Posted by
Sanford D. Horn on Wednesday, May 19, 2010 1:04:18 AM
Toles Needs History Refresher
Letter to the Editor by Sanford D. Horn
May 19, 2010
To the Editor:
Washington Post editorial cartoonist Tom Toles is clearly in need of American History textbook. This became evident having read Toles’ Monday, May 17 offering featuring a conversation between Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and an unidentified American.
“We’ll never let Jerusalem be divided. You wouldn’t let your capital be divided,” said Prime Minister Netanyahu, in the first frame.
“Actually, a third of what was once D.C. is now part of Virginia,” said the American in the third and final frame. And herein lies the mistake. Toles obviously forgot that land started with the Old Dominion.
The land creating the District of Columbia was initially carved out of Maryland and Virginia in July 1790. In 1847, the land on the southern side of the Potomac reverted back to Virginia.
Toles’ paucity in his knowledge of American History is sad, yet not surprising. It is but another example of the failing educational system in the United States.
This is a letter to the editor sent to The Washington Post.