Don't know much about history...

Other than being a gem of a tune by Sam Cooke (as was the cover version by Simon and Garfunkel with James Taylor), there's not much pride in being an idiot. Unless, of course, you're a conservative... A frightening piece appeared in the Free Press (on Easter Sunday, no less--what the hell, a little gift to the Christian right on their day) on conservatives' attempts to change history. It seems everything we've been taught has been skewed too far to the left, so conservatives have decided to just make shit up that better suits their world view. And where else other than Texas, where everything is big, including the idiocy, should it happen? In fairness to Mr. Thomma, he did a nice job of attempting to debunk the Texas conservatives bullshit. Still...when you consider that this is being done in textbooks that will be sent to kids all over America (and makes me think that home schooling for my young 'un might not be such a bad idea after all), why isn't this being given more prominence? I have seen pieces here and there, but this has the feel of one of those conservative ploys that falls under the radar until we're fucked and our kids have been indoctrinated once again into conservative bullshit that lessens their lives (see also, Reagan, Ronald--great President if you're rich, completely fucked over if you're the other 99% of America). To wit: Thomas Jefferson, the man who wrote the Declaration of Indepence upon which our revolution was begun is being downplayed because he strongly believed in the separation between church and state. What the fuck? Don't these idiots realize how many of our forefathers came to this country to escape religious persecution--and our founding fathers were prescient enough to make damn certain that didn't happen in our fledgling country? *Aside* Funny how conservatives love Jefferson, though, when they get to use that "peeing on the tree of liberty with the blood of 'patriots'" bullshit. Did you know that FDR caused the Great Depression? No shit--didn't have anything to do with Republican Hoover sitting on his ass and believing the corporatists would fix everything (which has never been the case), it was the work projects, social security, and all that government spending. It was a "manageable" recession until Roosevelt took over--if you consider 24% unemployment "manageable." Hell, it's no wonder conservatives are shitting themselves over the stimulus package--we've only got 10% unemployment now. So a few kids starve to death--let's make sure the wealthy are taken care of first (they provide the jobs so they say, all evidence to the contrary). Frankly, if it weren't for FDR the lifestyle we enjoy now (and are in increasing danger of losing) would never have happened. Ever hear of the Anti-Renter movement? Or Dorr's rebellion? Me either until the last week--basically they're the real American history (both occurred in the mid-nineteenth century), the poor getting fucked over by the rich until they have had all they can take, fight back, and get tossed a few crumbs while the basic system stays intact. This is the history that our kids should be taught--maybe it will eventually sink in that the wealthy aren't our friends and are not the backbone of our economy. They are the enemy. "The farmers [Anti-Renter movement] had fought, been crushed by the law, their struggle diverted into voting, and the system stabilized by enlarging the class of small landowners, leaving the basic structure of rich and poor intact. It was a common sequence in American history." (Emphasis mine.) That's a quote from the only American history book our kids need: Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. That "People's" in the title, by the way, is you and me--the real backbone of America. Peace, emaycee