Palestinians and the American Press

George Santayana, Spanish-American philosopher, is credited with the axiom that those who don't remember history are forced to repeat it. The contemporary American mass media fall into the category of those who have conveniently forgotten their history in their current apoplexy over the election of Hamas agents to the Palestinian Parliament.

Fear and trembling, of course, make for interesting news. The media would have us believe that the election of Hamas has the world atremble awaiting the authorized invasion of Israel by an army of hooded Palestinian thugs bearing rocket propelled grenades, AK-47s, and suicide vests of explosives. The key word is authorized.

In the view of the media, the US, which they hate, is in a lose-lose situation. The world knows, they maintain, that US support of Israel is at the heart of the War on Terror (read WWIII), al Qaeda, and the difficulties in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and the entire Middle East. The world also knows that the US is the primary supporter of democracy and the establishment of democratic governments throughout this troubled region and the world. The US is reaping the whirlwind of what they have sown, the media claims, because it was a democratic election that saw the terrorist-based organization, Hamas, put into a power position in Palestine. The US cannot denounce such an election, cannot contradict the results, and must live with the consequences of the election because it was conducted within the context of democratic ideals.

Balderdash! History is replete with the democratic election of evil people with vile policies. Most recently, a pseudo-democratic election produced a terrorist as president of Iran. The US is not alone in condemning this crackpot's plan to engage in nuclear power development leading to the ability to produce nuclear weapons.

Perhaps, though, the single most relevant event in the last two centuries was the election in Germany that brought Adolph Hitler and the Nazis to power prior to World War II. The major powers of the world came together to form an alliance to defeat the Axis powers bent on world domination.

The fact that a democratic election produced empowering in Germany and in Palestine of evil people with awful ideals does not mean that the world has to tolerate either the ideals or the people. World War II proved it.

The US has taken the first step in calling for Hamas to disarm and abandon its policy for the destruction of Israel. The world community will, for the most part, concur in that policy. If those two conditions are not met, Hamas will place Palestine in the same court as Nazi Germany.

The American media may be laughing behind their hands at the predicament they suppose the US government finds itself. They have, however, failed to remember their history. As a people, Americans are greatly blessed because they have a government that remembers the salient facts of that history.

Colossal Waste of Time and Money

Leave it to the Federal Government to waste our money and it’s time.

The latest scam involves the United States Senate, and specifically, the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA). He will vote for the confirmation of Samuel A. Alito as an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Taking out my crystal ball, I can state with some certainty that Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) will vote against the confirmation. So will Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Charles (Chuckie) Schumer (D-NY), and Russ Feingold (D-WI). Notice a pattern?

Failing a filibuster by Democrats in the Senate, Judge Alito will be confirmed. There are more Republicans in the Senate than Democrats. Unless some weak-kneed Republicans shift sides (as they have done on several recent key votes), Alito will receive a majority of the votes and will be sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts, the last nominee to be skewered in the complete waste of time and money that has become confirmation hearings.

Everybody knows going in what positions the Republicans will take. They also know which way the Democrats will vote. No amount of attempting to skewer a candidate will change any of that. Within the next few days, Ted, Chuckie, and Diane will all announce they’re unable to support Alito’s confirmation. We already know that. Why in the world did everybody spend so much time and taxpayer money over the last three days attempting to get the Judge to tell how he would rule in any given case?

It is grand-standing. The American taxpayer foots the bill so the not-so-loyal opposition can rant, protest, nit-pick, and posture for the special interest groups they represent in front of a national TV audience. And, because everybody knows which way they will vote, the process is absolutely without meaning. Nothing has been disclosed. Judge Alito did not announce his position on any substantive issue. Nobody’s mind was changed. Everybody will vote the way they always vote – along party lines.

What we have endured for these last few days has been a sham and a scam. It is truly a shame that it has cost so much of the taxpayers’ money to put on this mostly objectionable show. We ought to stop it.

The method needs to be changed. Once the appointment is announced, the Senate should be given one month to gather details, staffs read opinions, and Senators appear in sound bites to state their positions. Then, the appointment should stand before the Senate in a simple up or down vote. Majority wins. Full stop. Lots cheaper.

Of course, it won’t change. As long as there are opportunities for politicians to posture, they’ll strut. And, they’ll strut with additional arrogance if they can do it on our dime.
What a shame. What a sham. What a waste.

No Child Left Behind

According to a Fox News report, the No Child Left Behind concept has proponents on the left and the right. The left, generally the NEA, wants to do away with standardized testing. The reason for that position is that the teachers’ unions don’t want teachers held to account for student performance, or their own, for that matter. It is a symptom of the desire of the left that no one should bear personal accountability for their own success or failure. It is always somebody else’s fault.

The right, on the other hand, wants closer local control of school system. Under NCLB the Federal Government decides what works and what doesn’t. It is an anathema to the general states rights position of conservatives who want the Federal Government’s participation in local issues minimized if not eliminated.

The problem with that concept has been highlighted in the last year by the situation in New Orleans. The ineffectiveness of local and state governments prior to and in the wake of Hurricane Katrina demonstrated that they are no better at running programs and ignoring the pressures of politically influential forces than the Federal Government. As long as local and state governments operate on patronage systems in which the unqualified are given positions within the government based on political affiliation rather than merit, programs are doomed to failure. The root of success or failure of NCLB is the question of responsiveness of government to local concerns of parents and students.

Granting that the Feds are generally less responsive than municipal authorities, it only takes attendance at one school board meeting for the citizen to discover that parental concerns figure only marginally into the deliberations of local officials. Exacerbating that problem is the participation level of parents. Schools loaded with at risk children whose home life is influenced by drug use, crime, gang activity and parental irresponsibility suffer from parental apathy as well. If parents don’t care about student achievement, to whom does it fall to ensure improvement in education and accomplishment of the goals laid out in NCLB?

No mandate from on high will correct the educational failure of students whose parents don’t care. Youngsters from such families face insurmountable difficulties. Their actions must contradict the apathy of their parental units, the pressure of peers to disregard benefits of education, and the unresponsiveness to government officials to their essential needs for engagement and security. To ask a second grader to oppose those oppressive social pressures to treasure and excel in education is unrealistic and unreasonable. They are not equipped emotionally or psychologically to accomplish those activities.

Remediation may well be the only answer for these children. Should they survive their socio-economic circumstances into young adulthood, resources must be made available for them to recover the fundamentals of education ignored in lower grades. The ideals of NCLB have a much better chance of success if facilities for this kind of remedial learning are made available to those who finally have the physical, emotional and psychological capacity to ignore governmental unresponsiveness, parental apathy and oppressive peer pressure to secure the benefits of education for themselves.