by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Ali Frick, Benjamin Armbruster, and Brad Johnson

EDUCATION

A Textbook Case of Misinformation and Bias

Last week, the Center for Inquiry, a Hudson, NY think tank, announced that "a civics textbook used in many secondary schools around the country contains inaccurate and misleading statements, in particular in its analysis of certain constitutional law issues, including school prayer, and global warming." The Center had been notified by Matthew LaClair of Kearny, NJ, a high school senior whose Advanced Placement (AP) Government class uses American Government, written by James Q. Wilson and John DiIulio, Jr. The Center's critique is forcing the book's publisher, Houghton Mifflin, and the College Board (which runs the AP program) to review the book, now in its 11th edition. According to President Bush, Wilson "may be the most influential political scientist in America" and DiIulio is "one of the most influential social entrepreneurs in America." Wilson is the Ronald Reagan Professor for Public Policy at Pepperdine University and the chairman of the Council of Academic Advisors of the conservative American Enterprise Institute. DiIulio, a University of Pennsylvania professor, was the first head of Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives but later became disillusioned with the "Mayberry Machiavellis" inside the White House. By co-authorizing this textbook, DiIulio threatens to jeopardize his impressive academic record on criminal justice and American public life.

GLOBAL WARMING 'ACTIVISTS': The Associated Press reported that LaClair "was particularly upset about the book's treatment of global warming." It is no wonder: the 10th edition he and students across the nation are now using has "a large number of clearly erroneous statements." The book claims that "the scientific community is divided over the issue" and that "activist scientists say that the earth is getting warmer; skeptical ones note that the earth's atmosphere has been getting cooler." Furthermore, it claims, "Science doesn't know whether we are experiencing a dangerous level of global warming or how bad the greenhouse effect is, if it exists at all." Environmentalists are portrayed as "elites who often base their arguments on ideology as much as facts." The section on global warming is illustrated, without explanation, by a photograph of a snowstorm. Despite the publisher's claims that the 11th edition was revised to "reflect current developments in environmental policy research," there are no new citations. Additionally, the revised text still questions the human impact on global warming and misrepresents its effects. Friends of the Earth has launched an e-mail campaign to Houghton Mifflin, and esteemed climate scientists Dr. James Hansen of NASA and Dr. Michael MacCracken have already written to the publisher to voice their objections.

DENIER MACHINE: Of the nine sources cited in the environmental chapter about global warming, five question climate change science. Among them are Bjorn Lomborg's Skeptical Environmentalist, a book found guilty of scientific dishonesty, and Gregg Easterbrook's A Moment on the Earth (cited twice), a book "replete with errors and misinterpretations of the scientific evidence." When prominent climate scientists like Stephen Schneider or public figures such as Al Gore are cited, they are labeled "activists" and contrasted to three "skeptics." The "skeptics" cited are Easterbook, Frederick Seitz -- a solid-state physicist who co-founded the Marshall Institute, a conservative think tank -- and Patrick J. Michaels -- an industry-funded climatologist supported by the Marshall Institute. In addition, Sallie Baliunas, an astrophysicist who claimed the ozone hole didn't exist and also works for the Marshall Institute, is cited twice. Despite the publisher's claim that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is cited, none of the references are from an IPCC publication.

DISTORTING THE CONSTITUTION: With a similar combination of falsehoods and misleading arguments, American Government provides a distorted view of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. For example, it  misrepresents the landmark 2003 Lawrence v. Texas decision that state law may not ban sexual relations between same-sex partners, which The New York Times called a "sweeping declaration of constitutional liberty for gay men and lesbians." The authors falsely write that the six-to-three ruling was a "five-to-four vote" and write, "The benefit was to strike down a law that was rarely enforced," an argument the Supreme Court itself said discloses a "failure to appreciate the extent of the liberty at stake." The coverage of the Supreme Court's handling of school prayers is similarly egregious. In a passage painting the Supreme Court as opposed to school prayer, the authors claim that "since 2001 it has been unconstitutional for a student, elected by other students, to lead a voluntary prayer at the beginning of a high school football game." In fact, in that very decision, the Court wrote that "nothing in the Constitution as interpreted by this Court prohibits any public school student from voluntarily praying at any time before, during, or after the school day." Wilson and DiIulio also rewrite the history of the Constitution: "To the colonists all of mankind suffered from original sin, symbolized by Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Since no one was born innocent, no one could be trusted with power. Thus the Constitution had to be designed in such a way as to curb the darker side of human nature." As the Center for Inquiry notes, "[T]here is no evidence that the concept of original sin played any significant role in the design of the United States Constitution." The doctrine of original sin was explicitly rejected by Jefferson, Franklin, and Adams. The Constitution is indeed designed with checks and balances because the Founders recognized the fallibility of mankind, but "their conclusions about human nature were based on historical experience, not religious doctrine." In fact, in the Federalist Papers, the records of the Constitutional Convention, and the state ratification conventions, there is not a single reference to "original sin."

RADICAL RIGHT -- 'PARALYZED' FREEDOM'S WATCH IS 'PLAGUED BY GRIDLOCK AND INFIGHTING': Last year, two former Bush White House officials established Freedom's Watch, a right-wing advocacy organization "formed to promote the common good and general welfare of the American people by supporting mainstream conservative public policies" -- essentially the "conservative answer to the nine-year-old liberal MoveOn.org." The organization kicked off with a "$15 million advertising campaign designed to maintain Congressional support for President Bush's troop increase in Iraq." The group was "expected to be a deep-pocketed juggernaut in this year's presidential election." But since last year, "the group has been mostly quiet, beset by internal problems that have paralyzed it and raised questions about what kind of role, if any, it will actually play this fall." According to The New York Times, "Freedom's Watch has been plagued by gridlock and infighting, leaving it struggling for direction." Indeed, the group's founding president, Bradley Blakeman, a former deputy assistant to Bush, resigned last month. MoveOn executive director Eli Pariser noted that so far, Freedom's Watch "has been a lot of bark and not a lot of bite."  ADMINISTRATION -- IRAQI PARLIAMENT WILL VOTE ON LONG-TERM AGREEMENT, BUT CONGRESS CANNOT: Last year, President Bush and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki issued a "Declaration of Principles for a Long-Term Relationship of Cooperation and Friendship," which could help clear the way for the erection of permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari told Reuters yesterday that the Iraqi parliament will vote on the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA): "There isn't any hidden agenda here. This agreement will be transparent, it has to be presented to the representatives of the Iraqi people, the parliament, to ratify it," Zebari said. But last week, Amb. Ryan Crocker told the Senate that the SOFA was written within the United States as an "executive agreement," not requiring Senate approval, as traditional treaties do. White House Press Secretary Dana Perino confirmed the framework, suggesting that the White House "can't submit it to Congress," even though presidents in the past, including Ronald Reagan, have asked for congressional approval of SOFAs. Zebari said that parliamentary debate over the agreement would be "for Iraq's good," adding, "We need that continued engagement." IRAQ -- CHENEY FALSELY CLAIMS AL QAEDA WILL 'ACQUIRE CONTROL' OF IRAQ'S OIL RESOURCES IF U.S. WITHDRAWS:  Last Thursday, Vice President Cheney appeared on Sean Hannity's radio show and fear-mongered about the consequences of withdrawing from Iraq. "[I]f al Qaeda were to take over big parts of Iraq, among other things, they would acquire control of a significant oil resource," he told Hannity. This claim appears to be emerging as an administration talking point about the dangers of withdrawal. On March 19, President Bush also warned that out of "chaos in Iraq" could emerge an "emboldened al Qaeda with access to Iraq’s oil resources." In reality, however, it's highly unlikely that al Qaeda would take control of Iraq's oil if the United States redeployed. First, the vast majority of Iraqis are Shi'ites, who want little to do with a fringe Sunni group like al Qaeda. Second, 70 percent of the country's oil is in southern Iraq -- e.g. Basra -- where there are strong Shi'ite strongholds. Despite Cheney and Bush's claims, U.S. withdrawal would not mean that al Qaeda would suddenly be able to defeat at least three different powerful Shi'ite militias (Mahdi Army, Badr Organization, and Fadhila's gangs) to seize control over Iraq's oil.

"The I.R.S.'s scrutiny of the nation's biggest companies is at a 20-year low," according to a study conducted by Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, which called the trend a "historic collapse in audits." The study "found that major corporations -- defined as those with assets of at least $250 million -- have about a one in four chance of being audited, down from about three in four in 1990." "More than two-thirds of Americans aged 27 to 42 don’t think they will ever be able to stop working," according to a survey released today by Scottrade and BetterInvesting. "In contrast, 64 percent of respondents aged 55 to 64 said they could retire and not worry, even though this group is much closer to retirement age." The Defense Department has released its latest American military causality numbers for Iraq and Afghanistan, "and the figures reveal non-fatal casualties that go well beyond the more than 4,000 U.S. troops who have died so far." As of April 5, 4,492 soldiers have died while serving in the two wars while 31,590 have been wounded and 38,631 have been removed from the battlefields for "non-hostile-related medical air transports." According to a AP poll, 60 percent of the public say "they definitely won't buy a home in the next two years, up from 53 percent who said so in an AP-AOL poll in September 2006," the "latest sign of increasing pessimism about the nation’s housing crisis." Just 11 percent are certain or very likely to buy soon, down from 15 percent two years ago. "The Iraqi government has dismissed 1,300 soldiers and policemen who deserted or refused to fight during last month's Shiite-on-Shiite battles in Basra, it said Sunday. ... Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said 500 soldiers and 421 policemen were fired in Basra, including 37 senior police officers up to the rank of brigadier general. Police officials said the remainder were fired in Kut." A White House task force that was supposed to "research the issue of pharmaceuticals in drinking water has missed its deadline and failed to produce mandated reports and recommendations for coordination among federal agencies." The report was due in December. The Washington Times reports that "President Bush is poised to change course and announce as early as this week that he wants Congress to pass a bill to combat global warming, and will lay out principles for what that should include." The administration "feels pressure to act now because they fear a coming regulatory nightmare." "Health insurance companies are rapidly adopting a new pricing system for very expensive drugs, asking patients to pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars for prescriptions for medications that may save their lives or slow the progress of serious diseases." The new system “means that the burden of expensive health care can now affect insured people." Noting that crude oil prices have doubled over the past year, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) has called on federal regulators to "stop delaying and start investigating whether petroleum markets are being manipulated." And finally: Sixteen teams of Washingtonians received the chance to "run drills" with Andre Agassi over the weekend, "as part of the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation's Round Robin." "He hits the ball hard, doesn't he?" observed Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA) of Agassi. "It's a lot faster game than we usually play." Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) insisted, "We did all right -- we got the ball back."

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"[A]fter a fierce firefight with his abductors," Iraqi security forces freed British journalist Richard Butler, who was "kidnapped two months ago in the main southern city of Basra."

MISSOURI: Missouri House approves legislation prohibiting the state from complying with the federal Real ID Act."

WASHINGTON: Seattle proposes a $0.20 "green fee" on all disposable shopping bags.

ENVIRONMENT: Decision to remove gray wolves from Endangered Species causes disputes about the species' survival in the West.

THINK PROGRESS: National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley confuses Tibet and Nepal.

WONK ROOM: Vice President Dick Cheney: "I always think of Bernard Lewis."

ATTACKERMAN: A new blog in the Think Progress family featuring commentary by the Washington Independent's Spencer Ackerman.

CROOKS AND LIARS: Sens. Joe Biden (D-DE) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) agree that President Bush is trying to push Iraq off onto the next president.

"People are sick of this Bush-bashing stuff."
-- Right-wing activist Mary Matalin, 4/13/08

VERSUS

"President Bush's job approval rating, at 28%, is the worst of his administration. It's just 4 points above Richard Nixon's lowest rating and 6 points above the all-time lowest approval rating in Gallup history, 22% for Harry Truman back in 1952."
-- USA Today, 4/11/08