Voting, education, and defending the U.S.

We have about two months to go until the November elections and during this period I am sure we will get an earful of political ads on a non-stop basis touting the pros and cons of those running for office. The country is facing many problems which need to be addressed, yet to many an apathetic voter the solutions seem almost out of reach. Many will not even 
 bother to go to the polls which is a crying shame.

2.7 million U.S. military personnel have sacrificed their lives over the years insuring liberty and freedom to hundreds of millions of people who live on planet earth and to protect one of the most cherished rights a civilized society needs to insure their freedom…the power of the vote. As Veterans we have witnessed the price paid in blood and family suffering for those who gave all or came home badly wounded, and it is a slap in the face by those who choose not to exercise their ability to vote, believing, “with millions going to the polls, my vote won’t matter”. Every vote matters!

Now, that being said, we have over one-half the country that should not be allowed to vote because of IGNORANCE.  If you are an immigrant, before you can become an American citizen and vote legally, you must pass the naturalization test, which includes questions about their application, background, and take an English and civics test unless they qualify for an exemption or waiver. Yet we allow absolute, everyday, uninformed idiots to vote. 

If you take the time to watch the link  (idiots to vote) above, you will understand why our public school system is failing our children. We spend more on educating our children ($151,000/student) than any other country on the face of the planet, yet most of the high school graduates cannot pass a test we require of those wanting to become citizens of this country. So I guess it should be expected that those going to the polls exercising our most treasured freedoms (voting) are simply about as dumb as a sack of rocks and we end-up with a bunch of politicians like Hank Johnson (Democrat, Georgia) who believes the island of Guam is capable of “capsizing”.

Many of the voters had no understanding of the candidates or the issues when they cast their vote in the 2008 Presidential Elections as exemplified by the voters who helped elect the



Current president, Barack Obama; and even worse, is the fact that most don’t even know how kittle knowledge they possess about the issues. The answers they provided to interview questions  are downright embarrassing. I am not the first person to identify such problems nor was the election of Barack Obama and isolated instance in American history, but has been prevalent for many elections.

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”  – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all“. – John F. Kennedy

The country was promised “hope and change” in 2008 and the majority of the voting public seemed to agree changes were needed. But my concern was that the media did not do its job of thoroughly vetting the candidates but chose instead, to take sides much to the detriment of the country.  No one candidate is all bad and I think we can all agree that no one candidate is all good, but for those of us who studied the candidates, the issues, and were aware of what was going on in the world and in our state, it is sad that our votes were negated by the foolish self-interests of those seeking government handouts and other freebies at the taxpayers’ expense, and had the ability to tip the scales of justice fleecing the taxpayers in the process.

“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress (this applies to the President as well) discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money”. – Alexis de Tocqueville

One would have to be blind not to recognize the failures of the Department of Education which must assume the majority of the blame for the ignorance and stupidity we see displayed every day right before our very eyes. Many looked with optimism when it was announced the government, with the help of industry, was developing an entirely new educational program called Common Core, which would be an attempt to restore the greatness of America’s K-12 education system. Unfortunately, matters are more than likely going to get worse.

Common Core is a set of federal standards for education in key subjects such as math and language arts. The standards won’t end with math and language. The Department of Education is also currently developing curriculums for science and social studies. While the proponents tout the benefits of Common Core, an in depth look at the details and standards, begins to show it’s really just politics at its best: bribery, deceit, backroom deals and over-regulation.
According Capitol Hill Daily…

“In the mid-90s the National Governors Association, along with several national corporations, created Achieve, Inc. a D.C.-based non-profit that’s the “leading voice for the college-and career-ready agenda.” Achieve financial contributors include big businesses like AT&T (T), The Boeing Company (BA), Chevron (CVX), Cisco (CSCO), IBM (IMB) and Prudential (PRU). Achieve began developing federal benchmarks and standards in 1998 and soon after, sponsored a summit to determine the “must have skills” desired by America’s top employers. Put simply: the Common Core initiative was started and continues to be pushed by politicians and special interest groups – not educators or parents.”

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation along with the Eli Broad Foundation partnered and pledged $60 million for the development of Common Core, and the Gates Foundation gave an additional $2 million to politicians and other investors to sell the program to the parents of the school age children in the country. The influence of special interest monies, particularly by the Gates Foundation which now exceeds more than $160 million, have totally muddied the waters developing a curriculum that is almost surely guaranteed to fail, which is what always happens when decisions that should be made on the local level, are made in Washington DC.

To add insult to injury,  The General Electric Foundation and its CEO Jeffrey Immelt, have made investments of their own and enlisted the likes of the Fordham Institute, Hunt Institute, Jeb Bush’s The Foundation for Excellence in Education, and Pearson Publishing all of whom stand to gain financially from Common Core’s implementation.

The old axiom of “follow the money”, can generally be said of any and all matters that come before government. Have you even wondered how politicians come into office as ordinary people and leave wealthy beyond our wildest imaginations?  Arizonans Against Common Core have provided a glimpse of the fiscal benefits the backers of the program will receive.  Pearson Publishing for example, which will be the exclusive vendor for textbooks, teachers’ workbooks, and produce the Online Assessment Readiness Tool on-line testing, under this ill conceived program, will reap billions of dollars in revenue. Common Core is estimated to cost school districts nearly $8 billion in educational materials just to implement the standards.

The idea that the Common Core Standards will be beneficial is almost the polar opposite to what is being experienced in real life in nearly every assessment of the program. With little input from the actual classroom teacher and local state educational system personnel, today Common Core faces a situation where nearly every teacher and the administrators in the local school systems seem to despise the curriculum and the discord it’s sown. A recent Brookings Institution study showed that states using education standards least like Common Core scored highest on standardized math tests, and at a cost of as much as $800 million per year over the first seven years, the program is just too great a financial burden.

For the Department of Defense all this Common Core nonsense is a bad omen as well.  Each year the demand for well-educated military personnel seems to grow, yet the number who step to the plate and volunteer for duty is less than .5% of today’s youth.  As the old commercial use to say, “this is not your father’s Oldsmobile”, and any modern era Veteran will surely agree, “this is not your grandfather’s military”.

The sophisticated weaponry that we the public  are relying on to protect our liberty and freedom, requires skill-sets that were not required in the days of the Draft. Computers, software, cyber security, battlefield medics with nearly the skills of trauma room surgeons, laser guided weapons delivery systems, and communication and targeting guidance systems with GPS, are well above the normal high school education level. Those seeking a challenging career in the military have to be well above most of those high school graduates out just looking for a job. Only the best and brightest will suffice.

Our country is facing a global threat on many fronts and only a fool would not believe we live in a very dangerous world. When I see the man (women) on the street interviews and witness the ignorant fools who haven’t a clue about what is going on in the world (and this goes well beyond the pre-911 mindset mind you), have no idea who their elected officials are, have no understanding about the governance of this great county, or who are simple living day to day stoned out of their minds, I think it is time to have a litmus  test before being allowed to vote.

As with every article I write there are those who will take an opposing view…no problem…that’s what being an American is all about. But if you believe my assessment of the state of affairs is incorrect, please state your case and provide a little documentation.

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