Is Our Congressmen Learning?

You don't have to pass a history test to be a Congressman.

That's been amusingly clear during debate over the resolution supporting the troops while opposing the President's troop surge.

Rep Todd Akin (R-MO) (right) talked about Davy Crockett getting a message on his Blackberry at the Alamo.

And that's just the beginning of the historical wierdness.

Rep Akin asked his collegues to imagine what Mr Crockett would have thought getting a message saying Congress supported him, but they wouldn't be sending any more troops.

Thing is, Congress had no stake in the Alamo. Texas was fighting for it's independence, so no American troops were ever involved. And to add insult to Rep Akin's ignorance -- Sam Houston never did send any troops. That decision allowed the Texans to fight another day and win the war.

Then there was Rep Don Young (R-AK) (left) who attributed a quote to Abraham Lincoln:

"Congressmen who willfully take action during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs, and should be arrested, exiled or hanged."

Just one problem. Lincoln never said it. Here's Rep Young misquoting Lincoln on the House floor:




The quote is actually from conservative scholar Michael Waller. He wrote it in a December, 2003 article for Insight magazine.

FactCheck.org has counted at least 18,000 instances where the quote has wrongly been attributed to Lincoln in the last three years.

Lets hope Rep Young text messages Davy Crockett and lets him know he'll quit putting words in Abe Lincoln's mouth. (FOX News/WaPo)