Reply #101: Perfectly stated. I'm always taken a bit aback by RW hostility toward the

[Lorien]

well educated. They seem to believe that America rose to power based solely on "hard work" (by their definition manual labor-not long hours at a typewriter, in a laboratory,or sitting at a drafting board), dumb luck and salesmanship. Plentiful resources, the ugly reliance on slavery, a "pioneer spirit" and probably most of all; innovation (which requires an education) brought America to superpower status. Under-educating our population won't allow us to maintain that status for long. The repugs I've worked with show nothing less than seething hatred towards intellectuals, calling the "the dumbest people on earth-they got no common sense". They pretend to champion the blue collar worker while shunning white collared, degreed professionals-when their entire party is controlled by white collared professionals working as reverse Robin Hoods.

Once again, I think the key here is how the parties frame themselves and the issues. The GOP is very successful at promoting themselves as the party of the honest working class when nothing could be further from the truth. They've convinced many Americans to be distrustful of intellectualism and the well educated, which has lead to a rejection of higher education by a growing number of young people, which will in turn weaken our country. It's up to our party to frame education for what it is; power, and the way to a successful career that will help keep America's status intact.