One of the most striking impressions I gained while serving as a state representative was that Party, not State, not Country, was placed in a position of much higher importance than anything else. Even campaign donations (read bribes) took a subordinate position. One member of my caucus stated his primary purpose for being in office. “I want to #@!! them,” he said. He meant the Democrats. It did not matter if the legislation had any merit, not even if it saved the taxpayers money. Beating the enemy was all. This attitude also ran rampant throughout the other side of the aisle. Four of my bills were taken from me and given to the Democrat leadership because I was a member of the minority party and my bills were viewed as a violation of a cardinal rule: a freshman legislator shall not propose legislation good enough to pass, especially if it is better than their leaderships’ bills.
Many questions have been asked why our government seems so inadequate in solving our ongoing problems. The simple answer is that the parties are too busy fighting each other to actually accomplish anything. Compounding that is the fact that they also don’t want to upset any of the big money people who typically donate to their campaigns, even if it is the right thing to do.
I have always believed that if an elected official becomes aware of a wrong being perpetrated, that official should take steps to stop it. I did so when I was approached by a group of casino employees upset over their tips being stolen from them by the casino owner. In researching this I found a state law that forbids the taking of tips. My own party attacked me over this, claiming I was violating the “free market”. The fact that a law was being broken was beside the point. In reality, the party in Nevada is owned by the gaming industry and they were told to remove an irritant.
Anyone who has ever watched the TV series The West Wing is familiar with the character Wesley. That character, throughout the series, consistently argues against allowing the Republicans to win anything, even if that win benefits the country. The unfortunate truth is that that attitude prevails in American politics. Elected officials are Democrats, not Americans; Republicans, not Americans; and it doesn’t end there.
Ever hear of Affirmative Action? It is a nasty piece of legislation that legitimizes discrimination because someone’s ancestor may have been discriminated against by someone in the past. In essence it is Washington saying that in this case, two wrongs do make a right. What it has actually done is keep the division going. In the US we do not have Americans in a variety of colors, we have African Americans, Mexican Americans, and so on…We are so busy creating and maintaining socio-political walls to divide our populace that we have become antagonistic toward those who try to scale the wall.
Like our government, our education system is in rapid decline not simply because we refuse to pay for the tools to do the job properly, but because we have surrendered to the politically correct forces who insist on maintaining the walls. The school board in my area has members who actively fight against those methods proven to work in the classroom because those methods are not politically popular with their party leadership.
The Democrat Party will not support anything that upsets the fanatic left. As a result, the party of John F. Kennedy seems to support international terrorism, the killing of healthy, living babies via partial birth abortion, the granting of amnesty to the vilest of serial killers, the removal of personal responsibility, the removal of any right that promotes self-reliance, the destruction of heterosexual marriage and the core family unit, the elimination of Israel as a state, and the dissolution of America as a sovereign nation.
The Republican Party, the party of Lincoln and Reagan has metastasized into a party that openly supports massive corporate theft, human trafficking, the resurgence of plantation style slavery, the elimination of small business and the destruction of public education.
Either way we lose, simply because the American voter no longer cares about who runs their party.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
In Kalifornia, the First Amendment doesn’t apply to Christians.
This exchange occured at the recent Miss USA pagent between the moderator and Miss California, Carrie Prejean.
Perez Hilton: “Vermont recently became the 4th state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit. Why or why not?”
Prejean: “Well, I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what, in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think it should be between a man and a woman. Thank you very much.”
Carrie Prejean, Miss California, was the frontrunner and the favorite to win the Miss USA pageant...and then she committed the deadly sin of self-expression. She forgot where she was and what demographic comprised the majority of her audience. Hollywood is run and policed by the homosexual lobby.
(Note: I will not use the term “gay” to describe a male homosexual. Gay is a state of mind. It means to be happy. It was co-opted by a group with the full intention of twisting the dialogue to their terms.)
In the space of a few seconds, Miss Prejean went from crowd favorite to crowd goat, never mind that the same people loudly expressing their hatred were the same people with an extensive history of standing on the first amendment. The hypocrisy is that they don’t believe it extends to anyone who disagrees with their side of the issue. Some have actually called for Miss Prejean’s arrest and conviction on a hate crime charge. I doubt those individuals even know how to spell hubris.
The only group whose world view is affected solely by how they copulate is the homosexuals. They are the only people who insist on bringing what they do in the bedroom to the fore of the discussion. They the only people who use a sexual activity as the template for defining who they are.
Every group has its fanatics and the homosexual community is no exception. But the fanatics are controlling the dialogue which makes the possibility of a progressive, logical debate a non-starter, but someone has to try. One place to start is the hatred the homosexuals seem to have for Christianity while at the same time demanding that Christianity treat them as something other than what they are, same sex couples engaging in an activity the Christian Bible condemns.
This is typical of the homosexual lobby. They have mastered the “do as I say not as I do” gambit. What is dismaying is that nearly every elected official and media outlet has swallowed that lie hook line and sinker. They see no hypocrisy in homosexual couples demanding that a religion accept them as non-sinners while actively engaging in what that church views as sin. They see no hypocrisy in using the first amendment to further their aims while denying its protection to that church.
For the Christian church, marriage is to be a rite of commitment between a man and a woman. Not between a man and a girl, a girl and a boy, a man and a man or a woman and a woman. The secular world already has avenues for those arrangements, including such things as power of attorney and other documents that give a domestic partner all the access and privileges of a spouse. So what’s the problem with allowing church marriage to stand as it is?
The problem is the word “sin”. Anyone who has ever been involved in a discussion with a homosexual activist will have noticed the demeanor of unrepentant aggression that permeates the one they are speaking with. This demeanor is typical throughout the demographic. Whether the media and the politicos want to admit it or not, the homosexual community is at war with the Christian church. They view Christianity as one judging them and what they do. They consider Jesus’ admonition to “go and sin no more” as something hateful. The word “love” only means one thing, sex. The argument goes nowhere. When the terms of the discussion means different things to the participants, only confusion can result.
What this all comes down to is this: As Americans, we all have a right to express our opinions freely and without fear or repercussion...even if we happen to be a Christian living in Kalifornia.
Perez Hilton: “Vermont recently became the 4th state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit. Why or why not?”
Prejean: “Well, I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what, in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think it should be between a man and a woman. Thank you very much.”
Carrie Prejean, Miss California, was the frontrunner and the favorite to win the Miss USA pageant...and then she committed the deadly sin of self-expression. She forgot where she was and what demographic comprised the majority of her audience. Hollywood is run and policed by the homosexual lobby.
(Note: I will not use the term “gay” to describe a male homosexual. Gay is a state of mind. It means to be happy. It was co-opted by a group with the full intention of twisting the dialogue to their terms.)
In the space of a few seconds, Miss Prejean went from crowd favorite to crowd goat, never mind that the same people loudly expressing their hatred were the same people with an extensive history of standing on the first amendment. The hypocrisy is that they don’t believe it extends to anyone who disagrees with their side of the issue. Some have actually called for Miss Prejean’s arrest and conviction on a hate crime charge. I doubt those individuals even know how to spell hubris.
The only group whose world view is affected solely by how they copulate is the homosexuals. They are the only people who insist on bringing what they do in the bedroom to the fore of the discussion. They the only people who use a sexual activity as the template for defining who they are.
Every group has its fanatics and the homosexual community is no exception. But the fanatics are controlling the dialogue which makes the possibility of a progressive, logical debate a non-starter, but someone has to try. One place to start is the hatred the homosexuals seem to have for Christianity while at the same time demanding that Christianity treat them as something other than what they are, same sex couples engaging in an activity the Christian Bible condemns.
This is typical of the homosexual lobby. They have mastered the “do as I say not as I do” gambit. What is dismaying is that nearly every elected official and media outlet has swallowed that lie hook line and sinker. They see no hypocrisy in homosexual couples demanding that a religion accept them as non-sinners while actively engaging in what that church views as sin. They see no hypocrisy in using the first amendment to further their aims while denying its protection to that church.
For the Christian church, marriage is to be a rite of commitment between a man and a woman. Not between a man and a girl, a girl and a boy, a man and a man or a woman and a woman. The secular world already has avenues for those arrangements, including such things as power of attorney and other documents that give a domestic partner all the access and privileges of a spouse. So what’s the problem with allowing church marriage to stand as it is?
The problem is the word “sin”. Anyone who has ever been involved in a discussion with a homosexual activist will have noticed the demeanor of unrepentant aggression that permeates the one they are speaking with. This demeanor is typical throughout the demographic. Whether the media and the politicos want to admit it or not, the homosexual community is at war with the Christian church. They view Christianity as one judging them and what they do. They consider Jesus’ admonition to “go and sin no more” as something hateful. The word “love” only means one thing, sex. The argument goes nowhere. When the terms of the discussion means different things to the participants, only confusion can result.
What this all comes down to is this: As Americans, we all have a right to express our opinions freely and without fear or repercussion...even if we happen to be a Christian living in Kalifornia.
Friday, April 3, 2009
America, land of the free, home of the illiterate.
Alan Stock is the morning host on the Las Vegas station KXNT 840 AM. Alan is a typically entertaining, well-spoken, conservative host who is usually right in line when it comes to separating the hyperbole from the pragmatic when it comes to political discussion...until he gets to the subject of education. Sadly, on that topic he marches lockstep with almost every other conservative host in the country. For some reason not one of these people have ever explained, they refuse to differentiate the teachers’ union and its aims from the working teacher. In this column I will discuss why Alan and his compatriots are embarrassingly and tragically wrong in their opinion, and why this opinion is rapidly ruining this country’s future.
“All public school teachers are commie-leftists!”
This is the typical rejoinder from conservative talk hosts when pushed into a corner where anything other than private or home-school education is concerned. The problem with this is most of them have never been in a classroom since they left high school. Information about public school comes to them from what they read in Talkers Magazine and from what they hear on other likeminded shows. This is not what would be considered an in-depth investigation of the problem.
As a member of Nevada’s State Government I sat on the committee on education. After the session I acquired a teaching license and entered the classroom as a substitute teacher. A substitute is able to sample a variety of classrooms and schools. In this way I learned first hand what actually went on in the schools, what the teaching staff did and felt about a variety of issues and how the students did and didn’t learn. The reality within this country’s schools is so far removed from what talk radio dispenses that the word “fiction” is beyond inadequate as a description. In all honesty, I cannot use the word “lie” because hosts like Alan Stock, Rush Limbaugh, Hannity and others really believe the tripe they are dishing out.
The truth is that most public school teachers, kindergarten is the exception, are not left leaning in their politics at all. Many of the teachers I spoke to were somewhat more conservative than I, and I received the highest rating on the conservative voting scale in the last legislative session. I was 12 points more conservative than Mr. Stock’s favorite State Senator. The teachers told me that they were, for the most part, disgusted with the decisions of both the union and the school board and they could not understand the hatred that people like Alan continuously expressed toward their chosen profession. Frankly, neither can I.
“Teachers are paid too much already! And their benefits make up for it anyway!”
Yes, I suppose earning less than $35,000 a year while working an average 60 hour week attempting to inject some relevant knowledge into the minds of spoiled brats with no hope of any acknowledgement from the system for your accomplishment is reward enough. Talk show host continuously bleat out the lie that teachers only work a 6 hour day and get 3 months off every year with pay. Why, teaching is really a part-time job, why should we pay them any more?
I would expect such statements from someone who never paid a moment’s attention in school. But these people claim to have graduated from college. Of course, we are discussing talk show hosts here. In essence, they are the mirror image of micro minds like Michael Moore and Al Franken. The typical teacher begins their day waking up before 5am in order to get to school in time to prepare the classroom and that day’s lessons. They stay at least 2 hours past the time the students leave, so there is an 8 hour day, but it isn’t over yet. Once at home they have grading and more lesson-planning to do, in addition to any other paperwork the administration has palmed off onto their already overloaded shoulders. Merit is not considered here because of the seniority-based union leadership, and woe betide any upstart who tries to be innovative ahead of their time. And the talk show hosts wonder why so many teachers are retiring early.
“Why don’t they teach what is relevant any more? Kids are graduating and they can’t even balance a checkbook!”
You try to deal with a class that has 15 more students in it than you have chairs. It is amazing that some teachers can even get a partial lesson through to some of their students. One of the major problems with this scene is that talk radio has not moved with the times. To them, the classroom is still what they experienced. They have no realization what 15 to 30 years of union and school bard meddling has done to the teaching profession. A teacher cannot discipline properly because the parents might sue the school. The students have little or no respect for their parents; much less the teacher because they have no fear of any consequence for acting badly, and most administrations will not back up the teacher who attempts to keep a proper decorum in the classroom. There are a couple schools in my area where the administration does this and they have been targeted for budget cuts by the district.
Right now, in my state, much needed funds are being redirected from education to autism programs. In the legislature’s vast wisdom it is far more important to treat autism than to teach little Johnny and Janie to read. In the last legislative session we tried to get additional funding into Vocational Education, but where did the school superintendents want to put the money? All Day Kindergarten. Daycare for yuppies was more important.
“Private school and home schooling is far better than public school!”
No, they are not. The class sizes make the difference. In many ways the curriculum may be far worse than that of a public school. The variable is who is doing the teaching. The parent or private teacher may be good or not. It is completely possible that that teacher may be turning out the Ronald Reagan, or the next Adolph Hitler. It’s a crap shoot, not a sure thing.
It is not the teachers’ fault that America’s literacy rate is falling faster than the value of the dollar. The fault lies squarely on the shoulders of those who continuously badmouth teaching without doing a blessed thing to help the situation. In a city of over two million, it is going to take a busload of money to teach the hundreds of thousands of children who desperately need to know how to read, write, and balance a checkbook. The job cannot be done in your kitchen and it cannot be done part time and it is going to take everyone chipping in some of their money to pay for it. If we put forth the effort we could have the best educated populace the world has ever seen. The problem is, we would have to stop being narrow-minded to do so. In some cases that would mean developing a mind.
“All public school teachers are commie-leftists!”
This is the typical rejoinder from conservative talk hosts when pushed into a corner where anything other than private or home-school education is concerned. The problem with this is most of them have never been in a classroom since they left high school. Information about public school comes to them from what they read in Talkers Magazine and from what they hear on other likeminded shows. This is not what would be considered an in-depth investigation of the problem.
As a member of Nevada’s State Government I sat on the committee on education. After the session I acquired a teaching license and entered the classroom as a substitute teacher. A substitute is able to sample a variety of classrooms and schools. In this way I learned first hand what actually went on in the schools, what the teaching staff did and felt about a variety of issues and how the students did and didn’t learn. The reality within this country’s schools is so far removed from what talk radio dispenses that the word “fiction” is beyond inadequate as a description. In all honesty, I cannot use the word “lie” because hosts like Alan Stock, Rush Limbaugh, Hannity and others really believe the tripe they are dishing out.
The truth is that most public school teachers, kindergarten is the exception, are not left leaning in their politics at all. Many of the teachers I spoke to were somewhat more conservative than I, and I received the highest rating on the conservative voting scale in the last legislative session. I was 12 points more conservative than Mr. Stock’s favorite State Senator. The teachers told me that they were, for the most part, disgusted with the decisions of both the union and the school board and they could not understand the hatred that people like Alan continuously expressed toward their chosen profession. Frankly, neither can I.
“Teachers are paid too much already! And their benefits make up for it anyway!”
Yes, I suppose earning less than $35,000 a year while working an average 60 hour week attempting to inject some relevant knowledge into the minds of spoiled brats with no hope of any acknowledgement from the system for your accomplishment is reward enough. Talk show host continuously bleat out the lie that teachers only work a 6 hour day and get 3 months off every year with pay. Why, teaching is really a part-time job, why should we pay them any more?
I would expect such statements from someone who never paid a moment’s attention in school. But these people claim to have graduated from college. Of course, we are discussing talk show hosts here. In essence, they are the mirror image of micro minds like Michael Moore and Al Franken. The typical teacher begins their day waking up before 5am in order to get to school in time to prepare the classroom and that day’s lessons. They stay at least 2 hours past the time the students leave, so there is an 8 hour day, but it isn’t over yet. Once at home they have grading and more lesson-planning to do, in addition to any other paperwork the administration has palmed off onto their already overloaded shoulders. Merit is not considered here because of the seniority-based union leadership, and woe betide any upstart who tries to be innovative ahead of their time. And the talk show hosts wonder why so many teachers are retiring early.
“Why don’t they teach what is relevant any more? Kids are graduating and they can’t even balance a checkbook!”
You try to deal with a class that has 15 more students in it than you have chairs. It is amazing that some teachers can even get a partial lesson through to some of their students. One of the major problems with this scene is that talk radio has not moved with the times. To them, the classroom is still what they experienced. They have no realization what 15 to 30 years of union and school bard meddling has done to the teaching profession. A teacher cannot discipline properly because the parents might sue the school. The students have little or no respect for their parents; much less the teacher because they have no fear of any consequence for acting badly, and most administrations will not back up the teacher who attempts to keep a proper decorum in the classroom. There are a couple schools in my area where the administration does this and they have been targeted for budget cuts by the district.
Right now, in my state, much needed funds are being redirected from education to autism programs. In the legislature’s vast wisdom it is far more important to treat autism than to teach little Johnny and Janie to read. In the last legislative session we tried to get additional funding into Vocational Education, but where did the school superintendents want to put the money? All Day Kindergarten. Daycare for yuppies was more important.
“Private school and home schooling is far better than public school!”
No, they are not. The class sizes make the difference. In many ways the curriculum may be far worse than that of a public school. The variable is who is doing the teaching. The parent or private teacher may be good or not. It is completely possible that that teacher may be turning out the Ronald Reagan, or the next Adolph Hitler. It’s a crap shoot, not a sure thing.
It is not the teachers’ fault that America’s literacy rate is falling faster than the value of the dollar. The fault lies squarely on the shoulders of those who continuously badmouth teaching without doing a blessed thing to help the situation. In a city of over two million, it is going to take a busload of money to teach the hundreds of thousands of children who desperately need to know how to read, write, and balance a checkbook. The job cannot be done in your kitchen and it cannot be done part time and it is going to take everyone chipping in some of their money to pay for it. If we put forth the effort we could have the best educated populace the world has ever seen. The problem is, we would have to stop being narrow-minded to do so. In some cases that would mean developing a mind.
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