None of that "book learnin"

Via ThinkProgress we learn that our old friend Chris Buttars has had a brainstorm about how to fix the state budget:

The sudden buzz over the relative value of senior year stems from a recent proposal by state Sen. Chris Buttars that Utah make a dent in its budget gap by eliminating the 12th grade. The notion quickly gained some traction among supporters who agreed with the Republicanâs assessment that many seniors frittered away their final year of high schoolâ¦

We last encountered Buttars when he tried to push creationism in Utah's schools under the moniker "divine design," and you may recall his remarks about gays being "the greatest threat to America." He also thinks Brown v. Board of Education was wrongly decided. Somehow he remains in elective office.

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Some of you may remember the story of Chris Buttars, the Utah state legislator who submitted a bill to require the teaching of "divine design" in public school science classrooms in that state. That led to a couple of long exchanges between myself and John West, associate director of the Discovery…
Via the Salt Lake Tribune, we learn that Utah's "divine design" advocate has been watching too much HGTV, and not enough History Channel: "I don't think there's a racial [sic] bone in my body," Buttars said in an interview on radio station KCPW Tuesday. "I don't see black and white. I see people. I…
The recent spasms of reaction from Utat state Senator Chris Buttars in many ways echoes the entire ID movement over the last few years. If one were to describe the strategic plans of the ID movement in that time, it might well be called the Incredible Shrinking Agenda. First they wanted ID taught…
And continues to get more ridiculous as well. This Chris Buttars is some piece of work. It's frightening that someone this badly education could have any influence at all on how children are educated, but that's electoral politics for you. You'll recall from the other day that the Utah…

The local news websites don't have it posted yet, but this morning (Feb 16) they were reporting that he now wants emergency rooms to able to refuse patients.

Anymore when I here the name Butters, I don't how, but I know I'll end up gobsmacked. It does not end with this guy.

Huh, shocking that a Republican would be for advocating for getting rid of public schools! I mean they're so into intellectualism, science, art, etc., you'd think they would want to add more grades, not less. Oh, shit, you meant Republicans on EARTH. Never mind.

"Divine design?" Yeah, cause all ID needed was a bit of alliteration and the idea would have taken right the fuck off, eh?

Oh, and just as an aside, I think this is a perfect example of what I see as the difference between Republicans and Dems. Both Repubs and Dems see a problem: seniors in high school don't work that hard and they "fritter" time away (nice old-timey language there). I can sorta agree, I was a bit lazy senior year, mostly because I had already gotten into college and only had to graduate to move on (which is a BIG reason seniors slack off, they don't NEED to work). But a Dem solution would be encouraging things like education for employment, internships, etc., i.e., things that would change the typical senior's experience with their last year of school. The Republican solution? Just get rid of the last year. The difference being, of course, that with the Dem solution, seniors would be getting education, experience, and other good things while avoiding the drudgery of classwork, while the Repub solution just means a bunch of students that don't get a last chance to improve their grades or learn anything new, but they can sure get a job at Mickey D's! Unless of course a student who actually got a full education shows up for that McD's job, in which case you might get to mop the floors while the real graduate manages you ;)

By Rob Monkey (not verified) on 17 Feb 2010 #permalink

Not since Moral Orel and his father has America had, or needed, such political and spiritual leadership. Get the worthless loafers out of the house and working as day laborers. Then we'll hear no more criticism of the old man.

College turns your boy into a dope smoker and your daughter into a lesbian, and both into atheists. They learn to worship Karl Marx and Charles Darwin and spit on Jesus. What do the kids spend the last year of high school doing? Preparing for college!

They've already learned all they need to know, but not all some ACLU committee thinks they should know.

Senator Buttars is the last of a dying breed!

By Marion Delgado (not verified) on 17 Feb 2010 #permalink