Last Monday, as America marked Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, a correspondent for Jimmy Kimmel's "Lie Witness News" segment, was asking people on the street how they felt about MLK endorsing Donald Trump for president.

Although it's been nearly 48 years since the American civil rights leader walked the Earth, a number of people believed the question was legitimate and gave an answer!One ridiculous variation that drew a response was: "Were you surprised about Martin Luther King endorsing Donald Trump for president even though he got kicked off 'Celebrity Apprentice' last year?"Kimmel isn't the only one exposing the ignorance of our uninformed citizenry. Jesse Watters of FOX regularly does street segments that are hard to believe. A few of the dumber highlights - or lowlights - include:• One person answered "1964" when asked what year the Declaration of Independence was signed;• Another answered "Abraham Lincoln" when asked who his favorite Founding Father was;• When asked to guess the national unemployment rate, one answered "99 percent."• When Watters asked, "When I say Republican, what do you think of?" the person answered "Pepsi."Funny as they are, these unrehearsed answers are not exactly shining moments, even by the low standards of Joe Sixpack or Jane Winebox. By exposing this American ignorance to basic knowledge about our history, they reflect poorly on our educational system.One recent poll found that almost half of the American public does not know that each state gets two senators and that more than two-thirds can't explain what the Food and Drug Administration does. In another study, 29 percent could not name the vice president, 43 percent were unable to define the Bill of Rights, 67 percent couldn't identify capitalism as our economic system, and 40 percent did not know America fought Japan and Germany in World War II.Given the fact that so many in this nation lack even a basic understanding of our government, we wonder how many are even qualified enough to vote. Learning more about the presidential candidates or the issues are not a high priority for most Americans.Finally, we saw one report showing that one in four Americans couldn't name more than one of the five freedoms in the First Amendment but more than half of those polled could name at least two members of "The Simpsons" cartoon family.That leads to our final reality check.One of our favorite quotes is by Abraham Lincoln, who once stated: "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."Another, more contemporary, quote comes from Homer Jay Simpson, the lazy, overweight patriarch of the cartoon family who once told son Bart: "If you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now quiet! They're about to announce the lottery numbers."Sadly, it's Homer's quote that best sums up the "free lunch" attitude of too many uninformed Americans these days.By JIM ZBICK |

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