Sep 25, 2009
Obama proposes a new civics program
Over on the Breaking News page we report that Obama wants to kill 3 civics programs and replace them with a new one at a slightly higher funding level.
What's clear from the administration's explanation is that it does not foresee making a major commitment to civics.
Too bad.
This is consistent with Obama's campaign. He seems to have no interest in civics per se. His identification of the limits of American democracy extends to only two subjects: 1. the influence of special interests and 2. partisan bickering.
Both of these are indeed problems. But the far bigger challenge we face is the gross ignorance of civics (broadly defined). That dwarfs these other problems.