Kathy Cox: Smarter Than I Thought

Last night Kathy Cox, Superintendent of Schools here in Georgia, went on Fox's "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?" which, incidentally, is hosted by Jeff Foxworthy, another native Georgian, and became the first person in the show's history to win the $1,000,000 prize. I watched that episode and was surprised and pleased that she won. Not only did she win that money for three Georgia schools, but her intelligence went a long way, I think, in disproving the common - and completely incorrect - stereotype of Southerners as gap-toothed idiots that's so prevalent in today's world (fostered by the media and others, like Foxworthy and the Nebraskan Daniel Lawrence Whitney [a.k.a. Larry the Cable Guy] trying to make money off of us).

You may recall that Mrs. Cox stirred up a minor contraversy back in 2004 when she floated the idea of banning the word "evolution" from science textbooks in favor of the phrase "biological changes over time." Hence, my statement that I was "surprised" that she won last night. I truly mean no disrespect to Mrs. Cox; I don't know the woman. But, that was probably one of the top ten stupidest things I've ever heard of or read about in my 31 years on this Earth - and I've heard and read some seriously stupid things. So yeah, I'm glad she redeemed herself in some small way last night. Here's to hoping that she continues to do so and, by doing so, that she helps to enhance the honor and dignity of the Great State of Georgia.