is suing Gov. Charlie Crist (I-FL) for using “Road To Nowhere” in a Web ad during his previous Republican Senate primary fight, and of course, as we reported yesterday, Rush cut to the chase and told Senate nominee Rand Paul (R-KY) to stop playing “Tom Sawyer” and “The Spirit of Radio.”

The Orleans song “Still The One” has a special place in politics as it has been used not once without the band’s permission, but twice — and the first instance contributed to its author’s entrance into national politics. In 2004, the Bush campaign used the song at a rally. As the song’s main author, John Hall, told MSNBC in 2008: “George Bush was busy campaigning on an ‘ownership society,’ yet never asked me, the band, or the publishers for permission.” Hall and other stakeholders in the song quickly sent a cease-and-desist letter, and the Bush campaign dropped the song.

They’ve also used, without permission, the works of…

Jackson Browne,  Van Halen, Wilson sisters from Heart,  John Mellencamp, Tom Petty, and Bruce Springsteen

(h/t TPM for putting this list together)

Kinda gives new meaning to the term Free Market.  And why would they even want to dip into the liberal, creative well when they have talent such as this on their side.

Arizona Proves What We All Knew…

… It’s about race.

Maybe it’s time to admit that large chunks of America are in the hands of unreconstructed racists and vulgar idiots, and that the popular election of a black man as president just might’ve pushed these furious, economically doomed old white people into a final rage that is going to end very, very badly. Ready? Here you go: An Arizona elementary school mural featuring the faces of kids who attend the school has been the subject of constant daytime drive-by racist screaming, from adults, as well as a radio talk-show campaign (by an actual city councilman, who has an AM talk-radio show) to remove the black student’s face, and now the school principal has ordered the faces of the Latino and Black students to be changed to Caucasian skin.

Wow.  Adults screaming racist slurs at K-5 children painting a mural.  What a proud moment for our country.   I’m so sick of Arizona and their special brand of hate.  I’ll leave you with the closing paragraph of Wonkette’s post.  The writer says exactly what I’ve been feeling.

Remember where you were, when you could still laugh about teabaggers and racists and Arizonans, because funny time is almost over. If the unemployment keeps up — one in five adult white males has no job and will never have a job again — and people keep walking away from their stucco heaps they can’t afford and the states and cities and counties and towns keep passing their aggressive racist laws to rile up the trash even more, shit’s going to very soon become very bad, and whether it’s the National Guard having wars in the Sunbelt Exurbs against armies of crazy old white people who are finally using their hundreds of millions of guns, or whole Latino neighborhoods burned to the ground the way the Klan used to burn down black neighborhoods a century ago, we are in for a long dark night and no light-colored paint is going to fix that.

“I’m ready to start talking secession,” she said half-jokingly.

The Latest Offering From C’mon Delaware

They’re baaaacccckkkk!  And, as the shamelessly honest plug states…

This week’s episode gets off to a slow start, but is honestly pretty good. Give it a listen….IF YOU DARE!!

Tags:  Sex in the City 2, Oil Spill is Bush’s Other Katrina, Breaking News: Mike Castle is gay. etc..etc…

Etc… etc… ?  Someone getting a little tired of tag writing?

Listen here!

It Was Only A Matter Of Time

There was no avoiding this.

In fact, impeachment talk moved yesterday from Tea Party rallies to at least one Republican Member of the House, Darrell Issa. And Issa’s not an obscure backbencher; he’s the ranking Republican on Oversight and Government Reform, and he also sits on the Judiciary Committee.

The incentives all run to impeachment, as far as I can tell. The leaders of such an effort would find it easy to cash in (literally, I mean) with books and appearances on the conservative lecture circuit. It’s hard to believe that Rush, Beck and the rest of the gang wouldn’t be tripping over each other to wear the crown of the Host Who Brought Down the socialist gangster president. And we’ve seen the ability, or I should say the lack thereof, of rank-and-file GOP pols to stand up to the talk show yakkers. Besides, it’s not as if a new Republican majority would have a full agenda of legislative items to pass, and what they did have would face an Obama veto (and most likely death in the Senate at any rate). Against all that is the collective preference of the Republican Party not to have a reputation as a pack of loons, but that doesn’t seem to be much of a constraint in practice. Of course, also against impeachment is the lack of a serious offense by the president, but I don’t see that as a major impediment — if offering a job to a potential Senate candidate is an impeachable offense (and see Jonathan Chait if you think it really is), then they’ll have no trouble at all coming up with something.

Do you know when Republicans decided to impeach Obama?  November 4, 2008.

(Oh, they would be pulling this crap on Hillary, as well.  Actually, I think they would have pulled it sooner.  Also, I added a new “impeachment” tag.  I have a feeling we’ll be using it… a lot.)

Republican Short-Sightedness

This was obvious to everyone but the GOP.

Today, a new NBC/MSNBC/Telemundo poll shows a similar trend at the national level, where “Latinos, once a semi-swing group of voters, now have swung overwhelmingly for President Obama and the Democratic Party, and younger Hispanics are moving to the Democrats in even greater numbers.”

For example, 68% of Latinos approve of Obama’s job (compared with 48% of overall respondents and 38% of whites), and they view the Democratic Party favorably by a 54%-21% score (versus 41%-40% among all adults and 34%-48% among whites). And their views of the Republican Party? In the poll, the GOP fav/unfav among Latinos is 22%-44%.

What’s more, Latinos think Democrats would do a better job than Republicans in protecting the interests of minorities (by 58%-11%), in representing the opportunity to move up the economic ladder (46%-20%), in dealing with immigration (37%-12%), and in promoting strong moral values (33%-23%). The only advantage they gave Republicans was in enforcing security along the border (31%-20%). And Latinos remain a sleeping — yet growing — political giant: 23% of them aren’t registered voters (compared with 12% of whites and 16% of blacks).

Live by the tea, die by the tea.  And since when is alienating (no pun intended) an entire constituency sound political strategy.

Benen ends the post with this prediction:

For what it’s worth, Hispanic support for Democrats may fall if immigration reform fails this year, and voters blame the White House (even if it’s Republicans and conservative Dems who are responsible for killing the bill).

It creates a very strong incentive for the GOP — fight like hell to prevent immigration reform from succeeding. If voters blame the president, Republicans win. If voters blame the GOP, they’ll be largely in the same position they’re in now.

Perhaps, but I doubt it.  Republicans have moved past the policy of immigration and into the personal.  What they’ve done is grudge-worthy.

Does Anyone Know How To Stop The Oil Spill?

I have no idea what will stop the oil spilling, and neither, it seems, does anyone else. Move past the political spin, who should be in charge talk, and who’s to blame chatter and listen to the scientists.  What they’re saying is frightening.  There are theories on how to stop the spill, but no one is certain they’ll work – and, in some cases, could actually, possibly, maybe make the situation worse.

I’m hoping someone has a major light bulb over the head moment very soon.

DADT Repeal? There’s Movement!

Steve Benen lays out what’s going on.

Key votes pending in Congress this week on whether to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law that prohibits openly gay men and lesbians from serving in the military remain too close to call, advocates on both sides say.

The Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to vote by the end of the week on an amendment to the annual defense spending bill that would end “don’t ask, don’t tell,” which Congress passed in 1993. Chairman Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) favors a repeal, but it is unclear whether he has enough votes, with six senators on the panel considered undecided, legislative sources said.

The House is expected to vote on a similar measure this week, based on a repeal proposal sponsored by Rep. Patrick J. Murphy (D-Pa.), an Iraq war veteran. The House Armed Services Committee declined to act on Murphy’s bill in passing its version of the defense spending measure last week, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has told gay advocacy groups that she will allow a floor vote if there is enough support in favor of a repeal.

[…]

There have been rumors about increasing engagement on this issue from the Obama administration, and The Advocate reports that there were concurrent meetings this morning at the White House and on Capitol Hill that “could help clear the way” for a deal that would add a repeal provision to the upcoming defense appropriations bill.

Benen is also saying that we may see an S.A.P. (Statement of Administration Policy) on this as early as tomorrow, which would give the effort another added boost.

I say… Boost away!


Red And Blue Families

I keep stumbling across articles on Naomi Cahn and June Carbone’s new book, Red Families v. Blue Families: Legal Polarization and the Creation of Culture. I will be picking it up today.

I’m not trying to score points in this post – although points will be scored.  I’d rather discuss the disconnect between Red and Blue families and why debating social issues, while frustrating, is predictable.  Let’s start with what Cahn and Carbone’s research discovered:

The major finding of the book, (and I haven’t read it yet — I hope to pick it up in an hour or so) reducing it to an oversimplified sound bite, is that families in Blue States are far more likely to be stable and intact than those in the more conservative states, with higher levels of educational and economic attainment, lower levels of divorce, and far less likelihood of teenagers becoming parents.

My first reaction was d’oh, but that isn’t really fair.  After all, I was raised in a Blue Family and am raising my children in one, as well, so naturally these findings make sense to me.  What I struggle to understand is why Red Families embrace an ideology that isn’t reaping results.  I can understand being against abortion, but am at a loss as to why birth control is off their kitchen table.  And the idea that educating kids about safe sex leads to sex is nonsense.  You know what leads to teenage sex?  Teenagers.

In my Blue house, we discuss sex openly.  We talk about the emotional aspects of sex, the prevention of pregnancy and STDs, and the biology.  When my son turned 15 we put condoms in his room, and he didn’t even have a girlfriend.  I told him that I thought he had the sexual maturity of a pea, that my choice was that he abstain (yes, abstain!) from sex, but if he decided to ignore my wisdom then don’t be stupid and screw up your future – Use a condom!

The first part of my little speech should be something Red and Blue families agree on – I told him that I thought he had the sexual maturity of a pea, that my choice was that he abstain from sex – but the second part is where we’ll part ways.  And it’s at this point where things get interesting.

I can’t speak for Red Families, so I’ll speak for mine.  Hopefully, this will shed some light.  Contrary to how Conservatives portray Blue Families, we aren’t having parties celebrating our kids losing their virginity.  We would love it if they abstained from sex, just like Red Families.  The difference is we know they probably won’t so we try and prepare them, to arm them with accurate information, so that when, and if, they go against our wishes they understand how to protect themselves physically, if not emotionally.

Let’s look at how Jonathan Rauch, of the National Journal, breaks it down into two categories.  (BTW, you should really read both linked articles.)

1. Families Form Adults

Many teenagers and young adults formed families before they reached maturity and then came to maturity precisely by shouldering family responsibilities. Immature choices and what were once euphemistically called “accidents” were a fact of life, but the unity of sex, marriage, and procreation, combined with the pressure not to divorce, turned childish errors into adult vocations.

But then along come two game-changers: the global information economy and the birth-control revolution. The postindustrial economy puts a premium on skill and cognitive ability. A high school education or less no longer offers very good prospects. Blue-collar wages fall, so a factory job no longer cuts it — if, that is, you can even find a factory job.

Meanwhile, birth control separates decisions about sex from decisions about parenthood, and the advent of effective female contraception lets men shift the moral responsibility for pregnancy to women, eroding the shotgun marriage. Divorce becomes easy to obtain and sheds its stigma. Women stream into the workforce and become more economically independent — a good thing, but with the side effect of contributing to a much higher divorce rate.

In this very different world, early family formation is often a calamity. It short-circuits skill acquisition by knocking one or both parents out of school. It carries a high penalty for immature marital judgment in the form of likely divorce. It leaves many young mothers, now bearing both the children and the cultural responsibility for pregnancy, without the option of ever marrying at all.

2.  Adults Form Families

New norms arise for this environment, norms geared to prevent premature family formation. The new paradigm prizes responsible childbearing and child-rearing far above the traditional linkage of sex, marriage, and procreation. Instead of emphasizing abstinence until marriage, it enjoins: Don’t form a family until after you have finished your education and are equipped for responsibility. In other words, adults form families. Family life marks the end of the transition to adulthood, not the beginning.

I was raised on the Adults Form Families model, and, in turn, am raising my children on it.  And while I agree, in part, with the phrase, If you’re old enough to have sex, you’re old enough to take responsibility (which I tell my children often) I don’t subscribe to the “live by the sword, die by the sword” philosophy when it comes to sex and pregnancy.  In essence, I don’t think teenage pregnancy is ever anything to celebrate, or hold up as virtuous.  To me, the punishment – of  having a baby and/or a shot-gun wedding – doesn’t fit the “crime.”

This disconnect is why Red Families and Blue Families shake their heads in disbelief when the other side talks.  It’s as if we inhabit different planets.  And there’s plenty of judgment on both sides, of which I am guilty.  I have witnessed situations where a Red Family’s teen daughter becomes pregnant, and what I’m always being told is this:  At least she’s having the baby.  She could have sneaked off and had an abortion, but she didn’t.  She did the right thing.

And I’m thinking, “Are you flippin’ kidding me?  She has just derailed her future, and you’re turning her situation into, not only a good thing but something to be praised and… emulated?”

And it seems the research is on my side. Ross Douthat (yes, that Ross Douthat) states:

The authors depict a culturally conservative “red America” that’s stuck trying to sustain an outdated social model. By insisting (unrealistically) on chastity before marriage, Cahn and Carbone argue, social conservatives guarantee that their children will get pregnant early and often (see Palin, Bristol), leading to teen childbirth, shotgun marriages and high divorce rates.

This self-defeating cycle could explain why socially conservative states have more family instability than, say, the culturally liberal Northeast. If you’re looking for solid marriages, head to Massachusetts, not Alabama.

To this Blue Family member this just makes sense.  Getting a well-paid job with a High School diploma or GED isn’t really possible in today’s world.  Hell, a four year degree isn’t what it use to be.  Which leads me to my next question:  Why do Conservatives mock intelligence?  Why is an advanced degree something to sneer at – and if that degree is from Harvard…

So, yeah, I don’t get it, but Red Families don’t get me so we’re even.  Only… we’re not even.  Blue Families have pulled ahead.


Weekend Foodie Thread

There’s a reason I don’t post our daily Open Thread.  My last “Weekend Foodie Thread” was in December!  But since Spring has sprung, fresh veggies have returned and grills are being fired up I’m feeling inspired.  And… I was asked about why I haven’t posted on this at the last Drinking Liberally!

Let’s start with grilling.  I will throw almost anything onto a grill, because it simply tastes better, but also because it cuts down on dirty dishes!  But there are some tricks to grilling – and I hope you’ll share your tricks of the trade, as well.

Let’s start with grilling vegetables.  There are two ways I grill veggies.

1. Lightly brush with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and place directly on the grill.   This method works best for vegetables cut into large, thick slabs.

2. Place veggies in aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, and then close foil loosely over veggies and place on grill.  This technique works well if you’re using vegetables cut into bite-sized cubes, or skinny veggies like asparagus.

Okay, those are my basic techniques.  Now let’s talk recipes.

Grilled Eggplant

I picked eggplant because most people shy away from it due to the extra prep involved – and if you’re someone who struggles with eggplant tenderness chances are you skipped this step.   So let’s tackle the correct way to prep eggplant.  When I was growing up I remember slices of salted eggplant being pressed between two plates and lined up on the counter.  I never really questioned why my Mother and Grandmother did this, and then, in my twenties, I cooked eggplant without prepping it first.  Yuck!

So… how do you prepare eggplant before grilling (or baking, or frying)?  It’s pretty simple.

First, peel the eggplant.  You do not have to remove all the skin – actually, you don’t have to remove the skin at all, but I find peeling it in stripes simpler.  Slice or cut into cubes.  (sliced will be placed directly on the grill, cubed will go into the foil boat.)  Generously salt each slice or cubes.  Place in a colander for about an hour – or you can do what my Mom and Grandmom did and place slices on a plate, or tray, and place another plate, or tray, on top.  Rinse well with water to remove salt and then press the eggplant pieces between your hands to squeeze out the extra moisture.  Pat dry the eggplant with paper towels.

That’s it.  Now you’re ready to cook eggplant – perfectly.  For grilling, simply brush with olive oil and season with salt.

Bonus eggplant recipe: In a bowl whisk an egg and a small amount of water.  In another bowl combine flour, salt and pepper.  Dip round slices of eggplant into egg mixture then lightly dredge it through the flour mixture.  Heat a pan lightly coated with olive oil.  Place slices of eggplant into hot pan and fry.  A really delicious way to make healthy food unhealthy!

Grilled Zucchini and Yellow Squash

Cube zucchini and squash (Do not peel) and place in a large freezer bag.  Drizzle with olive oil and sea salt.  Seal bag and toss to coat.  Place the equivalent of 2 servings onto foil.  You will probably have several foil packets to place on the grill.  I have found if you make one large packet the veggies may not cook evenly.  Once on the foil, lightly sprinkle with seasoned bread crumbs.  Close the foil loosely over veggies, making sure it is sealed.  Grill for approx. 15 – 20 minutes.

Onto the main course:  Chicken and Beef

I’ll start with chicken, and since boneless, skinless chicken breasts are commonly tossed on the grill (and in the oven), to culinary disaster, let’s focus our attention on those tasteless pieces of rubber.

Rule #1:  You must tenderize these lumps.  If you don’t own a heavy meat tenderizing hammer then go buy one.  Immediately.  Okay, everyone have the hammer?  Good.  Now, use it on those lumps of chicken.  How thin and flat you pound it depends on what you’re cooking.  For grilling, don’t pound it too thin.  Keep it approx. 1/2″ to 3/4″ thick.

Rule#2:  Marinades are your friend.  Not only do they add flavor, but they help keep the chicken moist.  Most grocery stores offer a wide selection of marinades, which can be used directly or jazzed up.  I usually keep a selection of these in my pantry for when I don’t have time to make my own.

Grilled Chicken Breasts

Pound chicken.  Place in freezer bag.  Add marinade.  Marinate for at least an hour, turning bag occasionally so chicken is evenly coated.  Grill.  Easy-peasy

Hint:  When cooking bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces… brush with olive oil, salt and pepper, and cook them for a long time on medium low heat.  Ever been served burnt on the outside, under-cooked on the inside chicken?  Then… turn down the heat and be patient!

Onto grilling meat, and the recipe I’ll share with you is for perfect London Broil.  I always get compliments on this simple recipe.

Grilled London Broil

Gently tenderize the meat with that hammer I made you buy.  Next, with a sharp kitchen knife, make criss-cross, diagonal, shallow cuts into both sides of the meat.  Place meat into a freezer bag and add marinade.  Believe it or not, one of the best marinades for this dish is a really good bottle of Italian salad dressing.  It pains me to write that, but it’s the truth.  Marinate for at least an hour.  Grill.  Remember to remove the London Broil before it looks done because you need to let it rest before thinly slicing and it will still be cooking during this time.  Basically, when you look at the meat on the grill and think it needs several more minutes… take it off.

Well, those are my recipes and suggestions, and I’m sure our readers have more to add!

BTW, you probably noticed I use freezer bags a lot.  First, they are the easiest way to marinade.  Second, they take up less room in the frig.  I also use them when making salads ahead of time.  When it’s time to prepare the salad for serving, simply add the dressing to the freezer bag, shake to coat, and then pour into salad bowl.

How Is This Possible?

First, a confession… This year I got suckered into watching Celebrity Apprentice because of Rod Blagojevich.  It was like a horrible accident you couldn’t turn away from.  And the main reason I watched – besides the endless amusement Blago generated by proclaiming his innocence to anyone and everyone – was his complete incompetence with technology.  In one episode Rod sat at a table for a lengthy bit of time before confessing he didn’t know how to turn on a computer.  But the show really got good when Blago became project manager… and was fired.

The men’s team lost for the third straight week. To viewers, it was likely because Blagojevich gave his team little-to-no direction. As viewers saw last week, Blago is basically unable to use a computer or send a text message. While in Orlando, he could not call his team on the phone while he was around Victoria’s Secret model Selita Ebanks–the project manager for the women’s team–without her disovering his team’s “strategy,” which was virtually nonexistent on his end.

It was quite amazing, but obviously not that unsual.

Ben Nelson admits he has never used an ATM…

The Nebraska Democrat pleaded ignorance when asked this week whether Congress should cap ATM fees. Nelson said that while he’s no fan of unnecessary fees, he’s unfamiliar with the charges.

“I’ve never used an ATM, so I don’t know what the fees are,” Nelson said, adding that he gets his cash from bank tellers, just not automatic ones. “It’s true, I don’t know how to use one.

“But I could learn how to do it just like I’ve . . . I swipe to get my own gas, buy groceries. I know about the holograms.”

Even our Supreme Court Justices – some of our smartest minds – are completely baffled by technology…

The first sign was about midway through the argument, when Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. – who is known to write out his opinions in long hand with pen and paper instead of a computer – asked what the difference was “between email and a pager?” *

Other justices’ questions showed that they probably don’t spend a lot of time texting and tweeting away from their iPhones either.

At one point, Justice Anthony Kennedy asked what would happen if a text message was sent to an officer at the same time he was sending one to someone else.

“Does it say: ‘Your call is important to us, and we will get back to you?’” Kennedy asked.

Justice Antonin Scalia wrangled a bit with the idea of a service provider.

“You mean (the text) doesn’t go right to me?” he asked.

Then he asked whether they can be printed out in hard copy.

“Could Quon print these spicy little conversations and send them to his buddies?” Scalia asked.

How is this possible?  How does a person never send an email, or a text, or use an ATM?  And this isn’t about age.  My parents are in their 70s and they’ve been sending emails and using ATMs for years.  This strikes me more as a resistance to technology, and, given the rapidly changing technological world we live in, being uninformed about basic technology strikes me as a huge detriment – especially when the technologically-challenged are making and enforcing laws concerning ATM fees and text messages.

Perhaps this is the true disconnect in Washington.

Conservative Women’s Group Elevates Souder To A Man Above Men

Seriously?

“Those of us who have worked with Mark over the years know him to be a kind and thoughtful legislator. If Mark Souder is capable of sexual misconduct, it could happen to anyone,” said Concerned Women for America CEO Penny Nance in a statement Tuesday. “The frat house environment on Capitol Hill does nothing to encourage accountability.”

Frat House or C Street house?

I think Souder doesn’t deserve the pedestal he’s being placed on.  Is this Conservative Women’s Group really saying that fidelity is an unachievable goal?  Because that’s what it sounds like, since Souder’s such a paragon of virtue.

And the solution?

“Most Members do not live with their families while they are working in D.C. during the week and have even ditched common rules of etiquette that even major corporations follow such as office doors with windows or careful examination of employee/boss interaction.”  (Read entire statement here)

I’ve always been of the mindset that if your partner wants to (and is open to) cheating then, short of handcuffing them to you 24/7, there’s nothing you can do.  And why does the “most Members do not live with their families while they are working in D.C. during the week” sound like an excuse?  It’s along the lines of “boys will be boys” and “a man has his needs” argument.

Look, I don’t care how many women Souder slept with.  In fact, I don’t care who anyone sleeps with.  Souder can’t say the same – which is why this story is generating so much attention.

It’s Time To Mess With Texas

History should be something we learn from, but if the Texas School Board gets its way learning will be replaced by indoctrination.

The board is to vote on a sweeping purge of alleged liberal bias in Texas school textbooks in favour of what Dunbar says really matters: a belief in America as a nation chosen by God as a beacon to the world, and free enterprise as the cornerstone of liberty and democracy.

“We are fighting for our children’s education and our nation’s future,” Dunbar said. “In Texas we have certain statutory obligations to promote patriotism and to promote the free enterprise system. There seems to have been a move away from a patriotic ideology. There seems to be a denial that this was a nation founded under God. We had to go back and make some corrections.” [emphasis mine]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the phrases I’ve highlighted strike me as more appropriate for a philosophy or religious study course rather than a history course.  Promote patriotism?  Promote free enterprise?  Patriotic ideology?  America is a nation chosen by God?  Nation founded under God?  These statements have nothing to do with history and everything to do with a conservative political agenda.

Why don’t conservatives just come out and speak the truth?  They want a Theocracy, not a Democracy.  They want mandatory patriotism, a place where no criticism of God’s chosen nation will be tolerated.  Imagine raising your children this way?  Bet you end up with a lot of spoiled brats who end up believing it’s their God-given right to have whatever they want.

And what Texas is taking out is just as disturbing as the ideology they are putting in.

Several changes include sidelining Thomas Jefferson, who favoured separation of church and state, while introducing a new focus on the “significant contributions” of pro-slavery Confederate leaders during the civil war.

The new curriculum asserts that “the right to keep and bear arms” is an important element of a democratic society. Study of Sir Isaac Newton is dropped in favour of examining scientific advances through military technology.

There is also a suggestion that the anti-communist witch-hunt by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s may have been justified.

The education board has dropped references to the slave trade in favour of calling it the more innocuous “Atlantic triangular trade”, and recasts the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as driven by Islamic fundamentalism.

WTF?   Hmmm… how do you take people out of the slave trade?  Why, you simply call it the Atlantic triangular trade.  See how easy that is?  And who needs to learn about Thomas Jefferson or Sir Isaac Newton when they can learn about the “significant contributions” of pro-slavery Confederate leaders during the civil war and scientific advances through military technology?   Gravity is so passé.

It gets better…

Conservatives have been accused of an assault on the history of civil rights. One curriculum amendment describes the civil rights movement as creating “unrealistic expectations of equal outcomes” among minorities. Another seeks to place Martin Luther King and the violent Black Panther movement as opposite sides of the same coin.

“We had a big discussion around that,” said Knight, a former teacher. “It was an attempt to taint the civil rights movement. They did the same by almost equating George Wallace [the segregationist governor of Alabama in the mid-1960s] with the civil rights movement and the things Martin Luther King Jr was trying to accomplish, as if Wallace was standing up for white civil rights. That’s how slick they are.

White civil rights.  This phrase sums up what is going on in Texas (and other states, like Arizona).  It’s about Real Americans – which is code for:  Conservative, White Christians.

Meanwhile, those embracing this ideology might just want to pull their children out of science and history classes – there really is no future for them in those fields.