How Crazy Can Politics Get?
Republican Governor Jan Brewer, who claimed ... no, it's just too funny. (Talking Points Memo)
Heaven help me, I took a quiz about political trivia and got all the answers right!
Does this mean I’m doomed to be a politics geek? The kind who people see on the street and say, “Oh, no, it’s Rinth! Now we’ll have to listen to 20 minutes about politicians, lobbyists, filibusters, and procedural votes.”
I don’t want to be that girl. I’d much rather be Serena van der Woodsen or Lady Gaga. But politics is important. It’s also ridiculous, which makes its importance kind of peculiar.
New York Times columnist Gail Collins wrote a “July 4th Quiz” for today. I’ve started reading her column because she was my school’s commencement speaker this year, even though I didn’t go to commencement because I don’t graduate until next year.
No, the quiz has nothing about Abigail Adams, the Articles of Confederation, or the Bill of Rights. Instead, the quiz asks about some of the stupidest things that politicians have done in the last year.
For example, question 1 is “Which of the following did NOT happen in Arizona this year?” The possible answers are:
1. Senator John McCain claimed illegal immigrants were deliberately causing fatal car crashes on Arizona highways.
2. Gov. Jan Brewer claimed illegal immigrants were beheading people and leaving the corpses in the desert.
3. Strapped for cash, the state sold its public buildings, including the Capitol.
4. State Legislature voted to require all schoolchildren to be able to recite the Second Amendment to the Constitution.
If you chose answer #1 or answer #2 because they were just too insane to have really happened, you got it wrong.
Yes, Senator McCain did claim that illegal immigrants were deliberately causing fatal car crashes, and Governor Brewer did claim that illegal immigrants were beheading people in the desert.
It’s not stated if the same illegal immigrants were doing both. If so, they might have been beheading people from Senator McCain’s car crashes. Those illegal immigrants are hard workers. It’s possible. 🙂
Other questions are:
- Which of the following did NOT happen in the Senate this year?
- Match the lovebirds.
- Match the apologies.
- Who said the following? (Thank goodness, for once, none of them was Adolf Hitler.)
Take the quiz. You’ll be amazed. Unless you’re a hopeless politics geek like me.
Copyright 2010 by Rinth de Shadley.
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"Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door."
-- Emily Dickinson
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Rinth's Ramblings 
She also claimed that her father was killed by Nazis when in fact, he died of cancer. These people have no sense of shame.
Hi Ben —
I didn’t know that! Thank you.
Forget about shame, what about loyalty? I can’t imagine using a family member’s death that way, as a political talking point. It’s horrible. But I know that sometimes, politicians do that.
Happens on both sides of the aisle way too much. We need to change how potential candidates are chosen.
Hi, David —
Absolutely true! And I hope you won’t mind if I borrow your idea for a short blog article. 🙂