US elected officials scored abysmally on a test measuring their civic knowledge, with an average grade of just 44 percent, the group that organized the exam said Thursday.

Ordinary citizens did not fare much better, scoring just 49 percent correct on the 33 exam questions compiled by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI).

"It is disturbing enough that the general public failed ISI's civic literacy test, but when you consider the even more dismal scores of elected officials, you have to be concerned," said Josiah Bunting, chairman of the National Civic Literacy Board at ISI.

"How can political leaders make informed decisions if they don't understand the American experience?" he added.

The g0p's pet project of dumbing down America seems to have had some unexpected benefits for them.

If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error. ~~~John Kenneth Galbraith

Another AQ plotter bites the dust
posted at 8:20 am on November 22, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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The Pakistanis may not like the Predator attacks in the lawless frontier territories, but the US continues to prove their effectiveness. They scored a big hit this morning when a drone-launched missile killed Rashid Rauf, the al-Qaeda plotter behind the failed 2006 transatlantic bombing attack. The bombing also killed another wanted senior AQ figure:

The alleged Al-Qaeda mastermind of a 2006 transatlantic airplane bombing plot was killed in a US missile attack in northwest Pakistan early Saturday, officials said.

Rashid Rauf died when a missile hit a tribesman’s house in the village of Alikhel, part of a border district known as a stronghold for Al-Qaeda and the Taliban militants.

Also among the five killed in the early morning incident was Egyptian Abu Zubair al-Misri, another wanted Al-Qaeda operative, a senior Pakistani security official said on condition of anonymity.

“The transatlantic bombing plot alleged mastermind Rashid Rauf was killed along with an Egyptian Al-Qaeda operative in the US missile strike in North Waziristan early Saturday,” a senior security official told AFP.

Pakistan can complain all it wants, but in Rauf’s case, they have no one to blame but themselves. They had Rauf in custody after the plot unraveled in 2006 but refused to extradite him. Instead, Rauf escaped in December 2007, and most people presumed he went back to the terrorist camps — a presumption that found confirmation today.

The Telegraph has an interesting thumbnail history of Rauf. His career started with murdering his uncle and transformed itself into high treason in a short period of time. Rauf apparently masterminded the “liquid bomb” scenario that now forces travelers to limit fluids to 3.5 ounces in carry-on luggage. He had every intention on killing people, especially his fellow Brits, in large numbers, as part of his efforts for al-Qaeda.

The speed and accuracy of the missile attacks over the last few months has been rather breathtaking. The US has found some excellent intelligence sources in the FATA, which has to have AQ leadership wondering which day will be their last. Pakistan continues to object, although some wonder how seriously, but the US has to keep playing out this string as long as possible. At some point, those cowards in the caves will have to start purging their organizations to eliminate the potential leaks, and that’s when the best opportunities will appear.

Under the clinton Administration, things were pretty good. There were jobs to be had, our civil rights were operational, and our national debt was decreasing. In the 8 years under the Clinton Administration, I was able to work, drink, smoke, love, and build my hobby projects with little or no government interference.

One of the rules I learned as a child was "never follow an ideal of a cliff." This maxim seem to be sadly lacking in many "progressives." (And when did "progressive start getting tarred with the ivory-idiot brush? I say we take the term back!)

Instead of trying to make a transitional system that will act as a bridge to better times, certain vocal "progressives" are pushing for some americanized version of the glorious cultural revolution.

Here's a few hints:
-Ralph Nader, while very, very pristine in his ideals (unless one looks at his labor relations records) is NEVER going to win.
-Instead of going on (and on, and on, and on) about the ideal system that we all "should" be using for energy/economy/pollution/national security/etc, how about you and the rest of the ivory get-along gang work out some systems that will work RIGHT NOW. As examples: most of us can't bicycle to work, don't have the money to go for completely organic diets, and need a certain amount of electricity to live.

give me lever, and a place to stand...

Just another way for the feds to gain more power over ordinary citizens. And redistribute other peoples money.