what he or she thinks about pretty much exclusively is sports, trash tv, video games, junk food, etc. We live in a nation in which that average person can name several Kardashians but zero Supreme Court Justices...and that lack of knowledge is worn as a badge of honor.

if you compare states. I'll use my state,Texas, which ranks 43rd overall. The top 5 are all blue states, the bottom 5 are all red states and rankings based upon math, reading, etc. the performance holds true. The issue has got to be funding for education.

I know Texas simply does not adequately fund education and hasn't for decades. The are much more interested in cutting taxes than anything else. I think there is no downside to a well-educated nation. More important than any military weapon, than a tax cut, and especially more important than a damn wall.

...is the threat that it poses to the lying political class that exists by bullshitting said nation

substitute teacher in a "blue ribbon" district. Schools are underfunded here, too, but there is plenty of money for exorbitant salaries for administrators....just as in any other industry. I make $120 a day as a sub and have zero benefits. The Superintendent pulls in close to $300K a year plus generous benefits. Imagine if some of that money was put into actually educating the kids.

As an insider, I can attest that at least some of the reason for an uneducated, indifferent citizenry is that schools are teaching to the test. What we used to call "current events" are never mentioned because there is no room in a curriculum exclusively devoted to preparing for end of the year standardized testing. Guarantee graduating high school seniors have no idea who the current Governor of the state is unless they happen to hear it at home. And they certainly don't know anything about his stand on issues or what the important issues are.

More and more I am in classrooms in which each student's head is buried in a laptop which functions as a surrogate teacher. Behavior is generally terrible. Kids get up and wander around at will, and many no longer sit at desks. There are elementary classrooms in which kids sit on bouncy balls. I kid you not.

No wonder college professors bemoan the arrival of students who can barely read and write.

The entire system is broken.

The Republican party.

or worse, actively aiding and abetting. As horrendous as Trump is, the complicit Republican Congress (and Party) are as bad or worse.

That in mind, the average is skewed and democracy will fail.

The fact that a power hungry ass like Ryan has vanished into the sunset with so much silence is very telling to me. He has disappeared quite conveniently, I just hope Muller has the goods on him too.

Someone may come out with a "Where is Ryan" book.

Silence during and now more than ever...he doesn't want people to talk about him...all the things he knows, all the things he has been involved in, and he must recognize that he has been a total failure, I have to think there must be some shame knowing he failed...who knows, I always wonder if republicans feel shame, if that is a feeling they ever experience.

as members of the Gang of 8*(*20+) and knew about this long ago. They chose to protect -45 AND obstruct justice in a conspiracy to obstruct, aid and abet... period. If you have been watching the McCabe interviews the past day or so, he talks about this. Check the Video & Multimedia page here at DU and watch some of the videos posted. All are good, take your pick of interviewers.

I don't know the firm's name.

will be if he's pilloried and perp walked on national television.

I was not surprised or shocked by the actions of the orange buffoon, as a matter of fact, I am no longer shocked, surprised by anything any republican does or say, how can anyone be when they have been at it for so many years?

we are so F-ed!

elections.

Remember Lavrov getting sassy with Andrea Mitchell? What smug bunch of bastards. It was like Hitler dancing in Paris.

foreigners were there is a study in some things that I don't want to mention online!

It's a witch hunt.

I and many others totally anticipated his actions and we've been fairly consistently correct. Scott Pelley claiming Andrew McCabe's interview was "astonishing" is totally ridiculous. People (including Malcolm Nance and others) have been ringing the five alarm fire bells for years now but nobody did anything. The Repukes have been actively dismantling our democracy since 1998 when they impeached Clinton, perhaps even before. We had a chance to change things when the DEMs had control of the HR, senate, and presidency under Obama but they stuck to the rules in an effort to be fair and consider everyone. The rebukes consider no one outside their sphere of ideology.