Beyond the Drivel

As a teacher, I do a lot of talking. And on occasion, my mind is going in one direction and my mouth in another.  So what comes out is pretty nonsensical. “3 times 6 is 36” was today’s blooper.  Usually, I just laugh off these slips with a reminder that we all make mistakes.

            But there’s drivel and then there’s drivel.

            I’m thinking of Rick Santorum, who said that John F. Kennedy's 1960 speech on the separation of church and state made him want to "throw up."  

            Strange, isn’t it, to hear any serious candidate talk about throwing up without having an acute stomach virus?  He’s also said he doesn’t believe the separation of church and state is absolute in America, and that education is the task of parents, not the state or federal government.

            You might assume Santorum is a high school dropout, since he also slammed President Obama for wanting everybody to go to college.  But actually, he has a B.A., M.B.A. and a J.D. So how could he possibly believe what he says? Or does he just believe that if he says it, he stands a better chance of getting elected?  Maybe he’s just incredibly misguided. (Of course, you might want to substitute a different word that I, as a teacher, feel honor-bound not to use.)

            Talking of which, in past years I’ve read Dan Gutman’s The Kid Who Became President with my students. It’s a very funny book about 12-year-old Judson Moon, who runs for President because he says he doesn’t know enough to really screw up the country.  Usually, I laugh along with the kids as we read about the antics of Moon’s first year in office. Luckily, at the end, after he nearly starts a nuclear war, Moon realizes he really just doesn’t know enough and he resigns.

            I didn’t read the book this year.  It just doesn’t seem as funny when the real candidates seem to know even less about what it takes to lead.