RED SOUNDING

Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection May be Inaccurate

Philip Eveland — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:56:00 GMT

I called Fodor and asked him to explain his point in language an infant school pupil could understand. "Can't be done," he shot back. "These issues really are complicated. If we're right that Darwin and Darwinists have missed the point we've been making for 150 years, that's not because it's a simple point and Darwin was stupid. It's a really complicated issue."

Establishment Media Still Not Asking Right Questions on Economy

Philip Eveland — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 06:18:00 GMT

The CBS News show 60 Minutes tried to explain what caused the financial crisis of 2008, but forgot to ask what was the root cause of the problem [read]. As I've noted before, the establishment media really doesn't want the answer, because it doesn't fit the preconceived narrative of what's wrong with the economy. For the Leftist/statist, the problem is always (and only) the result of the private sector (i.e., Wall Street). It's never the government's fault.

For instance, last year (2009) PBS Frontline examined the financial meltdown, but failed to ask the fundamental question: what caused all those "toxic assets" they kept referring to in the program? As I said then, these people really don't care what's the cause of any problem; they're more interested in instituting their standard remedy: more and bigger government [read].

Drew Carey and Reason Tackle Urban Plight

Philip Eveland — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 05:36:00 GMT

Comedian Drew Carey and Reason teamed up to explore ways to save the failing city of Cleveland, OH, which is only one of hundreds of large cities that are experiencing major budget deficits. Reason examined what other cities are doing right to deal with their problems. They sought out success stories to demonstrate what works and what Cleveland and other cities like it should try to resolve their problems. In Part One of the series (embedded on right), they present the historical context of the city and introduce the problems plaguing what was once a great city.

Part Two of the series explores how to fix the city's failing school system [watch]. The secret to success seems to be letting teachers teach the way they want and getting the government and teachers' unions out of the way. The bottom line: decentralization and freedom. I've written about this issue in earlier posts [read].

Part Three deals with business [watch]. Here the message is simple: private ownership of profit-based businesses works, and government-run businesses do not. Again, the foe to success is often government employee unions. No surprise there.

(h/t Instapundit)

Department of Education Update

Philip Eveland — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 04:21:00 GMT

It's over 30 years old. It was created during the Carter Administration to help our nation keep pace with Soviet education. It's annual budget is almost $100 billion, and it employs approximately 5,000 bureaucrats (none of whom, by the way, teach any classes or develop curricula). It's creation is the manifestation of the statists' consistent tendency to think that all problems can be solved by creating a new bureaucracy in Washington, D.C. Yet, no amount of evidence to the contrary changes their minds. I'm speaking, of course, about the Department of Education.

Liberal editor of Newsweek, Evan Thomas, examined the state of American education today [read]:

The relative decline of American education at the elementary- and high-school levels has long been a national embarrassment as well as a threat to the nation's future. Once upon a time, American students tested better than any other students in the world. Now, ranked against European schoolchildren, America does about as well as Lithuania, behind at least 10 other nations. Within the United States, the achievement gap between white students and poor and minority students stubbornly persists—and as the population of disadvantaged students grows, overall scores continue to sag.

Thomas and his co-author, Pat Wingert, strike the right tone in this article. They highlight all the problems -- more importantly, they highlight the root causes of those problems -- that are plaguing American education today. Interestingly, their solutions to the problems all reside at the local level; at the school board and superintendent level. They write:

Before the American public-education system can regain its lost crown as the envy of the world, local politicians and school administrators will have to step up. At Central Falls High School in Rhode Island, half the students drop out of school, and proficiency in math measured by state exams stands at a pitiful 7 percent among 11th graders. Under state pressure, the local superintendent, Frances Gallo, tried to improve scores by requiring teachers to work 25 minutes longer each a day, eat lunch with students once a week, and agree to be evaluated by a third party. The teachers, who make about $75,000 a year, far more than average in this depressed town, balked. They wanted another $90 an hour. So Gallo took a brave and astonishing step: she recommended firing all 74 teachers. Her boldness was praised by Education Secretary Duncan—and supported by President Obama. The teachers' union initially squawked that everyone was unfairly "blaming the teachers," but then last week backed off under a storm of media pressure and accepted the new rules requiring teachers to spend more time with the students.

The only mention of the federal government throughout the entire article was this brief reference to Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and only to note that he agreed with the actions taken by the local school officials in Rhode Island. Could that short sentence have been left out without altering the message? Certainly. But to the Leftist/statist, the federal government is always in the narrative, no matter how small its role in the story. Any reasonable reading of the events described by Thomas suggests that a federal official supporting the decisions of local officials should be irrelevant. Who cares if Arne Duncan agrees with the local superintendent's decisions?

But Duncan and other bureacrats in Washington have to justify their existence, else people would start asking why they're receiving salaries approaching $200,000 a year or more! Hell, I'll agree with the officials in Rhode Island for far less than that.

Previous entries on this topic:
Department of Education

UPDATE: CATO Institute examined the public education system compared to private schools [watch].

Increasing Dependency on Federal Handouts

Philip Eveland — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:53:00 GMT

One Republican Senator from Kentucky held up a bill to extend federal unemployment payments. Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) defending his opposition to the bill by citing another bill passed by both Democrats and Republicans two weeks earlier that requires all new spending must adhere to a pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) doctrine. In other words, the bill requires that any new Congressional spending must not add to the current deficit, thus proponents of new spending must find funds of an equal amount to cut from other programs to balance out the new spending. This is the same thing that most families are forced to do every month when they budget their spending to avoid overdraft charges from their banks.

A Democrat Senator from Washington took to the floor of the Senate and lambasted Rep. Bunning for holding up passage of the bill in the House. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said [watch | read]:

Well, Madam President, today we have a clear cut example to show the American people just what’s wrong with Washington, D.C.

That is because today - one, single Republican senator is standing in the way of the unemployment benefits of 400,000 Americans.

One single, Republican senator is blocking an extension of COBRA benefits for 500,000 Americans.

One single, Republican senator is forcing doctors to take a 21% cut in Medicare reimbursement rates that could force seniors to be turned away from the Medicare coverage they rely on.

One single, Republican senator is blocking an extension of critical highway funds that has construction workers and transportation employees at home today and that has cut critical payments to struggling state.

One single, Republican Senator has put posturing before people, politics before families, and point scoring before the needs of struggling Americans.

Madam President, the legislation that we are trying so hard to pass is very straight forward – It’s aimed at helping real families with the real problems they face every day. And the consequences of it being blocked are just as real.

One thing Sen. Murray said that was absolutely correct is that there is indeed something wrong in Washington, D.C. But it's not that Rep. Bunning is holding up legislation. Instead, what's wrong with our current system is that the American people are becoming increasingly dependent on federal government handouts. Currently, people in every state, from Hawaii to Maine, are dependent on government bureaucrats with soft, chubby pink hands; career e-mail checkers who enjoy very comfortable lives funded by the wages of citizens who actually work for a living. Check out the parking lot of any federal government bureaucracy. Then compare the quality and value of cars to those in any parking lot at your local neighborhood strip mall. Where are the counties with the highest average incomes are in the U.S.? They're right smack next to Washington, D.C., and all those expensive single-family and townhouses come courtesy of the American taxpayer.

Sen. Murray and other left-wing statists in government want Americans to be dependent on them. Not only does it create job security and ensure their own well-being (i.e., reelection), but it also gives the statist a sense of moral superiority. Thus, anyone who wants Americans to become more self-sufficient and independent rather than dependent is not just wrong; they're evil! Watch, for instance, Sen. Murry on the Senate floor talking about the tens of thousands of her constituents who are abjectly dependent on her for their healthcare and other needs. Look behind the senator and you'll see a very large placard photograph of one of her constituents who's abjectly dependent on the U.S. Congress for her well-being. The senator wants it that way [watch].

Does anyone think Sen. Murray and her leftist colleagues would perhaps offer a bill in Congress to cut their own salaries by 50% during this economic downturn? Does anyone think any member of Congress, Democrat or Republican, would suggest that they earn only 2.5 times what the average American earns? Would they support a bill that pegs their salaries to the median income of average Americans? Of course not. Sen. Murray earns nearly $200,000/year as a U.S. senator. That's over four times the national average. What if Congress' pay was fixed to the U.S. average? Wouldn't it create an incentive for Congress to do all they can to generate higher salaries for their constituents by cutting their taxes and lowering corporate tax rates to lure more businesses and jobs into our borders rather than out?

It's far easier for Sen. Murray to use the full power of the federal government to take under threat of violence the money from the pockets of the citizens of Oklahoma, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, and the rest of the states. Many of those people have money problems of their own. But Sen. Murray gets reelected by Washingtonians who are dependent on her for money she takes from Floridians, who in turn vote for the politician who promises them federal money taken by threat of force from Washingtonians. Thus, the citizens of every state get their own version of Sen. Murray.

Meanwhile, all those billions of tax dollars flow through the vacuum cleaners in Washington, D.C., where a portion is sucked out to pay the exorbitant salaries of chubby bureaucrats who put in a good 90 minutes of work a day and spend the other 7.5 hours shooting the bull and checking e-mails. It's a Ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Madoff proud. It's the greatest money laundering scam in history. And all the while, Sen. Murray self-righteously condemns anyone who stands in the way of the scheme, and uses words that ring of a moral superiority that anyone other than Mother Theresa should be ashamed of uttering.

Ironically, it is those who are most dependent on the federal government for their well being who pay the least in taxes. In fact, the bottom 50% of wage earners in America pay no federal income taxes. By some estimates, that number will be closer to 60% in twenty years. When that happens, the American people will be able to vote for a bigger government that they will not be burdened with paying for themselves. George Will brilliantly summed it up when he spoke at CPAC two weeks ago [watch (4:35)]: "That is a majority that has zero incentive any longer to restrain the growth of a government they are not paying for."

It's worth noting that the moral superiority that Sen. Murray wears so proudly can be and is shared by all who voted for her and her fellow statists, most notably those in the establishment media [read | read | read | read | read | read | read | read | read]. Leftists in the newsrooms no longer hide their propensity to support big government. For these big government statists, the government has become their religion, and Congress is their god. Polls show that while the number of Americans who say they are very religious is nearly 70%, only 20% of journalists and news editors say so. The same is true for college professors. Why are the numbers so different? Why are the elitists in academia so secular?

Karl Marx shook the foundations of Western Civilization when he declared war on organized religion in the nineteenth century. His writings laid the groundwork for the increased secularization of society. Today, the direct descendants of Marx occupy most of the tenured positions in American universities, as well as the editorial boards of nearly every major news organization. However, as G.K. Chesterton noted, the vacuum created by secularism did not satisfy the inherent need for humans to worship something begger than themselves. Neither did the "death of god" cause secularist to abandon their genetic tendency to seek a moral justification for their existence. Today, secular leftists find all the moral justification their hearts desire outside the church. For instance, journalists today no longer just report the news. Journalism students surveyed said their goal is to change society. That used to be the church's role. But today, the church has been replaced by the federal government, and the results have been catastrophic.

It used to be that folks helped out their neighbors in times of need, and sought no recognition for it. They did what was needed and expected nothing in return. Americans once were humble servants who understood that charity comes not from coercion, but rather from a willful decision compelled only by their own conscience and in response to the needs of others. Michael Medved wrote about the federal government's attempt to care for American citizens by enlarging the bureaucracy in Washington, D.C. After the Great Depression, the federal government began assuming the role of a charitable organization that was once reserved for the church. He noted in his book, The 10 Big Lies About America:

Jonathan Gruber of MIT and Daniel Hungerman of the National Bureau of Economic Research have demonstrated that as government aid expenditures skyrocketed during the New Deal (increasing more than sixfold from 1933 to 1939), church-based private charity to the needy declined precipitously—by an estimated 30 percent. (p. 152) ...

The unmistakable failure of Great Society programs related to their underlying assumptions: they went far beyond the New Deal in erasing all distinction between the "deserving poor" and the "undeserving poor." The new welfare "entitlement" made all struggling citizens eligible for the same programs, regardless of the respectability or destructiveness of their behavior. Social workers and politicians aimed to obliterate the stigma once associated with receiving benefits from the government.

My barrel-maker grandfather never prospered in this society, but he always viewed the dole as an indication of failure and disgrace. Like most Americans of his generation, he would rather go hungry than lose his dignity as an honest workingman....

Great Society reformers worked hard to extirpate the sense of shame that previously kept the "working poor" from claiming government largess, promoting "welfare rights" and insisting that the destitute bore no responsibility for their status. But an individual who bears no responsibility for his situation exerts no control over it—and must depend on outside forces (in this case the federal government) for his redemption. By removing the embarrassment previously associated with taking public money, antipoverty programs encouraged a culture of dependency and discouraged self-reliance. (pp. 154-155)

Today, many Americans are still humble servants. But let us not confuse those people with the likes of Sen. Murray and her statist comrades in Congress.

Previous entries on this topic:
Can Charity be Compelled?
The 10 Big Lies About America

UPDATE: According the President Obama, the American people are huddled together in their living rooms, helplessly waiting for politicians in Washington to "solve" problems, and wondering whether Washington politicians are looking out for their best interest. The American people, Obama said, are "waiting" for them to "act" and "lead." Really? I just want them to shut the hell up and stop pretending they have all the answers. I'm getting tired of the schtick. In fact, I'm sensing that the American people are once again on to the way Washington operates.

Here's the modus operandi: Washington politicians create a crisis, then scramble to "solve" that crisis by holding hours of hearings that nobody watches or cares much about, then they debate on the floor of each house, and then they get their fresh-out-of-college staffers to concoct a lengthy screed written in the twisted language known only to lawyers, then they debate some more, and hold more hearings, then meet behind closed doors for more debate, and then finish up by blaming everyone else but themselves for the mess they created while reminding everyone how bad things would have been if they hadn't acted swiftly to remedy the problem. That's why we pay them $200,000 a year.

UPDATE: Ed Schultz on MSNBC helped make my case [read]. Schultz said: "After a year of olive branches, the President is fresh out of patience. He's put up with the right-wing lies long enough. The Republicans have a choice: lead, follow or get the hell out of the way. Small government has never gotten anybody any health care in this country. We have people in need and they need to be helped." Well, Ed. What are you waiting for? Help someone. Get up off your ass and help someone. Oh, yeah. Never mind. That's someone else's job. Some bureaucrat in Washington, I guess.

Dems on Reconciliation

Philip Eveland — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:24:00 GMT

It's a tale as old as history itself: politicians acting like politicians. Pelosi promised the most ethical Congress evah! Obama promised change you could believe in, remember? He was going to bring true bipartisanship to Washington, D.C.

(h/t Powerline)

(h/t Hotair)

Establishment Media on Joe Stack

Philip Eveland — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:16:00 GMT

Joe Stack flew his plane into a building in Austin, TX, because it had Internal Revenue Service offices in it. The establishment media decided that Joe Stack was a conservative member of the Tea Party movement, implying that the Tea Party movement is rife with potential home-grown terrorists. However, a recent comic highlighted the inconvenient facts about Joe Stack. (h/t Newsbusters)

UPDATE: As if on cue, NY Times columnist Frank Rich, a devout far-left commentator, examined the Joe Stack event and abjectly manifested the above cartoon. He warned that it portends another Oklahoma City bombing in the near future, likely to occur as a direct consequences one a Sarah Palin speech or Tea Party protest. You've been warned. (h/t Hotair)

UPDATE: A man tried to kill people at the Pentagon. The establishment media is portraying John Patrick Bedell as a right-winger. Good Morning America did a decent hard news story on the history of the shooter, and highlighted his insanity, as evidenced by his subscription to the 9/11 conspiracy theory. Subscribers to that conspiracy believe the U.S. government was behind the terrorist attacks (an issue discussed previously on this blog here and here). But Bill Weir dismissed all the evidence that the shooter was a paranoid nut-case, and instead followed the standard narrative that anyone who's violent and political is a right-winger [watch]. Scott Whitlock highlighted the Christian Science Monitor following the same narrative [read],

Glenn Beck at CPAC

Philip Eveland — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 13:02:00 GMT

Glenn Beck was the keynote speaker at the Conservative Political Action Committe (CPAC) this past week [watch]. He hit the nail right on the head.

(h/t Hotair)

Hitler Mad at Global Warming Scientists

Philip Eveland — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:31:00 GMT

This scene from the great German movie Downfall has been used in hudreds of ways. This one is another funny one (h/t Instapundit):

Instapundit has posted links to several of the issues mentioned above [here, here, here, here, and here].

Also of note, one of the many Global Warming alarmists, Robert F. Kenney, Jr., wrote two winters ago that the lack of snow in the DC area was evidence that humans were altering the global climate [read]:

In Virginia, the weather also has changed dramatically. Recently arrived residents in the northern suburbs, accustomed to today's anemic winters, might find it astonishing to learn that there were once ski runs on Ballantrae Hill in McLean, with a rope tow and local ski club. Snow is so scarce today that most Virginia children probably don't own a sled. But neighbors came to our home at Hickory Hill nearly every winter weekend to ride saucers and Flexible Flyers. (h/t Newsbusters)

Oops! That's okay. Just say the recent blizzards are also evidence of global warming, and then everything will be fine. Just say global warming is the cause of everything that happens [listen], and then condemn opponents of your theory as heretics, flat-earthers, holocause deniers, etc. Now that's good science.

NY Rangers Fans Suck

Philip Eveland — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 04:45:00 GMT

Here's more evidence that New York Rangers fans suck [watch]. When they came to DC last year, I was sitting behind about 30 of them, and they were the most tasteless and classless people I've ever met. They were rude and drunk and cared nothing for the folks around them. They threw beer, cussed (which forced several folks with children to leave the section), and threatened others with violence. I stood up to them, only to be chastised by a middle-aged drunk woman who called me a "pr!ck," to which replied with a mere smile. By the way, the Capitals beat the Rangers that day, and then beat them in the playoffs later that season (2008-2009).

The History of US-Taliban Relations

Philip Eveland — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:16:00 GMT

Michael Rubin has mined recently declassified State Department documents and provides a narrative of US-Taliban relations during the 1990s that does not comport with the current orthodoxy. For instance, the current narrative, as articulated last year by President Barack Obama, is that after the end of the Cold War the US and its allies neglected to engage the Taliban, thus they embraced radical Islam and provided succor for al Qaeda. However, as Rubin notes, the US State Department was engaged with top Taliban officials, but were unwilling to recognize them for what they really were: a radical regime that was unwilling to alter their goal of dominating the region and establishing a sharia state from which to begin a new caliphate.

Rubin writes: "The story of this effort has never been told in full. I first became aware of U.S. engagement with the Taliban during a stint as an intern at the U.S. Embassy in Tajikistan in 1997. Declassified State Department cables now show that efforts at engagement began just three months after the group emerged in Kandahar in 1994 and well over a year before it took Kabul. The story the documents tell is one of engagement for its own sake—without any consideration given to the behavior or sincerity of an unambiguously hostile interlocutor."

MSNBC is an Asylum Run by Inmates

Philip Eveland — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 09:32:00 GMT

MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell once again demonstrated why he's fit for institutionalization. He also reminded everyone of the fact that it is those on the Left who're the most emotionally unstable and ill-equipped to walk the streets and mingle with the sane people. Watch the insanity: (h/t Hotair)

Previous posts:
CNN and Waterboarding
Petty Creature Hates Christians
Sarah Palin Supporters
MSNBC Run By Children Still

UPDATE: Keith Olbermann joined the fray later that day. (h/t Newsbusters)

Milton Friedman at Mayo on Healthcare

Philip Eveland — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:39:00 GMT

This is a brief clip of Noble Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman speaking at the Mayo Clinic in 1978. He took questions afterward [watch].

George Will Examines Fiscal Responsibility

Philip Eveland — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:12:00 GMT

George Will: "In 2013, when President Mitch Daniels, former Indiana governor, is counting his blessings, at the top of his list will be the name of his vice president: Paul Ryan. The former congressman from Wisconsin will have come to office with ideas for steering the federal government to solvency."

Open Letter to Democrats

Philip Eveland — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:10:00 GMT

China Not Pleased with Weapons Sale to Taiwan

Philip Eveland — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:47:00 GMT

The Washington Post:

China's indignant reaction to the announcement of U.S. plans to sell weapons to Taiwan appears to be in keeping with a new triumphalist attitude from Beijing that is worrying governments and analysts across the globe.

Previous posts:
China's Anti-Ballistic Missile Test Examined
The Looming China Threat

Cato Scholars Critique SOTU

Philip Eveland — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:09:00 GMT

Hensarling versus Obama

Philip Eveland — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 03:52:00 GMT

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) asked President Obama about his 2011 budget, and whether it would triple the current federal deficit. Hensarling didn't get his answer, but instead got a lecture from the president that included incorrect facts. Hensarling sets the record straight [read]. (h/t Instapundit)

The president answer questions from House Republicans at their retreat in Baltimore [watch].

Blankley Repeal the 17th Amendment

Philip Eveland — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 02:00:00 GMT

Tony Blankley examined the upside to repealing the 17th Amendment [read].

Previous postings on this topic:
Leftists Attacking Electoral College
The Electoral College
George Will Says Repeal the 17th Amendment

China's Anti-Ballistic Missile Test Examined

Philip Eveland — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 02:49:00 GMT

Jamestown Foundation's Russel Hsiao analyzes China's motives for conducting an anti-ballistic missile test in mid January [read]:

In the final analysis, this test appears to be an important milestone in Chinese defense capabilities and demonstrates the growing maturation of its missile defense system. It is also apparent that the test has clear implications for the military modernization of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) which may challenge U.S. strategic posture in the Asia-Pacific region (See "Advances in PLA Air Defense Capabilities Challenge Strategic Balance in Asia," China Brief, October 23, 2008; China Times, January 12).