Civic Illiteracy Won the White House for Obama
Nov 14, 2012
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It was only 7:15 last Tuesday evening when my daughter, who works in conservative journalism, texted me to say the election was lost. For a painful four hours, I watched the results confirm her early analysis. When it was clear the president would be re-elected and Republican challenger Mitt Romney had lost, I took an over-the-counter sleep aid and went to bed.
On Wednesday, I began a weeklong home improvement bender, drowning my sorrows in a five-gallon bucket of latex paint the color of vanilla creme. But there was no painting over my pessimism about the future.
I didn’t need to watch TV or listen to talk radio to know what happened. I certainly didn’t need to read the endless analyses about ground games and turnout and demographics and the impact of Superstorm Sandy on pre-election optics.
I already knew why President Obama handily won a second term, despite all indications that a plurality of Americans simply are not confident the country is heading in the right direction, or that our president is the man to lead us toward a more prosperous economy and a more secure place in the world.
You see, more than a year ago I wrote the book that explains it all. It’s called “Don’t Let the Kids Drink the Kool-Aid: Confronting the Left’s Assault on Our Families, Faith, and Freedom,” and in it, I proved our young adults already have been molded to be the first generation of American socialists.
It’s not some wacko conspiracy theory. It’s just research that shows the influence of our education system, media and pop culture have instilled in most young people a lack of understanding about economics and free markets, as well as a misconception about the proper role of government in our daily lives.
Here’s some of what I learned and shared in the book:
Going back more than six years, it’s clear our nation’s college students are largely civically illiterate. According to surveys from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, college freshmen typically flunk a 60-question civics test with an average score of just better than 51 percent; college seniors flunk it with a score of around 53 percent.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, our country’s high schools taught less about the constitution in 2010 than they did in 2006, a trend that continues. In fact, in 2010, only 67 percent of high school seniors studied our founding documents, meaning about a third don’t study our government in the year before they are eligible to vote.
 Marybeth Hicks Marybeth Hicks is the author of Don't Let the Kids Drink the Kool-Aid: Confronting the Left's Assault on Our Families, Faith, and Freedom (Regnery Publishers, 2011).
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metallic Wrote: 42 minutes ago (9:51 PM)
Texans sure are moochers - “The state demonstrated that the costs that were generated (by the fires) were above and beyond the state and local capabilities,” said Jacqueline Chandler, a spokeswoman for FEMA's regional office in Denton.
The political fight broke out in May when FEMA rejected Gov. Rick Perry's request for aid. Perry appealed the decision May 26.
In a written statement Friday, Perry said, “President Obama's decision to finally approve a portion of our disaster designation request is good for Texas and some of the communities impacted by this season's wildfires.
Read more: mysanantonio.com
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Insectman Wrote: 46 minutes ago (9:48 PM)
A WOLF BY ANY NAME IS STILL A WOLF
The election of Romney (really Republicrite wolf) would have removed the rabid Demoncrat wolf from the sheepfold, but allowed a ravenous wolf in sheep’s cloths to enter. The wolf we have is an obvious danger and we know how he will attack the sheep. Romney is sly and would have fooled a lot of sheep. The fold (America) would have still been destroyed—only slower.
Read the rest and see a solution at insectman.us
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TheHeretic Wrote: 20 minutes ago (10:14 PM)
So you're saying that Romney would have destroyed the country at a slower rate than Obama? That is a good enough reason for voting for Romney. If you're heading towards the cliff, slowing down gives you more time to turn around. If voting for Romney buys us more time to turn things around, then by all means, vote for Romney. I think America is worth that much. Obviously Insectman disagrees.
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Artie C. Wrote: 4 hours ago (6:23 PM)
They're illiterate and they like it that way. The government will take care of them.
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metallic Wrote: 4 hours ago (6:21 PM)
Here's what Republicans have been trained to say about Afghanistan.
"More Americans have died in Afghanistan in Obama's one term than died in Bush's 2 terms."
Yes, Bush took his eye off the ball and waged an eight year social engineering project in Iraq getting 4700 Americans killed there. Meanwhile the Afgan theatre of ops simply languished and let the Taliban regroup. An epic failure of Republican leadership.
Obama re-tooled the effort against terrorism by getting out of Iraq and bringing the fight to the Taliban in Afghanistan!
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IrishMensa Wrote: 14 minutes ago (10:19 PM)
Stop lying for once in your life, you parasitic troll. You know damn well that the last real president actually stabilized Iraq before your thug-in-chief took credit for it. But of course, facts don't matter to you and your anti-Semitic goons who run this toxic wasteland that you have created. If you have children, I am sure that they are ashamed of what you have done, and will soon curse you to your face.
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TheHeretic Wrote: 11 minutes ago (10:22 PM)
Here's what Democrats have been trained to say about Afghanistan:
"Bush took his eye off the ball and waged an eight year social engineering project in Iraq getting 4700 Americans killed there."
"The Afghan theater of operations languished and let the Taliban regroup."
"Obama retooled the effort against terrorism by getting out of Iraq and bringing the fight to the Taliban in Afghanistan!"
So much for your talking points. One last thing: when Bush left office, we were winning in Iraq and Afghanistan. Under Obama, we're losing both wars.
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rmock Wrote: 5 hours ago (5:00 PM)
I'm a Republican, but even I have severe doubts about the premise of this article. I live in a small rual town in Texas that went over 75% for Romney and I'm certain that less then 20% of those who voted for Romney could get 25% on a college civics exam. I hang my head in shame during every Republican meeting I attend. We haven't had a meeting since the election, but I'm willing to bet that December's meeting will all be about secession.
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IrishMensa Wrote: 13 minutes ago (10:21 PM)
Please stop lying about being a Republican. You are nothing more than a typical anti-Semitic, Democrat thug who trolls on websites and parrots whatever George Soros tells you to say.
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metallic Wrote: 5 hours ago (4:56 PM)
8. Ronald Reagan illegally funneled weapons to Iran. Reagan and other senior U.S. officials secretly sold arms to officials in Iran, which was subject to a an arms embargo at the time, in exchange for American hostages. Some funds from the illegal arms sales also went to fund anti-Communist rebels in Nicaragua - something Congress had already prohibited the administration from doing. When the deals went public, the Iran-Contra Affair, as it came to be know, was an enormous political scandal that forced several senior administration officials to resign.
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FairnessMan Wrote: 5 hours ago (4:39 PM)
Romney lost because the ignorance of the majority of the American people is infinite and you can't out vote infinite.
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Artie C. Wrote: 4 hours ago (6:26 PM)
The MTV generation has spoken.
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Robert1824 Wrote: 7 hours ago (3:23 PM)
This is idiotic . Romney lost because fortunately, enough people in America saw through him and Paul Ryan and realized how disastrous a Romney presidency would have been for America .
He and Ryan would have made catastrophic cuts in programs to help those in need - people who are NOT lazy bums but stuck in adverse circumstances beyond their control . And that's just the tip of the iceberg .
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Lepanto Wrote: 7 hours ago (3:32 PM)
We will never know. Your guy is in charge but from todays press conference I see his only plan is to continue blaming Bush.
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Lance73 Wrote: 5 hours ago (4:54 PM)
And that's your entire argument? The 'he's-gonna-throw-grandma-off-the-cliff' argument?
You operate under a false assumption. One of the fundamental questions is this: "Why is it government's responsibility to take care of Grandma?" You imply, through your assertion above, that it is the government's responsibility. I challenge you to find that role of government laid out explicitly or implicitly in the Constitution.
How do you know that these adverse circumstances are truly adverse? How do you know they are beyond the control of those embroiled in them? How do you know why these people are in these situations; Are they due to being unjustly treated by those more fortunate? Are they due to catastrophic illnesses?
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McGovern Wrote: 7 hours ago (3:03 PM)
The hope in all of this is shown by people my age.
In the late 1960s-early 1970s, we college students wanted to overthrow all the basic institutions. Down with capitalism and the scourge of the poor!
Then we graduated, got jobs, and became conservatives. Some of the conservatives' greatest voting strength is from people my age and background.
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Science Avenger Wrote: 8 hours ago (1:43 PM)
What an idiotic question-begging article. No evidence presented that people voted for Obama because they were civically illiterate, heck, no evidence that the civically illiterate voted for Obama at all. I see you guys have learned nothing from your horrific election predictions. Truthiness is a poor guide to reality.
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McGovern Wrote: 8 hours ago (2:24 PM)
What an idiotic question-begging comment.
Many of us are smart enough to understand that when half of all college students flunk a civics test, and the overwhelming majority of college students voted for Obama, there may be a connection.
Is this based on peer-reviewed studies? No. But anyone with common sense can tell you
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