The real disaster behind Obama

Numerous highly respected commentators have written blistering indictments of Barack Obama. It leads one to wonder how we will survive the three remaining years of this president's term.

It is now glaringly apparent that Obama's election/re-election handlers realized a simple truth: The ill-informed, disinterested voters could form a more coherent bloc, than could the informed, caring voters.

Voters who pay attention, have read the constitution and truly care about the rule of law, often get bogged down in minutia. They fuss about minor policy differences and get really upset about details. In 2008, I heard many voters argue about some small difference with the policies of John McCain.

Then, in 2012, many complained that Mitt Romney was "too rich", "too stiff", "too Massachusetts", "too Mormon".

Meanwhile, voters who are ignorant of government actions, happily support a candidate they "like".

As Bruce Bialosky, founder of the Republican Jewish Coalition of California and a former Presidential appointee recently reminded us "Unfortunately, Republicans have not learned the lesson that the alternative is worse than a Republican they don't totally love. That is why we have Obama still." Indeed. 

But, I believe the problem runs even deeper. Recent studies have shown that, in spite of doubling and re-doubling of expenditures on education, Americans today are less educated than those of a few generations ago.

There are several apparent reasons. First, of course, are the teacher's unions. Too often, teachers are retained because of union status, competency be damned.

Then, there has been the trend of loading curriculum down with all sorts of social trivia, at the expense of serious teaching of the basics. 

Jack Kelly, a former official in the Reagan Administration, Wrote, "Massive ignorance of what every American should know is a recent phenomenon. To graduate from the eighth grade in Bullitt County, Ky., in 1912, students had to answer questions like these: “define latitude and longitude; name and give the capitals of the states touching the Ohio river; describe the function of the liver; give the cause of the war of 1812 and name an important battle during that war.” Much less eighth grade, could recent graduates of a liberal arts college answer those questions?

So, we now have a couple of generations of barely literate Americans. We have become obsessed with You Tube, Facebook, Twitter, Selfies and other gadgets and popular phenomena of the day. It seems no one gives a thought to The Bill of Rights, and such outdated notions as state capitols or the war of 1812.

What will it take to get America back on track? I believe it will require many real leaders who can rise to power and lead the way to change... back to the day when schools taught and students learned, resulting in citizens who could protect and preserve this wonderful nation.