I'm Pete du Pont with the National Center for Policy Analysis. Feeling old? You will after this.
Each year, the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin puts out a list of things incoming freshmen don't know. This year's crop was born in 1982. Here goes.
They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan presidency. There's only been one Pope. They were eleven when the Soviet Union went under. Tienanmen Square is a place in China. The expression "You sound like a broken record" is gibberish.
They've always had an answering machine. They've never seen a TV with only 13 channels. They were born the year the Walkman was introduced.
They never saw Larry Bird play. Vietnam is as ancient as the Peloponnesian War. They don't know Americans were held hostage in Iran. They've never used a typewriter. They don't know — or care — who shot J.R.
And – here's the worst part — they think Bill Clinton's the model for an American president. Well, I guess there are more terrible things than being old.
Those are my ideas. And at the NCPA we know ideas can change the world. I'm Pete du Pont. Next time, more bad Kyoto Treaty news.