Why America’s Schools Desperately Need American Government and Civics Classes ASAP

We don’t have to think alike or act alike or vote alike in this country. That’s what freedom is all about: being free to make your own choices in these United States. But everyone who lives here should KNOW how our democracy actually works. Unfortunately, this current Presidential election has shown that too many voters (and would-be voters) have no clue about how American government is supposed to work.

Over 200 years ago, our Founding Fathers created a remarkable framework to ensure steady and reliable operations of government on all levels for its citizens. They called it the Constitution.

Too bad too many Americans haven’t read it or even understood it. I don’t have to take any polls to prove that. I just have to listen to Trump. Or watch his supporters as they smart off to CNN reporter Randi Kaye (and former reporter/news anchor for WCCO-TV in Minneapolis). Trump supporters really don’t get it. They don’t even understand why their ideas and smart-ass responses make them so clueless.

If you didn’t know something and someone pointed out how much you didn’t know, wouldn’t you WANT to find out more information so that you COULD KNOW? Not these voters.

Let me give a few examples of this unfortunate development among our citizenry. And note, I’m not calling these ignorant citizens stupid or deplorable. I’m merely giving examples of their ignorance and wondering why most of them seem so proud — and defiant — about their own ignorance.

Example #1: Everyone in this country has the right to a fair trial. Everyone — that includes citizens and non-citizens alike, people with prior criminal records, and anyone and everyone who appears to be guilty.

That also means if you must stand trial and cannot afford an attorney to defend you, the court will provide one for you.

Even if you’ve never read the Constitution, you can check out any episode of “Law&Order” and watch this Right in action.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate for the Presidency, used to work as an attorney. At some point in her practice of law, she defended a man who was accused, then ultimately convicted, of rape. The details in this case remain sketchy because her opponent Donald Trump brought it up and that’s his MO. He’s always been few and far between on facts but high on hyperbole — all the better to twist reality, my fellow Americans.

Somehow he’s twisted her defense of this client into proof that she’s “abused and bullied women.” Unbelievable.

What’s even more unbelievable, though, is how so many of Trump’s loyalists are buying into his distorted thinking. Remember, we don’t know the circumstances behind her defense. Whether or not she was defending someone pro bono or the judge appointed her to act as the accused’s attorney or the accused was a paying client — WE DON’T KNOW. But the circumstances don’t matter. Hillary Clinton was doing her job as an attorney by defending someone who was found guilty of a crime, and her conduct was perfectly legal and ethical.

But if you don’t understand how the Constitution actually works in her particular case, you’re fair game for a fascist demagogue like Trump.

Example #2: Everyone in this country is innocent until proven guilty. By now Hillary Clinton must be in The Guinness Book of World Records as the American who’s been the most guilty for not doing anything illegal. What’s even more amazing is that she achieved this status without any valid charges or evidence against her. She’s never even gone to trial. Needless to say, she’s never done any jail time, either.

But that hasn’t stopped the Republicans from calling her a criminal.

This year, it was her mishandling of the e-mails. Before that, she killed a co-worker who had committed suicide. (???)

Then when her political opponents realized how baseless and silly their accusations were, they came up with a new strategy. They still said she was guilty. But they started saying that she got away with her criminal behavior just because she was Hillary Clinton. And she was going to keep getting away with everything unless someone — always a Republican someone — would finally stop her and put her in jail.

Really? She keeps getting away with murder because so many people love her so much?

Example #3: In America, you cannot jail your political opponents if they don’t think or act or vote like you. The latest case in point came during last Sunday’s second debate. Not only did Trump threaten to sic the Attorney General on her if he became President, he revealed that imprisoning her would be a foregone conclusion in the Trump administration.

Here’s the actual exchange from that debate.

Trump’s bombshell went like this: “I didn’t think I’d say this but I’m going to say it, and I hate to say it, but if I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation because there has never been so many lies, so much deception, there has never been anything like it and we’re going to have a special prosecutor.”

Clinton countered by encouraging Americans to fact-check his charges on her website. After stressing the importance of real facts and reality, she added, “…you know, it is, it’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country — “

Then, determined to get the last word in, he interrupted her with, “Because you would be in jail.”

What can I say? There’s not much I can add here except if you don’t understand why Donald Trump has the makings of a fascist dictator, you don’t know anything about our Constitution.

And you really do need help, as in three years of History and Government and a lot of Civics seminars.

After 20 years of watching nothing but Fox Faux News and NOT reading any newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals, voters have demonstrated that they don’t know and they don’t know that they don’t know. But now they’ve also gotten too complacent to do anything about their complacency.

At least with some factual information available in our schools, via Civics and Government classes, their children and grandchildren might be able to make better political choices and understand what they’re doing.