The best thing about being a columnist is that there’s never a
shortage of material—especially the kind that leaves you shaking your
head. The bad part is that there isn’t enough time to cover all those
topics thoroughly.
So the following is a brief perspective on various events, many of which the media has missed:
Pennsylvania School Choice Disaster: For the last year, those fighting for educational reform (comprehensive choice in education) but against
Senate Bill 1, the fatally-flawed bill in Harrisburg that would have
neither educated nor reformed (and is now dead), were lectured on the
merits of “incrementalism” by SB 1 proponents. “You have to get a little
at a time,” they scolded.
Well, despite never actually trying to pass a
broader bill that would include the middle class—which is why school
choice failed—the SB 1 folks (pushing the incremental approach) were
smashingly successful. They set the entire Movement back
incrementally. Comprehensive school choice passed the senate in 1991,
and garnered 89 votes in the House (of the needed 102). In 1995, an even
broader bill had 101 votes—just one shy. Yet in 2011, with a governor
who made vouchers a top priority, with Republican majorities in both
chambers and with millions of dollars for lobbying, the SB 1 forces
couldn’t even get 90 votes.
So let’s see. In 20 years, we went from 89 to 101 to 90. Not exactly progress, but definitely incrementalism.
Political Motivation: The “politically motivated”
charge is an overused—and meaningless—line uttered by those who refuse
to confront the truth. Consider two recent examples, with the typical
lack of follow-up by the media to call the complainers on the carpet:
Herman Cain is certainly an affable chap, but had no business running
for president for two reasons. First, he was clueless on the issues,
as his entertaining responses illustrated. Second, if you’re going to
be under the most intense spotlight in the world, you need to be up
front with your skeletons so that they are revealed on your terms. But
Cain didn’t do that, and he got burned.
How could he possibly think that three sexual harassment suits
wouldn’t come to light? In his announcement speech, he could have denied
wrongdoing, blamed bloodthirsty trial lawyers and wimpy settle-happy
insurance companies, and moved on. Instead, he just kept blaming Rick
Perry and later the Democrats for leaking it, self-righteously stating
that the story was “politically motivated.”
Hey, Herman, here’s a newsflash. You were running for President of
the United States! Of course it’s politically motivated! So what? It’s
not whether something is politically motivated but whether the allegations were true—which
the national media never seemed to ask. Politicians leak things about
their opponents all the time, motivated by their desire to win. If he had just been honest from the beginning, he might still be in the race.
And locally, we have all the Democratic leaders fuming about the new congressional districts,
redrawn every 10 years by the party in power in Harrisburg, which
happens to be the GOP. Therefore—you guessed it—we have the Dems
leveling the charge that the gerrymandered districts were drawn that way
for political purposes (or, as one classicly described the new 7th District, “Meehan-mandered”).
Let’s see. They are congressional seats, filled by … politicians.
They are designed by … politicians. They will remain unchanged for the
next decade, so the drawing was done for … political purposes. Where’s
the surprise? That’s the way it’s always worked. Interestingly, the
Dems’ statements could be swapped word for word with Republicans when
they were out of power.
It would have been refreshing to hear a Democratic official be honest
and say, “Yes, the districts suck for us. Kudos to the GOP. They got
slaughtered in 2006 and 2008, but won when it counted (2010), and now we
have to live with the results. It’s our party’s fault, so we’ll be sure
to gear up in 2020 to gerrymander them to our liking.”
But that type of honesty is just a pipe dream in politics.
Catholic Church changes: Church leaders decided that
it would be a nice idea to substantially change the liturgy using new
translations. Brilliant move. It took centuries for most Catholics to
even begin mumbling the prayers at Sunday Mass (though singing is still
nonexistent), and now they change the whole works? You can hear the
crickets now …
Fair or not, it has also left many wondering why the Church spent so
much time and energy on such an endeavor while still not cleaning up its
own house regarding the (continuing) sex scandals. And not
coincidentally, more Catholic school closings will be announced next
month. Sorry, that’s not because of the economy, demographics and
population shifts, but lack of leadership, very little transparency and
an image of arrogance that will be very hard to break. Amen.
Safe to Fly? Think Again: A hugely important story
that got very little attention is the new Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) rules that don’t require children under 12 to take
their shoes off for x-ray inspection. Additionally, children will
receive significantly fewer pat-downs. (Despite the inevitable claims by
one or two whining parents, these pat-downs are not intrusive and the
parents are never separated from their children during the procedure.)
Well, at least it’s reassuring that terrorists don’t know about this new policy. Oh wait … they do.
Not only do we implement such an insane, politically correct
procedure, but gleefully announce it to the world. And since there are
numerous examples of terrorists strapping bombs to their children’s
bodies in the name of God knows what, does anyone really think they
won’t gleefully accept this gift, change their strategy, and place
explosives in Junior’s shoe?
And when the next disaster occurs, we’ll all stand around wondering
how on Earth this could have happened. For that answer, just look to
the TSA signs announcing the policy.
Of course, before that tragedy occurs, we could end the security
theatre and start profiling, make everyone take off their shoes, and
have no exceptions for pat-downs.
As always, those who don’t like it can take the bus to Europe.
And finally, for all the Eagles fans who have been praying for Andy Reid’s firing
at the end of the season, keep dreaming. The Birds will play just well
enough to keep the best three-quarter coach in football right where he
is. After all, this is Philadelphia, and we revel in the misery heaped
upon us, year after year, by boneheaded decisions made by our teams.
And you can take that $10,000 bet right to the bank.