Video: Leno demonstrates effectiveness of American education on history
posted at 6:30 pm on July 3, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
I briefly considered using this clip for tomorrow, but it’s too depressing to post on Independence Day. Instead, we’ll let this serve as a warning on the eve of the nation’s 234th birthday. If you can’t do any better than the people in this clip interviewed by the Tonight Show’s Jay Leno in his Jaywalking segment, turn on the History Channel and try to catch up before tomorrow morning. And who saves the day in this clip?
If you want the right answers, get Grandpa to answer them, a message I heartily endorse. Hopefully, he took Jay’s advice and sat his family down with a history book or two, but in fairness, it looks as though plenty of Americans don’t have a clue about their own history.
Addendum: The First Mate and I have been watching a tremendous collection on the Founding Fathers and the American Revolution from the History Channel — a 14-DVD set that we hope to complete some time tomorrow. I’ll have a post about it for the Fourth of July, so keep an eye out for it. (Disclosure: Purchasing from the link below will result in compensation for me at no additional cost to the purchaser.)
Blowback
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You know who writes or edits those textbooks, don’t you? College professors (mostly left wing) who publish (or perish) to receive tenure. The Bill Ayers’s generation of leftist ideologues have propagandized for several decades now. Whole chunks of our history are excluded while other areas (especially those that are considered shameful) are repeatedly dwelled on year after year. Context is ignored; timelines are immaterial; and elements of cause and effect are never developed.
Literature anthologies are equally bad. In the interest of promoting cultural diversity, some of the shabbiest pieces of writing are included disproportionately while jewels of our language and literary heritage are either ignored or presented in short excerpts.
These textbook propagandists are like the “historians” who rated the presidents in the thread the other day and graded ObaMao with sterling marks.
onlineanalyst on July 3, 2010 at 8:19 PM
Those that are complaining about the editing are seriously embarrassing themselves. You are no better than those that missed the questions. The editing has no bearing on what is going on. You are fools that share the brainpower level of the people on camera. Pathetic, all.
Hurricanes on July 3, 2010 at 8:19 PM
You know, conservatives who complain about our education should put their career where their mouths are, and become teachers themselves. I am a history teacher, and trust me, there are quite a few of us conservatives who are in the field trying to undo all the harm that has been done.
That said, I highly recommend the John Adams series on HBO which is based on the book by David McCullough. I think it’s on tonight and tomorrow. For reading, I would also recommend his book, 1776, which is fantastic. Also, Bill Bennett’s two volume set, America: The Last, Best Hope, and anything by Larry Schweikart and Burt Folsom.
We’re not all a bunch of commie-loving libtards!
Special K on July 3, 2010 at 8:21 PM
You just know the last couple really really REALLY wanted to say it’s celebrating independence from the white man.
Yay, grandpa! (Who’s probably a Tea Party member.)
NahnCee on July 3, 2010 at 8:24 PM
the aforesaid “To arms! To arms!” and the lantern was in the church steeple (“..one if by land. two if by sea..”)
“Listen my children and ye shall hear..”
The War Planner on July 3, 2010 at 7:58 PM
The War Planner: Thank-you for that,I knew there was a
latern in there somewhere!!!:)
canopfor on July 3, 2010 at 8:25 PM
Maybe Leno should ask Kagan these easy questions… the one about the right to bear arms being an inalienable right seemed to be above her head.
God help us.
itsacookbook on July 3, 2010 at 8:26 PM
At least the black family has some hope to get educated. Grandpa is gonna whip those losers into shape.
I wish he was the first black president.
csdeven on July 3, 2010 at 8:27 PM
Here is a related issue of revisionist history. The NASA chief was urged by the ObaMao administration to reach out to Muslims to make them feel good about their contributions to mathematics, science, and history.
http://www.breitbart.tv/nasa-chief-obama-wanted-me-to-make-muslims-feel-good/
It’s too bad that many of these achievements were made pre- Mohammed.
onlineanalyst on July 3, 2010 at 8:28 PM
And this is costing us, what, $8,000 per student-year? The taxpayer is being systematically robbed.
paul1149 on July 3, 2010 at 8:30 PM
canopfor on July 3, 2010 at 7:50 PM
=============
I’m impressed with your knowledge of American History…
… to say I’m more than a little rusty about our neighbors to the north, would be an understatement.
Seven Percent Solution on July 3, 2010 at 7:58 PM
Seven Percent Solution: Hey,those American films,from the
30`s,40`s,50“s,60`s were also ed
ucational,as a side-note!!
Hey,I`m not sure who our first
PM was!!:)
canopfor on July 3, 2010 at 8:30 PM
the sad part is that these people VOTE!! and then you wonder about the 2008 election outcome…:-( soooo sad indeed! …guess Churchill was right, eh: “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter” :-)
jimver on July 3, 2010 at 8:31 PM
You’re not following (or perhaps you’re incapable of following)… With questions this easy, for Leno to get 6 minutes, you’re assuming that he sat there for hour upon hour just hoping to find educated people that did not know the equivalent of “what planet do you live on?” just to fill a short segment.
Of course he edited out those who knew the answers, but the fact that he could find seemingly educated people (one a college professor) who could not answer first-grade level US history questions is astonishing.
I wouldn’t try this, because I would assume I couldn’t find educated, articulate people who didn’t know these questions.
mankai on July 3, 2010 at 8:32 PM
obama voters…….
wunerfol
RealMc on July 3, 2010 at 8:33 PM
Pretty damn disgusting clip, but not surprising. It seems fair to throw a little heat at HA for blocking discussion of the American Rev0lution though their word filters — those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it.
GnuBreed on July 3, 2010 at 8:35 PM
http://www.breitbart.tv/nasa-chief-obama-wanted-me-to-make-muslims-feel-good/
It’s too bad that many of these achievements were made pre- Mohammed.
onlineanalyst on July 3, 2010 at 8:28 PM
onlineanalyst: Why and the sam h*ll is a NASA Chief getting
invovled with PR work for Islamics!!
Good to see,once again,where Hopey`s loyalty
lays,and his priority thereof!!:)
canopfor on July 3, 2010 at 8:36 PM
Yeah, it’s a well-known fact that unionized teachers burned all the history books in the libraries ages ago, and beat any student who dared read those portions of the textbooks they weren’t told to. These kids were beggin’ to read ‘em I tell ya! (uh, don’t they still sign out and take textbooks home in most places?)!
For a group of people that believe so much in personal responsibility and self-reliance I’m always amazed that many come up with the same knee-jerk attacks over and over again. A lot of kids/people simply don’t give a crap about learning many things and no one’s stopping them (yet) if they wish to learn.
A kid fails an American history exam and I’ll give you two guesses who many fellow Conservative parents will blame. If you commit a sin do you blame the preacher? If you eat, drink and smoke yourself to death do you blame the physician? If you neglect your vehicle do you blame the mechanic?
The break down comes in said kid passing anyway. Again, few teachers and principals want to deal with that nonsense. Move ‘em through no matter what…parents can pretend their child learned something and the principal has less to worry about in the way of recycling.
Dr. ZhivBlago on July 3, 2010 at 8:38 PM
Those movies were the best…
… I had a couple of History teachers back in the late 70′s that incorporated them into our lesson plans.
I will never forget them!
Seven Percent Solution on July 3, 2010 at 8:39 PM
Cagney, “You’re a Grand Old Flag”, from Yankee Doodle Dandy(1942)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrR6czE8sJ0&feature=related
===============
===============
Great Dance Routine: James Cagney and Bob Hope
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOoNOs8Ql28&feature=related
canopfor on July 3, 2010 at 8:42 PM
I thought “The redcoats are coming” was in the ballpark, ‘redcoats’ being understood to mean the British, even if that wasn’t the vernacular of the time.
sloopy on July 3, 2010 at 8:48 PM
Hey,those American films,from the
30`s,40`s,50“s,60`s were also ed
ucational,as a side-note!!
canopfor on July 3, 2010 at 8:30 PM
==============
Those movies were the best…
… I had a couple of History teachers back in the late 70’s that incorporated them into our lesson plans.
I will never forget them!
Seven Percent Solution on July 3, 2010 at 8:39 PM
Seven Percent Solution: Yup,I watched the Duke last night in
Operation Pacific,and I don`t recall
seeing that movie before!!:)
Oh,TCM channel is having round the
clock,John Wayne movies!!
canopfor on July 3, 2010 at 8:48 PM
This topic and this thread bring memories of my school days and how history was introduced and taught to me. I was in 1st grade living with my dads’ grandparents. One day a uniformed officer came to the house and left. My grammas’ son, my uncle, was MIA, and never came home from Europe. Her heart was broken and my history lessons really began. About the war, and what war was, and why we were in it. As little as I was, I didn’t like war.
A year later I was living with my mothers’ grand parents and had two uncles from her side in the war. One in the Army and one in the Marines. The one in the Army never left the States. The Marine fought in the Pacific islands and was wounded but came home. I still hated war but was taught the necessity of it. Above all living with these two families, in a time of war, with uncles involved, piqued my interest in war and history. Interest I have to this day.
I’ve said all that to say this. This woman and all like her shame this country. Good men were forever scarred or died for her freedom. She wastes it!
The same is true for Europeans who have forgotten the sacrifices made by this country for their freedom. The countries where, somewhere, my uncle lies.
donh525 on July 3, 2010 at 8:49 PM
GREAT List! May I add a few more to that?
- The US is imperialistic.
- America is a racist, sexist, bigoted, homophobic country
- America’s founding fathers were irrelevant slave owning old white men
- The US Constitution is a living, breathing document (i.e., can be molded in to whatever you want it to say)
- All the American Idol winners
- What – or who – Miley Cyrus, Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, or any other Pop Tart did last week
- Republicans and Tea Partiers are knuckle-dragging uneducated racists with nasty Southern twangs and embarrassing displays of patriotism
Marybeth on July 3, 2010 at 8:52 PM
Isn’t this the same tactic white officials used to deny registration to black voters in the Jim Crow South? If so, it isn’t funny in the least. Of course neither is the low quality of history teaching overall.
That said, it’s better than Canadian “history” which ranks somewhere between science fiction and Holocaust denial.
KillerKane on July 3, 2010 at 8:55 PM
And yet we wonder why America is teetering on the very brink of it’s demise.
Dave R. on July 3, 2010 at 8:56 PM
Classics…!
I am still searching for a clip of my favorite one, but in the mean time…
Pop some Popcorn!
Seven Percent Solution on July 3, 2010 at 8:56 PM
Public schools.
Daggett on July 3, 2010 at 8:59 PM
those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it.
GnuBreed on July 3, 2010 at 8:35 PM
GnuBreed: That phrase is sooooooooooooo true,and once again,
with this Liberal Progressive movement,and how the
y see America on the world stage is frightening to
say the least,with their warped view on how Americ
a should act!!
This whole group of Social Justice Engineers,who
have had their minds poisoned by those early Comm
unity Activists,and I`m not speaking of Martin lu
ther King,but of the militant in your face types,
that currently occuppying the WH!!
And,if anyone wants to use certain words,I think
Hope and Change,is nothing more than a Stealth Ph
rase,that is actually,a Liberal Socialist`s call
to a Democrat *evolution!!!:)
canopfor on July 3, 2010 at 9:00 PM
Can we take an honest poll here of who went to public schools and who went to private schools? I’m starting to feel uncomfortable surrounded by all this wealth and privilege around here!
Dr. ZhivBlago on July 3, 2010 at 9:06 PM
I would also point out that history, in many cases, doesn’t even get taught anymore at the elementary level. Now, this may upset some of you, but this is in part due to No Child Left Behind which emphasizes reading, writing, and math on the standardized tests. Teachers are so freaked out about their students passing those subjects (so they don’t lose federal funding) that they ignore history and science – which is stupid because you can teach reading and writing by having them read history and science!
Special K on July 3, 2010 at 9:07 PM
canopfor on July 3, 2010 at 8:42 PM
===============
Classics…!
I am still searching for a clip of my favorite one, but in the mean time…
Pop some Popcorn!
Seven Percent Solution on July 3, 2010 at 8:56 PM
Seven Percent Solution:Oooo thanks for that,I`m going to
save that for later tonight,also
been looking for a good Civil War
documantry!!:)
canopfor on July 3, 2010 at 9:10 PM
(pssst….. it’s AMC here…. husband’s been watching since last night. Not much else to do since it’s been raining like a cow pi$$ing on a flat rock all day).
:)
tru2tx on July 3, 2010 at 9:13 PM
I knew all of the answers, but if I’d have been on national TV I might have frozen up and not been able to say anything so I’ll cut them some slack.
But ‘Greece’?!?!?!? Sheesh.
Oh, and I think it pretty much a given that Betsy Ross didn’t sew the first flag and we don’t know who did.
Bobbertsan on July 3, 2010 at 9:13 PM
Very good! For some additional history, the latest issue of the American Rifleman has an article entitled, Marksmanship in 1775, Myth or Reality. It compares the marksmanship of colonialists with that of British troops.
As it so happens, our ancestors were pretty good shots and were not afraid of a fight.
Surprise, Surprise! We’re here aren’t we?
donh525 on July 3, 2010 at 9:13 PM
GREAT List! May I add a few more to that?
Marybeth on July 3, 2010 at 8:52 PM
Marybeth: I`ll add my 2 cents,I can`t stand to hear these
either,
the Ugly or Angry American!!:)
canopfor on July 3, 2010 at 9:13 PM
Jay Leno is not the sharpest tool in the shed folks. Without the cue cards I doubt if he would know the answers to many of his own questions.
slickwillie2001 on July 3, 2010 at 9:13 PM
I went to public schools. But that was before they were turned into sh1t by progressives. They were only a little sh1tty then.
Daggett on July 3, 2010 at 9:14 PM
“You don’t want them to be too educated, or they won’t do what you want.”
Quote by Acorn lady in O’Keefe’s expose.
PattyJ on July 3, 2010 at 9:14 PM
I like to say that most people, on average, are stupid. It confuses the right people.
Here’s the thing: in order to achieve, you have to be willing and capable of doing what it takes to actually achieve anything. Willingness being the key factor. Capability, alone, is pretty much useless. It doesn’t matter how smart you are, or how rich you are, or how many strings get pulled on your behalf. You have to be willing to make the maximum effort required for whatever it is you’re doing. For some people, that maximum effort is minimal.
But that’s fine if that’s what makes you happy. Some people start out in life that way, some of us get to the point where we simply don’t have it in us anymore. The same person, at different stages of their lives, can be both an achiever and a slider.
I started out at 20 as a telephone operator. I jumped at every opportunity that came my way to advance and worked my ass off to become one of the top experts in my field. I’m now 51, and I’m done. I don’t want to learn anything new. I have no desire to do it anymore. The only job I would even think about changing careers for now is maid. Yup. I’m serious. I think I’d really like being a maid. People think I’m nuts. But I’d be happy.
Jaynie59 on July 3, 2010 at 9:14 PM
It sounds like a few people around here home school too (just playing w/ ya). Don’t know if they were home schooled though.
But even then, the unions are targeting home schoolers. IIRC, CA may have passed a law that made it difficult to home school in the state… I think they said that you needed a teaching credential in order to be allowed to home school your own kids, thus eliminating their competition and forcing kids into public schools.
El_Terrible on July 3, 2010 at 9:15 PM
Nikita K was right. He got his teachers in the USA unionized, the people in the Education Dept. of the US govt. in place and zingo. We’ve been buried in ignorance of truth. It will be used to sway the masses who have no foundational basis for morals, history of our fight for freedom and the source of our human rights–God.
May He have mercy on our pathetic people and our tyrannical government(s).
wepeople on July 3, 2010 at 9:16 PM
I doubt you know anything about Canadas history.
BL@KBIRD on July 3, 2010 at 9:16 PM
lol, you go grandpa.
hawkdriver on July 3, 2010 at 9:21 PM
As an historian I wept.
vinceautmorire on July 3, 2010 at 9:24 PM
Went to a public school 1st through 12th. Get this. 1st through 8th. One school, four teachers, each taught two grades and all subjects. I’ll put my elementary education against anybodies for excellence.
My favorite subject besides American History? Orthography!
donh525 on July 3, 2010 at 9:25 PM
And yet we wonder why America is teetering on the very brink of it’s demise.
Dave R. on July 3, 2010 at 8:56 PM
Dave R: You have a nice site,and I`m so perplexed on the
video on your site,that I have to share with Hot
Air!!–Thanks:)
=======================================================
Well,I thought I heard it all,David Horowitz vrs Nutjob,
in the interest of,how F’ed up some students are!!
The Founding Fathers,and Purtians were the same as Hamas
and HisBollah Teerorists,what a mental leap!!
Be perpared!!!
==================
David Horowitz and a leftist student at UCSD May 19, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYnyueBB2A8
canopfor on July 3, 2010 at 9:27 PM
I come from a family of 7 kids, all of whom went to parochial school K-12, but trust me, we did not have $. What we did have were a lot of hand-me-down clothes, some of which came from a high school classmate. This was pointed out loud my first day of high school by said catty classmate to other catty classmates. Needless to say, quite humiliating. However, I got past it and got a pretty good education in the process.
Both my children went to parochial school K-12 as well. I was a poor, divorced, single mother going to college when they started. A combination of good entrance testing results for both of them, a lot of volunteerism on my part, and a great deal of pleading got them in to and kept them in their parochial grade school.
They both brought good press to said school by winning 4 1/2 tuition scholarships to the local parochial high school for having one of the 5 highest scores on the entrance exam.
Again, they both did very well at this high school, and both wound up with partial college scholarships – to Northeasten University in Boston and to Notre Dame.
So it can be done. And you don’t have to be from a rich and privileged background to do it.
Marybeth on July 3, 2010 at 9:27 PM
This must make the administrators of the nea feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Once we baby boomers die off there will be so few that know our history…
They will be easily culled…part of the master plan …This is so sad…
The real question here is was leno mocking these people or our Heritage…
jerrytbg on July 3, 2010 at 9:32 PM
canopfor on July 3, 2010 at 8:48 PM
=================
(pssst….. it’s AMC here…. husband’s been watching since last night. Not much else to do since it’s been raining like a cow pi$$ing on a flat rock all day).
:)
tru2tx on July 3, 2010 at 9:13 PM
tru2tx: Oh sh*t,just double-checked my tv’s schedule,your
right,its on,ahem,AMC!!:)
Raining eh,I do love thunderstorms tho!!
Heres the GOES Satellite cloud cover webpage!:)
===========================================================
GOES Project Science
Most Recent GOES images
http://goes.gsfc.nasa.gov/
canopfor on July 3, 2010 at 9:33 PM
Ditto here.
tru2tx on July 3, 2010 at 9:36 PM
Ugh,should be Hezbollah terrorists,not HisBollah Teerorists!
canopfor on July 3, 2010 at 9:37 PM
Rather than an emphasis on actual facts and knowledge, my prime lesson to my kids was the value of learning. It doesn’t matter so much what you learn, as long as you KEEP learning. Face it, there is more info out there than any human can learn in a lifetime. This is not to justify the abysmal state of citizen knowledge of our history, which is supposed to be taught in our public schools.
My children were made fun of for reading in the morning while waiting at the bus stop. Fifteen years later, they both still love to read.
Public education in 15 different schools during my K-12 years. Being a military brat does have a few drawbacks.
GnuBreed on July 3, 2010 at 9:40 PM
That said, it’s better than Canadian “history” which ranks somewhere between science fiction and Holocaust denial.
KillerKane on July 3, 2010 at 8:55 PM
KillerKane:Well,Canada was founded on Pandora in 1867!!
canopfor on July 3, 2010 at 9:42 PM
No one does because no one researches, writes or teaches it. All they purport is wishful thinking and Trudeauist agitprop. Canada’s “history” has no negatives in it – no racism, no exploitation, no degradation, only false heroes and anti-Americans. The Lost Cause of the Confederacy was more faithful to the facts.
KillerKane on July 3, 2010 at 9:44 PM
Wow, just WOW! How disheartening that was to watch, I feel like weeping after that.
bluemarlin on July 3, 2010 at 9:46 PM
Hey – that’s waaay cool!
We’re right under that big white blob of clouds in the center of the country!
Outer band remants of the hurricane.
tru2tx on July 3, 2010 at 9:54 PM
The “education” system isn’t failing, it’s doing exactly what it was designed to do — make ignorance and stupidity the norm.
The ignorant and stupid are much easier to control.
rockhead on July 3, 2010 at 10:00 PM
I can see it now:
Jay: “Who made the first American flag?”
Me: “Well, Jay, no one really knows, but the popular answer is Betsy Ross. The instructions from the Continental Congress in 1777 were rather vague. Some versions had six-pointed stars, some had them arranged differently. Some had the stripes with white on the outside instead of red. But the design attributed to Betsy Ross became the standard, and even then, the only reason for the stars being five-pointed was for expediency, as she only needed to use one snip of the scissors. (Takes a pair of scissors and a piece of paper.) Here, Jay, I’ll show you how she …”
Jay: “A-a-and, quick, let’s cut to commercial.”
Is that more like it?
manwithblackhat on July 3, 2010 at 10:10 PM
Most Recent GOES images
http://goes.gsfc.nasa.gov/
canopfor on July 3, 2010 at 9:33 PM
Hey – that’s waaay cool!
We’re right under that big white blob of clouds in the center of the country!
Outer band remants of the hurricane.
tru2tx on July 3, 2010 at 9:54 PM
tru2tx:Heres the radar page I like,click your radar,and
click the Storm Tracks,and you’ll get all the cells
around you,and hail,Mesocyclone and Tornado Vortex
signatures,that way,you can see whats coming,and
make better safety decisions!!!:)
http://www.wunderground.com/radar/map.asp
======================
Hetres the latest real-time Sun conditions,and current
image of,click on The Sun Now,for crrent image,stick to
the red,you’ll see the solar flares better!!:)
====================================================
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/
canopfor on July 3, 2010 at 10:15 PM
Your interview would be laying on the cutting room floor. America cannot see intelligence like this…unless you are on Jeopardy.
Electrongod on July 3, 2010 at 10:15 PM
I went to public school in the 50′s and 60′s here in Ca. It wasn’t to bad, but I remember the teachers telling us that if our parents voted for Goldwater we would all die in a nuclear war and LBJ was our only hope.(This is not long after we had to put on “body identification tags” for our air raid drills.)
xplodeit on July 3, 2010 at 10:38 PM
Que?
Considering the British were shooting Buck n Ball out of the Brown Bess, I don’t think accuracy was high on the list of their objectives.
The American, as usual, cheated and used Rifles, real Rifles with real Rifling and everything.
A modern comparison might be a Shotgun verses a Sniper Rifle at 100 yards.
What was this “Myth”?
DSchoen on July 3, 2010 at 10:39 PM
The article was about revisionist history calling the Colonists bad shots.
Holger on July 3, 2010 at 10:45 PM
Grampa, but that’s only because he was alive in 1922 when the 30 colonies got their independence from the Greeks…!!!
ujorge on July 3, 2010 at 10:46 PM
OMG, I remember cutting those stars in second grade! And Lincoln silhouettes out of black construction paper on Lincoln’s birthday.
Kids obviously aren’t learning the basics anymore. That poor kid at the end was clueless. I hope grandpa gave them all what for when they got home.
Tuning Spork on July 3, 2010 at 11:06 PM
Liberals own public education, therefore own this.
I unfortunately went through public school in the 80′s and 90′s. I slept through classes I got A’s in. finished HS with a 3.7 GPA, lettering in football.
Once I got to college, a fairly conservative college at the time mind you, I nearly failed out of my freshmen year and was put on academic suspension from the Football team. It was only then, that I realized I’d better get my ass in gear and get to work.
MadDogF on July 3, 2010 at 11:19 PM
I played football for3 years, injured my entire senior season, and still ended up with a 3.5 GPA because I worked my ass off.
High School needs to be traded in for Tech school. If you can’t read write, understand basic history or can’t do simple algebra by 8th grade, you’re a f’n retard.
MadDogF on July 3, 2010 at 11:20 PM
God Bless Grandpa! He restores some of my nearly-destroyed faith in America. Those other three knuckleheads didn’t have the sense God gives a dog.
Jaibones on July 3, 2010 at 11:37 PM
Obama voters.
mimi1220 on July 3, 2010 at 11:38 PM
As a completely irrelevant side note, I have a classically (Irish) Catholic last name, and used to work for a small manufacturing company owned by an (Italian) Catholic, where we employed a large number of (Hispanic) Catholics….
And every Good Friday, we’d start to get some commotion from the production floor about taking off work early.
And the owner of the firm would have everyone come into his office, one by one, and explain why it was Good Friday — and if they did, they’d get the rest of the day off with pay. Everyone else had to work.
Out of a workforce of about 50 people, roughly a half-dozen were salaried managers and wouldn’t benefit anyway…..and of the rest, we usually had less than five people who’d be allowed to go, generally the older ones. My favorite was one young Catholic person who drew a blank and had it explained to them….then replied: “you’re kidding, right?”
Of the people who knew, typically only one or two were Catholic.
It’s not just American History…..education overall is taking a hit.
cthulhu on July 4, 2010 at 12:03 AM
Voting Rights — Alabama literacy test:
http://kpearson.project.tcnj.edu/interactive/imm_files/test.html
IlikedAUH2O on July 4, 2010 at 12:08 AM
Heh, too funny! I think I’m safe in saying it was actually the Japanese that bombed Pearl Harbor. However there is douche out there that doubts Pearl Harbor was actually attacked (by the Germans or Japanese) because John Cougar “I’m a Dumbass” Melon-head wasn’t there so because he wasn’t there it probably didn’t happen even though there’s hours and hours of film footage and thousands of witnesses!
Of course if Melon-head thought it really did happen he’d say it was Bush’s fault!
Liberty or Death on July 4, 2010 at 12:17 AM
Without a thread to salute the American People, may I digress:
My kids, 24,22 and 14 would have aced it and probably asked Leno some follow up just to f&ck with him.
This opens up a great great question. Where are the priorities?
We already know the answer and we know the hardships.
Time to form an agenda me thinks.
Happy Independence Day Patriots. Godspeed and God Bless.
seesalrun on July 4, 2010 at 12:20 AM
Now you see why America has become a communist country. These people don’t deserve to be a free people, their slavery to communism is a just reward for their laziness and rank ignorance. It’s just too bad that my freedom went down the tubes, too.
lonesomecharlie on July 4, 2010 at 12:22 AM
Its like all the important knowledge is being replaced by mindless trivia. Who won the last American Idol? 9 out of 10 people can answer that. Who is married to Angelina Jolie, 9 out of 10 people can answer that. Who has a Sex Tape? They can answer that.
But those 9 people don’t know much that is actually useful…
Holger on July 4, 2010 at 12:23 AM
Holger on July 4, 2010 at 12:23 AM\
Idol
idk
AJ idk
Sex Tape
idk
and I don’t care.
seesalrun on July 4, 2010 at 12:25 AM
Sad and painful as this video is to watch, Ed’s line is brilliant.
Schadenfreude on July 4, 2010 at 12:38 AM
Very depressing. Tragic.
Remember cartoons like there?
Porky Pig in “Old Glory”
Sigh. :(
Shy Guy on July 4, 2010 at 12:58 AM
As much as this video is entertaining in sad sort of way, there is an element of truth to it here.
For example: 26% of Americans can’t identify which country America gained its independence from.
37% of Americans can’t even locate America on a map.
Many Americans can’t name their own founding fathers which is a fact I’m sure would make Glenn Beck sad.
Conservative Samizdat on July 4, 2010 at 1:42 AM
I’m all for personal responsibility. Let’s start with holding union teachers accountable for their work.
My 4th grade history consisted of a series of find word worksheets.
My 8th grade history consisted of watered down folk tales.
My 11th grade history was make a map of the United States and more folk tales
My 12th grade government class consisted of Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.
It wasn’t until I got out of college and read some actual history books from actual historians that things started to fit into place. Is it any wonder that leftists find their way to Zinn’s Crack Creme History and think they’ve found the truth? Going from nothing to something is pretty compelling.
Skywise on July 4, 2010 at 2:40 AM
As a social studies teacher I can see how this has become the norm in our country. When I went to school, and I am sure that the grandfather was at least near my generation, American History was taught in High School in our junior year because it was deemed important that we know our history. Today in my state Early American History is taught in the eigth grade because the selection of required courses did not include time to teach it in high school. 13-14 year olds are not going to take the history seriously nor remember much of it when they reach the second part of American history with begins with the 1850′s in the 11th grade. Thanks to no child left behind federally legistlated education demands, American History teachers are forced to teach to the state test and held accountable for how well their students do on the test. They have disected past test to determine what is most likely to be on the test and what is not likely to be asked. For example I disected over a dozen test and found that it is best to just gloss over american history from the end of WWII to the Korean with a bit more attention there and gloss over the fifties, the McCarthy era, oddly enough civil rights, and dig back in at the Vietnam war where liberals and socialist begin to make a mark on history, and of course current events which before I retired focused on much the same thing that liberal today are most concerned with.
The forgotten Early American History is reviewed by the World History teachers ,of which I was one, and only hits the only key points in the history of the colonies and the American Revolution.
What is really sad is that most of my American History special education students ,which I also taught, could have answered most of those question. The “who made the first flag” might have thrown them.
For those too young to know, most likely the grandfather and my generation where the last ones before the federal government began pushing their control into state education systems. We began using the phase “dumbing down” to discribe what we saw happening to the educaiton system to insure that the lowest common denominatior of the student population was assured success. That is why today the graduating 12th grade has an education on par with what we had in the 7th and 8th grades, even the 5th and 6th grades in the more heavyly government funded schools.
My daughter was one of the more fortunate ones. She recieved and education on par with mine because she was able to enter the gifted program in kindgarten. Today she is in college and finds most of her peers having a hard time reading and comprehending their text books or writing a simple paper for an assignment, even understanding the most basic concepts of those assignments. Many have needed remedial classes just to gain the basic skills needed to take college level courses.
Franklyn on July 4, 2010 at 3:22 AM
Don’t blame the textbook manufacturers for the bias. They merely sell what the leftist trained administrators order. In all the years I was a teacher, I never was asked about textbook selection -though I complained about many (like the Soc Study book on biodiversity that claimed a boy, is a rat, is a dog)I loved the bias, so I could teach about defending and recognizing bias from grownups -but most teachers never saw it, even when it was right in front of their uncritically-thinking face.
Don L on July 4, 2010 at 4:03 AM
I went to a Iowa public school. At the time, Iowa was #1 in education. This is no longer true. When the Dept. of Education was formed, our children in Iowa began to receive a sub-standard education. We are now 26th. Thanks Jimmy Carter.
IowaWoman on July 4, 2010 at 4:46 AM
This video perfectly explains the de-evolution of our public education system. GrandPa knew every answer
Bevan on July 4, 2010 at 6:14 AM
Keep in mind that if you want to make the Jay Leno clip you HAVE to give the wrong answer; the dumber the better. (You ever seen one of these Leno streetwalker bits where all the people gave all the right answers?)
So Jay Leno asks you a question, you think:
a) If I give the right answer I am edited out,
b) If I give a stupid answer I make it on the Jay Leno show and am seen on nationwide television.
You want to be on national TV and have your 15 minutes of fame, which answer do you give: a) or b)????
albill on July 4, 2010 at 6:51 AM
End all unions in government, especially those of school teachers.
End the Dept. of Education at the federal level.
End the need for teaching ‘licenses’.
End the tenure system.
Re-test teachers on comprehensive tests from the late 1950′s, I suggest 1956 when poor Johnny couldn’t read. Fire teachers who cannot pass said tests.
Cut teacher’s salaries as paying more is not getting results, cut them in half. Use money to refurbish school houses. The test results we are getting for readidng comprehension, today, are no different from when poor Johnny couldn’t read, thus the increased funding, real funding adjusted for inflation, has not helped one iota and is, thusly, waste.
For history texts get reprinted texts from the 1950′s, 1960′s, 1970′s, 1980′s and current texts and compare treatment of historical events in each era with previous eras… that will be an eye-opener.
Finally stop putting college as the pinnacle of teaching achievement: it isn’t. Vocational and trade instructions has as much or more value in that it teaches the values of work, perserverence, achievement, accomplishment and having to utilize worthwhile life-long skills so as to get a good job in areas crying out for US citizens.
ajacksonian on July 4, 2010 at 7:05 AM
Note that Grandpa is old enough he had teachers who were really teaching something rather than helping people feel good about being stupid.
{^_^}
herself on July 4, 2010 at 7:12 AM
And of course, while we declared our independence in 1776, we did not obtain it until 1781. Fine, I could understand people not knowing such things, but it is heartbreaking to know that so many Americans don’t know who it is that the we rebelled from!
MJBrutus on July 4, 2010 at 7:23 AM
Happy Independence Day to all the HA folks!
ENJOY!
cmsinaz on July 4, 2010 at 7:54 AM
Hats off to grandpa!!!
yoda on July 4, 2010 at 7:58 AM
History Channel I think is playing the series that Ed mentioned all this weekend—we caught some of it yesterday.
If the educational system in our country can cleave us from our past, they can influence how we see the present and the future. As a student in public school, I hated history–it was taught with such a dull, boring, dry effect that its no wonder most could’ve cared less about it. Things have changed and just like when the Israelites piled the memorial stones on the far side of the Jordan River when they crossed it, God commanded them to “remember” and “never forget” …..we would be wise to do the same.
ted c on July 4, 2010 at 8:02 AM
How can you know where you are going if you have no idea from whence you came?
This is part of the progressive’s plan. Dumb down the education system and eliminate not just our history, but the meaning behind the struggle for independence and the passion for liberty of the founders. You cannot fully commit to something of which you are totally ignorant.
Extrafishy on July 4, 2010 at 8:22 AM
“The British are coming!”, would have been absurd. The colonists were British. The Declaration of Independence came later. I think their original guess “redcoats” was more likely accurate, though we really don’t know what Paul Revere shouted out.
rogersnowden on July 4, 2010 at 8:27 AM
I think you’re right–we visited Lexington and Concord last summer and some of the historical accounts think that the “British are coming!” isn’t probably accurate.
ted c on July 4, 2010 at 8:41 AM
I wish Jay would ask each one of these fools who they voted for.The answer would be did not vote or voted for Obama. Also everyone that was interviewed except for the grandfather was educated after the dept of Education came into being and God and praying were taken out of the class roon.
thmcbb on July 4, 2010 at 8:48 AM
We’re talking about Jay Leno, not David Letterman, remember? But no matter. I’ll take Jeopardy for $1 million, Alex.
manwithblackhat on July 4, 2010 at 8:56 AM
Pretty pathetic endictment of recent public education…
FYI, I went to private school K-6 and public school 7-12 in SOCAL… I was probably one of the last classes to get a quality public school education in California when I graduated in the late 1970s, but I applied myself and we had some really great teachers (like Wanda Mahoney who taught calculus and Willard Schmidt who truly, truly taught American history)…
Khun Joe on July 4, 2010 at 9:07 AM
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