Category Archives: politics

Leaving the Gifted Behind?

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A weekend story at the Washington Post, "The Gifted Children Left Behind," offers an interesting portrait of what’s happening in schools as a result of No Child Left Behind. There is a push to the middle, with the top and bottom being ignored, according to a University of Chicago Study by Derek Neal, Left Behind by Design. I wonder if sudden worries about the "top" students will get anyone’s attention; concerns about leaving behind the bottom of the class certainly hasn’t. Worth reading. I am struck also that education always seems to be in crisis.

Stop the Dissent says a former KGB Officer

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Ok, Ok, this report has to be the cleverest most satirical play on the Wall Street Journal ever because otherwise it is unimaginable. In an opinion piece in the WSJ, a former KGB officer (and high-ranking defector) tell us that we should support the President, because it is that support that breeds international respect. Where to start with that one? Ok, how about we respect the President when he earns it? How about the President’s 90% approval rating after 911? It didn’t go down cause he didn’t get any respect or because of a little bad press from the left. Nope. Bush led the nation down a primrose path precisely because of the lack of dissent. Had there been some, he might be faring better than approval ratings in the mid-30s. And, more to the point, the policies might not be so pathetic.

But, really, support the president, regardless of policy. What country does this guy think we live in? The former Soviet Union? Does he really think the Cold War ended because Americans supported their president blindly? Clearly, this guy doesn’t get history. The Soviet Union collapsed under the weight of repression–individual, economic, political. The United States, despite its many freedoms, nearly collapsed (think the 1960s and 1970s, for examples) but the democratic system had a safety valve that involved elections, economics, and dissent.

But, this guy probably knows all that and is being ironic. Else how could you explain such an incredibly facile argument.

Link: OpinionJournal – Featured Article.