As only he can, Colbert explains in clear terms the "conservative victory" of the Texas State School Board's outrageous editing of textbook standards to eliminate subversives like Thomas Jefferson who coined the term "separation of church and state". Texas has now become the laughing stock on the nation's stage led by Neanderthals like Louie Goehmert, John Culberson, and Rick Perry, as well as religious fanatics on the school board like Don McLeroy and Terri Leo. Us being singled out by Colbert somehow seems appropriate since in character, he plays the part of an idiot, which is an unfortunate reality among our representatives. Posted without further comment:
Freedom of religion means just that. Freedom to worship as you please, or to NOT worship as you please.
And it means freedom of ALL religions. Not just Christianity.
I am currently reading a very good book, "Grand Theft Jesus".
I highly suggest it.....it details just how what passes for "Christianity" in America today really isn't. How these Bible-thumpers are espousing the exact OPPOSITE of what Jesus preached.
Yes, Thomas Jefferson warned against instituting a single religion in this country.
So...why are the rightwingers trying to do just that?
Hmmmm???
Cervantes said, "Yup, I like to teach my kids the whole story, not a piece of it that can be taken out of context and used as fuel to rip crosses off of war memorials and state parks."
What are you babbling about? Separation of church and state was exactly designed to allow people to worship or not. A religious test for representatives was specifically taken out of the Constitution during drafting. The myth that the US was founded as a "Christian nation" is exactly that. A myth. Bible thumpers today superimpose their beliefs on society over 200 years ago. Their were everything from early Unitarians, deists, Dutch Reform, Anglican, Catholic, Jews, Calvinists, and others all present in the colonies. To assert otherwise is false. BTW, crosses shouldn't be on any government buildings.
Separation of church and state..You do realize that was not intended to divorce religion from society or state. At the time of that LETTER, there was this big dang church in England called The Church OF ENGLAND. If you didn't go to church, you were fined. If you tried to worship or not worship in whatever manner you saw fit was fine, as long as you didn't do it in the open and were in the pews every week. Thomas Jefferson warned against America instituting a religion and enforcing the worship of that single religion upon pain of fine or worse. Yup, I like to teach my kids the whole story, not a piece of it that can be taken out of context and used as fuel to rip crosses off of war memorials and state parks.
I remember talking politics with someone years ago, and I asked why Clinton getting a BJ in the White House bothered them so much. They said that if he was willing to do that he was willing to do other things that might hurt the country. So I promptly replied "like selling weapons to our enemies and giving the money to rebels in Central America?" They got upset and refused to discuss politics with me anymore.
This is mainly about denial. The typical conservative tactic is to ignore their own corruption and focus on others'. It is hard to ignore something till it goes away if it is written into the history books.
Take for instance the removal of Oscar Romero from the history books. Here is a person who stood up for what these CONservatives claim they believe, and was murdered by a right-wing death squad. Why do they not want him in the history books? Perhaps because the U.S. backed the right-wingers in El Salvador. So keeping with the state of denial, you can't have reminders of just how evil you really are.
Note: Roberto D'Aubuisson is the person who ran these right-wing death squads. Guess where he trained at... that is right - School of the Americas
Try reading up on one our shinning examples of "Democracy".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHISC
All this re-writting history is more about covering their tracks.
I'm sorry, I can't hear your Iran-Contra story over the Monica Lewinsky cigar story. Because you know, that's like way more important and should be prominently displayed in textbooks.
What are they afraid of?
Learning something new?
Learning that America is not always right? That Americans have sometimes been in the wrong?
That they are NOT the majority, despite what they have been told by Rushbo?
Learning that there is a big world out there that doesn't proscribe to their narrow-minded, hate-filled whackjob beliefs?
I believe they are afraid of progress. They are afraid of change. They are afraid of people and ideas that don't match theirs.
They have their eyes firmly glued to "the good old days" and that's where they want to be.
Except that those days weren't all that good for a lot of people.
And they're being encouraged to be afraid every single day by idiots on TV who are just laughing their asses off all the way to the bank. Probably while thinking "P.T. Barnum was right. There's a sucker born every minute." Fox News has made a bundle of money using that technique.
Scaring the suckers.
So what are they so afraid of? That kids could hear about "other truths" than their own? That kids could possibly...oh...learn to think for themselves??
Why don't they just create their own town like in the movie "The Village" where they could keep people isolated and in the dark from the rest of the world, and where their rhetoric couldn't be challenged because theirs would be the only one in town.
Take Rick Perry (please) with his pronouncement that Texas had a "right" to secede from the union. That was taught in school at one time, but as Perry has been involved in the Texas government for so long, it is inexcusable of him. As far as the Conservatives' constant drivel of our "exceptionalism," no one likes a braggart. These are not nice people.
I saw a poll of Conservatives last year that showed over half of the ones polled thought Colbert was one of them. They've all had humorectomies, as Juanita Jean says.
The dumbing down of Texans continues from the SBOE, to the colleges.
Baylor is now being run by Ken Starr.
SMU will house the G.W. Bush Library (and all the attending politics).
Texas A & M houses the G.H.W.Bush Library.
Texas Tech University now has Kent Hance on the Board of Regents, and Alberto Gonzales on faculty.
Texas, and TCU --- I don't know.
But the whole damned school system from Pre-K to advance degrees, is being run by the Republican Party.
Keeping Texans ignorant may be the only way they can keep Republicans in office in the state.
Their philosophy is actually quite simple, "The end justifies the means." We ARE righteous people, with righteous goals. ANYTHING we do towards that goal MUST be righteous as well. And let's not forget, "God is on OUR side". Boy, you can cover a lot of bases with that.
Why does so much weird shit happen in Texas? It's a BIG state.
I loved the part where he said, "Those who fail to remember history are doomed to repeat it.....so they have taken care of that problem by rewriting it."
I was ROFL!
I always wonder, do the whackjobs realize that Colbert is mocking them?
Naaaah...I'm sure that fact just goes right over their hairspray.
Conservatives have been doing this for a longtime.
Take Ronald Reagan for instance. Conservatives loud him as one of our greatest presidents. But in reality the man sold weapons to our enemy Iran. Then gave the money to the Contra Rebels in Nicaragua. Who in turn bought cocaine and were allowed to sell it to Americans to fund their revolution. Plus, said cocaine was shipped to the States on CIA airplanes. All sanctioned by the Reagan Administration.
This is not conspiracy theory people. This is common knowledge. Most of you are old enough to remember the scandal. It was all televised for our viewing enjoyment. Try asking a youth today if they know anything about the Iran/Contra Scandal. I suspect they know nothing about it.
These people are evil, plain and simple. They see themselves as heroes and upstanding citizens, yet they do the most heinous things.
I mean for God's sakes, Bush Co. tortured people to death. Lets see if that makes it into the history books...