I learned in Junior High history that we study history so that we can learn from the past...

[NewHendoLib]

and thus avoid the mistakes that have been made.

Do our politicians skip school altogether? Do they actually learn or understand anything at all?

[Dave Bowman]

1. They were too dumb to graduate from kindergarten.

[leftstreet]

2. DURec

[Arthur_Frain]

3. I'm betting the stuff I learned in Jr High school history

And all the other chemistry, math, biology and English classes (circa 1975 or so), is the equivalent of a two year college degree these days.

I went back to college about 10-15 years after I graduated high school just for subjects I was interested in, and was amazed at the low levels of general intelligence, interest and effort. It was depressing.

[eppur_se_muova]

4. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana

Often rephrased considerably as “Those who do not learn from History are condemned to repeat it", which seems more appropriate for politicians who actively refuse to learn from the mistakes of the past, and rush blindly into repetition of those mistakes.