Texas is deciding to re-write history... again. And contrary to what some believe, these changes do not provide "balance"... they provide craziness.  Here is a list of some of the "balance" that Texas is adding:

- A reduced scope for Latino history and culture. A proposal to expand such material in recognition of Texas' rapidly growing Hispanic population was defeated in last week's meetings - provoking one board member, Mary Helen Berlanga, to storm out in protest. "They can just pretend this is a white America and Hispanics don't exist," she said of her conservative colleagues on the board. "They are rewriting history, not only of Texas but of the United States and the world."

Really? I think of all the states in the Union that can't deny an increased Hispanic population, it's Texas. Next thing you know, California will deny it has a border with Mexico.  Whether you like it or not, Hispanics are in Texas.

- Changes in specific terminology. Terms that the board's conservative majority felt were ideologically loaded are being retired. Hence, "imperialism" as a characterization of America's modern rise to world power is giving way to "expansionism," and "capitalism" is being dropped in economic material, in favor of the more positive expression "free market." (The new recommendations stress the need for favorable depictions of America’s economic superiority across the board.)

What's sad here is that 1. These people think of Capitalism as a negative connotation which ought to be encouraged and 2. These people think the system we have, with heavily over burdened regulations, corporate corruption and government subsidy is "free market".

- Thomas Jefferson no longer included among writers influencing the nation’s intellectual origins. Jefferson, a deist who helped pioneer the legal theory of the separation of church and state, is not a model founder in the board's judgment. Among the intellectual forerunners to be highlighted in Jefferson's place: medieval Catholic philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas, Puritan theologian John Calvin and conservative British law scholar William Blackstone. Heavy emphasis is also to be placed on the founding fathers having been guided by strict Christian beliefs.

This is the stupidest one of them all.  Thomas Jefferson was our 3rd President, and the primary author of the Declaration of Independence for God's sake! In these new, "improved", text books... exactly who do they say authored that document?  Dinosaurs?  As it turns out, one of the board members leading this charge is a creationist, who apparently thinks humans raked leaved next to dinosaurs.  Perhaps George Washington discovered the Declaration, along with the Constitution, in a dinosaur egg he cracked open for breakfast.

- Excision of recent third-party presidential candidates Ralph Nader (from the left) and Ross Perot (from the centrist Reform Party). Meanwhile, the recommendations include an entry listing Confederate General Stonewall Jackson as a role model for effective leadership, and a statement from Confederate President Jefferson Davis accompanying a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.

Because of course, it's extremely important to reinforce the fact that there can only ever be two parties in power.  Bull-Moose I'm sure is also out.  I wonder what the Tea Partiers in Texas think of this?

- A recommendation to include country and western music among the nation's important cultural movements. The popular black genre of hip-hop is being dropped from the same list.

Does Country Music need more support in Texas than it already has? Really? Hasn't Country music done enough damage?

Via Reason Hit & Run.