"Critics of the new approach allege that students don’t necessarily have to develop high-level research skills or marshal evidence from published scholarship. They also might not need to have the intellectual acuity required for arguing both sides of a resolution. These skills—together with a non-confrontational presentation style—are considered crucial for success in fields like law and business."
As you said, common core.
Stories like these are very demoralizing to normal people. You can do everything right, be a responsible citizen, raise your kids with values and teach them to delay gratification for the big picture, and yet, the best and most selfless of us swim against the inexorable tide of evil, decadence and de-evolution that’s washing over our civilization. It’s not the mental midgets on stage or the gibberish that disturbs-it’s the frightening fact that people can no longer distinguish between reason and insanity. This stuff hits you in the mind and it’s paralyzing. What’s the plan when society as a whole goes insane?