[GCFL-discuss] Paddy O'Malley

[Discussion of the Good, Clean Funnies List]

Hmmm, where was I when they taught American history like this in school?

Did you learn this in school or is this independent study?

As I recall, my education of history only covered major events and dates, no 
commentary about the ethics, ideology, conviction, repetition, etc of events 
in history.  And now, many years past formal education, I realize I know 
nothing.  I vaguely remember the phrase "Battle of Vicksburg", so when my 
husband said he was at the battlefield at Vicksburg and saw the USS Cairo 
this past week, I knew it had SOMETHING to do with American history.  But 
that was it!  Did I know who won or who lost?  Did I know how many men died? 
Do I know how long the battle lasted?  Nothing.  Zip, zero, zilch.

Siarlys, every time you write I feel a little dumber and like I have somehow 
been gypped (a racial slur, get over it).  This is not a criticism of you, I 
assure you.  It is an indictment of the education system as a whole, my 
parents, and more importantly, ME.  I believed them (the school system and 
my parents) when they told me my intelligence was way above average.  OK, I 
have a nice IQ number.  What about knowing things?  I don't mean trivia (at 
which I am fairly adept), I mean enough knowledge to discuss a topic, have a 
point of view, express an opinion.  As I sit here at my desk re-reading this 
hodge-podge, I am having an attack of conscience about spending my reading 
time on books about vampires and criminal forensics.  I am irresponsible!

In my defense, I majored in Bible in college and can recall more of the 
first 4000 years of history than I can of the following 2000 years and I am 
quite opinionated about it!  That's a proud statement, but I can puff myself 
up only so much on that ability...

Thank you for listening to the ranting of an ignorante.  (I am allowed to 
make up words if I see fit -- I am a former spelling champion.)

PS:   For example, I don't even know enough about history to know if ANY of 
the movie National Treasure was true, or if any of the story about 
"Gormogon" in the TV show Bones is based on ANY fact.  What is the 
Illuminati?  Are there secret societies?  Who were the American presidents 
under the Articles of Confederation and why didn't I know there were any??? 
And why do I believe that Churchill was a GREAT man and should be revered by 
Americans?

Ignorance.  Shameful.

Jeanene


----- Original Message -----
> David McCulough wrote a biography of John Adams, a delegate to the first
> and second Continental Congresses, member of the committee that wrote the
> Declaration of Independence (along with Thomas Jefferson, generally
> credited as the primary author), and, oh yes, the second President of the
> United States under the Constitution. (There were several little-known
> presidents under the Articles of Confederation). Does this ring a bell
> Jeanene? I know, Patricia Cornwall never wrote about him, and he was
> never interviewed or dated by a vampire.
> McCullough's book was turned into a 7-part HBO miniseries, which won 13
> Emmy awards. I never watched it, since I don't have cable, but I now have
> the DVD. That's what I was talking about.
> I used to despise Adams, who was known to many contemporaries as "His
> Rotundity," because he was the last Federalist president, and I don't
> like much of the legacy the Federalist party bequeathed to our nation. I
> prefer Jefferson and Jackson and Gabriel. But, Adams was really a very
> complex man. Since learning that his fellow federalist, Alexander
> Hamilton, despised Adams, I have had an improved opinion of Adams. (I've
> always believed that Aaron Burr did us all a favor by doing in Hamilton.)
> Adams seems to have been the sort of conservative I can appreciate in my
> old age: believed in hard work, virtue, freedom of conscience, once
> observed that he had "never owned a Negro or other slave" (hint: there
> were many kinds of slaves in his day), and had appropriate doubts about
> the Alien and Sedition Acts rammed through during his administration.
> Siarlys