Back to 5th Grade

May I suggest that every politician in the United States go back to 5^thgrade and stay there until they learn four basic rules of being a good student —and a decent and functioning human being.

 

1. Back up your opinions with facts from reputable sources. 

 

2. Don’t make up new facts. 

 

3. Answer the question the teacher asks.

 

4. Raise your hand, wait your turn and listen to others. 

 

I sometimes teach students the things they need to know by showing them how bad it is when things are done wrong— clapping on the beat to jazz, playing recorder with terrible posture, not keeping a beat while dancing, etc. 

 

If I wanted to teach them the above three rules via the “here how not to do it,” I know have the perfect source—the recent debates. With 90% of the above transgressions coming from the Republican side. Already Pence’s claims have been fact-checked as “wrong, wrong, wrong, and again, wrong (the number of new jobs just one example of several flagrant lies). And though there were two questions that Senator Harris didn’t end up answering straight on, Pence did not answer just about every question. (If I were moderator, I would simply say, “thank you for the interesting dance around the question, but now answer the actual question!”) As for number 4 above, well, watch the Presidential Debate. 

 

See you all back in 5^thgrade!