The Sad State Of American Education

I was watching some of the coverage of the Democratic Convention earlier (by the way, who's idea was it to put the MSNBC folks outside at the mercy of the weather and the crowds), and an Obama campaign spokesperson was on talking to some anchor who's name I don't know. They had the following exchange:

Anchor: As one Republican said to me today, "What is he, Perseus trying to save the world?" I mean, what is with the set,the Greek columns?

Spokesperson: I don't know who Perseus is, but I hope he's somebody who's trying to bring fundamental change to Washington.

You don't know who Perseus is? Come on, didn't you have to study Greek mythology at some point in school? Or at least seen Clash of the Titans? More importantly, as an educated person, shouldn't you at least be able to figure out the broad strokes of who he might be based on the context of the question (i.e. mythic Greek hero)?

Maybe I'm making too much of it, but it just seems to me that a passing familiarity with Perseus, Odysseus, Achilles and the like falls under the category of common knowledge. Sure, if you never go on Jeopardy, it's not information you're going to use much, but shouldn't you at least be able to recognize the names?

Or maybe this is an example of calculated ignorance. The Obama people not wanting to appear too smart (or elitist), and thereby alienate the regular folks. Devious.

Eh, I suppose it's not a big deal, it just irked me a bit for some reason.