Grassroots Politics

CNN is coming . . . to my house!

On Race

Victor Davis Hanson on race. His lessons:

One, legitimate public concerns can be reduced to religious, ethnic or racial prejudice in hopes that the debate will hinge on supposedly bad motives rather than convincing arguments. Ad hominem attacks are always a sign of shaky logic.

Two, in most of these cases, the majority is opposed by a variety of activist groups, government officials and judges. The charge of bigotry is usually expressed in terms of a sophisticated liberal-thinking elite reining in the emotional and illogical unwashed masses. We saw proof of that with the release of confidential e-mails from the controversial "Journolist" group comprised largely of influential liberal journalists, some of whom openly advocated defaming their opponents by calling them racists.

Three, these cry-wolf tactics are now stale. A real danger is that when legitimate charges of prejudice are leveled in the future, most will shrug and ignore them.

Teachers Unions Again

This opinion piece by Bob Ewing is heartbreaking. A successful, school choice program in DC is being shut down because teachers unions are corrupt.

The Washington DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP)

targeted 2000 of the poorest kids in DC who were stuck in some of the worst schools in the country. It gave their parents a $7,500 scholarship to attend a private school of their choice. The response was immediate. Four applications were filled out for every slot available. Parents loved the program, considering it a lifeline for their children, a way to escape failing schools and enter safe, functional schools.

Even better - OSP was a bargain. The article conservatively estimates that DC spends $17,542 per child. And the program has born results. Reading is better and graduation rates are up. These kids can now get jobs. And "each additional high school graduate saves the country $260,000.

More important than numbers, though, is that these kids now know that they are important enough to be educated. All our kids are. We can do this. There is no reason why this program should have been scrapped. There is no reason why families in New York City should rely on a lottery for the destiny of their children.



We have to reform the teachers unions so that we can pay our teachers well and educate our children better. All of our children.

Oil Tragedy

Here is a detailed article about what is still wrong in the Gulf Coast. It is a tragedy. And a travesty.

I admire the fire chiefs who don't care whether they will be arrested for breaking some irrelevant law in their attempt to protect their rivers and marshes.

A couple of fire chiefs from the Magnolia River and Fish River communities in Alabama got tangled up in five weeks’ worth of red tape just to bring in equipment to block the oil from getting into their rivers. “They can arrest me and Jamie if they want to,” one of them said, “This is the biggest damn mess I’ve ever seen.”

Common sense is such a forgotten virtue.

You Can't Say One Thing and Do Another

Or at least you shouldn't. And there are consequences if you do. Legal Insurrection has this post about Charlie Crist being sued for return of donations. Former donors have filed a class action lawsuit demanding the return of donations to Crist given while he was running as a Republican. Instead, he actually ran against the Republican candidate. The post includes a copy of the complaint.

Helen Thomas "Retires"

CNN reportshere.
I'd say.

Go Home . . . to Poland and Germany??

Helen Thomas, of the White House Press Corps, had this to say about Israel, at the WHITE HOUSE JEWISH HERITAGE CELEBRATION on May 27, 2010. Who, exactly, was invited to this "celebration"?



Victor Davis Hanson has this response:

[A] million thoughts spark: well, Helen, that’s where 6 million were gassed. Or, Helen, some Jews have been in “Palestine” from pre-antiquity. Or, Helen, some 3rd-generation Israelis have been in Israel as long as your family has been in the United States. Or, Helen, exactly how do you envision the process of removing them? Trains to Haifa, where boats head to “processing centers” in Bremen and Gdansk? Perhaps the Iranian quick way?

I realize Ms. Thomas is in her dotage, but had anyone else voiced anything similar about any other particular group, they would be banned from the White House press corps, rather than feted. Case closed.

The article, A Memo to the Turkish Ambassador, is actually in response to the Ambassador to Turkey's op-ed insisting that Israel apologize to Turkey for the flotilla incident, and encouraging the United States to pressure Israel to do so. Mr. Hanson argues that it is Turkey that should be offering the apology. Assuming that an apology would actually help, I agree. But since it won't, I like this idea.