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Americans are ill-prepared to guide the world's most powerful democracy. Only 2 of 5 voters can name the three branches of the federal government. And 49 percent of Americans think the president has the authority to suspend the Constitution. The severity of the problem snapped into focus after Sept. 11, 2001, when polls showed that a large number of Americans knew little about the attacks and the Iraq war that followed. Americans did little to seek the truth. "As became irrefutably clear in scientific polls undertaken after 9/11...millions of Americans simply cannot fathom the twists and turns that complicated debates take.
What do you expext when our schools are substandard, children would rather be a movie star than a doctor or teacher, and the average news broadcast caters to someone with an eighth grade education?
I've lived here since I was 5 (30 now) and I only know the answer b'c I had to study it for my citizenship test when I was 20. I remember studying it in grade school but it didn't actually "sink in" until I had to know it for the test. I bet American immigrants know more about the political system than American borns. Sad sad sad
I've lived here since I was 5 (30 now) and I only know the answer b'c I had to study it for my citizenship test when I was 20. I bet American immigrants know more about the political system than American borns. Sad sad sad
It is so funny you say that because a friend of mine became a citizen a few years ago and we had a party for her. Of course we made her recite all of her knowledge and many people at the party were feeling pretty silly because they did not know the answers!
It is so funny you say that because a friend of mine became a citizen a few years ago and we had a party for her. Of course we made her recite all of her knowledge and many people at the party were feeling pretty silly because they did not know the answers!
It's sad to say but so true! Jay Leno used to have a citizenship test clip where he got one of his guys to go on the streets of L.A. and asked random people Citizenship/current events/politics type questions. Pretty shameful that many could not answer the easiest questions (stripes on the American flag, for example).
You know a LOT of jobs require continuing education to stay on the job... I wouldn't mind demanding Americans aged 18-55 require to understand the constitution in order to vote via an annual test... I suspect Congress and the executive branch wouldn't like it because then everyone would know they have overstepped their power a lot...
I have a better idea. Since we can assume that most people with high IQ also have decent jobs. why not just make everybody pay $500 for a voter's regiistration card?
That would also save the cost of giving everybody an IQ test, which would have to be done by the private sector, because only republicans would win electins, and the private sector would charge $500 each to do the tests.
you can't "suspend" the constitution but war powers give a president a whole lot of power that he normally does not possess.
as to IQ test, there was a time that only landed elite voted. them days are over.
obama 08
Last edited by Huckleberry3911948; 09-20-2008 at 05:46 PM..
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