Before I dive into the topic of my post, I must share my happiness with my lunch today.  In terms of culinary delights on a Saturday afternoon, it’s tough to beat a peanut butter and mustard sandwich (yes, you read that correctly) with a side of Ranch-flavored Wavy Lays washed down with a Diet Pepsi.  Doesn’t that just scream “fine dining”?

Second quick unrelated note — Catherine and I went to Centennial Park this afternoon to enjoy the Oberlin Steel Drum Band.  It was wonderful!  We danced and clapped and enjoyed the breeze that foretold of the coming thunderstorms.

OK, to my point …

I’m a little late with my thoughts on this one, but I must opine that all sides involved in the “honoring Justin Timberlake” debate are just plain silly.

First of all, I refuse to see any resolution proposed by Ophelia Ford as legitimate as she would not have a seat in the Senate chambers if she didn’t get dead people to pull the lever for her.  And, I have to believe that the General Assembly has more important issues to tackle than showering love on a boy band graduate who can’t kick his voice out of falsetto.  I’m frankly curious as to where exactly sexy had gone and how Mr. Timberlake was able to retrieve the sexiness for our enjoyment.  If he would address this query at the State Capitol, perhaps I could get behind the resolution.

On the other hand, you have some Republican legislators who are taking this silly thing way too seriously.  I am willing to wager that a preteen boy will never have this inner monologue:

“Wow.  The General Assembly has honored Justin Timberlake.  It really does pay to bring sexy back.  I am going to rip open some girls’ shirts at school tomorrow and have a friend videotape it.  Then, I’m going to have this same friend kick me in my crotch so that I can warble some trite lyrics with rhyming words like “girl” and “world” or “stay” and “way” at a painfully high register.  This will make the semi-unclothed girls swoon and scream.  I’m really glad that Senator Ford thought to honor Justin Timberlake.  It will make all of my questionable behavior OK.”   

I was clicking through radio stations this afternoon and came across a country station on which the DJs were discussing the accuracy of the BMI.  I discovered that Kenny Chesney only has two inches and ten pounds on me!  I knew he was small, but my goodness!  How is that possible?  You would think that those muscles he likes to put on display in his beach-themed videos would pack some pounds on him.

I wonder if I could take him in a brawl.  I can get pretty scrappy when needed, and I still remember some moves from the Tae Kwon Do classes I took during my collegiate years.  But, I have no beef with Kenny so why should I even ponder the question?  Just some random musings, I suppose.

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This year, the city of Jamestown will be holding numerous celebrations to mark the 400th anniversary of British settlement in America. Oh, wait. I forgot. The word “celebration” has been banned by the planning committee:

“You can’t celebrate an invasion,” Mary Wade, a member of Jamestown 2007 organizing committee, has stated. After all, Indian tribes “were pushed back off of their land, even killed. Whole tribes were annihilated. A lot of people carry that oral history with them, and that’s why they use the word ‘invasion,’ because it truly was an invasion, and I’m sure some of the Indian people will probably want to tell that as a part of the story of 400 years.”

So, instead of marking this great moment in history that would lead to the development of the world’s longest-lasting democracy with the pride and cheers it deserves, there needs to be a focus on how evil British folk were bent on genocide.

As a history teacher and a mother who plans to make civic education an important part of my home regardless of what goes on at school, I am beyond irritated at this politically correct, racked with guilt garbage. War, murder, slavery and other nasty things are an integral part of history. Every powerful nation throughout time has employed these tactics at some point. Is slavery right? Of course not! But that doesn’t mean we should rename every school that was built to honor the author of the Declaration of Independence. Should we celebrate that countless Native Americans were killed? No, the large-scale deaths by disease and violence are a sad part of our history. But, how many borders have changed and countries been formed by “invasions” such as Jamestown over the past 400 years. I don’t think the world map looks anything like the 1607 version. It sounds callous and I don’t mean it to be so, but I can’t think of a better way to phrase it — these things happen.

There are some historians who, understandably, aren’t thrilled with the revisionist approach to the events:

… since the advent of Jamestown provided what later became the United States with important introductions to Christian common law, a republican representative government, the first Protestant Christian worship service, and its first interracial marriage.

The settlers of Jamestown were not horrible people who came to a new land to plunder and lynch, as is now being alleged. They were the beginning of a movement that would create the United States of America. That’s a wonderful thing!

Exhibits about the plight of Native Americans and African Americans be should included among the events of the Jamestown anniversary. We need to know all aspects of our history. But, let’s not fail to CELEBRATE the positive developments that were set in motion by Jamestown.

Say you are running for the top post in a local education union. Then consider that the school board asks you to share your vision with them, to demonstrate what the school system could be under your leadership.  What do you do?

If you’re running for presidency of the Metro Nashville Education Association, you blow them off, of course.

[School Board Chairman Marsha] Warden said she was hoping to allow teachers across the district the opportunity to hear from the candidates on television because the school board meetings are televised on Nashville’s public access channel.

“In my mind this was a public service to our board, because whomever is elected, we’re going to have a working relationship with them,” Warden said. “I would like to hear their vision on collaboration around public education needs. Many of our teachers who may not ever have an opportunity to hear either one of these individuals speak; many of these teachers who are MNEA members would have an opportunity to have heard their comments on our community access channel.”

Two invitations were sent. Erick Huth, current vice president of the MNEA, refused to attend, originally citing he thought it would have been illegal to address the board, but then in an apparent state of confusion figuring out it was not illegal, then more perplexedly, proving delinquent on the matter entirely by not showing for the meeting.

Huth, who is currently MNEA vice president, declined to appear originally citing Warden’s invitation as a violation of state law.

“My initial thought on the subject was the board was attempting to get involved with something that really was not any of its affair,” Huth said. “I reviewed the bargaining act and I actually sought legal advice on the matter. I was assured since the board had provided the invitation to both of us, they did not violate the [law].”

Jane Walling, the other candidate for MNEA head, was present, but was not allowed to speak because Huth wasn’t there. By vote, the board allowed a confused and altogether ill informed candidate sink its only chance to hear and broadcast the ideas and goals of that candidate’s opposition. Perversely, the only winner was the no-show.

As any regular reader knows, and putting it mildly, I harbor significant doubts as to the usefulness of unions in our present-day economy. As working conditions and child exploitation are effectively regulated in excruciating detail by both the central government and the states, the raison d’etre for organized labor has long ago faded away. As the Detroit auto industry can attest, unbridled unionism coupled with poor innovation eventually results in the slow-cooked death of the proverbial golden goose. I am no fan of the MNEA – in fact, as with most educators’ unions, I find its very existence an impediment to good education. That aside, they are the legitimate bargaining arm of the school district’s teachers. For the welfare of the children whom the school system exists to serve, the board has a vested interest in hearing and knowing where the union leadership may be taking the system.

It is despicable that the board refused to hear anyone, despite a good faith effort to hear everyone.  Huth made a mockery of a more open election, and the school board by its inexplicable vote showed itself the organizational invertebrate we have come to expect. If there was a question who has the upper hand in running the school system, it has been answered.

If you notice that the highways are unusually empty this evening and the crowds have emptied out of the stores having their after-Christmas sales, don’t be alarmed.  I know the reason.

In about two hours, everyone will be glued to their TVs to watch a monumental clash of the titans that could only happen in the renowned Emerald Bowl (Who needs the Rose Bowl?  This game is sponsored by people who sell nuts!  Beat that, USC!  And, much healthier than steaks, Tennessee!).

My Maryland Terrapins will be taking on the Oregon State Beavers for the bragging rights that come when the game clock winds down and only one team is given the honor of raising that bronzed statue of a giant almond.  I am getting emotional just thinking about it.

Come on, Terps!  Let’s finish a season of disappointing mediocrity with a marginally acceptable performance and return to the East Coast with a victory!

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Ronald Reagan was the president of my childhood (ages five to thirteen). I remember when he would preempt regular programming for a national speech. I knew that I was watching the most powerful man in the world … the leader of our country … and I was awed by the office. I viewed Reagan as a father (OK, grandfather) figure who was strong and keeping us safe. Do kids feel the same way watching President Bush today? Not so much, I imagine. Combine the lack of civics education with this incredibly disappointing administration, and I bet most kids don’t give a flip.

As I’ve gotten a bit older and delved more deeply into my passion for the study of our country’s government, I have taken the time to read or watch many of Reagan’s speeches. I also have researched what others have said about the man, both glowing and critical. I have come away with a great respect for Reagan’s love for, and belief in, the United States of America. His communication skills remind us of an element that is sorely missing in today’s White House. I believe that Ronald Reagan, though he certainly had faults and made errors, was a great president.

I write all that to write this … there is not going to be another Ronald Reagan. In so many of the discussions surrounding the 2008 elections, conservatives say they are looking for the “next Ronald Reagan” and they lament that none of the current candidates fits the bill. It’s not going to happen. We cannot fit a different human being into the Reagan mold. Same thing with Clinton or Kennedy or Fillmore … whoever the president for whom you longing happens to be.

Bear Bryant is a name I had never heard until I moved to Tennessee. Now, of course, I realize that he is close to godly status in the state of Alabama. With all of the frustations over the head football coach in the state of rolling tides, I often hear fans say, “People need to realize that Bear Bryant has passed on and they need to stop looking for him to come back.” I am not at all equating a coach with the leader of the free world, but I do see some similarities in the way the men are revered. In both instances, I wonder if it keeps people from looking forward.

Most of our current Republican leaders are pathetic. I completely understand why so many voters want a candidate who embodies the principles and actions of the Gipper. However, I don’t see the point in struggling to determine who is going to be the next Ronald Reagan. I just want to know who is going to use his political ideology, policy positions and personality (and any other good “p” words that you want to throw in there) to be the next great president.

and some sweat when the heat is on. – The Power Station, 1985 (RIP — Robert Palmer)

OK, Al Gore, I give. I’m hot. I cannot say that I am one of the many among us who is trumpeting the summer-like temperatures that have fallen upon our fair city. Eighty-five degrees in March does not amuse me.

I think my lovely daughter shares my irritation with the heat. We spent our mornings at playgrounds the last couple of days, and both times her entire body appeared to be melting by the time of our departure. I guess supposedly “baby safe” sunblock in your eyes and a face slap/eye poke combo by one of your compatriots in the sandbox also would contribute to a grouchy demeanor.

My ideal temperature is the low-60s. It’s warm enough to sit outside, but cool enough that you still want a sweater or sweatshirt to keep you cozy.

I do love thunderstorms, so at least I can look forward to the booms and flashes that this weather usually brings!

The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research group centered in Washington, has released a report estimating the benefits bestowed on taxpayers by income groupings

Overall, we find that America’s lowest-earning one-fifth of households received roughly $8.21 in government spending for each dollar of taxes paid in 2004. Households with middle-incomes received $1.30 per tax dollar, and America’s highest-earning households received $0.41. Government spending targeted at the lowest-earning 60 percent of U.S. households is larger than what they paid in federal, state and local taxes. In 2004, between $1.03 trillion and $1.53 trillion was redistributed downward from the two highest income quintiles to the three lowest income quintiles through government taxes and spending policy.

And somehow we are still told by the leftist rank and file that life just isn’t fair. They are of course right – it’s not fair, but not for the reasons liberals normally rankle over the concept. The abject transfer of 13 figures of wealth ought to alarm all of us, not only because of the magnitude, which is considerable, but also because of the obvious waste – thus far, disappointingly, no liberal politician has advocated we redeploy out of the War on Poverty. Imagine how many jobs would have been created over the last four decades if trillions had not been requisitioned by a spendthrift federal government. It boggles the mind. The Congress would have been wiser to buy tanker loads of scratch-off lottery tickets.

The Tax Foundation’s data analysis in this study makes it plain that the upper earners in our economy are overtaxed, a comfortable conclusion to arrive at unless, of course, you are a member of the Karl and Friedrich book of the month club. Quite frankly, I am embarrassed. Being what would be considered a middle-income earner, I want to find a way to kick back that extra 30 cents I’m apparently receiving in government benefits.

The most recent installment in the mindless gender income gap series has hit our local paper of record. As regular as an untreated herpes outbreak, we sit by the bra fueled campfire, listening intently to the anecdotes that prove what the victim industry has quite aptly established as accepted knowledge – gender equality is a myth, and that the struggles of the working woman in 2007 rival something akin to the hostile work environment that Joan of Arc faced at the stake.

As previously noted, The Tennessean, which the Moore household now only receives online, has written quite the smattering on this well established factoid. According to the story, March is the month of the woman, something which I admittedly did not know, and which now causes me great concern that we only have ten more months to appoint to deserving historical causes.

Though Dan Rather taught me the importance of checking one’s sources, I learned somewhere back in my elementary school days that there are five primary basic principles of journalism – who, what, when, where and why – and occasionally, I suppose, a sixth, how. The most interesting is always the why.

Which is where The Tennessean journalist fails miserably. We are told about the plight of a woman at a copy shop earning minimum wage, but important details are withheld. We are told of the usual statistics comparing men’s earnings an women’s earnings. And we are provided a list of highly placed women in 2007 (somehow Condoleeza Rice didn’t make the cut).  Most importantly, we are never told that women with the same continuous amount of work experience actually earn the same amount as their male counterparts.

For instance, engineers – men and women with the same amount of experience since earning their bachelors degree earn the same amount of income. Additionally, the story never mentions a recent Government Accounting Office report that puts the anecdotes through the statistical regression mill – women tend to work more part time schedules than men do, are more likely to stay away from work for family reasons for extended periods of time, or simply do not have the same tenure as their male counterparts. All of these factors certainly support a justifiable difference in pay.

Interestingly, the GAO also notes in its assessment that men with children earn 2% more than childless males, while women with children earn less than their female counterparts. I note this statistic because it actually explains in a neat nutshell the entire fallacy behind the gender income gap. In Western society, women are the primary caregivers, which certainly takes away from the ability to work the same number of hours as the average man. Doubly, if the woman is the primary caregiver, the man must make up the difference, explaining the wage gap between child-full and child-less males. We have known for some time that having children motivates men to earn more income, and this is true for a variety of reasons, from the positive primal instinct of fatherhood to the realities of extra expenses in the home that children bring with them.

And finally, employers cannot pay men and women differently and get away with it. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has extensive investigative powers. Add to that the similar actionable provisions available for relief in most states, such as the Tennessee Human Rights Act, and the array of weaponry available to the professionally jilted woman is, in a word, formidable. In today’s litigious environment, companies cannot afford to pay women less than men.

Plus, there’s something else. If women truly earned 80% of what men do for the same work, experience, continuity of employment and performance, I would be prepared to expand my law firm and hire only women, offering equal services to clients at 20% less than other firms, which ought to result in a windfall of billable hours as far as the eye can see. And ethically, I could prove my prices were better and advertise it, because I hire only women – and look here, here’s the census data that proves it!

Of course that’s silly (so silly it was hard for me to write it), as is the continued perpetuation of the gender income gap. Quite frankly, the story in The Tennessean today does a disservice to the truth. They would have been better served slapping in another Belks ad.

I have had the opportunity to review the financial disclosure that was submitted by Councilman Harold White’s campaign last week. First off, I must say I find it fascinating that the front page of the paperwork indicates that White is running for office in District 15. Last I checked, it’s the lucky residents of District 14 who get to claim Councilman White as our representative in the Metro Council. Innocent mistake, I’m sure, but still amusing.

Councilman White took in just under $24,000 in contributions this quarter. Only one itemized contribution (required for those who give at least $100) came from within the district. It was a contribution of $1000 from the president of Lo-Jack Company on Central Pike. There is one contributor with a P.O. Box in 37214, which would be a post office in District 14. However, this gentleman’s home address is located in District 15.

I must say that Odell Binkley, owner of a landfill and some properties on Central Pike, is a particularly interesting contributor. He has taken out large ads in the Donelson Hermitage Herald the past couple of weeks letting the readers know what a wonderful councilman Harold White is for our district. It means a lot to me that this resident of Wilson County (Mount Juliet, specifically) cares so deeply for the well-being of his neighbors to the west. He even cares enough to make sure that his daughter, son-in-law, and daughter-in-law each gave $1000 to White. They all live in Mount Juliet as well. Is Binkley just a devoted friend to Councilman White, or does he hope to see some financial benefits come from his support? Hopefully, we won’t get the chance to find out!

Councilman White did receive $450 in unitemized contributions. Even if all of this money came from within District 14 (which I doubt), it’s still a very small percentage of the total raised. Candidates certainly have the right to raise money from people in any location, and they can accept support from whomever they choose. Isn’t it telling, however, when no one from your own district is willing to step up and be a significant contributor?

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Makes me sick: 

Four-year-old Summer Lytle apparently drowned in a bathtub Saturday night, where her spiteful stepmother left her sitting alone in urine-stained clothing while she went into the kitchen to cook the girl’s father an anniversary dinner, court documents said.

According to the documents, the child also had injuries from beatings with belts and spoons and had human bite marks on her body, and her death ended a pattern of abuse that included a dog’s shock collar and burns to her face, the court documents said.

I don’t understand these sick and twisted people.  I can’t even begin to imagine the horrific life experienced by this little girl.  How could anyone look at a defenseless child and then do such evil things to her? 

I know that we’re supposed to be against vigilante justice and we need to let our court system work … yada, yada, yada.  However, I would be thrilled if these “parents” were shot dead in the street out of retribution.  Oh, better yet, lock them in a room with a couple of large men who are armed with electric drills, some type of caustic liquid and a cheese grater.  And, I don’t want to hear any of the “if we did that we would be no better than them” garbage because these two pieces of scum aren’t helpless preschoolers.

I love Roger Abramson’s perspective and the sarcastic wit with which (those three words look weird next to each other) he shares his views.  He is currently guest blogging at Bob Krumm’s site, and has a great post on Rob Huddleston’s decisive action that is certain to push Fred Thompson into the presidential race.

I’ll admit it: I was skeptical as to whether Fred Thompson would run for president. But now I’m convinced. I’ll bet he is too. After all, none other than Rob Huddleston has told him to. I mean, that’s like getting a mandate from God.

Here it is: “I freely admit it – I have sent a message through backchannels to my former boss (Thompson) encouraging his entry into this race.”

Wow. That’s our Rob, a real “kingmaker.” Since I am not the “insider” Rob is, I am left only to imagine the conversation that took place:

Check out the imaginary conversation here.  It’s great stuff!

The best time of the sports year is upon us!  Brackets for March Madness have been released (Hey, Davidson … the Terps are going to destroy you on Thursday!) and office pools around the country are forming.

I thought it would be fun to set up a bracket challenge just for Tennessee bloggers.  I have set up a page for us at CBSSportsline.com.  The link is

http://tnblog.mayhem.sportsline.com/e

You will need to register with the website in order to participate, but everything is free.  The password to access the “Tennessee Bloggers” group is writers. 

There won’t be any cash prizes, as I was reminded in The Tennessean yesterday that the cops could come after us.  But, you will have the pride of being the best bracket-picker in the Tennessee blogosphere.  Isn’t that better than money, really?

I will post the top three current leaders here every Monday.  You also can see the leaderboard anytime by going to our site on Sportsline.

You don’t need to know anything about basketball to play!  Just pick some teams and see what happens!  You can even pick the Vols to go to the Final Four if you feel daring!

If you are a Tennessee blogger, please post this link on your site and spread the word.

“Accused Child Molester Cuts Monitoring Bracelet to Attend Jerry Springer Show”

That headline pretty much speaks for itself, doesn’t it?  Apparently, Springer was fronting the bill for this fine young man to marry his half-sister on national television (they have a child together … one who will lead a significant breakthrough in the fight against cancer or compose a brilliant symphony, no doubt).  I’m sure that the tag of incest will help his cause when he faces the judge.  But, who could blame the guy?  Springer’s people picked him up in a limo.  I’d chew through a ankle monitor to get a half-hour in a sweet ride with a mini-bar, mirrors on the ceiling, a sunroof to give shout-outs to my peeps as I rolled through the hood and cool running lights. 

While we’re on the topic of talk show participants, perhaps Maury Povich should try to get Tom Brady on his show before preseason workouts begin.  Not only is Brady’s ex-girlfriend pregnant, but his new girlfriend (Gisele Bundchen) is also rumored to harboring some of Brady’s DNA in her womb.  At least we know that, unlike many of the people who appear on Maury, Tom Brady won’t have any problems making his child support payments.  Ahh … yet another professional athlete to serve as a role model for our children.  Put up those posters and buy those jerseys, boys.  You too can dream of someday spreading your seed outside of marriage and being a part-time daddy.       

Today is the 50th birthday of Osama bin Laden.  With that gray beard and worn look in his eyes, I would have pegged him as old enough to receive the senior discount at Kroger (it’s the first Wednesday of every month … I avoid it at all costs).  But, I guess you do the math with the whole “fighting the Soviets in the hills of Afghanistan” thing and his year of birth makes sense.

Khan (Taliban spokesman) said special prayers were offered by Taliban fighters in camps in Afghanistan to mark bin Laden’s birth on March 10, 1957, in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah.

“We prayed that Allah may give him 200 years to live,” Khan said,” by satellite telephone from an undisclosed location.

“When we woke up today, we offered collective and long prayers for him because he is a great mujahid (holy warrior).”

Sweet.  I have my own birthday wish for Osama bin Laden and I would like to share it with him now:

I hope that when you lean over to blow out your birthday candles on your Dora the Explorer cake, you accidentally set your beard on fire.  As you run around your cave in a panic, forgetting the elementary school mantra of “Stop, Drop and Roll!”, I hope you trip over your automatic rifle and shoot off your left arm.  As blood streams from the hole that once was your shoulder and the flames start to lick at your chin, I hope you cry out for your mommy and that your screams ring out so loud that loose rocks tumble from the walls of your cave and bury you up to your chest.  As a temporary respite from this horrible series of events (it is your birthday after all … you deserve a break), your underlings come and dig you out, stop the bleeding from your gunshot wound and put out the fire that has left you without a chin and with only one cheek.  To brighten your spirits, Underling #3 (he was always your favorite … admit it) feeds you some cake.  He gives you a piece with a frosting flower on it, just the way you like.  Alas, you forgot that the cake is loaded with sugar and you fall into a diabetic coma and die.  

This is my birthday wish for you, Osama!

Make 50 be your last (if you are still alive).    

There are many reasons for my shift from being a Clinton intern/College Democrats VP/Ralph Neas volunteer to a Young Republican (with that “R” word not really being a point of pride right now considering our current leadership), but three usually rise to the top.  They are, in no particular order:

1. teaching in public schools and seeing up close and personal the ineffectiveness of a government institution that traps poor kids in their poverty

2. driving past the Pentagon on I-395 nearly every day for a year after 9/11 and seeing that collapsed section of the building

3. watching Al Gore’s speech to the 2000 NAACP convention — his faux transformation from stoic robot to black preacher struck me as one of the most condescending moments I had ever witnessed

Those memories of Al Gore resurfaced yesterday when I tuned into C-Span’s coverage of Hillary Clinton’s speech in Selma.  She introduced herself as a “sister of faith” and said, “I want to begin by praising the Almighty.” 

I am certainly not going to judge what is in Senator Clinton’s heart.  It’s just that her delivery came across to me as being so insincere.  The words sounded stilted and uncomfortable coming from her mouth.  I have no idea who this woman really is or what her core beliefs are, because I feel like she is always playing to the particular audience in front of whom she finds herself. 

Things got even better when she decided to quote a spiritual with her newly-discovered Southern drawl and said, “I don’t feel no ways tired” and continued from there.  The soundbite from her dialect experiment can be found here.  If there is an audio dictionary anywhere on the Internet, this speech could be an excellent entry for the word “patronize”.  I’m surprised she didn’t get around to her “living on the plantation” remarks.

I don’t agree with much of what President Bush does or says these days.  But, at least he is consistent (I know, consistently wrong … ha, ha).  He shares the same political principles and the same personal faith regardless of his audience. 

As I’ve mentioned before, I think that Ann Coulter is a horrid person.  She offers nothing constructive to the national political landscape, and her antics are detrimental to the conservative cause.  I understand that her shock value is used to sell books and get publicity.  But, I don’t think she even shocks with great intelligence or creativity.  I have read a couple of her books, and I found the content to be shallow and repetitive.  The most memorable part of her book Slander is that she used the word “contradistinction” on a bizarrely frequent basis.  I guess five-syllable words are seen as a way of adding some pizzazz to a book devoid of substance.

To the point of my post.  Ann Coulter spoke recently at the Conservative Political Action Conference and said the following:

“I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word ‘faggot,’ so I – so kind of an impasse, can’t really talk about Edwards.”

Oh, Ann.  In the words of the Gipper, “There you go again.”  Offense namecalling is such an effective means of making your point and winning the game of persuasion, not to mention a classy move for a sophiscated lady like yourself who has forever ruined the ideal of the ”little black dress” outfit for me.  I’m embarrassed that you call yourself a conservative.  At worst, you are a hateful, twisted person.  At best, you are pathetic in thinking that throwing these bombs across the aisle is the best way to make a name for yourself.

All that being said, Howard Dean is calling on all Republican presidential candidates to denounce Coulter’s remarks.  Is that necessary?  Should these men be held responsible for a lunatic who claims to share a political ideology?  Dean certainly is within the bounds to demand an apology from Coulter, which she will never give.  But, I prefer that the men running for president not even acknowledge Coulter’s remarks.  By choosing to respond, the candidates would give her more visibility and sense of relevance than she deserves.   

I criticized President Bush’s prescription drug benefits plan when first proposed, and took note for the first time that at least in the realm of government spending, Bush was an opportunist, not a principled conservative. For the life of me, I can’t see why the Left despises him so much. Bush’s domestic entitlement agenda would make Lyndon Baines Johnson blush. It seems most prefer whining about the discretionary costs of stabilizing Iraq and the overall War on Terror to looking into actually fixing a government entitlement that makes the Defense budget look like a child’s lemonade stand.
Now though, the fiscally irresponsible cat is completely out of the bag, and the brand of governance marketed as compassionate conservatism is exposed as a house brand for just another failing leftist entitlement

The U.S. government's top accountant says the law that added a prescription drug benefit to Medicare may be the most financially irresponsible legislation passed since the 1960s. U.S. Comptroller General David Walker says Medicare -- barring vast reform to the program and the nation's healthcare system -- is already on course to possibly bankrupt the treasury and adding the prescription bill just makes the situation worse. Walker appears in a Steve Kroft report to be broadcast on 60 MINUTES Sunday, March 4 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

"The prescription drug bill is probably the most fiscally irresponsible piece of legislation since the 1960s," says Walker, "because we promise way more than we can afford to keep." He argues that the federal government would need to have $8 trillion today, invested at treasury rates, to cover the gap between what the program is expected to take in and what it is expected to cost over the next 75 years Ð and that is in addition to more than $20 trillion that will be needed to pay for other parts of Medicare. "We can't afford to keep the promises we've already made, much less to be piling on top of them," he tells Kroft.

What are we to do is the appropriate next question. Our system of representation rewards political weakness. And for that and a variety of other reasons, killing a government program, or at least maiming it, has become awfully hard to do. This is especially true when discussing a steroid-laced gorilla like the prescription drug benefit of Medicare, and even moreso when a recent CBS poll shows the majority of Americans now prefer that the government guarantee health care coverage, regardless of the costs of doing so (65% see guaranteed coverage more important than controlling costs – merely 31% see keeping costs low as the first priority).

Even worse for Bush’s plan in the CBS poll is that Democrats are viewed as more able to fix healthcare than Republicans by a whopping 43 point margin. So, not only did the president advocate and succeed in the passage of the largest government handout of all time, he and his party received no street cred on the healthcare issue. That’s a TKO.

Certainly, healthcare costs are a problem. The only real solution, connecting the consumer and supplier on its market price, has not seriously been broached.  Neither has the prospect of a slightly more-than-nominal co-pay (with a poverty exception), which would limit usage to times when services are actually needed. Obviously, the system is busted, and right now, neither party has a grasp on how to fix it, nor the political will to figure out how.

UPDATE TO ORIGINAL POST BELOW: If my daughter is taped to her chair one day in school, my first question will be, “Catherine, what did you do that led to this consequence?”  Right or wrong on the teacher’s part, my children will be expected to act in a way that doesn’t require such discipline. 

It’s also time for a clarification.  I am not advocating the taping down of misbehaving students.  This incident, as I mentioned, shows a teacher who has no sense of discipline over her students.  A teacher who controlled her classroom wouldn’t have to resort to such tactics.  

Am I in favor of some forms of “physical” discipline?  Sure.  I’ve taken away a student’s chair and made him stand for an entire class because he wouldn’t take his feet off the desk.  I had students who were chewing gum stick it on their nose.  That’s as physical as I ever got.  A man with whom I taught took a backtalking high school student and held him against a locker with force while sharing some verbal niceties.  I have no problem with that.  A female teacher across the hall from me shoved a kid into his seat, grabbed his collar and yelled in his face.  Again, no problem here.  

I taught high seniors, not fourth graders.  I never dealt with teenagers who would run wild around a classroom.  My issues were less physical in nature.  Notes were taken and trashed.  Cell phones were confiscated.  Sleeping students had their desks and chairs removed.   

Now, to the original post …

A substitute teacher in Alabama has been informed that she can no longer work in the district after taping several fourth graders to their chairs. While there is dispute over whether the act was serious or a joke, two of the students have claimed “distress” over the incident.

Maybe these kids shouldn’t have repeatedly gotten out of their seats in direct disobedience of the teacher’s orders. I’m so sorry that they felt distressed after being discplined (OK … admittedly in a rough way). They were probably “humiliated” as well, as that is a popular emotion worthy of a lawsuit these days. The teacher certainly had no effective control over these ruffians if she had to resort to such measures and perhaps she lacks the skills to continue in her professional capacity. But, I’m not crying too many tears for the restrained youngsters.

I can’t count the number of times Lance Ewing (name hasn’t been changed because what does it really matter) was tied to a chair with a jumprope by my seventh grade social studies teacher and then placed onto the deck outside of the classroom. That boy must have logged in at least fifteen hours over the course of the school year bound to his seat by some non-voluntary means. I loved that class … never a dull moment!

I’m a fan of creative discipline in the classroom. Not abuse … just actions or words to keep the kids off-guard. I’m not saying I agree with the case mentioned above. I would have to be a witness to the situation and see how things evolved. But, well-placed sarcastic wit or infliction of mild physical discomfort has its place.