The Constitutional Alamo

The Goldwater Institute hired an independent firm to conduct a survey among Arizona eighth graders.  The results are sad, but expected.  The next wave of liberal voters is on the way.

by Michael Naragon

Among the questions asked by the Goldwater survey were such puzzlers as “What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?” and “Who was the first president of the United States?”

The full report will be released shortly, but here are ten of the questions asked, along with the percentage of students who answered them correctly.  To pass, the students had only to correctly answer six of the ten questions, pulled at random from a pool of questions from the U.S. citizenship exam.  Only 3.5% of the students, all from government schools, passed the test.  That’s about 40 out of a total of 1,134.  Please save your disgust until you read all ten.

1. What is the supreme law of the land?  Answer: The Constitution (29.5% answered correctly)
2. What do we call the first 10 amendments to the Constitution?  Answer: The Bill of Rights (25%)
3. What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?  Answer: Senate and House (23%)
4. How many Justices are on the Supreme Court?  Answer: Nine (9.4%)
5. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?  Answer: Jefferson (25.3%)
6. What ocean is on the East Coast of the United States?  Answer: Atlantic (58.8%)
7. What are the two major political parties in the United States?  Answer: Democrat and Republican (49.6%)
8. We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years?  Answer: Six (14.5%)
9. Who was the first President of the United States?  Answer: Washington (26.5%)
10. Who is in charge of the Executive Branch?  Answer: The President (26%)

These findings are not surprising to anyone who has seen the yearly results from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s civics survey, given to seniors at the nation’s most prestigious universities.  The average score on this year’s ISI exam among all Americans?  49%.  Among college educators?  55%!  The questions asked?  “What are the three branches of government?”  “What is one freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment?”

You can take the quiz yourself here.  And when you pass the exam and scoff at those who did not, just remember… they are likely to be registered voters or ACORN activists.  Their pitifully ignorant brains will stand in the same voting booth as you and pull the lever for the ones they’ve been told to support (i.e., Democrats).  Education is the most important battlefield in the war for American Constitutionalism, and we must commit ourselves to the fight, lest we be washed away in a tidal wave of idiocy.

You can also take the 2007-2008 quiz (average score among college seniors: 53.2%).