Homeschooling for George W. Bush
I don't recall a story that better illustrates the culture of insulation that is the flyboy's White House.
"As one of 12 siblings taught at home by their parents in St. Croix Falls, Wis., Abram Olmstead knew he would fit right in at Patrick Henry College, the first college primarily for evangelical Christian home-schoolers. But what really sold him was the school's pipeline into conservative politics.
"Of the nearly 100 interns working in the White House this semester, 7 are from the roughly 240 students enrolled in the four-year-old Patrick Henry College, in Purcellville. An eighth intern works for the president's re-election campaign. A former Patrick Henry intern now works on the paid staff of the president's top political adviser, Karl Rove. Over the last four years, 22 conservative members of Congress have employed one or more Patrick Henry interns in their offices or on their campaigns, according to the school's records."
Well, golly. If that don't beat all.
So, apparently these kids -- no doubt bright-eyed and earnest -- who have led lives sheltered from public school, kids unlike themselves, culture that hasn't been "approved" by their parents, ideas that their parents haven't thought of, professional science teachers, or anything else outside the sheltered confines of their suburban homes, parents, and 10 or 12 other siblings, are apparently so highly thought of by the Bush administration and other conservatives in Congress, they are sought after beyond all proportion (actually, it would be interesting to compare these numbers with say, graduates of the John F Kennedy School of Government).
Apparently, these folks, who retreated from the secular world now are eager to influence the public debate.
"Mingling in the corridors of the White House and Congress is also a long way from the sense of retreat at the heart of the Christian home-schooling movement. It began in the early 1980's as a few thousand evangelical Christians began teaching their children at home in disgust at what they considered the increasingly secular, relativistic and irreligious culture ascendant around them — exemplified by the ban on prayer, the teaching of evolution and the promotion of contraception in the public schools."
No to mention Janet Jackson.
Or "shock jocks," like that potty mouth, Sandra Tsing Loh.
Sandra, by the way, exacts her revenge tonight on "Marketplace."
"As one of 12 siblings taught at home by their parents in St. Croix Falls, Wis., Abram Olmstead knew he would fit right in at Patrick Henry College, the first college primarily for evangelical Christian home-schoolers. But what really sold him was the school's pipeline into conservative politics.
"Of the nearly 100 interns working in the White House this semester, 7 are from the roughly 240 students enrolled in the four-year-old Patrick Henry College, in Purcellville. An eighth intern works for the president's re-election campaign. A former Patrick Henry intern now works on the paid staff of the president's top political adviser, Karl Rove. Over the last four years, 22 conservative members of Congress have employed one or more Patrick Henry interns in their offices or on their campaigns, according to the school's records."
Well, golly. If that don't beat all.
So, apparently these kids -- no doubt bright-eyed and earnest -- who have led lives sheltered from public school, kids unlike themselves, culture that hasn't been "approved" by their parents, ideas that their parents haven't thought of, professional science teachers, or anything else outside the sheltered confines of their suburban homes, parents, and 10 or 12 other siblings, are apparently so highly thought of by the Bush administration and other conservatives in Congress, they are sought after beyond all proportion (actually, it would be interesting to compare these numbers with say, graduates of the John F Kennedy School of Government).
Apparently, these folks, who retreated from the secular world now are eager to influence the public debate.
"Mingling in the corridors of the White House and Congress is also a long way from the sense of retreat at the heart of the Christian home-schooling movement. It began in the early 1980's as a few thousand evangelical Christians began teaching their children at home in disgust at what they considered the increasingly secular, relativistic and irreligious culture ascendant around them — exemplified by the ban on prayer, the teaching of evolution and the promotion of contraception in the public schools."
No to mention Janet Jackson.
Or "shock jocks," like that potty mouth, Sandra Tsing Loh.
Sandra, by the way, exacts her revenge tonight on "Marketplace."
posted by John at 6:45 PM
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