Hussein in the Membrane (SBOE again)

[sonias]

Texas Tribune 5/21/10
Hussein in the Membrane

Sometime after 11 p.m. Thursday, having bickered for some 14 hours like the children whose interests they're charged with representing, State Board of Education members failed to agree even on a vote to adjourn the meeting.

(snip)
That came a while after Rick Agosto, D-San Antonio — admittedly "a little toasty" — had told board conservatives they could stick Confederate President Jefferson Davis’s inaugural address "where the sun don’t shine." That preceded another set-to commenced by David Bradley, R-Beaumont, who couldn’t resist making a motion to add the "Hussein" to President Barack Obama’s name.

(snip)
"Honoring" the commander in chief

The "Hussein" amendment came after board conservatives rewriting the history standards had deemphasized slavery, questioned New Deal entitlements and mandated study of the “optimism” of “thankful” immigrants. Democrat Allen made a motion to add the name of Barack Obama to the standards. It seemed a minor copy edit: He merely wanted the president’s name in a standard that already mentioned the year of his election as a turning point and noted the "first black president."

Bradley sprang into action. "I’d like to make a motion to insert his middle name, Hussein," he said. Asked why — it was the first time any discussion of any of official's middle name had come up — Bradley played dumb. “He’s the president of the United States, and I think we should give him the honor and privilege of his full name." He insisted the board had done the same for "John Fitzgerald Kennedy" and "Ronald Wilson Reagan."

Some other members were dumbfounded: The Arabic sounding name has been widely used as an epithet in conservative circles and is closely tied to the contention that Obama isn’t an American citizen. "I think it’s pretty obvious what you’re trying to do," said Bob Craig, a moderate Republican from Lubbock. "And I don’t think it’s correct that we’ve used the middle names for other presidents." (That was true, Lowe confirmed shortly later; the board follows whatever style a particular president prefers for his name.)

The dick cheney, David Bradley (R wing nut to the x power) withdrew his motion eventually. :mad:

[sonias]

1. SBOE member proposes adding "Barack Hussein Obama" to social studies curriculum

Fort Worth Star-Telegram 5/21/10
SBOE member proposes adding "Barack Hussein Obama" to social studies curriculum

"The intent behind what you"re doing, I think, is pretty obvious," board member Bob Craig of Lubbock said after his fellow Republican, David Bradley of Beaumont, offered the amendment. "I just don"t that"s correct."

"We don"t have to insult the president of the United States," Lawrence A. Allen Jr., a Houston Democrat and an African-American, told Bradley. "I"m asking you to please withdraw your amendment."

Another member, Mary Helen Berlanga, D-Corpus Christi, said the motion would be "humiliating" to the nation"s first African-American president.

"I"ll put an end to the whining," Bradley said. "I"ll withdraw the motion."

"I don"t consider it whining," snapped Mavis B. Knight, D-Dallas, an African-American.

The board accepted Allen's amendment to specifically note that Obama is the nation"s first black president.

Bradley is a petty, petty bully. :grr:

[sonias]

2. Texas Board Of Education Tried To Keep Word 'Slave' Out Of 'Slave Trade'

Huffington Post 5/21/10
Texas Board Of Education Tried To Keep Word 'Slave' Out Of 'Slave Trade'
(snip)
Also Thursday, the board long debated whether to include Confederate President Jefferson Davis' inaugural address with a lesson on Abraham Lincoln's philosophical views; the board decided to require students to contrast the two views. A proposal to refer to the slave trade as the "Atlantic triangular trade" was changed to call it the "trans-Atlantic slave trade."

One of the board's most outspoken conservatives, Republican Don McLeroy, offered the amendment requiring students to evaluate efforts by global organizations to undermine U.S. sovereignty. He argued that efforts to "put us under world court" and to "impose the sovereignty of Americas under treaties that have been signed with these United Nations organizations" were threats to individual freedom and liberty.

Another Republican amendment dropped the study of a landmark 1949 federal court ruling that declared schools could not legally segregate Mexican American students, even though the practice remained popular in Texas for decades. But Craig successfully restored it.

:crazy: