Dear Leader already in textbooks

Palin = BIG mistake.

 

Oy, you must have gotten that line from Al Franken, get an original thought.

 

Truth hurts doesn't it? Typical liberal. I don't watch the news....but I see you do young man.

 

Truth hurts doesn't it? Typical liberal. I don't watch the news....but I see you do young man.

 

Gotcha twitchin', aye RidegRider. Steady your hand, as you need tap "Submit" only once.

 

must have done that for emphasis PCP

 

yep, you are right, if you hit submit twice it will post twice, good on ya....

 

If Obama somehow performs as miserably as W, then you have every right as an American to be angry. Bush has been the worst President in the history of the U.S., and nobody should be content with mediocrity, corruption, negligence, buffoonery, etc. What displeases me most about Bush defenders is the contentment with all of these abuses.

I personally don't think that Obama is any sort of savior, and he is inheriting such a catastrophic mess that his chances of being "successful" are slim. But he would almost have to intentionally be inept on a daily basis to have such a bad run as W.

 

To address your last post Bradical, our school system was in shambles before Bush and the guy who presided over the country at that time had the distinction of presiding over the 49th ranked state in academic excellence prior to his job as head of our country. I agree wholeheartedly that in some parts of the country the schools system basically sucks. Much of my state does, however I haven't seen it as much where my kids attend. California has some excellent public schools and many that aren't and our schools scores continue to get better.

Let's be honest and I hate over-simplifying, Democrats ran and still run our schools and have for decades. Now you want to point the finger at the current administration who was trying to fix the problem? No Child Left Behind was put in place because schools were under-performing and it was a big issue in the 2000 race. Accountability is a step in the right direction. Are we against accountability? Are we nothing more than a vicitm society who blames the government for everything.? I think we are and I find it disturbing. NCLB may not be perfect but it is a step in the right direction. It certainly needs to balance accountability with circumstances, no doubt. But just because Bush lead the effort to fix things and it one of his administrations ideas, it is crap? Is making people accountable crap? Is that how folks think?

Problem is accountability and Unions don't go together. There's your problem in a nut shell.

 

Ridge, shhhh! the word accountability is a four letter word to some...

Also, I'm not much of a journalist, but someone could call Racine Unified School District and ask them about the book in question?

 

Sorry, WB I have to differ, to the point where I believe I found my dissertation topic. In a nutshell, universities are all for tolerance.We tolerate each and every minority in the name of diversity. Fair enough, that is what universities should do.

However, let's say that you have the belief that homosexuality is wrong because it is prohibited by chapter and verse in the Old Testament. Also,let's say that you oppose abortion on religious grounds. If you say that in the wrong situation, you will get shouted down by professors in some cases, the same authority figures whose job it is to promote diversity of opinion. Gay student organizations and pro-choice groups are very well organized on college campuses, more so than organizations that espouse religiously conservative beliefs.

Second, there is no denying that large college towns like Madison WI, Athens, OH, Boulder, CO, and Berkeley are waaaaaay to the left of American mainstream thought. Look at some organizations like Code Pink that have tried to run military recruiters out of Berkeley, saying they don't have the right to set up shop. Their actions are disgusting and the very definition of fascism of the left. Where does the wellspring for their school of thought come from? The local University.

Here's a link to a the University of Colorado trying to hire a professor of conservative political thought.
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/ma ... wing-prof/
Sure you can say that they are promoting diversity, but I think the opposite is the case. It will take a rare man or woman to say to all of their colleagues that their positions on politically correct thought is wrong. That professor may as well be wearing a scarlet letter.

I had a somewhat conservative professor (one of the few) lament to his class that a UMass Amherst journal would not publish his work because it had a conclusion that differed from the "desired" result. They said his research was not factually sound, which really fried his eggs, because he said it wasn't true. I'm not his fact-checker, but I have to believe he had enough integrity to be telling the truth.

A good book on how the multiculturalists are fracturing universities more than they are helping it is The Disuniting of America by Arthur Schlesinger, the Kennedy family historian. One part of that book laments how the schools that most actively promote diversity like Berkeley and Oberlin are the ones with the most racial tension, where different ethnicities eye each other suspiciously, just waiting for an imagined slight to slap the hammer of discrimination on them.

Brad, one other thought. I get that you don't think much of Bush. You are in good company. I challenge you to write a 500 word post on why you think so. Your previous post is not much more than an emotional rant, which is your prerogative. What you are communicating here and in previous rants is that you hate his presidency and not basing this opinion on much more than an emotional and visceral reaction. I believe you are smart enough to do a good job.

 

And getting back to NCLB, I well remember that what we thought NCLB was supposed to do was get the schools back to teaching the basics, and instilling the discipline needed for the basics to be effectively taught.

Instead what we got in the union schools was cram courses for the exams. OF COURSE that distracts from the curriculum!
But I remember the first time I heard the complaint that it was an unfunded mandate, I almost laughed my ass off.
MORE money to the schools to incent them to do what they should have been doing in the first place, but werent!

Somehow when my kids got through my little village schools in the eighties, the district had the highest ACT/SAT scores in the county on the lowest per pupil budget in the county.

 

Could it have had something to do with parenting, 'Fog??? (sarcasm intended)

As far as higher learning, I think by its nature it is trying to teach mostly young adults (just out of high school) how to think critically and promote freedom of thought and ideas. By definition, conservative views preach mostly a strict acceptance without questioning authority. So yes, of course most universities seem more liberal than nearly any conservative would like, but learning to think critically means you inevitably question all sides of the issues. At least you hope it does.

 

Whites, it's funny you mention "...preach mostly a strict acceptance without questioning authority." That is a flat out blatant lie.

In higher education (at least the two schools I went to), you are challenging authority if you are of coservative belief or background. I see it everyday in boulder. kids being harassed because they challenge the Ward Churchill's of the University. were you familiar with that issue at all? If you weren't I suggest searching "ward churchill" and reading. I've been challenged to questiong authority more by conservatives in my life than anything else. My grandfather, two star general and the most conservative man to this day that I have ever met, made sure I understood how to challenge authority if I disagreed with it. It wasn't by protesting or shouting because of background or idea. Do you really believe both sides of the issues are actually questioned on the majority of college campuses?

 

Opinion = Lie?? (shakes head, disheartened but not surprised)

I think colleges generally teach, or try to teach, young adults how to think critically. And if in the beginning that means questioning the status quo (which is considered a left leaning approach by many), eventually a person makes their way full circle and questions all sides (sides of a circle?). Of which there are more than two, I might add.

 

right, i should have said, uneducated opinion, not lie. I apologize.

yes, a circle has infinite sides, but I was referring to the two party political system we have since that's what's relative to the topic at hand. for the record, this right leaning guy doesn't consider challenging the status quo as a left leaning approach. by the way, those were the two sides i was referring to. I consider it left leanning when the right side is the only one being challenged in our education.

 

Way to go, DTW!

Contrary to SOME folks' popular belief I dont post EVERYTHING I read on here.

And one thing I read recently that I didnt post was an academic study that posits conservatives understand liberalism better than the apposite. I should have bookmarked it but didnt. I'll find it eventually, but in the meantime here's a little reading assignment on the conservative viewpoint, written BY a Liberal academician FOR Liberals.

WHAT MAKES PEOPLE VOTE REPUBLICAN?

Don't worry, it's pretty readable.

AndHERE is the NYT blog piece that pointed me to that.

- If you extrapolate what you read in those two pieces, you'll understand the vitriol directed at Sarah Palin. Because, contrary to what the professor says, some liberals DO 'get it' and they dont like what it means.

 

I could be wrong, but I dont' think i've gone on record as saying GWB is/was/will ever be a great/good/best/medicore/ president. I think RR was just asking Brad for reasons and not emotional reaction.