The Left Cheek Ass Clown Award for January, 2015

It's been two weeks since we announced our first Ass Clown dishonoree for the month of January, and it's time to dig deep into the slime to find a new individual or group worthy of the citation.

As it happens, the choice was relatively obvious (at least, to me), and this month's

Left Cheek Ass Clown* Award

goes to 

South Carolina State Representative
Alan D. Clemmons

In a state whose education system ranks dead last in a survey conducted by the American Legislative Exchange Council, Representative Clemmons (who is, as you probably suspect, a Republican) struck a blow for educational excellence by introducing a bill - The Second Amendment Education Act - in the state legislature. The bill would mandate three full consecutive weeks per year of instruction in the Second Amendment and gun rights, and designate December 15 ... one day after the anniversary of the massacre of 20 young children and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 ... as “Second Amendment Awareness Day,” on which schools would be required to hold mandatory poster or essay contests at every grade level on the theme "The Right To Bear Arms; One American Right Protecting All Others." The curriculum for the three weeks of instruction, according to the text of the bill, would be "developed or recommended" by the National Rifle Association. 

Representative Clemmons' bill may have considerable support among hard-core conservatives and gun rights advocates, but considering that the South Carolina Supreme Court recently ruled that students in many of the state’s school districts have not received even a ‘minimally adequate education’ as mandated by the state constitution, it seems that the state ought perhaps to spend educational resources on teaching things like ... say ... reading, math, and science. Wishing for more training in critical thinking is probably a waste of time.

Ladies and gentlemen, for his utter ignorance of the real educational needs of his constituents, shameless pandering to the far-right gun lobby, and nearly unbelievable lack of good sense and decency in designating the day after the Sandy Hook Massacre anniversary as "Second Amendment Awareness Day," Alan D. Clemmons has richly earned the designation of Left Cheek Ass Clown for January, 2015. Given the type of education he supports, it's not a wonder that someone like him could be elected.

Have a good day. See you tomorrow for Cartoon Saturday.

Bilbo

* You may recall that I was concerned about what to call an award given out every two weeks, but long-time reader and fellow blogger John came to the rescue by suggesting that we call the two awards per month the "Right Cheek" and "Left Cheek."** Thanks, John!

** In this case, the adjectives "left" and "right" do not have any political significance. Just wanted to clear that up.