Don’t worry, American youth: Mike Huckabee has fixed American history. No longer will you suffer under what Huckabee calls “the ‘blame America first’ attitude prevalent in today’s teaching.”
Late Wednesday, Huckabee announced LearnOurHistory.com, a sort of BMG Music Club for what he calls “unbiased” historical lessons for kids. For around $15 each, the company will send you a new animated tale of American history each month, told through the eyes of a gang of time traveling kids.
The first video (available for just $9.95, with a gift bag full of goodies)? “The Reagan Revolution.” Naturally.
In this 90-second preview of the video, one sees a tale of an America in 1970s decay, where unemployed muggers in “DISCO” tanktops threatened anyone they could find with knives.
Then came a man that could restore hope to the land: Ronald Reagan.
Check it out:
Other clips of the film show our plucky time travellers letting their viewers know what Reagan was all about. “Reagan believes we can do anything,” one girl says. “We just have to get the government out of the way!”
Watch:
What’s the goal? To tell the history Huckabee says American schools are afraid to tell.
“What we see and hear isn’t always the same as what we read in books, or see on TV,” one girl says in the second video in the series currently available, “The Origins of World War II.”
“So what?” she says. “We know the truth. And that’s good enough for us.”
Watch:
The site’s FAQ section gives an explanation of just what’s going on with the Learn Our History videos.
What does it mean that Learn Our History is “unbiased”?
Learn Our History’s products have been developed to correct the “blame America first” attitude prevalent in today’s teaching. While we recognize that America is not perfect and has never been perfect we celebrate our incredible history with a balanced account of the events that created this great nation. We don’t feel bad about the great things America has achieved – we celebrate our success!
Another tenet, from the FAQ page:
“We recognize and celebrate faith, religion and the role of God in America’s founding and making our country the greatest place on Earth,” the site reads.
In an introductory letter posted on the website, Huckabee explains further.
“Many of our schools and teachers today haven’t found ways to make history for kids fun,” he writes. “Instead, they’re teaching with political bias that distorts facts for the sake of political correctness. As a result, our national pride and patriotism are in jeopardy.”
The site lists four experts on its “Council of Masters” as having designed the lessons, including Dr. Larry Schweikart, the author of A Patriot’s History of the United States, also known as one of Glenn Beck’s favorite history books.
Huckabee has a long history with the conservative historical point of view. Back in April, Jon Stewart grilled Huckabee about his support for David Barton, a historian best known for saying that history curricula ignore the Christian foundation of the United States.
Now, even as people still speculate about his plans to run for president again, Huckabee is jumping headlong into the fight over the way history is taught in America, taking a stab at becoming the next great hero of conservative historical education (and maybe making a few bucks while doing it.)
