Texas Board of Ed Is at the Forefront of 'History Wars'

The Texas Board of Education's push to put a conservative spin on the state's textbook standards shows that the culture wars are becoming history wars, writes Thomas Frank. The board backs up decisions like ordering textbook writers to replace the word "capitalism" with "free enterprise" with anti-intellectual, anti-liberal hyperbole, Frank writes in the Wall Street Journal.

The "history wars" are spreading with conservative populism, Frank writes, noting that Dick Armey told a recent press conference that the only people who believe Alexander Hamilton advocated a strong federal government were ill-informed modern professors. "You can't hold history off by projecting upon it simple fantasies of your own virtue," Frank writes. "Not even the holy hand of the Texas school board has that kind of power."