Lincoln foresaw the betrayal of the Republic

March 26, 1997

"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country ... corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war. God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless."

It's taken more than a century but, as things now stand, Lincoln's words ring eloquently prophetic. The money power of the country has taken control of the United States and is endeavoring to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people — prejudices which it has carefully nurtured, especially during the last three and a half decades.

The saddest part of this story has been the failure of society's watchdog — the newspaper industry — to do its job. Instead, the big dailies have marched in step just as they are told to do.

Reference March 23's Houston Chronicle "Outlook" page, where The Chronicle's editorial board calls for the elimination of elected oversight of public education. The big daily isn't concerned about whether the debate on the current — elected — State Board of Education is over issues of significance; rather, their concern is that a minority of those elected to oversee our state's educational system don't play nicely with others.

It shouldn't be surprising, actually, to see The Chronicle take that stance; after all, they've been goose-stepping right along with the New Utopian agenda from the onset. You don't even have to read the biased reports out of their Austin bureau or the decided slant toward left-wingers like Alma Allen and Cecile Richards for verification that The Chronicle is well and fully behind this wave of social engineering: check out the in-house ads the paper runs for "Chronicle Classroom Subscriptions."

On Jan. 28, 1997, for example — the same day our erstwhile Governor called the TEKS "mush" — Page 17A of The Chronicle features ads for such wonderful newspaper-in-the-classroom activities as "Creative Comics," "News in Bloom," "Life Skills in the News," "Celebrate the Differences" and "Earth Watch."

Yessiree, for the price of a classroom subscription to The Chronicle, you can ensure your child will learn all about how to understand comic strips — including lessons on Values and Human Behavior and Social Problems and Issues.

Perhaps you'd rather do "News in Bloom:" "The logical structure of Bloom's taxonomy promotes how individuals think and learn," The Chronicle's ad notes. Using Bloom's taxonomy — the foundation upon which Mastery Learning, Outcome-Based Education and New Standards are all built, by the way — students have the chance for "a meaningful learning experience."

Wanna learn about "Life Skills?" Yep, teachers can learn kids all about how to be "critical thinkers." Kids will learn about "analyzing, evaluating, comprehending and interpreting" by reading The Chronicle — and, of course, by clipping the coupons.

If your kids get tired of all that analysis, perhaps they'd rather "Celebrate the Differences." Hot Dawg! "Two teachers' guides in one binder help your students to think globally and act locally by understanding, accepting and valuing differences, as well as celebrating diversity in their school and community."

Bring your own party hats.

Let's not forget that scientific angle: I gather that "Earth Watch" enables students to learn how to reduce consumption of non-name-brand goods, save the rain forests in other countries and be kind to animals.

Since they're promoting the very same program of political brainwashing being promoted everywhere else in this country — from the Carnegie Foundation and its "old-money" buddies, to Bill & Hillary Clinton and their friends at the National Center on Education and the Economy, to George Bush Jr. and the Texas Education Agency — I can't say I didn't expect The Chronicle to take any stand other than the one it did.

What really does perturb me is the fact that they're doing it all so blatantly, fully in the public eye, and the public is shrugging its collective shoulder and saying, "Oh, well ...."

It wouldn't surprise me to see tears running down the cheeks of the statue housed in the Lincoln memorial.