Three links this morning that fall under the above category:
1) Darren, a teacher in California, says:
We have a librarian at my school only 2-1/2 days a week, as she must split her time between 2 high schools. When she’s not there, parent volunteers staff the library so that it’s available to students.
A union grievance was filed, and today we were told that the library cannot be open anymore when she’s not there. Teachers can take their classes in there, but books cannot be checked out. The library will no longer be available for students to do make-up tests in on the days when our official librarian isn’t on site.
The next time a teachers union tells you something is “for the children”, you remember this story.
2)Election officials in Illinois don’t seem very concerned about ensuring that the absentee ballots of soldiers serving overseas are distributed and counted properly…and this seems to be just fine with Obama’s Justice Department.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Board of Elections is going to great lengths to ensure that inmates in the Cook County Jail get their ballots in timely fashion.
3)In July 2010 the National Endowment for the Humanities sponsored a workshop for college professors at the University of Hawaii. The title of the conference was “History and Commemoration: The Legacies of the Pacific War.” As one of the 25 American scholars chosen to attend the workshop, Professor Penelope Blake anticipated an opportunity to visit hallowed sites such as Pearl Harbor, the Arizona Memorial and the Punchbowl Cemetery and engage with scholars who share her interest in studying this often neglected part of World War II history. Instead, Professor Blake was treated to the most disturbing experience of her academic career, a conference which she found to be driven by an overt political bias and a blatant anti-American agenda. Follow the link to read the whole dismal story.
The above items are indeed sad and disturbing, but should not be surprising, because they are examples of trends which are growing increasingly strong: the bureaucratic micromanagement of all aspects of life, cynical and ruthless political corruption, and the rewriting of history in the name of political correctness. All three of these trends are features, not bugs, in the eyes of today’s Democratic Party, and if you would like to see a future in which we have a lot more of this kind of thing, then definitely be sure to vote for every Democrat on the ballot tomorrow.
Professor Blake is of a much more stout constitution than myself – I would have left after the first utterings of the conference never to return.
The lesson of this election, I hope, is that both parties have lost sight of their mission, which is the care and success of the United States of America. Lisa Murkowski and the whole nasty squabble in Alaska is one illustration. Another is the ugly scene in the Florida Senate race. That nasty battle, based solely on personal ambition as in Alaska, has now affected the entire election and Republicans are losing in down ballot races. I’m not too excited about the governor race because I think Rick Scott is a crook. Rasmussen says his polling indicates that the voters are opposed to both parties but are giving the Republicans one more chance as the Democrats are worse.
I hope the GOP leadersjip in Washington are capable of hearing the message. Even Rush Limbaugh is now talking about a third party next time if they don’t.
As Jerry Pournelle is wont to write : “The purpose of public schools is to insure that incompetent teachers are paid.” That may not be the official mission statement, but it is more consistent with what actually happens in public school districts than any statement about educating children.
Just ran across some quotes from Obama’s long-time spiritual mentor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. One of these was:
“American is still the number-one killer in the world”
link
So it is really quite consistent that under an Obama administration the National Endowment for the Humanities would sponsor an “academic conference” at which presenters make claims like those reported by Prof Blake…such as: “The U.S. military and its veterans constitute an imperialistic, oppressive force which has created and perpetuated its own mythology of liberation and heroism, insisting on a “pristine collective memory” of the war” and “Those misguided members of the WWII generation on islands like Guam and Saipan who feel gratitude to the Americans for saving them from the Japanese are blinded by propaganda supporting “the image of a compassionate America” or by their own advanced age”
There is a singular lack of balance in educational circles (I mean Schools of Education) on these very topics.
But it has to be so; there is no way to account for differences in success but with an all-powerful and malign American demon. It’s a theology of sorts.
Thank you for the link :)
An update from Professor Blake here…she has received a letter from NEH chairman James Leach (which she characterizes as “polite though somewhat condescending”) and says it seems clear that he will continue to send taxpayer money to the organization that funded this ridiculous “academic conference.”
BTW, Prof Blake gets incredible ratings from students on RateMyProfessors.
Chairman Leach, an early “Republican for Obama” may be in for a surprise when his next budget hits Congress. If I were to recommend a strategy to the new majority, it would be to divide all appropriations into smaller bills. Those that fund NEH would be much smaller than in previous years and those that fund critical programs will be set at necessary levels. Obama can veto but he cannot play the old game of shutting the government down to save one boondoggle. It’s more work but it is the only way I see to get the size of government under control.
The DoJ filed suit in Illinois and got an extension of time for mail returns and counting of military ballots in the counties which were more than a few days late. They were rather aggressive in pursuing the matter
Doc…re the Justice Department, from the IBD link:
“The Justice Department, which has been woefully lax in enforcing MOVE and ensuring compliance among a number of states that have missed their deadlines, reached an agreement in court last Friday with 35 Illinois counties that didn’t get their ballots out on time. Six counties got an extension by two or three days to receive and count overseas ballots by Nov. 16.
The other 29 counties essentially got a pass. Justice spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said these counties already have 14 extra days after the election to count soldiers’ ballots. But if any votes aren’t counted in a timely manner, she said, “we can file a lawsuit.” This is not how soldiers who may get killed not knowing if their votes counted should be treated.”