Category: Politics & Government

Opinions on contemporary political happenings and the workings of civil government.

On Barrycades & the Fantasy of Obamaworld

  

Did you see pictures of what happened yesterday? Veterans groups descended on Washington, DC, and picked up and carried the “Barrycades” from the WWII Memorial to the White House. Here’s some photographic evidence: The second photo shows the “Barrycades” being deposited on the lawn in front of the White House. Looks like some people have had enough. This administration’s attitude toward veterans has become one of the lightning rods of this “slimdown.” As I’ve noted in previous posts, there’s no… Read more »

Death Benefit Denial: Enough Is Enough

  

Of all the outrages being committed in the name of government “shutdown” this past week, perhaps the most disturbing have been those directed against the military. By now, we all have pretty well rehearsed the attempt to keep WWII veterans from their memorial. Barring wheelchaired veterans from visiting the memorial wasn’t one of this administration’s best optics. But it’s as if they didn’t really care how it appeared to the public. All they were interested in was inflicting pain: A… Read more »

Making Life Difficult: It’s Disgusting

  

“It’s disgusting.” Who said that? A National Parks ranger when asked to comment on the directives the National Park Service has received from the Obama administration with respect to shutting down national monuments and parks and closing off access to the public. Here’s his full quote: It’s a cheap way to deal with the situation. We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It’s disgusting. I commented last week on the shutdown of the WWII… Read more »

Retiring the New Order

  

Barack Obama’s pledge to fundamentally transform America wasn’t an empty promise/threat. While this transformation has been obvious to anyone paying attention over the past 4+ years, sometimes it takes a really foolish act—like closing the WWII Memorial—to highlight his basic break from all of American history and tradition. Whether you realize it or not, we are now living in a new America under this president. It’s an America we’ve never seen before: Those who normally would be seen as patriotic… Read more »

Obamacare & Other Despicable Acts

  

It has become rather obvious that President Obama is using this government slimdown to inflict as much annoyance/pain on the general population as possible, in the hope that they will rise up against Republicans, accusing them of being the cause of all the pain. I’m not making an illogical leap here; he did it previously when the sequester went into effect, shutting down even the relatively inexpensive White House tours. The most glaring example of the ridiculous nature of this… Read more »

The Real Critique of Common Core

  

Up until now, I’ve not written anything specific with respect to the Common Core program being promoted from on high and apparently accepted as a guideline/goal by more than forty states. The promise is that it will set standards to prepare students for college and the workplace. Thus far, standards have been set for math and English language, with plans to extend them to other subject areas. One reason why I’ve not waded into this field prior to now is… Read more »

Snyderian Truism #8

  

There is no particular order to my truisms. As I think of one, I write it down and it takes its place numerically. We are now up to #8, which is one I’ve had to learn from experience and also one I’ve seen in history; that’s one reason I share it in class. It goes like this: Bitterness may make you feel good temporarily, but it leads to personal destruction. One of the prime examples I use in American history… Read more »