…from an Iranian president at Yale.
Ronald Reagan was castigated by the bien pensant for calling the evil empire what it was. When the Iranian people attempted to cast off their brutal and tyrannical government, Barack Obama acted as though it was inconveniencing his futile diplomatic efforts.
…is education. Actually I disagree. I’d say that, in terms of advancing the “progressive” agenda, it has been a massive success.
[Update a few minutes]
The president’s hypocritical lip service on school choice, and the reason for it:
Perhaps the president is feeling pressure to adopt reform language because of the attention being paid to the new documentary Waiting for Superman, which charges education unions with the poor state of American education. But the plight of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program falls squarely with certain members of Congress and the Obama administration, which has continually acquiesced to union demands.
These unions are, by a long shot, the largest contributors to members of Congress. The two major education unions, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), make 95 percent of their political contributions to Democrats. And with a budget of more than $355 million, the NEA spends more on campaign contributions than ExxonMobil, Microsoft, Walmart, and the AFL-CIO combined.
I think this is criminal, at least morally.
An interesting interview with Claire Berlinski (the second of five running this week).
The Pueblo apparently weren’t as peaceful as the multi-cultis want us to believe. One of the many annoying things about political correctness is its whitewashing of the brutality of many aboriginal American cultures, and false history of their supposed environmental sensitivity.
Michael Lotus is optimistic:
My prediction is that we are in for a rough ride, but a happy outcome. The country is making a course correction, reinventing itself. No one else can do this like Americans can, once they decide it has to be done. We are carrying out a once-in-a-century creative destruction of our whole politico-economic structure, and we are going to leave the rest of the world gasping in amazement. These are exciting times, and we are lucky to be here for them.
Hope he’s right.
Thoughts from Megan McArdle, on philosophical straw men.
Moe Lane apologizes to the KGB and the Mafia:
Recently, I compared Alan Grayson to an ex-KGB agent who was now engaged in a second career as a Mafia pimp. I don’t know what I was thinking: the KGB tried not to hire babbling fools, and neither does the Mafia.
Yes, it really was uncalled for. On the other hand, no apology necessary for this question: is Alan Grayson the most loathesome member of Congress? Could be, though the competition is pretty stiff. Hopefully not for long, though.
[Mid-afternoon update]
Wow. How bad is Grayson? So bad that even MSNBC says that he’s gone too far.
As I’ve been pointing out for months, space policy is one of the few areas in which the Obama administration isn’t socialist by inclination.
He’s reduced the violent crime rate:
…all violent crime rates dropped in 2009, murder rates by 7.4 percent, robbery rates by 9 percent: His election caused gun sales to skyrocket, and crime rates to plummet.
Not to mention that poverty is up as well, and we all know that it’s a prime cause of crime (not to mention terrorism). Errrr…wait. Gee, that’s two “progressive” myths about crime shattered.
Just for the record, I think that the UN is about the last entity that I’d like to have that job.
And yes, per comments, it is pointless to ask someone how long it would take the Shuttle to get to the nearest star. I would have no idea how to go about answering that question with anything but a “forever.” As other commenters said, it’s like asking how long it would take to get to the moon with a bicycle, or a submarine.
[Via Alan K. Henderson]
[Update a few minutes later]
More thoughts from Kevin Williamson:
I do not propose to test the hypothesis that it would take 5,000 times the recreational dosage to overdose on marijuana, but I would like to know how much bazooka one has to smoke before deciding to appoint a UN representative to alien civilizations. Is there data on that?
I’m not sure I want to know the answer.
[Update mid afternoon]
Even more thoughts from Claudia Rossett:
…if the Malaysian head of OOSA ends up doubling as a UN envoy tasked with crafting a program for representing the “sensitivities” of all mankind to aliens, it would be nothing more than normal UN procedure should she end up huddling with Talebzadeh, head of the Iranian space agency, to draft a plan for the planet. That might be less worrisome were Malaysia and Iran a tad less cozy these days — but as it is, Malaysia was one of the three countries which last November at the UNs International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna voted against rebuking Iran over its sanctions-busting nuclear program.
Just a coinkydinky, I’m sure.