I sure didn't. Actually, my AP Government class mostly spent its time listening to the teacher rhapsodize about Teddy Roosevelt and watching tapes of Bill Press and Bob Novak facing off on an early incarnation of Crossfire.

I don't think my experience was unique. In fact, judging by the coverage of the current filibuster/non-filibuster/filibuster-forcing-pre-filibuster, it seems pretty clear that even those who should be among the best-informed observers of the political process have very little idea how parliamentary procedure works. Despite the fact that it's completely essential to understanding how things get done in the legislature, reporters tend to just fake their way through coverage of it. I'm beginning to wonder whether anyone outside of a tiny set of professional staffers actually understands how our government works.

It's all very, very strange. It might be time to update those Schoolhouse Rock cartoons into longer, more boring versions of the originals. And hey, as an added bonus, doing so will also provide additional material for a new wave of ironic t-shirt iron-ons two decades from now! It's win-win.