Peace for our time or a historic mistake? The Ivy Leaguers make a deal with Iran and your children will pay the price

World War II was unnecessary, Churchill wrote in The Gathering Storm, the first volume of his history of the Second World War. Had the British and Americans conducted their affairs "with the ordinary consistency and common sense usual in decent households," Church observed, they could have maintained their security without bloodshed.

Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain & Hitler
September 23, 1938

Those of us who read history know that Neville Chamberlain made a groveling peace pact with Hitler in 1938, and less than a year later, England and Germany were at war.  As Churchill put the matter, "You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour and you will have war."

Today, the United States and its passive allies are on the verge of a deal with Iran whereby the United States and the European Union lift their sanctions against Iran and Iran promises not to build a nuclear bomb.

Does anyone believe Iran will cease its efforts to become a nuclear power? I certainly don't.  And Israel, whose life depends upon this issue, doesn't believe it either.  The deal with Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated emphatically, is a "historic mistake."

But, like Neville Chamberlain, who believed his deal with Hitler would bring "peace for our time," President Obama believes he has made the Middle East a safer place. Or perhaps he merely believes a deal with Iran will look good on his vita.

America's national affairs are in such disarray that it is embarrassing to contemplate them. Today, the United States begs a mob of Afghan elders to allow us to pour American blood and treasure into a country that has no interest whatsoever in democratic values or human rights.

On the home front, the President has lied repeatedly about the essential features of Obamacare, but he holds average Americans in such contempt that he doesn't bother with a proper apology.  As Churchill said of British politician Stanley Baldwin, "He occasionally stumbled over the truth, but hastily picked himself up and hurried on as if nothing had happened."

As I have said more than once, our country is being run by people who were schooled in the nation's elite colleges and professional schools--institutions which teach nothing more than arrogance, an unseemly obsession with power and recognition, and a studied cynicism toward traditional American values.

How will all this end? Regarding Iran, there are just two possibilities.  Either Iran will become a nuclear power and thereby make the Middle East even more unstable or Israel will launch military strikes in an effort to destroy Iran's nuclear capability.

If Israel acts militarily, you can kiss your 401(k) goodbye along with your draft-age children and grandchildren.

But don't worry about Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry.  However things turn out, there's a book deal for Obama after he steps down from the presidency.  And John Kerry's wealth is well invested.  He will do just fine financially no matter what happens to you and me.

References

Winston Churchill, The Gathering Storm. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1948.

Jodi Rudoren. Israelis See Ticking Clock, and Alternative Approaches, on Iran and Palestinians. New York Times, November 26, 2013, p. A12.

President Obama Did Not Tell the Truth About the Affordable Care Act: Where Was the President Educated?

Justice Ruth Ginsburg
It's OK to scam the rubes (wink!)

In Gratz v. Bollinger, the Supreme Court overturned an affirmative action program at the University of Michigan that used a point system to benefit minority applicants to the university.  In the majority opinion's view, the University of Michigan had unlawfully discriminated against white applicants in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.

In a remarkable display of cynicism, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented. She argued that the Court should allow American universities to discriminate based on race because they would do it anyway, even if they had to lie about it.

Here is what she said:

One can reasonably anticipate . . . that colleges and universities will seek to maintain their minority enrollment--and the networks and opportunities thereby opened to minority graduates--whether or not they can do so in full candor through adoption of affirmative action plans of the kind here at issue. Without recourse to such plans, institutions of higher education may resort to camouflage. . . . If honesty is the best policy, surely Michigan's accurately described, fully disclosed College affirmative action program is preferable to achieving similar numbers through winks, nods, and disguises. (emphasis supplied)

What an astonishing thing for a Supreme Court Justice to write. In her view, college administrators are so lacking in integrity that they will lie in order to achieve their desired social goals, even if their tactics violate the law.

And Justice Ginsburg did not condemn such behavior. Implicitly at least, Justice Ginsburg endorsed the view that the end justifies the means.  Affirmative action is so worthwhile, she apparently believes, that it is OK for college officials to engage in subterfuge--to camouflage their activities, to advance their goals through "winks, nods, and disguises."

President Obama, we now know, shares Justice Ginsburg's views about honesty. Universal health care is such a good thing, he believes, that it is permissible to lie repeatedly about how the new health care law actually works.

I'm part Cherokee (wink!)

Where did Justice Ginsburg and President Obama develop such cynical views about honesty and the law? Well they were both educated at Harvard Law School and both served on the Harvard Law Review. (Justice Ginsburg transferred from Harvard to Columbia Law School before she graduated.) Perhaps Harvard infected them with the elitist view that it is OK to scam the rubes.  After all, it is the elites--people like Ruth and Barack--who know what is best for people.

And if a Harvard Law Professor (Elizabeth Warren) wants to claim she's an American Indian, that's OK too. It is important for Harvard to claim it has a Native American law professor, whether or not it's true.

Harvard's motto is Veritas--the Latin word for truth.  In light of the leaders Harvard has produced in recent years, perhaps its motto should be tweaked a bit.  How about "Veritas (wink)".



Veritas (wink!)

References

Gratz v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 244 (2003).

Ivy League graduates are smarter, more ethical, and more competent than the average American: That's why we let them run the government!

President Obama graduated from Harvard Law School and Michelle graduated from Princeton.  All nine Supreme Court Justices graduated from Harvard's law school or Yale's.  More of Obama's top aides have graduate degrees from Oxford than from any American public university. Secretary of State John Kerry and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton--both Ivy Leaguers.

Don't call me, Barack. I'll call you.

These are the people who run our government or greatly influence it. And that's as it should be because people who graduated from America's elite colleges are smarter, more high minded, and more competent than the average American--some guy who graduated from Kansas State University, for example.  That's why we put Ivy Leaguers in charge.

How's that working out for us?

Under Barack Obama's leadership,  American prestige has never ebbed lower.  The U.S. has managed to offend all of Europe's top leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande.  Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, looks like he doesn't want to be in the same room with President Obama when the two presidents are photographed together. Three South American countries offered asylum to Edward Snowden,whom the United States government describes as a traitor and a defector--something that would never have happened under previous American presidents.

Let's let Toni's company build
the Obamacare website: How
hard could it be?

In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, one of America's staunchest allies, turned down a seat on the UN Security Council out of anger toward the U.S.  Libya, where President Obama dabbled by ordering air strikes on Muammar  Gaddhafi, has been flooded by jihadists; and terrorists killed our ambassador in Benghazi.

And now we learn that Toni Townes-Whitley, Michelle Obama's college  roommate at Princeton, is Vice President of CGI Federal, the company hired by the Obama administration to construct the Obamacare website.  CGI got a no-bid contract to perform the work, and so far the website it constructed has been a disaster. Oh yeah, and CGI is a big Obama campaign contributor.  Are the Obamas really all that high minded?

When will Americans get the message?  Our Ivy League colleges do not teach their students to be problem solvers, to be competent, or even to be patriotic.  Instead, they produce graduates who are arrogant, narrow-minded, and contemptuous of traditional American values.

Personally, I'd rather give Joe Six-Pack a chance to run the country than continue with the bozos whom Barack Obama has accumulated around him.  Honestly, I think we would be better off if we limited all presidential candidates to people who reside in Pocatello, Idaho rather than continue to allow these Ivy League losers to drive our once great nation into the ditch.

References

Fox News. Michelle Obama's Princeton Classmate Was ObamaCare's Web Site Builder. Fox Nation web site. Accessible at: http://nation.foxnews.com/2013/10/27/michelle-obamas-princeton-classmate-was-obamacare-website-builder

Brian Resnick & Brian McGill. More Top Obama Officials Have Graduate Degrees from Oxford Than Any Public University in the United States. National Journal, July 19, 2013. Accessible at:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/decision-makers/more-top-obama-officials-have-graduate-degrees-from-oxford-than-any-public-university-in-the-united-states-20130719

A For-Profit College president is charged with a felony: Should Taxpayers Be Supporting Dade Medical College?

Last week, Miami prosecutors charged Ernesto Perez, President of Dade Medical College, with failing to report criminal arrests on a government form, which is a felony offense.  Specifically, Perez was charged with failing to report his conviction for battery and exposing himself to a child for a 1990 incident that took place in Wisconsin. He also failed to report his arrest in 2002 for aggravated assault. In addition, prosecutors charged Perez with two misdemeanor counts of perjury.

Ernesto Perez
Former President of Dade Medical College

Prior to this bump in the road, Perez was doing pretty well for himself.  He had twice  been appointed to the Florida Commission on Independent Education, the state agency charged with regulating for-profit colleges in Florida.  Last summer the South Florida Business Journal gave him an Ultimate Miami CEO Award for his "significant contributions to the local community." Not bad for a guy who dropped out of high school to join a heavy metal band.

Dade Medical College is a for-profit college with  2,000 enrolled students on five campuses. In 2012, the college received 87 percent of its revenues from federal aid--$33 million (according to a story in Huffington Post). The college attracts low-income Hispanics and African Americans who pay high tuition.  The vast majority of DMC students receive federal loans or Pell grants, and  25 percent of student borrowers default on their federal student loans within three years of beginning repayment.

Do Dade Medical College students receive good value for their tuition? Maybe not. The Florida Nursing Board put two of its campus nursing programs on probation this year due to low pass rates by DMC graduates on state licensing exams. One student who was interviewed by the Broward/Palm Beach/New Times said she had taken out $48,000 in federal student loans and yet she had professors who merely gave Powerpoint presentations or read from a book.

 Dade Medical College is a prime example of what's wrong with for-profit colleges in the United States.  Run by a high-school dropout and lavishly funded by the federal government, the college has high failure rates on nursing exams and high student-loan default rates.

Why is the federal government funding for-profit institutions like Dade Medical College? Maybe because the for-profit college industry is politically powerful.  Mr. Perez and his wife are big campaign contributors and have made contributions to Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Harry Reid, and Marco Rubio. 

President Obama and Congress can talk all they want about quality controls on higher education. But the federal government is pumping billions of dollars a year into for-profit colleges and universities that prey on low-income students, provide poor quality education and have high student-loan default rates.  This is a huge scandal that our politicians refuse to address.

References

Patricia Born & Jay Weaver. Homestead mayor's ties to downtown redeveloper probed. Miami Herald, June 8, 2013. Accessible at: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/08/v-fullstory/3441091/homestead-mayors-ties-to-downtown.html

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/08/v-fullstory/3441091/homestead-mayors-ties-to-downtown.html#storylink=cpy

Francisco Alvarado. Dade Medical College Has Powerful Friends but Struggling Students.  Broward/Palm Beach  New Times, August 29, 2013.  Accessible at: http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2013-08-29/news/dade-medical-college-has-powerful-friends-but-struggling-students/

Dade Medical College.  Ernesto Perez to be Honored at SFBJ CEO Awards. 2013. Accessible at: http://www.dademedical.edu/rightnow/ernestoperezbehonoredsfbjceoawards

David Halperin. $33 Million Per Year of Your Tax Money to For-Profit College Whose CEO Hid Criminal Record. Huffington Post, October 21, 2013. Accessible at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/davidhalperin/33-million-per-year-of-yo_b_4136451.html

Michael Vasquez. Amid criminal charges, CEO of Dade Medical College Resigns. Miami Herald, October 23, 2013. Accessible at: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/23/3706821/ernesto-perez-resigns-as-head.html

 

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/23/3706821/ernesto-perez-resigns-as-head.html#storylink=cpy

 

In Massachusetts, Land of Kookie Ideas, the Humanists Want to Abolish the Pledge of Allegiance in Schools

Years ago, I walked into Good's Barbecue Restaurant in Houston and noticed a message scrolled  in large letters above the door. "Texas, our Texas! All Hail the Mighty State," the sign proclaimed.

The official flag of Postmodern Nihilism

I remember thinking I would never see a sign like that in Massachusetts.  Indeed, no two states could be more different in terms of cultural and regional pride than Massachusetts and Texas.  Texas even has a pledge to its state flag, which willing Texas children are required by law to recite on each and every school day. The people of Massachusetts would never think of doing such a thing. 

Or maybe they're just ashamed of the Massachusetts flag. After all, the flag portrays an American Indian, a reminder that the good people of Massachusetts killed all  the Native Americans in their state (except Elizabeth Warren, whom they elected to the Senate.)

And now the American Humanist Association has filed suit in Massachusetts, seeking to invalidate the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag on the grounds that it violates the equal rights provision of the Massachusetts Constitution.

An AHA spokesperson argued that recitation of the flag is indoctrinating and alienating to atheists. “It validates believers as good patriots and it invalidates atheists as non-believers at best and unpatriotic at worst,” he said.

The Massachusetts Supreme  Judicial Court (too snooty just to call itself the supreme court) is taking the matter seriously and has asked for amicus briefs from interested parties.  Who knows? This goofy body might  root around in the state constitution and find a way to invalidate the Pledge of Allegiance in the state's public schools.  After all, they wouldn't want to offend the sensibilities of Bay State atheists

In fact, Massahusetts' highest court might strike down the pledge in state schools just for fun. I'm sure the judges would get a kick out of the fulminations of Bill O'Reilly on Fox News if the court ruled  the Pledge could not be said in Massachusetts schools. 

This petty lawsuit, brought by New England elitists, is an exercise in postmodern nihilism, which is the philosophy of the day among Massachusetts jurists, academics and politicians.  In their self-centered world, there are no ultimate values, no truths which can claim our allegiance, no  transcendent ideas.  And so they descend into whining trivialities.

And that would be fine if those folks would confine their nihilism to their own neighborhood. Unfortunately, our nation's leaders are mostly trained up there; and these people are running the country.

And we can see where it has gotten us.  Even now, we see the President of Russia smoothly outmaneuvering and humiliating our president.  And what should we expect? While Barack Obama was polishing footnotes on the Harvard Law Review, Vladimir Putin was running the KGB.

 References

Atheist Acton couple takes Pledge of Allegiance challenge to Supreme Judicial Court. Boston.com. Acccesible at: http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/acton/2013/09/acton_family_takes_pledge_of_allegiance_challenge_to_supreme.html

Doe v. Acton-Boxborough Regional School District. Trial court decision accessible at: http://www.americanhumanist.org/system/storage/63/ee/7/3171/SJ_Decision_Partial.pdf

An Exercise in Cynicism: The Obama Administration Mucks Around in Louisiana's School Voucher Program

Let's try to put ourselves inside the mind of Attorney General Eric Holder as he tried to decide whether the federal government should intervene in Louisiana's school voucher program.



With friends like Eric Holder, Louisiana school children don't need enemies.

"Let's see," Mr. Holder might have said to himself, "if I impede Louisiana's voucher program, I will please the teacher unions, because they hate all school vouchers."  Since the teacher unions are a core constituency of the Democratic Party, interfering with Louisiana's voucher program would be a big plus for President Obama.

"Second," Mr. Holder might have mused, "if I harass the Louisiana voucher plan, the federal government will make it more difficult for poor children to attend religious schools." So, that would be another big plus.

"Finally," Holder may have thought to himself, "sidetracking a Republican governor's school reform initiative is never a bad thing to do."  So that would be another plus in favor of federal intervention in Louisiana's voucher program.

Hey, what's not to like? 

And so the Obama administration has intervened in an old school-desegregation lawsuit, seeking to persuade a federal judge that a federal court must decide whether children residing in districts covered by desegregation orders may participate in Louisiana's school voucher program for poor children.

I have to agree with Governor Bobby Jindal on this one.  What Eric Holder and the Obama administration has done is shameful.  As Governor Jindal put it, Obama and Holder "are trying to keep kids trapped in failing public schools against the wishes of their parents."

Let me be clear. I am not an uncritical cheerleader for all of Governor Jindal's school reform initiatives. I think the tenure reforms he rammed through the Louisiana legislature are deeply flawed. And Governor Jindal's school voucher program is not perfect either.

But at least Louisiana is trying to improve its failing school systems, and I think it is making some progress.  I remember visiting New Orleans schools during the mid-1990s, before Hurricane Katrina came and basically wiped the New Orleans school system off the map.  The New Orleans schools were terrible during the pre-Katrina years; and no one--liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican, white person or black--would want Louisiana's then largest school system to return to those days.

Today, more New Orleans students attend charter schools than public schools, and most New Orleans schools are slowly getting better.  Are they perfect? No they are not.  But Eric Holder's attempt to impede Louisiana's school voucher program won't help a single impoverished school child get a better education. 

If the Obama administration truly wants to do something to improve education in this country, it should take on the for-profit colleges that have exploited millions of Americans who just wanted to get a good education--including a lot of low-income and minority young people. 

But that would be too hard.  It is much easier to launch senseless and expensive litigation against a Southern state's efforts to improve its education system.  Louisiana's Education Superintendent John White called the litigation "deeply cynical:" and off course, he's right.

References

Michelle Millhollon. Jindal rebukes Fed voucher stance. The (Baton Rouge) Advocate, August 25, 2013, p. IB.