This morning, the radio station did an informal, unscientific “heard in the street” segment wherein they asked random people if they could name two Supreme Court Justices. Then they asked if they could name two American Idol judges.
Not surprisingly, 7 of the 8 people polled could not name two of the Supremes. I think all but two could name some subset of American Idol judges.
I think that’s pathetic. I seem to recall a few years ago, there was a similar segment with the question being “can you name the current Vice-President” and most people could not. Equally pathetic. Wake up, America! These are some of the most powerful people in the country right now. You should, at the very least, know their names.
Maybe it’s time we have a prime-time series covering basic civics.
