What Happened To American History And Civics?
Contrary to what you’ll hear from mainstream media, there ARE, sane, intelligent and thoughtful people who believe that the 2020 presidential election was tainted by widespread, but difficult to prove,* fraud, especially in “swing states.” These skeptics include writer Roger Simon, politician Adam Laxalt, former Senator Dean Heller, billionaire businessman Mike Lindell, author and documentary filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza and MANY others. However, in this short piece I’d like to play the “devil’s advocate.” Let’s assume, for the purpose of discussion, that there wasn’t any substantial fraud in the 2020 election and Joe Biden was elected “fair and square.” If we make that assumption, the question that immediately comes to mind is: “How on EARTH could that have happened???” How on EARTH, could America have elected a doddering and clearly demented individual, of no particular acumen, and with a questionable attraction for VERY young girls, to the august rank of the Presidency of the United States and the LEADER of the free world??? How is that even POSSIBLE???
That question, extensively debated online and in print, undoubtedly, has many answers. It is well known that, throughout the 2020 campaign, there was a highly partisan and complicit major media (that turned a blind eye to Biden’s immense shortcomings and refused to publish ANYTHING – the Hunter Biden laptop, for example – that might sully Biden’s image, that there were millions and millions of dollars spent to support Biden by the likes of billionaire George Soros and other Soros “wannabes,” that there was outrageous censorship in social media by Twitter and Facebook, and that Biden’s competitor, President Trump, was attacked ferociously, constantly and falsely – the Steele “Dossier” for example. But there’s another explanation that gets little or no attention. It has to do with the the astonishing lack of political and historical literacy of the American populace. I would argue that such illiteracy may have made it impossible for portions of the populace to evaluate and understand what was actually going on during the campaign and during the “election.” What illiteracy am I referring to? Some examples will make that clear.
A 2017 poll taken by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Institute, found that 37% of American adults could not name a SINGLE right protected by the First Amendment. Only one out of four Americans could name all three branches of government!
In a 2018 survey conducted by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, almost 75% of those polled could not identify the thirteen original colonies. Over half had no idea whom the United States fought in World War II. Less than 25% knew why the colonists had fought the revolutionary war. Twelve percent thought Dwight Eisenhower commanded troops in the Civil War.
This lack of historical knowledge was also on display in the “woke” summer of 2020 when Antifa and BLM hoards toppled the statue of Hans Christian Heg, an ANTI SLAVERY CRUSADER. They also toppled a statue of Ulysses S. Grant, who led the Union’s fight in the Civil War AGAINST the Confederacy, a battle often said to be about “states rights,” but was mostly about ENDING SLAVERY. Then, in a case of mistaken identity, protestors toppled a statue of William C. Lee (a general in World War II), apparently confusing him with Confederate General, Robert E. Lee. Then, in another case of mistaken identity, at the Kenosha Dinosaur Discovery Museum, protestors TOPPLED A DINOSAUR STATUE, though it’s not clear exactly whom they mistook the velociraptor for.
Without a knowledge of US history and modern civics, the American people have no foundation with which to compare current events and with which to evaluate the false and often outrageously false claims promulgated by the “progressive” left contingent (critical race theory, the “1619 Project,” and many others). They then “play” the uninformed Americans “like a violin.”
Historian Victor Davis Hanson^, perhaps, said it best: “It’s harder to lament the potential loss of constitutional freedoms when majorities of Americans willingly do not know what those freedoms are.”
The reader might ask: “Who is to blame for this sorry state of affairs?” While some of the fault lies with our intellectually lazy populace, in my opinion, the majority fault lies with our secondary school teachers, professors and universities, who have not, and WILL NOT teach our youth true history and civics. And with the rise of “critical race theory,” the 1619 project, “gender identity” classes, and such, the future looks even more bleak.
*MUCH more on exposing 2020 election fraud will come out next week with the release of author and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza’s latest documentary “2000 Mules.” It will be screened at Cinemark Cinemas and others. Don’t miss it!
^This quote comes from Hanson’s latest book “The Dying Citizen” available on Amazon. Many of the statistics mentioned above came from this source. The book is a very cogent read and I recommend it highly.
A minor factual correction. Michael Lindell is not a billionaire. Forbes estimates his net worth at 174 million.