out in the mountains We frame ow» old maga- zines, movie posters, old ads, theater & ii ~« . . “ concert programs Does history hide in your bureau drawer? If you have a collection of interesting stuff from days gone by. don‘t hide it, Frame Our certified framers will preserve your valuable ephemera in archival frames for permanent enjoyment. & tickets. record albums. baseball cards. buttons, autographs... ' MUN SAI fl 9 'illN lll h OUT in the MOUNTAINS Views: Welcome Bac 1 8th Century s one of the millions who clung to at glimmer of hope that the American elec- torate might come to an insightful realization about George W. Bush. sadly l — along with the rest of us — now have to deal with being held hostage to the most monstrous administration in Anierican history. As a history teacher. l .s‘a_\' that with a bit of expertise on the subject. lt took less than a day after Btish was re-elected for the Texas School Board to order an enormous supply of new textbooks on subjects ranging from history to sex education. Why should this matter to those of us hiding otit in VT’? Most textbooks distributed in the US are printed and approved by the Texas School Board. In many states below the Mason/Dixon line it is currently illegal to teach evolu- tion in public schools. Having taught history for four years. l can honestly say that the information in high school his- tory books distributed in public schools already reads like a propa- ganda ad for the religious right. Although the names throughout his- tory are accurate. the events are slanted to the point of being prima- rily fictional. For example. I’d be will- ing to bet that not one student in the US public school system could explain the true reason the Revolutionary War broke out. The bottom line is that George Washington. in tcmis of personal wealth. was the Bill Gates of his time. And Samuel Adams. along with a handful of other elitist propa- gandists, spun the British taxation story saying that it unfairly was bankrupting every American citizen. When in fact the only Americans paying extremely high taxes to the British were the super wealthy. However. as wc‘ve seen in the past several months. it only takes a small group of highly vocal people to rally the masses by stay- ing on message — whether or not the message has a grain of truth in it. But the Puritan right Wing's rcligiouscrusade didn't end with abolishing the teaching of evo- lution. Sex-ed has been taught in public schools for over two decades. But thanks to Bush and his team of moral crusaders the lan- guage has been changed to gender- specific, opposite-sex terms only. Deleting the teacliing of contracep- tion and adding abstinence in its place have also been directed. These changes hate invigorated the religious right to come out voting in flocks with bibles in hand. Which begs the question w hat exactly are they so afraid oi‘? The writing is already on the wall that Rm’ r ll/mic’ will be ovcrtumed as soon as a few more radical conservatives are appointed to the Supreme Court. Apparently. the separation of church and state was abolished along with tiiticli of k to the us. using the words ‘radical (‘hristian extremists.’ And who in their right mind could blame them" ()l' course. lying and deceiving the .-\meric:in public for huge profits is nothing new. And the conipl;icenc_\ Americans shim met these numerous atrocities throughout our lllslt)r_\ is liorrif_\ing. as long as the countries we tmade and the people we ttiaini and kill have dark skirt. After all. those peo- ple aren't ('hristians. so god appar- ently has no problem with tis killing tlicni. One can only hope that somehow, someday. humanity in its niany religious deiiomitiations will reali/e that we're all the same and all religions have the same monotheistic concepts based on the same basic principles. Thomas Jefferson said. “l)emocrac_\' can never work with- out an informed electorate." No truer words have ever been spoken. Let this election he a wake up call to those of us who still remember that this country has (at least the In many states below the Masonlnlxon line It Is currently Illegal to teach evolution In public schools. our individual rights contained within the (fonstittttioii when the l’A'l‘Rl()'l' Act was passed. To pro- tect us from terrorism. of course. l)tiring the three presiden- tial debates Kerry never mentioned the horrilic nttmber of civilian deaths in Iraq and /\l'gh:inisian the US government is solely responsi- blc for. As of this writing. the civil- ian dcath count in Iraq is l3t)_t)t)tl. Many cities and villages have virtu- ally been erascd from existence. Yct Bu.sli's campaign was centered around ‘moral values‘ and protec- tion from terrorism. l’i'ioi' to the US invading atid mass killing of the Iraqi people. tltere were no terror- ists in Iraq. no threats against the US, and no impending danger. By using the words ‘Muslim extremists‘ the adininis'tra- tion has convinced a frightened majority of the US population that we must act now. Rest assured. their Middle Eastern counterparts are saying exactly the same about remains of) a constitution. If we don't work together now, guys can look forward to a return of the da_\ s where they will be kept in .'i's_\'ltlltIs to contain their illness. and women will see their right to choose erased from the history books. in the name til" god. Madalyn Murray ()'llaii. where are you tiow'.".".’ I ask that you join me in forming a grassroots effort to battle tltc religious right in an attempt to reclaim otir basic ('ottstittitiona| rights. We can begin by rclcntlcssly mass mailing tll‘ cinailing congress- tnatt and scitators across the cotitttry atid insist that our voices be licitrd. If you‘d like to get involved fortit- ing such a group and helping with it strategy. I can be emailed at: l)C()()l(Bllt‘llllgl()ll0"1|()l.C0ltl. V Paul Cook is an uclii-'i.s'I / writer / cmmrrlirm and u cmilrilmlor In Frontiers Magazine and The Progressive. He lives‘ in Burlington.