Liberalism Unmasked could be an alternative title for Fred Siegel’s book. Siegel strips away the myth of benevolence cultivated by the left and exposes the egotism, snobbery, resentment and power seeking that are the constants of American liberalism. Siegel’s thesis is that Barack Obama’s liberalism is not rooted in Wilson progressivism or the New Deal but in post World War I intellectuals’ disdain for America. The author cuts the moral high ground from under the well-shod feet of contemporary liberals and their antecedents in the 1920s.   Read the rest of this entry »

This amazing book was printed in Spanish in 1930. An English translation became available in 1932 and the book has been continuously published ever since. This reviewer first read it so long ago that only the sketchiest recollections remained, but enough to realize its relevance today and to reread it.   Read the rest of this entry »

In the introduction to Why We Won't Talk Honestly About Race, the author explains that his aim for writing the book was “to talk honestly about race,” to convey views, however legitimate or widely held, branded as racist by defenders of the status quo and banned from public discourse.   Read the rest of this entry »

The president told New Yorker interviewer David Remnick that Marijuana is no worse than alcohol or cigarettes. Reportedly, Obama also speculated that legalizing “hard” drugs, including cocaine and meth might ultimately be a matter of creating a “negotiated” or “calibrated” dose for safer use. Such sentiments uttered by the president are guaranteed to give every parent heartburn. Let’s hope these musings are just a consequence of going off the teleprompter.   Read the rest of this entry »

The degradation of the culture has many causes and Hays touches on most of them. This reviewer would have liked elaboration, but the author set out to expose White Trash Normal and be funny at the same time and she succeeded on both counts, a daunting task well done. It’s a rare writer who can be humorous and trenchant at the same time.   Read the rest of this entry »

A Crucible Moment: College Learning & Democracy’s Future is a report produced by the National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic. Engagement. The Task force was appointed and funded by the Department of Education, and the White House endorsed the subsequent report. It carries forward Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign vow to “transform” the nation, and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s 2013 pledge to do the same to education.   Read the rest of this entry »

The news of Shirley Temple Black’s death brought back some memories. This blogger was in Eastern Europe in 1990 on a trip sponsored by the National Conference of Editorial Writers. Our itinerary included Prague, Czechoslovakia, and a meeting with American Ambassador Shirley Temple Black.   Read the rest of this entry »

Privacy has no place in the so-called Common Core Standards. The Gates Foundation has contributed $100 million to fund the creation of a database to track public school students‘ information and academic records from kindergarten through high school. This is called the Shared Learning Infrastructure (SLI) and it is now being run by an organization called InBloom, specifically created to operate the system. Best of all, InBloom has stated that it “cannot guarantee the security of the information stored … or that the information will not be intercepted when it is being transmitted.”   Read the rest of this entry »

The 1974 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is intended to protect the privacy of student education records. Amendments by the U.S. Department of Education in 2008 and 2011 weakened that protection and diminished parents’ control over who has access to the records. By altering some definitions and inserting others, the Department increased the number of individuals with access to personally identifiable student information, while foreclosing parents’ ability to object.   Read the rest of this entry »

Common Core, much like Obama Care, is based on a lie, or more accurately, several lies. Not only are the standards not “world class,” they are not necessarily better than state standards and in many cases, they are not as good. Stay tuned, as this will be the first of three comprehensive posts this week on this topic.   Read the rest of this entry »