just look at them and sigh ♫

 

I was so enthusiastic when I read in Carl Sferrazza Anthony's book, "Jackie had seen the film The Third Man..." but then he finished the sentence "...a contemporary spy story set in postwar Vienna..."

The Third Man is not about spies.

Not about spies, or espionage.

So my faith in the solid scholarship of this book, Camera Girl, was somewhat shaken.  Writing that The Third Man is a spy story would be like if I wrote that Gone With The Wind is a story about people in Canada.

        I mean, it's just wrong.

And this makes me question, or wonder about, the rest of the book -- what else did he get wrong?

        Am I being too perfectionistic?

        (Is that a word?)

___________________________

On You Tube there's a video titled:

America Keeps Me Up At Night with Dr. Richard Haass

channel / uploader -- Anthony Scaramucci

        It's good to listen to.  They discuss how civics (social studies) got de-emphasized in K-12 education, resulting in a majority of our citizens ignoring politics and not voting.

        Dr. Haass said he thought civics kind of got crowded out, over the years, by demands that schools teach some other things.  I could relate to that -- when I worked for schools in the '90s, going to the legislature, I soon learned one of their favorite things to do is pass a new law that schools must teach kids -- this.

Or that.

Or another new thing, to help the students, and help American society.

People who introduce this type of legislation mean well -- it's like this joke that lobbyists tell, based on a true occurrence -- a lobbyist was visiting with a state representative and wanted him to vote for his bill, but he was tired and he just summarized:  "It's a good bill."  

        Like -- he was simply exhausted, as everyone gets by the end.  Didn't want to go into a list or a diatribe -- just, you know, it's -- it's a good bill.

They're all "good bills" to make the schools teach another new thing, but then superintendents and school boards often point out -- 'the plate is already full, what other item do you want us to remove, to make room for this new thing you're mandating for us to teach the students?'

Then the proponent might tend to bluster, "What should you drop? -- well, art! music! sports!"  But then you know how that goes.

So -- I don't know, but something gets either dropped or squeezed smaller, and that expert believes civics has been de-emphasized, or "squeezed down," and so consequently people don't think about voting.

--------------------------------

...Bringing to our minds the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song,

"Teach Your Children"

Type that in on You Tube and listen -- there's a video uploaded by Tom Page that has good sound, and others to choose from as well.

♪ ♪ ♫

You -- who are on the road

Must have a code -- you try to live by

And so -- become yourself

Because the past -- is just a good-bye

Teach -- your children well...

-30-