Ejimicayshin
Ejimicayshin
So Jeb Bush goes to a school as part of a photo-op. A student asks him a math question, which Jeb misses. The local TV station stresses the fact (see end of article), but misses the (arguably) more important point: the kid got it wrong too.
The question: What are the angles of a 3-4-5 triangle?
Correct answer: 90, the inverse tangent of 4/3, and the inverse tangent of 3/4.
Kid’s answer: 30-60-90
Jeb Bush’s answer: “The angles would be . . . if I was going to guess . . . Three-four-five. Three-four-five. I don’t know, 125, 90 and whatever remains on 180?”
I’m not sure which of the two incorrect answers are worse, but its interesting to note that WFTV seems to think it important to stress the a Bush family member in Florida got a math question wrong. Yeah, its embarassing, but how often does a governor have to calculate the angles of a triangle in the execution of his office? It would be much worse if he couldn’t identify the underlying political philosophies of, say James Madison or John Adams. It would be worse than that if he couldn’t even identify a bust of Benjamin Franklin, a feat Al Gore was incapable of once in the Capitol Rotunda. Surely Politics and History competency should be requirements for admission to public office. It seems that both parties would do well to be a bit more circumspect in their election criteria.