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Joyce Donahue
Joyce Donahue • diaspora

Andy Borowitz on the big question: who is the most ignorant person the United States is willing to elect?


Great interview!
https://youtu.be/5XAw-7aP3jo

Andy Borowitz Thinks Politicians Are ‘Dumber’ Now | One-on-One With Stephanie Ruhle

Stephanie Ruhle sits down one-on-one with satirist Andy Borowitz to talk about the comedy coming off Capitol Hill and his new book, “Profiles in Ignorance.”»...
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Clara Listensprechen reshared this.
Joyce Donahue
Joyce Donahue • diaspora
From the book promo on Amazon:

Borowitz argues that over the past fifty years, American politicians have grown increasingly allergic to knowledge, and mass media have encouraged the election of ignoramuses by elevating candidates who are better at performing than thinking. Starting with Ronald Reagan’s first campaign for governor of California in 1966 and culminating with the election of Donald J. Trump to the White House, Borowitz shows how, during the age of twenty-four-hour news and social media, the US has elected politicians to positions of great power whose lack of the most basic information is terrifying. In addition to Reagan, Quayle, Bush, Palin, and Trump, Borowitz covers a host of congresspersons, senators, and governors who have helped lower the bar over the past five decades.
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Adam Hunt
Adam Hunt • diaspora
Bad trend. You don't want the country led by your dumbest people.
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Joyce Donahue
Joyce Donahue • diaspora
It's the television age. We tend to elect those who play to the cameras- and it's gotten worse. Reagan was just a Hollywood star and a smooth-talking conservative. Trump and his buddies like Dr. Oz are just outright con men. What's worse, according to Borowitz, is that today some play dumb to get votes.
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Adam Hunt
Adam Hunt • diaspora
today some play dumb to get votes.
That is probably the biggest worry, that voters don;t seem to vote for people who are smarter than themselves.
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Doug Senko
Doug Senko • diaspora
Maybe start emphasizing critical thinking skills all through K-12 education? It’s the peoples lack of them and reaction to emotion’s that causes this.
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Brian Fitzgerald
Brian Fitzgerald • diaspora
The phrase "critical thinking" carries some unfortunate connotations to people that react strongly to any form of criticism. It may be better to substitute the phrase "comprehensive reasoning" because that may be less likely to ignite the flames of passionate opposition. Some may disagree.
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Adam Hunt
Adam Hunt • diaspora
It seems that the right wing will go to great lengths to make sure critical thinking skills are not taught.
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Joyce Donahue
Joyce Donahue • diaspora
That would require them to pay salaries that attract teachers with those skills (like maybe a living wage?) to not hover over them telling them what they can and cannot teach... in the red states, this is a huge problem. We have a national teacher shortage and lots of local censorship now, so worse, not better. The real key is not tying school funding to property taxes - and an overhaul of the federal Department of Education. New secretary under Biden is oddly silent in the face of all of this. Probably a nice guy, but not presenting a plan to deal with the growing crisis in education.
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Adam Hunt
Adam Hunt • diaspora
The right wing thinks by controlling education they an remain in power forever, but poor education merely dooms the US to end up joining the worst of the third world.
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Bob Lai
Bob Lai • diaspora
It was in 2012 that the Texas GOP adopted a stance against higher-order thinking skills (critical thinking) on the grounds that such promoted rebellion against authority and a turning away from God.
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Brian Fitzgerald
Brian Fitzgerald • diaspora
If the almighty creator is everywhere, how can one possibly turn away? However, it is indeed possible to turn away from the religion grifters. There was one in particular that was deposed from the seat at the right side and fell for ten days. That must have been a really swift kick for that clown who was trying to take over some of the glory from the most glorious. Maybe the GOP needs to be reminded of what happened to the damned fool formerly known as Lucifer.
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Doug Senko
Doug Senko • diaspora
God wants critical thinking. That’s what he/she told me, anyway….😉
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Clara Listensprechen
Clara Listensprechen friendica
TX GOP then and now ignores huge gobs of what's in the evangelical Bible. Jesus is quoted as saying that the meek shall inherit the earth and there's not a damn thing evangelicals do that is meek. Jesus is quoted as saying that public worship for show is part and parcel of what made Pharisees vipters, and there's not one evangelical that doesn't go all Pharisee mode on everybody.
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