Staying Classy (Not)

The fringe right-wingers who descended on the big Conservative Political Action Committee confab in Washington, D.C., this week seem to think Thursday’s suicide-attack on an IRS building in Austin is good for a laugh. Talking Points Memo quotes one CPAC speaker joking that he was worried notorious anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist might have flown that […]

Read More…

Barton: Garbage in, Garbage out

The Texas Tea Party provides another good example of how David Barton’s poor scholarship (if you can call it scholarship) isn’t just bad for public education – it also fosters falsehoods and distortions throughout our civic life. One of the links on the Tea Party Web site asks: “What of our Christian Heritage?” Visitors then […]

Read More…

So Now Don McLeroy Opposes Public Schools?

Don McLeroy has some explaining to do. Texas Monthly’s Paul Burka reports this revealing quote from McLeroy, a Republican seeking re-election to the Texas State Board of Education, at a recent campaign debate: “One of the first real breaches of limited government was public education.” What in the world? Someone who has been on the […]

Read More…

How the Far Right ‘Guides’ Voters with Lies

When it comes to lies at election time, many voters point at mistruths they hear from candidates. But voter guides put out by far-right pressure groups in Texas are hardly good examples of honesty themselves. Consider, for example, this question for Texas State Board of Education candidates from the current voter guide put out by Liberty Institute, […]

Read More…

Kathy Miller: Politics and Social Studies

Various newspapers have run the following op-ed from Texas Freedom Network President Kathy Miller about the State Board of Education‘s January meeting on new social studies curriuclum standards for Texas public schools. We’re posting her 0p-ed here for TFN Insider readers. Rewriting History: Politics and Social Studies Standards During January’s State Board of Education debate […]

Read More…