A Right and Righteous “Zeal”
Posted: Sunday, August 7th, 2011 at 9:12 am
By: SATP
That Board is fortunate to have Ken Mercer—a former State Representative and friend of the San Antonio Tea Party—as a member. Ken represents District 5, which includes 1.85 million constituents in twelve counties including Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Comal, Gillespie, Guadalupe, Hays, Kendall, Llano and parts of Bell, Bexar, and Travis.The following is Ken’s recent op-ed submission to San Antonio Express-News, in response to its earlier editorial.
Thank you for allowing me to respond to your editorial in which you referred to me as a conservative ‘zealot” on the State Board of Education (SBOE).
True, I will not always agree 100% with academic “experts” who come before the SBOE. True, there is a “culture war” of political ideology and philosophy, especially in the area of new standards for American History, Government, and Economics.
It might interest members of the Chamber of Commerce to know that “experts” had deleted every reference to the free enterprise and free market system in the K through Grade 12 draft version of the Social Studies standards.
Because I certainly could not agree with these “experts,” I successfully brought forward and passed the amendment, complying with Texas law, to restore the teaching of the positive benefits of the free market for creating jobs and opportunities.
Another example: A panel of university “experts,” led by a professor from the University of Texas at El Paso, voted 8-1 against American Exceptionalism.
When I questioned that action at a public SBOE hearing, the “expert” immediately launched into a lecture about how wonderful Socialism is in a “good democracy.”
When I asked the UTEP professor for his example of a good democracy, he replied “Venezuela.” I reminded him that the President of Venezuela has made sure that the state has control of every newspaper, radio, and television station in that country.
One Ph.D. “expert” testified that “high school students are unqualified to ask questions.” I countered that if our children are no longer allowed to raise their hands in class and ask honest questions, then we are no longer living in a place called the United States of America.
A professor from the University of Texas at Austin shared a survey that included 51 professors from the History Department. Fifty answered “Democrat” when asked their political affiliation.
While we SBOE members were searching for examples of good role models for our minority students, one “expert” pushed for a current board member of the Democrat Socialist Party of America.
My amendment deleted the Socialist and added Navy Seaman Philip Bazaar, the first Hispanic recipient of the Medal of Honor, and Army Sgt. William Carney, the first African-American recipient of the Medal of Honor.
Finally, “experts” deleted Veteran’s Day, Independence Day, and the Liberty Bell from the Grades 3-4 Social Studies standards. “Experts” also raised a concern about the use of the word “patriot” in the new standards.
My fellow Conservatives and I carried the amendments to restore the coverage of Veteran’s Day, Independence Day, and the Liberty Bell along with many other essential historical elements of America’s history, such as including the word “patriot.”
I also voted to ensure that from K-12, as age appropriate, our students will actually read and study the authorship and purpose of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. Our Texas school students will also study the impact those documents had on such historical milestones as the Emancipation Proclamation and women’s suffrage.
I am sad to report that too many university “experts” range from being America bashers to America haters. Unfortunately this editorial board blindly sides only with those types of “experts.”
I often state, “The Far Left is scared to death of a place called Texas.” Why? Texas has an elected SBOE, not a politically appointed board.
I am a representative of 1.8 million constituents in a very conservative district, and I am not a rubber stamp for the agenda being directed at our public school students by the “Far Left zealots.”
San Antonio Tea Party
Our children today have no identity. We have become a mongrel nation. There is no cohesiveness because multiculturalism has been the ruination of a patriot American nation.
We must get back to teaching our youth that they are Americans…it doesn’t matter where you come from…your own culture and lanugage belong in your home, you have to know about your new nation and become in your heart and soul an AMERICAN, and you do this by learning about your county’s living history. OUT WITH MULTICULTURALISM
Also, what a fistulous phenomenon that so many “PH’D”, phoppish,pheather brained Phellows have metastasized in the halls of American ivy.
GOD Bless You for taking the stand for the children of the Nation whose founders acknowledged that Unalienable Rights come from GOD and not Allah Nor the President
We need more STRONG Americans like this, men and women who are willing to make a stand on their principles. It will take thousands more of us standing and fighting for what is right if we want to keep this country strong, because it’s fading fast under the weight of progressive trash.
I never could understand why all these lovers of socialism, Marxism, and communism feel the crushing need to mold the USA into their progressive Mecca. Most are to foolish to understand that all the rights and privileges they enjoy would be gone under those systems. All the wealthy celebrities who praise these ideas don’t understand that the government would take EVERYTHING, only a select few would be in the HAVE class, if you aren’t one of them yet you wouldn’t be if they took over completely. This is why we have to fight to protect our country. We are the LAST bastion of freedom on the planet. If the USA falls then there is no other place left to go to achieve the dream of religious and political freedom, or the opportunity for a man to start with nothing and rise to become a corporate giant (Bill Gates did it). The American Dream is alive and well, yes and it’s worth fighting for.
Good Man…A Texan will always keep the barbarians from the gate. While progressive socialist marxists are running amok in our nations capital, there is no need for Texans to follow these lemmings with their leader Barack Obama over the cliff. As a Texan, I will however be glad to give them a good natured push, and wish them all a good trip.
It’s high time all elected Conservative officials stand up to the UnAmerican agenda being pushed, like you have! We need to elect more Conservatives at all levels to fight for the American Way.
I thank God for you and for all the others who remain faithful to our Constitution and to our beloved republic, America!
Ken,
Thank you for standing firm and trying to protect our children and grand children from a world where socialism is considerd an acceptable option. We must have someone who will grow up and replace this current breed of teachers and professor with teachers and professeors who want to impart knowledge and not a decayed political philosophy.
Thank you Ken. You are a breath of fresh air. Keep standing strong. Our state and nation needs men like you to represent the true values of America. Again thank you.
If you personally read this, please give me a call or email. There is something I wish to discuss with you.
God Bless You,
Sal
PS: my phone is (removed by webmaster)
Here! Here! Good man, Ken! I’m very glad that I voted for you. Thank you for standing tall.