In 1976, America stood as a nation that had lost its innocence. We had a political party in charge of the Executive Branch that most of our nation was extremely angry with, we were suffering economic problems which had stemmed primarily from poor fiscal decision making which included a purposeful inflation of our currency. There was an energy crisis, and plenty of finger pointing over a corrupt Administration which had been guilty of engaging in felonious behavior. Out of the blue, a relatively young charismatic figure burst onto the scene promising hope and change. His famous smile, and promise of a new culture coupled with his assurances that his method of respecting human rights around the world would restore our global standing with friend and foe alike helped sweep him into our highest office. His campaign was based on empty platitudes, soaring rhetoric, and already failed economic theory known as the Keynesian School.
By 1980, Americans had invented a thing called a Misery Index which served to highlight the failures of the President, his policies, and just generally how disillusioned we all were. Time, Newsweek, the New York Times, the Washington Post, The L.A. Times, and just about every other major print news organization ran very well written articles posing the question of just how impossible the job of being President had become, and could anybody actually perform the task. After all, we were all assured that Jimmy Carter was indeed the smartest man to ever hold his office, and if he was a miserable failure, than there truly was no one capable of performing this impossible task of being the nation’s chief executive. While it is true that Jimmy Carter, “inherited,” most of the problems that he faced as President, it is also true that he made each and every one of the problems inherited worse. By the time the general election of 1980 rolled around, every polling organization told us that the election was too close to call. The day after the election, Jimmy Carter had managed to replace George McGovern as the worst landslide butt whooping recipient in our 204 year history. America had had enough of hope and change, at least for the next 28 years it would seem.
If that story seems familiar with another charismatic come from nowhere President, that just means that you are paying attention. What we Americans have such a hard time learning however is that the consequences of our actions have effects which last much longer than the immediate time frame in which they are implemented. Looking over Jimmy Carter’s legacy, since his policies are the spitting image of those policies being inflicted upon us today by our current President, we can see that many of the problems that we face today are as a direct result of electing Jimmy Carter President 32 years ago.
The Department of Education was established as a manufactured outrage to raise our national test scores. It seems that allowing local control of our schools had been producing students who supposedly were not competing favorably with students in the same age group from foreign nations. The whole concept was to give us the gift of a government bureaucracy which would aid the local school boards in raising our education standards to the levels seen in other industrialized nations. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Human Services. At the time, America ranked fourth on a standardized scale of measuring student success.
So, here we are 32 years later, and how did it all work out for us. Today, America ranks 26th, on that very same same standardized scale of measuring student success. The Department of Education is entirely at the control of the Public Teachers Union, and the more money we pour into the system to educate our young, the more that money is not used to actually educate our kids, but instead used to line the pockets of the bureaucrats and politicians who are controlling the purse strings. Consider this for one moment, our school districts in this country which spend the most per student, are coincidentally the worst performing school districts. Washington D.C. and Detroit top that list as the most expensive per student districts in the nation. On average, private schools have a cost of one half the cost associated per student as the public system, and yet, the students produced by that system have College Board test scores which are laughably higher than their public system counterparts.
What we get now are excuses such as, “they teach to the test.” I am still waiting for someone to explain to me why that is bad, even if it were true, which has yet to be proven. We are told that if we did not have wars to pay for, or a military to feed, we would be able to spend even more on education. Every school district in the nation is constantly putting a bond issue on the ballot to increase taxes for every single election, and the promised improvements never seem to happen. Since the advent of the Department of Education, our children are less capable of performing the most mundane of academic tasks, but somehow feel much better about their capabilities. The result of course is a large collection of 20 something thugs banded together occupying every down town area in the country with Sociology degrees that they have just realized nobody with work to be performed finds useful.
Dennis Miller once asked this wise beyond belief question.
Do We really want to send our children out into the shit storm that is adult life completely unprepared? Rather than giving them a degree in Sociology, we should teach them to just repeat, “do you want fries with that today sir?”
Knowing that our children can not multiply two by two, but do understand how the number four feels is only the second scariest thing about all of this is to me. Knowing that this highly unpopular and only 32 year old federal bureaucracy, which was established by our least popular and generally recognized as our worst ever President, is so entrenched into our psyche, that the thought of removing it causes widespread panic and heart palpitations. The Department of Education has not achieved its original mandate. It has not shown any success at all, and yet, we still insist on treating it as though it were an indispensable piece of America itself.
When I was a retail manager, working for the F.W. Woolworth Company, I would sometimes interview college graduates for our Assistant Manager Training Program. During the 1980′s, these fresh faced little tykes would line up and proclaim themselves to be worth $50,000 per year. My response was always the same. “Why stop there? I am sure that your mother would tell me that you are worth $1 Million per year. The problem you see is that you need to be worth it to somebody. For us here at the Woolworth Company, an assistant manager learning how to run a Woolworth store is worth $300 per week.”
The problem is not that our students today are not learning anything. It is that they are not learning anything useful. They are learning how to be good communist citizens just fine. Unfortunately, in a free market system, being a good communist will lead to nothing but a collection of spoiled disillusioned thugs demanding that someone else put food on their tables and supply them with free ipads and such.
Next Friday my look at the Carter Legacy will continue with the Department of Energy.
Cross Posted at Musings of a Mad Conservative.
Tags: Department of Education
This is so true!
Great article!
I’ll wait until next week, then. I have a few words for the Dept. of Energy…
The best classroom experience I ever had as a kid in grade school was a one-room tutor situation that included kids from grades 4 to 10.
We were all responsible for progressing and we did what needed to be done.
I was in the fourth grade in this class and I learned a lot.
I was a terrible student in public school, My Father sacrificed to send me to a private Christian school where I tested at the second grade level instead of the fourth grade I had just “completed”.
I graduated on time but still behind in math.
Public school is a bad investment.
Jimmy Carter the most bitter man on the planet.
You could take one smart PHD from Stanford, give them an office at Google, let them crowd source educational innovation, produce a mailing list to all school admins. And they would do more in one week than the Dept of Ed could do in a year.
darkwords wrote:
If Rosalynn were a man she’d beat him for the title
As a yoot I worked one summer for the Chicago Board
of Education.
I never once heard any mention of students. All of
the teachers wanted to be principals or administrators
downtown, nobody wanted to teach.
@ RIX:
They has schools that long ago?//
I demand to speak to somebody in charge here at this blog.
I need some answers please.
WHO is the special guest on Blogtalk Radio tonight?
NoThreat2U wrote:
Oh yeah, one room school houses.
How’s by you?
@Flyovercountry
Unfortunately, in a free market system, being a good communist will lead to nothing but a collection of spoiled disillusioned thugs demanding that someone else put food on their tables and supply them with free ipads and such.
I have an old acquintance of mine in Warsaw who told me shortly before the end of WWII his uncle was the mayor of a small Polish town when communist guirallas approached him with a list of demands. He offered them cash to take a hike and peddle their demands elsewhere.
They took the money and split.
@ RIX:
LOL And I bet you had to walk to school…up hill…both ways…in the snow. lol lol
Thing are OK around here. Trying to start planning for a Memorial Day get together since my sister is coming up from TN. Trying to gather some old friends together for it.
Raaaaacist! ! ! ! ! ! !1111111
/
~:)
@ Prebanned:
Which is why the dems are so adamantly against school vouchers.
I went to public school and I’m smart enough to know Obama sucks.
@ Calo:
Talk to the night manager! He swore us to secrecy! I’ll say this- the dude definitely has opinions… on everything/everybody!
@ NoThreat2U:
It sounds like it will be a great Memorial Day.
Obama had a great Memorial Day rally when he
recogized our falen heroes, “I see some of you are here”
@ RIX:
There is no delicate way to put this: He is a fucking asshole. Sorry but I gotta call ‘em as I see ‘em.
@ m:
Walter?
@ NoThreat2U:
One of the many reasons we luvs ya!
@ NoThreat2U:
Ha ha. Walter wishes he had the readership
He is a conservative blogger and we all have common goals and common enemies ~:)
@ m:
I try to stay honest, to myself and others.
NoThreat2U wrote:
At lesst he married well, cough!cough!
@ Prebanned:
My parents sacrificed & sent me to the gamut of private school options. 3 years at a kind of prep school (high dollar w/ lots of rich kids), 2 years at a Christian school (Baptist) and 4 years at Military School.
I learned a lot, and am much better off having been at the military school. Our band director had retired from the military as a CWO, and with what he did with us, I’d love to have heard one of his military bands. Chief was a hell of a leader.
@ RIX:
Bwahahahahaha. Hybrids. lol
Calo… patience grasshoppah…
@ m:
Please be sure to post a link to the chat seeing as how I can never find it on my own. lol I will be listening in.
@ NoThreat2U:
On Memeorial Day the Obamas will dine on Chicken Poodle
Soup and Fricasee Fido.
@ RIX:
Can you believe we was crass enough to make a joke of it at the Corres. Dinner? Sick.
@ NoThreat2U:
You got it chicklet! I think it will be an interesting -- and fun show.
@ NoThreat2U:
*HE not we. lol
@ m:
I look forward to it!!
@ m:
Well, in the past when BTR has had a special guest on, the show was worth listening to. I suppose I better finish up some chores and get ready to log in at 8 PM EST to see who y’all have as a guest
@ NoThreat2U:
Every day that BO checks the menu at the White House
and he is not on it is a thrill for him.
NoThreat2U wrote:
I’ll bet the voters didn’t know that CIC stood for “Comedian In Chief” Because that’s what you want as the leader of the free world
with access to all the secrets and decisions of government.///////////////
Frickin’ wanna be celebrity.
NoThreat2U wrote:
Actually, I think that they thought that self-depricating
humor would make him look like a regular guy.
@ RIX:
We have to act fast!
@ yenta-fada:
He has no respect for anyone or anything except his fellow travelers. He disgusts me.
@ RIX:
No, it made him look like a juvenile sarcastic bastard. Which is what he is.
@ yenta-fada:
The Preezy of the United Steezy, What, What!
RIX wrote:
He can’t pull off self-deprecating.
Nor concern, empathy, sympathy, or patriotism.
Republicans have been abysmal at noticing, accepting, and responding to this particular jujitsu move that has become modus operandi on the Left.
Bumr50 wrote:
He is a sociopath, he mimes normal emotions.
It’s all about him.
@ Bumr50:
Nope.
More like he wanted to laugh it off and move on hoping the rest of the country would follow suit.
Asshole.
He has a reason for every single thing he does. Like the $2 raffle tickets are just to bring his donation average down so he can say his average donation was under $100 from regular joes while he gets foreign donations that aren’t even accounted for.
He makes me sick.
I’d like to see the food and booze bills for the Ozero White House. They are all about inviting Hollywood from A list down to D list. I was channel surfing and some black actress who is in a recent movie was talking about the POTUS and FLOTUS having them over to party. I don’t pay attention to new movie stars or singers, but every other word out of her mouth was “like” or “you know”. There’s no dignity with this regime. Hipness is not a foreign policy or an answer to domestic problems.
NoThreat2U wrote:
You don’t like him?/
@ RIX:
I’m still on the fence. Maybe another four years?//////
*spit choke puke*
RIX wrote:
RIX for President!
@ yenta-fada:
Right on! And you’re all invited to my inaguration.
Everybody stays at the White Houes & we party for
a month! Yeah baby, yeah!
@ RIX:
Oh hell to the yeah!!!!!
NoThreat2U wrote:
Damn straight! I knew that you would approve.
What up nut baggers!
Later Gators
@ RIX:
Damn right I approve!
@ Beeduwine:
Well hello there Beed. Long time no see
@ Beeduwine:
Beed is in the house!
Clues are upthread
^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^
Let me know who is the guest tonight -- the management around here is crap.
NoThreat2U wrote:
I love you.
@ Calo:
I love you.
@ Beeduwine:
Well hello beed!!!
@ Calo:
{Calo} and {NT2U} here for just a bit. Hope you fine ladies are doing well!
@ Beeduwine:
Beed, I love your eyeball pic.
Now shut up and sing.
Lily wrote:
Hi Calo! How you doin?
@ Beeduwine:
And we all love you…I can tell because people are so nice to you on DoD. lol
@ Lily:
{{{Lily}}} Just taking it easy today. Hope all is well with you too!
Calo wrote:
I’ll sing for you you, Lily, anytime.
The Obama boom continues
The Downfall of IBM
The Country is in the very best of hands…
@ Beeduwine:
Beed, I’ve lost my ISTE this week.
Make him come back to the BRC -- he quit.
@ NoThreat2U:
Oh, they love me. Except for Bunk, but he hates anything young, pretty and utilitarian.
@ Beeduwine:
Beed….this is Lily not Calo!
We aren’t the same person. Scouts honor!!!
@ Beeduwine:
I love reading the discourse between you two. lol
@ NoThreat2U:
Yep all is well … Oh I am going to have another grandbaby!!!
Calo wrote:
What? No no. He no quit. He’s just manstraighting, that’s all.
Da_Beerfreak wrote:
Good night in Georgia!! It’s like Charles Manson is in the White House.
Crazy on steriods.
@ Lily:
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!
@ Calo:
Why does beed think me and you are the same poster???
@ NoThreat2U:
Thanks!!!!
Lily wrote:
Because I messed up on the first and made good on the second.
Da_Beerfreak wrote:
this IS the most important ever.
Where’s Dorian?
brookly red wrote:
election, that is… sheesh
@ Beeduwine:
Saw the video of Obama and of Kimmel at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Obama’s remarks were terrible, and he got the palest of flop-sweat laughter.
Jimmy Kimmel, on the other hand, reamed the president with skill and verve as blatantly as he could without going up to him and bitch-slapping him. Even Kimmel’s pro-forma slaps at figures on the right were nerf balls compared to what he lobbed at Obama.
@ brookly red:
Before I have to leave I have a song for you….just so you know I caught the reference from the other night….
Lily wrote:
Well, all for he sake of ambiguity… I just stole an insanely expensive bottle of cognac from my boss lady and now I combine it with slummin’… And dotting… I’m dotting like brookly and steve… Look at that….
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
his IRS audit notification letter goes out first thing monday morning…
BTW, “education” means “agreement” in left-liberal terms. If you don’t agree with the LL agenda, you haven’t been sufficiently “educated.” A grudging concession—one which Obama made during the 2010 elections—was that if you weren’t sufficiently “educated” it might, just might, be because things weren’t “thoroughly and clearly explained” to you.
@ buzzsawmonkey:
I still say Norm is king.
@ Beeduwine:
……….. I’m always doing the dotting……..
Beeduwine wrote:
I got a beer in one hand… and a slice in the other… that leaves me with one finger to type..
brookly red wrote:
Perfect time of year for a bouquet of IRS’s…
Beeduwine wrote:
Obama, on the other hand, believes that “King” is the norm…
@ Beeduwine:
He has some type of stock car he rebuilds on the weekends.
And, drinks beer while measuring out gear ratios or something.
He’s a hot mess by now.
Gotta go night all.
@ buzzsawmonkey:
Pretty nice set up, eh?
@ Calo:
Dorian? A mess? Noooo.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
are you sure that was Obama? I thought it was Marx?
brookly red wrote:
I heard him say it back during his “Mad Marx—Beyond Thunderdebt” tour.
@ buzzsawmonkey:
http://nkpmn.org/tonearkiv/InternationaleUSA_The_New_Singers_1935.mp3
@ Beeduwine:
Arise ye pris’ners of starvation
Arise ye wretched of the earth
For justice thunders condemnation
A better world’s in birth!
No more tradition’s chains shall bind us
Arise, ye slaves, no more in thrall;
The earth shall rise on new foundations
We have been naught we shall be all.
(Refrain):
‘Tis the final conflict
Let each stand in his place
The International Union
shall be the human race.
‘Tis the final conflict
Let each stand in his place
The International Union
shall be the human race.
@ Beeduwine:
Interestingly, I have that very version of the Internationale in the original 78.
It has a fantastic Socialist Realist label. The piano work is done by gay communist playwright Marc Blitzstein.
Beeduwine wrote:
They actually sing it as “The International Soviet” on that recording.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
I knew it had something to do with Marx…
brookly red wrote:
This is an education thread. Of course Marx are important.
@ buzzsawmonkey:
They may have been a tad naive, but damn the consequences! It’s the thought that counts!
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
but what about equal outcomes?
Beeduwine wrote:
I think they suck.
@ buzzsawmonkey:
Why do you suppose he did that?
got the blog radio one…
@ buzzsawmonkey:
It was Obama’s explanation for how anyone could have the audacity to disagree with him.
Eliana wrote:
it was a threat plain and simple.
Eliana wrote:
Why do I suppose he did what? Slap at the Republicans?
He had to do that, or his audience wouldn’t have listened to him—but he gutted the Left like a fish while merely mouthing a few pro forma slaps at the right. And he managed to force Obama to high-five him at the close—after he had twisted Obama’s nose publicly about “Fast & Furious”—or Obama would look like an ass.
I’d like to think that Kimmel reamed Obama because he’s disgusted by him and wants to see him defeated. I know he used to schtup that Silverman skank, who actively campaigned for Obama in ’08 in the most disgusting way, but maybe Kimmel, at least, has wised up.