Well, it *IS* kind of true . . .

Last week in my Modern Europe class I did the Evolution Revolution lecture, which I love (but which wasn't as good as I would have liked, maybe b/c I cut out the third of the lecture on Realism so we got out of class early). The theory of evolution's impact on Western society is, I would say, tremendous. Sure, the impact of Christianity on it is also titanic - but only one should be taught in a science classroom. (I did my little soap-box bit in class, although we have also spent about 1/4 of our total class time on religious topics - shit, the class begins with the Reformation). So I don't feel bad about talking about Darwin, Lyell, Wallace, Lamarck, et al for a whole 80 minutes. Imagine how giddy this makes me then - like the guy can just read my mind!!
And yes, the painting is real, and you can learn all about it (Mouseovers!!!!) by visiting the site. Although I think he fundamentally misunderstands what exactly the Constitution is supposed to do (you'll note this in his comments below, #2). As any former American History student of MINE could tell you, or anyone who has read The Federalist Papers would know: the Constitution was specifically written to CREATE A STRONG FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!! The Articles of Confederation were terrible, the Whiskey Rebellion scared the shit out of people, and as Hamilton, Madison, and Jay explain in TFP, a strong federal government was the best possible alternative.

And also, Asshat, how can Patrick Henry be a Founding Father when he voted against ratifying the Constitution (Henry is standing behind JFK)?? (Though yes, I MIGHT attribute that honorific to his role as a leading Anti-Federalist to secure the Bill of Rights, but I'm guessing you knew neither of those things.)

Why I love my job, #2,036

This past semester in my USII class (which apparently went much better than I thought judging by my evaluations, which were, as I always hope them to be, very fair) I used Kinzer's book. I'd used it before in Europe classes, but with the US class, the students absolutely loved it. And it IS in fact a great book. But now, suddenly, Iran has erupted in what seems to be a wide-spread protest movement clamoring for more freedom. And there are at least 30 young folks that have a very good appreciation of the history of the region (Kinzer's first chapter is an outstanding historical survey of the past of ancient Persia, Sunni and Shi'a splits, etc.), American involvement in there - the Kermit-led coup in '53 in particular - and the complexities that led up to the 1979 Revolution. And it makes me happy to know that they can appreciate current events through the lens of the past.
Of course, this compounds my frustration that I have no present job beyond my Presidents class this summer, but that is another matter altogether.

Soapboxing

Well this is the last week of school. I'm uneasy about it. Awesomes: graduating, being finished. Un-Awesomes: what next, where and how, and unsettlement. And evals. I hate unsettlement (sorry to pull a Dobelieu but it's an apt description). I myself have really enjoyed this last semester (much more so than fall), and gotten in some great classes that once or twice more around will become outstanding classes. But not my best work this semester, I feel. Definitely not. But I learned the most, worked the most, so, eh. Whatevs.
Hard however lately in classes to not get on my soapbox. Modern Europe a little difficult w/ McCarthy, and the obvious parallels to Communism and containment, and then Algieria and the FLN and, well, what some people knew years ago. Fun with McCarthy when Repub party is going off the rails. But lately to be frank, it was beyond what even I could have imagined. I was down with getting the Taliban out, knew the historical context, the Afghanistan mess. Cool with that. But Iraq from the beginning I knew just smelled rotten. Never for a moment doubted it was all bullshit. Knew it was being justified by 9-11 though it had nothing to do with it. I'm not unsympathetic - Saddam was a pretty horrible guy, even considering the "long, lamentable catalogue of human crime." [H/t: Sir Winston] Really, you know, it's hard to disagree with the sentiment that 'the world is better off without him.' But everything about the way it was handled was so blasè, so offensively naive and fully-assed (twice as worse as "half-assed"), justified with such BULLSHIT - you don't get to use that justification when you pooch it so badly. And what is coming out now about torture is just really stunning. I am not surprised - I was flying back from Rome when the torture scandal broke - I bought The Economist with the breaking story at Da Vinci. I knew it then. But I never believed I was actually right - there are some very evil people in the world, and they are banal indeed.