Burke: Grab a No. 2 pencil; it’s time for current events quiz
Published 1:30 am Monday, November 22, 2021
By Tom Burke / Herald columnist
Snap quiz! Have you been paying attention to the news?
Let’s find out:
1. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn (22-day National Security Adviser “fired” for lying) said, “If we are going to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion. One nation under God, and one religion under God.” So, the United States is a Christian nation: True or False?
2. Donald Trump won the 2020 election: True or False?
3. 75 percent of Republicans say, according to The Economist magazine, that President Biden’s victory was illegitimate and he stole it via a rigged election: True or False?
4. 25 percent of Republicans (same poll) said Trump will be reinstated as president of the United States before 202: True or False?
5. There was a clear, legal pathway (outlined by Trump attorneys) for Mike Pence to overturn the election keeping Trump in the White House; but Pence wasn’t bold, loyal, or smart enough to take that path: True or False?
6. The “incident” at the Capitol on Jan. 6 wasn’t a riot, insurrection, attempted coup or effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. It was, in the words of U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., “a normal tourist visit”: True or False?
7. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R. Ga., owes the U.S. government $60,000 in fines for failing to obey House rules and wear a mask on the floor of the House chamber: True or False?
For bonus points: MTG said she is vaccinated or not vaccinated.
8. Two-part question: On average, 96,242 Americans are infected with covid every day: True or False; On average, 1,163 of our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children, aunts, uncles, and friends die every day (which translates to another 424,495 deaths in the next 12 months at that rate) from covid: True or False?
9. Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives want to punish fellow House Republicans who voted for the $1.7 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill by taking away their committee assignments: True or False?
10. House Republicans strongly objected to stripping Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., of committee assignments (and censuring him) for creating, posting and not apologizing for a threatening video where he murders fellow Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., with a sword and threatens President Biden with death: True or False?
11. One of Arizona Republicans’ prime examples of the voter fraud they claim cost Donald Trump the presidency — the illegal vote of the deceased wife of Donald Kirk Harte — has proven an embarrassment. Harte, on Nov. 16, pleaded guilty to his casting of his wife’s vote, then lying about it: True or False?
12. Another multi-part question: Most people, 73 percent, say public schools should teach how the history of racism affects America today: True or False? 92 percent of Democrats think schools should teach it: True or False? 23 percent of Republicans think it should not be taught at all and another 30 percent think we should not teach it “so much”: True or False?
13. Polling by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that for every 1 unvaccinated Democrat or Democratic-leaning independent, there are about 3 unvaccinated Republicans or Republican-leaning independents, showing partisanship is about twice as strong a predictor of vaccination status as any other demographic characteristic: True or False?
14. Republicans, who all voted against the $2 trillion Build Back Better bill, voted against: a surtax on incomes over $10 million, a corporate minimum tax that would prevent profitable corporations from gaming down tax bills, a curb on multinational corporations avoiding taxes by shielding income through profit-shifting chicanery abroad, and beefed-up IRS enforcement to crack down on wealthy tax cheats. All of which raises taxes on the wealthy and corporations by at least $1.4 trillion; but are complaining the bill lifts the cap on SALT deductions to help those living in areas with high state and local taxes: True or False?
15. The corporate tax rate in 1950 was 50 percent; in 1990 it was 25 percent; today it’s 13 percent: True or False?
Bonus question: The best part of Thanksgiving dinner isn’t the turkey, gravy, stuffing or mashed potatoes; it isn’t the string bean casserole, creamed white onions, candied yams, candied carrots, or cranberry relish; it isn’t even my daughter-in-law’s pies and cobblers, or the Irish coffee sit-around-the-table-and-tell stories; it’s the family and friends we spend the day with: True. (There’s no “False” answer to this question.)
Answers
1. False; 2. False; 3. True; 4. True; 5. False; 6. False; 7. True, Bonus: She is not vaccinated; 8. Both true; 9. True; 10. True; 11. True; 12. All True; 13. True; 14. True; 15. True; Bonus question: True. Happy Thanksgiving.
Tom Burke’s email address is t.burke.column@gmail.com.
