Oklahoma is not widely seen as one of the most salubrious of the united states in terms of its climate or geography or political culture or friendliness to the arts or promotion of science. It’s seen more as the state that combines the worst aspects of Texas and Arkansas, along with its fame as the spot Andrew Jackson chose as the destination for all the Native Americans he kicked out of fertile farmland in the southern states.
So I guess they decided to put a big ribbon on all that, by voting to ban advanced history classes in Oklahoma public high schools.
Unaware that their state has become a satire on the folly of man, an Oklahoma legislative committee overwhelmingly voted to ban Advanced Placement U.S. History classes because these classes “only teach what is bad about America” and fail to teach “American exceptionalism.”
Which variety of American exceptionalism? That long period when America was an exceptional slave state?
It would appear that irony has also been banned in the state, as Education Week has ranked Oklahoma 48th out of fifty states for overall education.
Hey, why settle for 48th place when you can aim for dead last?
They want Oklahoman exceptionalism, I guess.
Now there’s another bright idea.
The Oklahoma government, which has essentially become Sally Kern spinning a wheel and selecting random things to ban, is moving forward on legislation that bans government employees from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
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When asked about the anti-gay bills, Rep. Kern, who once claimed that gay people were a bigger threat to the U.S. than terrorism, had this to say: “We work for the people of Oklahoma, not the federal courts. We need to stand for those who believe in the time-tested institution of marriage, which is one man and one woman, and who believe in a foundation for what is right and wrong. We have men and women in black robes taking away our rights.”
Well she’s right, she and her colleagues don’t work for the federal courts, but oddly enough that doesn’t mean they’re not bound by federal court rulings. It’s a slightly different thing. I don’t work for gravity, but I still have to pay attention to the law of it.