OK .. LET'S PRACTICE THE "SOMEBODY'S GOTTA SAY IT" THING

I'm presently working on another book entitled "Somebody's Gotta Say It."  One purpose of the book will be to challenge the politically correct bans that exist on discussions of certain topics in our society.  So ... let's have a little practice "Somebody's Gotta Say It" practice session here, shall we? 

Today we celebrate Martin Luther King Day, a National holiday.  Have you ever tried to make a list of the official national celebrations, holidays if you will, celebrated by the United States?  Here you go:

First we have three holidays that are shared with many other countries:

Easter
Christmas
New Year's

Then we have several more holidays that are unique to the United States

Thanksgiving
Independence Day
President's Day*
Martin Luther King Day
Labor Day
Columbus Day
Memorial Day
Veteran's Day
Labor Day

Now .. look at that list. There are only two holidays on that list that honor one individual.  Christmas honors the birth of Jesus Christ, and we honor the birth of Martin Luther King today.*  I do not in any way intend for these comments to marginalize or denigrate the immense contributions that Martin Luther King Jr. made to our Republic. I consider him to be a great man, a man who held the United States to the promise made in the documents of our heritage; that all men are created equal, and that all men are to be afforded equal protection under our laws.  The so-called civil rights leaders of today aren't worthy to park Dr. King's car.  To compare Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson to MLK would be to compare a go cart to a limo.   I just find it problematic that throughout the entire history of our nation we have only designated one American as worthy of a national holiday, and how we did it.

There is something else unique about the MLK holiday.  It is the only holiday that came into existence largely through treats of boycotts and political retaliation.  The taxpayers of this country paid millions of dollars over a period of years to fund a federal commission who's only purpose was to cajole state governments into honoring the holiday.  If the voters of a particular state dared to decide that they did not want to officially recognize the MLK holiday, the state was threatened with boycotts and other reprisals.  The voters of Arizona approved the holiday in 1992 only after being threatened with the loss of the 1996 Super Bowl.  

Just how much honor is there in having a day named after you through coercion and the threat of boycotts?

Nothing's going to change here, but instead of honoring one particular individual, wouldn't it be a better idea to honor the idea of civil rights, equal protection and the rule of law on this day?

By the way .... if you were asked to come up with a new federal holiday, what would you chose?  We already have a holiday honoring freedom, and a holiday on which to give thanks for all that is good in our lives.  We have a holiday honoring those who have served in our armed forces, and one to honor those who gave their lives in that service.  We have a holiday for those who's labor has contributed to the greatness of America, and one honoring those who have served in our highest office.  So, how about a national holiday honoring the individual who truly made America the great country it is today?  And just who, you ask, might that individual be?  The Individual, that's who. The individual Americans, all 275 million-plus of them, who work every day to make a good life for themselves and their families in our system of freedom and economic liberty ... or what's left of it.  The left has been engaged in a war against individualism for decades, just as Americans for well over 200 years fought a war against those not white.  Maybe it's time to fight back by honoring the concept of the individual.   Let's try it!  I would just love to see the left lose their composure over the prospect of honoring individuality. 

*Nope, Columbus Day does not honor an individual.  This holiday commemorates the discovery of America.  President's Day honors all past presidents. 

GEORGE BUSH'S INCREDIBLE SENIOR CITIZEN DRUG PLAN

If you're one of the few Americans who get their news from actual newspapers instead of TV's "Entertainment Tonight" you'll know that there is a great deal of whining, moaning, screaming and gnashing of teeth over the reality that is George Bush's Medicare drug benefit plan. We're hearing that the plan is too complicated, and that there are too many people (the poor, poor pitiful poor and, of course, the disabled) who just can't get their drugs. 

I'm bringing this up for one reason, to warn you of a massive expansion of this plan that will soon be upon us.  Increasing numbers of Americans are coming to embrace the idea that the necessities of life should be provided by government while we should be left to spend the money that we earn on lifestyle and non-essentials.  The government should pay to educate our children, while we cover the payments on our expensive cars.  The government or our employer should pay for our health care, while we spend our own money for cell phones, vacations and bling. Now we are embracing the idea that it is the government's --- and that means the taxpayer's --- responsibility to pay for our prescription drugs.  Now, with stories popping up every day about the faults in the new prescription drug plan, look for vote-seeking politicians to suggest broadening the program.

When Bush's plan was first revealed we were told the cost would be around $300 billion for the first ten years.  That estimate is now in the $600 billion range.  You can bank on it being a one trillion cost over the first ten years .... all because of our eternal quest for something for nothing, and the eagerness with which politicians look for new ways to buy votes.

STUPID IN AMERICA

Did you happen to catch John Stossel's bit on ABC's 20/20 this past Friday night?  I didn't sad to say, and now I'm looking for a transcript or a copy.  Perhaps I'll even venture to the third floor (our ABC TV affiliate upstairs) to see if they can find me a copy.  At any rate, it looks like John Stossel took a look at the incredible mess that is American public schools, and not only found them wanting, but found them to be an unmitigated disaster. 

I did manage to take a look at some video excerpts on the ABC News website.  One clip focused on a math test that was given to American and European high school students.  The Americans, of course, thought that they had done very well on the test.  Sure!  Why not!  After all, American schools have been pushing this phony self-esteem crap for decades!  We have some government schools that refuse to assign letter grades because of the damage a failing grade might do to some student's precious self-esteem.  One school even grades with geometric shapes -- squares, triangles and circles -- rather than with numbers and grades.  The reason is evidently that while there may be a negative connotation to an "F" or a "60" on a test, geometric shapes have no preset negative meanings.  So ... our American kids, pumped full of false bravado ... felt that they had done quite well on the test.  They didn't.  They scored a 47.  The European students scored at 75%.  In the interviews I saw with the European students they seemed to be amazed that the American children did so poorly --- and were openly wondering just how stupid our children really are.

If you did see this Stossel special, were you surprised at how low American students score on tests compared to students from other countries?  Sadly, you probably were.   There is no way in hell that America should be anywhere other than in first place when it comes to education.  Fact is, we're in 25th place.  Around the world 25 nations are doing a better job of educating their children than we are.  Stossel pointed out one huge and very important difference.  In other countries parents get to chose the school their child will attend.  They chose the school, and the government foots the bill.  This means that the schools, and the teachers, compete for students.  In tghe United States there is no competition.  Here the government assigns your child to a school.  The only way you can overrule that choice is to either move, or to pay out of your own pocket to send your children to a private school.  Here the government has a virtual monopoly on education .. and it's a monopoly that is closely guarded and protected by --- guess who? --- the teacher's unions.    Apparently Stossel was pretty hard on the teacher's unions.  He said that they tolerate mediocrity.  Teachers generally get paid the same whether they're average, below average or above average.  I didn't hear it, but I understand that one teacher in Stossel's special actually condemned the idea of competition, saying that competition just "isn't human." 

There are few agendas in America that are more important than doing something about our government schools.  These government schools are killing us.  Our children come out of these schools with no real knowledge of American history, and no understanding of the concept of the rule of law or of a representative republic.  Our children graduate from these hideous government schools with no understanding of the marketplace and the concepts of capitalism and free enterprise.  Ask them where the word "capitalism" comes from, and they'll give you a blank, open mouthed stare.  Ask them to define profit and profit margin, and to differentiate between the two, and you'll get nothing.  In virtually any serious academic area ... math, history, reading, writing ... they fall short.  We're graduating a generation of school children who are ready for little more than a life of menial labor requiring little thought and a lifetime of government dependency. 

While our schools are getting worse, and our education standing around the world is falling, the teacher's unions continue their fight to maintain the government monopoly on education and to prevent anything that even remotely resembles school choice to become a part of the equation. 

Each and every one of us knows that competition improves the marketplace.  Why, then, do we turn a blind eye to the idea of competition in education?  Why do we let the teacher's unions ride roughshod over us, and our children, this way? 

ZAWAHRI MISSES DINNER

Early Friday morning, the CIA dropped a bomb on a house in Peshawar, Pakistan.   Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Osama Bin Laden's right hand man, was supposed to be there having a dinner celebrating an Islamic holiday.  Unfortunately, he decided against going and sent some subordinates instead.  Those subordinates and everybody else in attendance are now currently enjoying their desert sand nap.  We dropped a bomb, killed them all, but missed Al-Zawahiri.  Bummer.  Reports are that 17 people in 3 houses bought the farm. 

Now we're hearing that Pakistan is upset...they've filed a protest claiming innocent people were killed and Al-Zawahiri wasn't even there.  The media is doing their best to spin this as more failure in the War On Terror...because the anti-American, Bush-bashing press never passes up an opportunity.  There are protests in the street in Pakistan.  So what is one to make of all this?

OK ... we bombed a couple houses in Pakistan where one of the world's most-wanted terrorists was supposed to be having lunch and he wasn't there.  Better luck next time.  We are engaged in a global war on terror....a war against Islamic terrorism.  If Pakistan were more cooperative in this war .. if Pakistan didn't tolerate the presence of Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives in its villages .. this incident may not have happened.

In the meantime, though the loss of innocent civilians is regrettable, let's celebrate the Islamic terrorists that died in the raid. 

BUSH IMPEACHMENT? MAYBE

The "I" word is slowly starting to work its way into the mainstream media.  What is that, you ask?  It is the impeachment of George W. Bush.  Too far-fetched?  Think again.  What could it possibly be over?  Missing WMD in Iraq?  Nope.  Valerie Plame?  No way.

The domestic wiretaps that the president authorized the National Security Agency to undertake ... there's your key.  After the Democrats' failed attempt at stopping the Samuel Alito nomination, they're going to be out for blood.  With the Republican party on the ropes right now with the Abramoff scandal, among other things, the time may be right for the left to strike.

Impeachment?  Polls show that the public may just be receptive to the idea.  A Zogby poll taken recently seems to bear that out.  Here is the question that was asked of 1,216 respondents regarding the matter: "If President Bush wiretapped American citizens without the approval of a judge, do you agree or disagree that Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment?"  Answer: 52% said yes, 43% said no, and the rest didn't know or care.  That's more than half. Trouble is on the horizon for the Bush White House.  Now, as usual, the wording of the question is suspect.  Couldn't Zogby plug the word "illegal" in there somewhere? 

As clueless as the Democrats are, there could be more of them roaming the halls of the House and Senate come next January.  That doesn't bode well for the rest of the second term of the Bush presidency.  There is nothing these Democrats would like to do more than to have a successful impeachment vote in the House.  I'm betting it doesn't happen ... but the effort will certainly be there.

JUST WONDERING ...

But I just heard that Americans spend more money on video games than they do going to the movies.  I wonder how long it will be before we spend more on video games than we do on books!

AGAINST AFFIRMATIVE ACTION?  SO, WHAT'S THE PROBLEM WITH THAT?

I seem to have heard somewhere that many liberals are upset with Samuel Alito because he has written some things in the past that would indicate that he is opposed to affirmative action.  So, let me get this straight.  To the left Samuel Alito should be rejected for a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States because he is opposed to a system of premeditated discrimination based on race?  That's rather odd, don't you think? But, then, were talking about liberals here.  Remember, to a liberal there is no problem with racial discrimination so long members of favored groups are the beneficiaries.

CAME HOME EMPTY HANDED

We're back this morning after a quick three-day ski trip to Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  I'm sad to report that after the final day of skiing I actually returned two skis and two ski poles to the rental center.  I had earnestly hoped to come up a pole short after losing one in the hindquarters of a snowboarder.  No such luck ... but only because my lack of skiing skills prevented me from catching up to one of the more egregious snowboarding violators of basic slope etiquette. 

It's not about the snowboards ... it's about the snowboarding culture, best described as one of aggressive rudeness.  Have you ever paid attention to skateboarders on television?  They see no problem whatsoever in destroying private property.  You will see the skateboarders scraping their boards up and down stair railings and across park benches.  Never, not once, have I ever heard one word uttered about the damage being done to private property by their actions.   That's their culture.  They're tough skateboarders and they don't really give a damn what anyone else thinks of them.  Well, same thing for the snowbound variety.  Snowboarders rather enjoy the reputation they have on the slopes.  Their sense or rebellion breeds a "who give a damn" attitude about the discomfort they cause other's on the slopes.  When some boarders come up on a family skiing area festooned with "slow" signs, they see it as in invitation to point their boards straight downhill to see just how fast they can weave in and out of the skiers.  They're bulletproof and cannot possibly make a mistake that could lead to an injury for anyone else on the slopes.  More than once during the past three days I saw jump a catwalk onto a designated "slow" skiing area covered with children.  They would blaze through the crowd and disappear quickly.  Never --- not once  --- did I see anyone from the ski patrol call one of these delinquents to task.

Make no mistake, riding these boards looks like a good time.  If I were just beginning to learn I might well chose a board over skis.  The boards aren't the problem.  The rude don't-give-a-damn about anyone else on the slopes attitude of the typical boarder is.  For now, we need a list of the ski areas where they are banned.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

--On Sunday in New Orleans, a "unity" parade was held to show support for the city's post-Katrina rebuilding.  Unfortunately, the parade was disbanded when shots rang out and three people were hospitalized with gunshot wounds.  As one returning evacuee put it: "This is not what I came back here to see."  No kidding. Remember, though.  The shootings were all George Bush's fault.

--The National Enquirer ran a photo of recovering West Virginia miner Randal McCloy while he was comatose in the hospital.  Where did such a tasteless photograph come from?  Apparently McCloy's brother.  And what was he paid for invading his family's privacy?  $800 lousy bucks.  The Enquirer did provide the camera, however. George Bush apparently talked McCloy's brother into taking the picture ... and the $800. 

--The news media has reported all weekend that rapper Eminem has remarried his wife Kim.  And just why is this "news?"  Who knows...but he does serve a useful purpose: recording music we use to encourage Islamic terrorists to talk.  John McCain just might have a point.  That could be torture.

--Regarding the kids arrested for murdering homeless men with baseball bats...how about a little creative punishment here?  Maybe after a few rounds with a Louisville Slugger, they might see the error of their ways.  Oh, and videotape it too.  Show it in high schools.

--Walter Cronkite says it's time for the U.S. to leave Iraq.  Perhaps he hasn't realized that people stopped listening to him decades ago. Senility is a terrible thing, isn't it?

--Saddam stooge and British Member of Parliament George Galloway was on British television the other night pretending to be a cat and licking milk from the cupped hands of an actress.  Perhaps he had practice in Iraq, though it probably wasn't milk he was licking.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Iran is threatening to force oil prices higher if sanctions are imposed over its nuclear program.  Sanctions won't work anyway.  However, a couple of weeks of bombing runs just might change their minds.

Another Republican has stepped down from a leadership position in Congress....this time it's Ohio's Bob Ney, who was a little too cozy with Jack Abramoff.  How many more will step down?  When are Abramoff's Democrat friends (Hillary?) going to get some attention?  

The U.N.'s toothless nuclear watchdog is losing patience with Iran.  I wonder what will happen when his patience eventually runs out?  Answer: absolutely nothing.

Both Democrats and Republicans say we may have to resort to a military strike to take out Iran's nuclear capability.  That's a promising sign.  Of course, the Democrats will say they weren't for it after it happens.

Walter Cronkite says he shouldn't have quit as CBS anchor and handed the position over to Dan Rather.  Rather never really worked out...they do have an opening at the moment, however.

Who is going to be the next House Majority Leader?  Robert Novak says Roy Blunt and John Boehner are just a little too cozy with lobbyists, and he presents a dark horse candidate.

William Kristol says we can't rule out military force in Iran....because the mullahs aren't going to give up their nukes easily.  But do the American people have the will to follow through?

George Will has some ideas for cleaning up Washington...but Congress probably won't like them. Read on.

Democrats tried to smear Judge Samuel Alito, and it didn't work out.  Now he's headed for confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Star Parker reports.

It would seem that the population of Massachusetts is shrinking...and Jeff Jacoby wants to know why.  The weather?  High housing prices?  Looks like the real reason is the oppressive political culture.

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