In This Dimension

Boumediene v. Bush

So SCOTUS, in its infinite wisdom, has decided that enemies of the United States deserve trial-by-jury, habeas corpus, and complete access to American’s civilian judicial processes.

We don’t even allow this to our own military men and women.

In re: Boumediene v. Bush, the absurdity of the opinion is matched only by the absurdity of the response by those who don’t like it and are in a position to make an informed, educated comment.

Last time I checked the Judiciary and the Executive and the Congress were equal branches of government. Nothing in the Constitution provides for one branch to reign supreme over the[…]

Intelligentsia?

Defined here as, “intellectuals considered as a group or class, esp. as a cultural, social, or political elite,” these “intelligentsia” have taught us that cut-n-run means “victory,” and that teachers’ unions can improve education (regardless of the fact that education has declined for decades everywhere unions hold sway).

Hardly a day goes by that we aren’t told by the “intelligentsia” that the Left is correct, the Right is wrong, and that we the people must do yet some other thing at odds with history, education and common sense.

However well-intentioned these people are, the facts and history stand against them.

Getting rid of[…]

Thank God for the Cowboy

The Left in Europe and much of America harbors the illusion that the world is a peaceful place in which we all can get along if we A) all try, B) value unproductive societies as much as productive ones, and those which oppress their peoples by race, religion or gender as much as those free of much of those prejudices, and C) use only the extremely progressive form of jurisprudence and law enforcement that has been developed solely in the culture of the West, and particularly in America, to pursue any “allegations” of a breach of the peace or of[…]

Obama and Racial ‘Hate Speech’

Senator Obama has now told everyone exactly where he stands on the issue of racism and hate speech: front and center in support of it - as long as that speech and racism emanate from blacks and are directed toward whites.

Reverend Wright speaks of the chickens coming home to roost - and he is more correct than he realizes. For it is the sense of entitlement fostered by decades of Affirmative Action (created not only by a white man and Republican, but by the politician all Democrats love to hate - Richard Nixon) that is the roosting chicken.

Having been held[…]

Words Matter

As long as columnists and pundits refer to the proposed drilling location in ANWR as a “wilderness,” these same columnists will contribute to a lack of domestic energy.

We use particular words for particular reasons, and “wilderness” connotes trees and shrubbery and mountains, lakes and streams unspoiled by civilization.

All well and good, but the picture forming in the mind from “wilderness” bears absolutely no relation to the ANWR drilling site. As long as the mind’s eye of the reader is “wilderness,” the writer will have done a disservice to his/her cause of communicating reality.

The site in question is well under 500[…]

Democrats Cannot be Trusted with Education

Yet again we see that Democrats are not to be trusted with education.

Find a program that works, that helps kids, that improves schools? Get rid of it.

Unionized “teachers” can’t stand the competition.

Wherever school choice has been allowed, that choice has led to improved education among those taking advantage of it. But at the cost of the monopoly on teaching by our least and dimmest.

So, of course, Democrats want “change” as in changing back to a system that demonstrably is failing our kids and our country. “Change” back to the unions that have so badly failed out country in education.

Know why we need[…]

Social Security Demographics

That a modern advanced society should not have its elderly destitute is a given. But how is that best handled?

One way is government welfare. Social Security, however, has proven too costly to maintain, provides an extraordinarily low return on the investment of the tens of millions of workers who pay into it (which doesn’t include government workers – surprise!), and is in the process of going broke.

The arguments for changing Social Security are many, but they all have a common thread: They rely on an intelligent and informed population.

Which brings us to the second way to deal with the elderly:[…]

So Obama has the DNC nomination locked up.

Cool.

Just think how great this is. No way Obama can win in November.

This will convince “Liberals” (of all people) that African Americans can’t win (wrong; ultra-liberals can’t win; race is irrelevant), and they won’t nominate another African American for years. Blacks will begin looking real hard at the party for which they have voted in a 90% bloc for decades - but which has done nothing positive for them. (The Democrats haven’t won a national election without at least 85% of the Black vote for over 40 years.)

I’m willing to bet that not only will the next serious African American presidential candidate be[…]

The Least and the Dimmest

If you have ever wondered what happens when a country turns the education of its youth over to its least and dimmest, look no further than America.

Students who can’t find major countries on a map. Voters lacking any concept of cause-and-effect or history. Teachers whose lesson plans – in High School – consist of using some idiot star vehicle like Far and Away to teach 19th-Century immigration (really – happened in my son’s HS).

An entire generation with zero sense of responsibility.

This is what happens.

Politics of yelling and screaming instead of policies and ideas. Head-in-the-sand responses to unsustainable entitlements. A Congress unwilling[…]

Carter the Worst President?

I am sure we’ve had worse presidents than Jimmy Carter. in the 20th Century Hoover comes to mind, as does Wilson.

If you look at the modern era, however, post-WWII, Carter is below the bottom of the list. I’d probably rank the post-WWII presidents (through Clinton - can’t rank W until he’s done) as follows:

1. Truman (ended WW2, established Containment, built NATO, established the Marshall Plan, met the communists in Korea, stared down the Steel and Railroad workers’ unions)
2. Reagan (reinvigorated the nation and economy after Carter’s “malaise,” won the Cold War)
3. Nixon (got us out of Viet Nam, understood the Realpolitik required to confront[…]