You Can Secede Anytime Now, Texas

After months of debate and media coverage, the Texas State Board of Education has approved changes to their states social studies curriculum.  For the most part, these changes replace what the conservative board members saw as “liberal bias” with a more conservative friendly framing of our nation’s history.

This is complete bullshit.

Now, I am willing to believe that there may be some left leaning bias in some textbooks.  But there is a big difference between correcting said bias, and creating a bias of your own.  Many of the things being altered have been accepted by historians for years, so if you do want to correct any perceived bias, you would probably want to consult them about it, right?

Or, you could do what Texas did and listen to a freaking dentist who has no background in history at all.  But he sure does love Jesus.

And that’s kind of important, as a lot of the changes made have to do with giving religion a more prominent role in our nations history.  Does it have some significance?  Yes.  But by focusing on the impact religion had on the Founding Fathers, while ignoring their rational for keeping Church and State separate is historically dishonest.  In fact, it’ unethical.   It’s whitewashing our nation’s founding to serve a specific ideological narrative.  How bad is it?  They have removed Thomas Jefferson from the history books because he coined the terms “Separation of Church and State”.   Basically, they are trying to promote their warped view that America is only for Christians, and get that into kid’s heads at an early age.  Kind of like brainwashing.

“The Enlightenment was not the only philosophy on which these revolutions were based,” board member Cynthia Dunbar stated.  Yes, that’s true.  But by your own logic, religion was not the only philosophy these revolutions were based either.  So you have just admitted that you are cherry-picking what parts of their ideology you want to teach.  That’s not history, genius.

Other changes include:

- teaching that McCarthy was vindicated in his communist witch hunt (he wasn’t)

- giving Presidents Nixon and Reagan more prominant roles

- ensuring students learn about the conservative resurgance of the 80′s, and study such groups as the Moral Majority and National Rifel Association

- denying coverage of Latino leaders and movements

Many of these are covered in the New York Times article here.

Again, it’s important to note that none of these changes were proposed by actual historians.  Which begs the question, why do they get to decide what are children are taught?  They have no more expertise than I do, can make up a curriculum?  Inject my personal beliefs in history and teach them as facts?  Because that is essentially what Texas has done.  In “standing up to the experts” they have forgotten why we have experts in the first place: they tend to know more about their field than we do.  Kind of like how a dentist knows more about teeth than a historian would.

So Texas, if you want to live in your own aternate reality, go right ahead.  But don’t take the rest of us down with you.

Rupert Murdoch Dies, Becomes More Powerful Than You Could Ever Imagine

New York — Early yesterday morning, News Corp. CEO and  132nd richest person in the world Rupert Murdoch passed away from heart failure.  Then, by mid afternoon, he had become one with the Dark Side of the Force and risen as an even more powerful agent of evil.

“It truly is a momentous occasion,” said Roger Ailes, after being appointed by Murdoch as the new Dark Lord of the Sith.  “Creating a media corporation was just the beginning.  Now Emperor Murdoch has the power he has desired for so long to turn the News Corp. Media empire into a Galactic Empire.”

News Corp. is already the second largest media conglomerate in the world, controlling many communication and information mediums.  It was also already considered by many to be evil well before Emperor Murdoch’s embracement of the Dark Side.

“This isn’t surprising in the least,” media critic Mitchell Gritz stated.  “For the past year Fox News has aggressively spread lies, misinforming the public about what was going on in our country.  They are simply taking the next step.”

“Also, Fox is responsible for giving us Temptation Island,” he continued.  “How evil is that?”

In addition to its promotion of mindless dribble such as American Idol and Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?, Fox also has a tendency to cancel any program that requires viewers to think in any capacity.

“An audience that is thinking is an audience that can think for itself,” comments Gritz.  “That is something Fox tries to avoid.”  He went on to stipulate that the only reason The Simpsons still airs is because it has digressed into a simpleminded shadow of it’s former self.

It is this strategy of turning the public in malleable, mindless drones that is finally paying off.  Murdoch has long had the resources to expand his empire in a very literal term, but take-overs are much easier with public support.

“The past year has been great with regard to getting people to go along with whatever we say,” noted Grand Moff Glenn Beck.  “I can say ‘Go protest the government on this day’ and my audience does it.  I can even tell them 1.9 million more people showed up than were actually there, and my audience will believe me.  They were actually there and they still believe me!  I gotta tell ya, this kind of power is just awesome, and it’s only gonna get better.  For us, that is.”

All attempts to interview Emperor Murdoch himself were met with blasts of lightning shooting from his fingers, killing three reporters in total.

An Open Letter To Journalistic Media

Dear Journalistic Media (or Media, as will be here after referred),

We have a problem.  An issue that needs to be worked out between the two of us.  I understand you’re busy what with covering all the crazy stuff happening in this world of ours, but frankly, I can’t put this off any longer.

You see, you haven’t been doing your job.  Yes, you have been covering events and issues.  But you have done a piss poor job of that.  You have been neglecting your function reporting FACTS and focused solely on reporting.  When interviewing politicians, or any other prominent figures, you have simply taken to transcribing what they say, and make no effort to discern if what they are saying is actually true.

Let us start, my dearest Media, with a recent example.  Rudy Guliani this week, made claims that “we had no domestic attacks under Bush.  We’ve had one under Obama,” referring, of course, to terrorist attacks.  This is of course absurd, since 9/11, the biggest terror attack to befall this country, in fact happened during Bush’s first term.  Guliani later claimed he meant to say “after 9/11″ when referring to Bush, but even that is wrong.  Off the top of my head I can think of two terror attacks that happened post 9/11 on Bush’s watch: the anthrax scare and and the shoe bomber.  Doing some research I was also reminded of the attempted LAX terror attack in 2002, as well as the DC sniper and UNC SUV attack.

But that isn’t the real problem.  Perhaps all those incidents really had slipped Guliani’s mind.  The problem is that you, Media, did nothing to to suggest that Rudy was wrong.  You pasted his comments in your articles, never questioning the validity of what he was saying.  By doing nothing, you allowed the public to infer there was nothing wrong with Guliani’s statement.  It allowed the public to think that we are in more danger now than we were before.  This, based off of false information.  The actual data seems to suggest we are in no more danger than we have been over the past eight years.  But many in the public now believe other wise.

That is but a minor grievance, however, when compared to your handling of health care reform.  Multiple times since the summer, Sarah Palin warned the health care reform would bring about “death panels” that would essentially rationalize who woud recieve medical help (she did this via her Facebook page, no less).  This was, of course, bogus.  But you, ever vigilant Media, were laregly absent in saying so.  You allowed the public to be frightened by a non-existant threat.  Then there the claim made by Rush Limbagh and numrous other conservatives who claimed the health care bill would cost trillions and further us into debt.  This would seem like a legitmait concern, until the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) found that the plan would actually reduce our deficit by about $130 billion dollars over the next decade.  That is the exact opposite of what conservatives were saying.  But again, you were largely absent in correcting them, and thusly, many in the public believe the health care will further our debt, when the truth is it would help.

I hope you are beginning to see, Media, why I have an issue with you.  Your job is to inform the public so that they know what is going on in the world.  So that they can make the best possible decisions they can.  If it takes me five minutes on Google to get this information, it should be no problem for you to include it in your reporting.  But you don’t.  You have gotten lazy.  The public should not have to seek out the information on their own (though it is always sound practice to do so).  That is your job.  You are supposed to point out when lies are being promoted as truths.  When Glenn Beck says that 2 million people attaneded the 9/12 rally, you should have been there to point out it was really 60,000 – 70,000 people who attended the rally.

Media, you have been enabling lies.  And as a result, many people in this country have a warped view of what is going on.  How can people be expected to make good choices when they have been given misinformation?  You are supposed to prevent this, Media.  Now, I know you are weary of having a “liberal bias.”  I understand many have called you this and you would like to show them this is not the case.  But in trying to prove you are not liberally biased, you are in danger of having a conservative bias.  If I may make a suggestion, my estranged friend, you need to worry less about this.  If you report the FACTS, no amount of anyone calling you biased for one side or the other will matter.  Facts are not biased.  Focus on that.

It is a new year now.  This is the perfect time to go back and practice actual journalism.  To go back to truly informing the public.  That is your duty.  Unfortuntely, there is nothing to make you do this.  Most people do not have the time to double check what you report, so many will go on believing you regardless.  But those of us who do pay attention, Media, have had enough.  I do hope (however foolishly) that you do take that into consideration.  I will be waiting, old friend, to forgive you once you see the folly of your ways.  Until that day, however, I’m afraid I must bid you farwell.

With Sincerest Regard,

HBM