A friend in 2008 asked me to explain to a young mother what the implications of an Obama Presidency would be. This young mother had written the Obama campaign and received a response from a gentleman named Rob. Rob claimed to be Relatively conservative. I wrote to offer this young mother a different conservative perspective. The note is lengthy, and in 4 parts, but is as applicable today as it was in 2008. The nation has undergone dramatic change as the result of the Obama Presidency. Much of the hardship and suffering we are now experiencing was predictable...for people who were paying attention. I pray those lulled to sleep by the hypnotic chants of hope and change will not, in 2012, find comfort in the battle cry of Vladimir Lenin, "Forward!"
Dear Young Mother,
I read with great interest a letter recently shared with me by Rob’s mother. You had written the Obama campaign asking why you should consider voting for Senator Obama. The letter was referred by an Obama campaign worker, Rob’s mom, to Rob for reply. Rob’s reply, thoughtful and detailed, displayed enthusiastic support for Senator Obama. His letter to you led me to thoughtfully consider the true differences between the McCain and Obama candidacies. Rob reported that he was “relatively” conservative. “Relative” is the operative word. I hope the thoughts of true conservative might be of value to you in considering your choices in this election. I apologize in advance for the length of this discussion, but a conservative making this case operates at a severe disadvantage. Much of the case you have heard from Rob, some accurate and some not, is repeated regularly in the mainstream media. Therein lies the great quandary we find ourselves in now as voters. Rewind twenty eight years. President Carter was facing Ronald Reagan in the Presidential race. It would be impossible to imagine then that the New York Times would print an editorial from President Carter on the Iranian hostage crisis and then refuse the submission of Governor Reagan with a statement:
“It would be terrific to have an article from Governor Reagan that mirrors President Carter’s piece,” NYT Op-Ed editor David Shipley explained in an email late Friday to Reagan staff. “I'm not going to be able to accept this piece as currently written.”
This was the reply to Senator McCain after he submitted an op-ed piece on the Iraq War in response to an op-ed from Senator Obama published earlier this year by the New York Times. Mainstream media has lost any sense of equipoise and has betrayed the American people in the Presidential election of 2008. I will try to offer analysis and opinion on a number of topics raised by Rob, but found it necessary to go into some detail. I apologize for what I anticipate to be a lengthy discussion but without some background, my words would likely seem like unsupported political rhetoric. I have broken the essay up into topics. My hope is you will be able over the next ten days to get through topics you might deem most important to you and your children.
The election before us is about two political ideologies. Conservatism espouses the belief that we are a land of liberty where natural rights of individuals precede and supersede the power of the state. We are a constitutional republic in which government power is limited and employed for the purpose of providing legitimate public goods rather than for the benefit of insiders and narrow interest groups. We are a free market in which persons, individually or collectively, have the natural right to sell goods and services to willing buyers, and in which the individual pursuit of economic opportunity benefits all. And we are a free society where citizens solve social problems not only through government but also by working together in families, neighborhoods, churches, charities, and other private, voluntary organizations. Alternatively, liberalism operates from the position that the power of the state supersedes that of the individual and only through the state will a utopian vision be achieved. The state is the best judge of how to achieve that end. Certainly the intent is that the state exists to wield that power for a larger good. The state has a role of primacy as protector, educator, physician, moralist, economist, banker, and even purveyor and supporter of arts. One of the consequences of the ever increasing liberal direction in this country has been a modern government of which democracy’s children increasingly ask for everything and from which they accept everything.
For true conservatives, John McCain is a flawed candidate. He has supported a number of positions which fly in the face of thoughtful conservatism. That said, he understands there is a role for government, but believes that role should be relatively limited. This philosophy underlies his belief in a low tax environment which stimulates economic growth and limits the temptation of those in power to expand their power. McCain’s principles naturally lead him to freeze and review current levels of government spending which are unsustainable. John McCain is certain that pursuit of success in a free market best rewards individuals, though he also believes that there are those unable to make it who should be assisted. He believes in a strong defense that ensures that we will remain a free society. His core beliefs explain his commitment to a realistic energy policy required to maintain free markets and national security. John McCain appreciates the tradition and the tenets of the founders of this nation and insists that the Constitution is the source of legal reckoning in this nation, not empathy and “living” interpretations. John McCain’s respect for individual liberty is best epitomized in his unwavering support for the right of unborn infants to live and born alive infants to survive.
Rob espouses clear support for Senator Obama in his letter. That is fair. He is and should be proud of the opportunity to support his candidate. There are a number of statements and positions he espouses to Young Mom that require significant clarification. I address a couple of questions to Rob in this letter. My hope is that the numerous concerns I raise would help him re-evaluate his position and rediscover his past conservative roots. My hopes for this election and intent in writing are no to take issue with Rob personally, but in replying to his comments, it seemed clear to me that while Rob may have been a registered Republican, he has no conservative leanings. Quite simply, a conservative, even one struggling with his political identity, could never make the statements Rob makes. To attempt to enhance the power of his arguments by suggesting to you that he is a “relatively conservative Republican” who has abandoned his core beliefs for the visionary leadership of a candidate who contradicts all conservative principles, is simply disingenuous and unsupportable by any of his commentary.
To the issues….
Education
Rob expresses deep admiration for the Obama plan. Regarding education, Senator Obama’s plan revolves around increased monetary support for what he reports is an unsatisfactory system. Senator Obama blames the “No Child left behind” policy which passed with an overwhelming bipartisan majority (87-10) in 2001. It passed because the education system was already diagnosed as severely ill before “No Child Left Behind”. Senator Obama reports that the problem with the legislation is that the Bush administration has failed to maintain adequate funding. Really. Well, over the time of this law, Congress increased federal funding of education, from $42.2 billion in 2001 to $54.4 billion in 2007. This equates to an increase which outpaced inflation by 5%. Based on discussion in some circles, one might believe the legislation has had funding cut. While funding could have been increased further, the fact is we spend more per pupil to educate in this nation than any other country. Many of our worst schools spend the most money. Obama calls for more Head Start money, but Head Start doesn’t produce any long term benefits. There is lots of data to support this. It does allow the state access to children at a much earlier age, however. Obama and Biden support transitional bilingual education and will help Limited English Proficient students get ahead by holding schools accountable for making sure these students complete school. This approach to educating non-English speakers also has proved a dismal failure, unless we plan on a requirement that we all will have to learn Spanish. No Child Left Behind sadly allows schools flexibility in this area and rather than fail students, many alternative language options are being offered. The end result is that non-English speakers are saddled with the racism of diminished expectations. John McCain has called education the civil rights issue of this century. He is correct. Senator Obama, however, is willing to allow children across the nation to continue to be subjected to a failed state education system controlled by an NEA driven agenda. Senator Obama refuses to consider the injection of competition into the system via proven voucher programs that would allow the inner city kids of DC the same opportunities his kids have.
What about college. Yes, the Senator is proposing a $4000 college tax credit for those who will agree to serve the community. His website reports that 100 hours of community service would be required. One way to look at this is that college students would earn $40/hr for duties that likely pay much less in the private sector. The nature of such service is not defined. Not sure Rob has ever served, but 100 hour stints in the military are not easily accommodated. This past Memorial Day Senator Obama gave the commencement speech at Wesleyan. As a military veteran I was flabbergasted that he told these young Americans that there are “so many ways to serve” that are available “at this defining moment in our history.” There’s the Peace Corps, there’s renewable energy, there’s education, there’s poverty — there are all kinds of causes you can take up “should you take the path of service.” Senator Obama never mentioned the military…on Memorial Day speaking at a college commencement. So I doubt the Senator is considering military service as an option. One might, however, reasonably suspect that such service would include working for ACORN to recruit Democrat voters. One might more reasonably ask does everyone need to go to college?
Senator Obama is poised to make college education the next addition to the Bill of rights, after home ownership. These are great aspirations but they should be earned by individuals with individuals making honest choices about what is best for them and what it is they can afford. Would some high school graduates be better served by other types of technical and job training rather than four years of achieving a certification with uncertain evidence of ultimate benefits? We have built an expectation that everyone needs to go to college, but all colleges are not create equally and the same diminished expectations which have hindered the ultimate mission of grade and high school education are now prevalent in colleges. These are questions I would like my next President to be willing to consider Young Mom.
So Young Mom, the recurring theme in education programs for Senator Obama is more support of the status quo, no choice and a much larger investment in the current failing state education system. There are no new ideas here and there is no motivation for schools to improve. There will be a call for more “investment” by Americans with no reason to hope for different results. This is what you can expect from Senator Obama in the realm of education.
Young Mom, you should also know what the philosophy of an Obama education program would be. For insights into this we need to look at an epoch in the Obama history which he has worked very hard to conceal. While he has been criticized for his lack of executive experience, Senator Obama did chair the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC) from 1995-2001. The Senator, a young lawyer with no prior education experience, was hired by Bill Ayers to run this project. We won’t discuss how this job offer came about now, but the CAC ultimately spent $110 million dollars in efforts to reform Chicago schools. The bottom line of the report on the effort was “that among the schools it supported, the Challenge had little impact on school improvement and student outcomes, with no statistically significant differences between Annenberg and non-Annenberg schools in rates of achievement gain, classroom behavior, student self-efficacy, and social competence. This indicates that there was no Annenberg effect on achievement.”
What were the principles of the Obama-Ayers Education reform work in Chicago? Well, Ayers was the mastermind behind the project. He submitted the grant. He chaired the Collaborative portion of CAC, which set education policy. Senator Obama was responsible for fiscal control of the project. Ayers is a despicable, cowardly terrorist. This should disqualify him from the company of thoughtful patriotic Americans, but his past history is not the concern now. What is of concern is that Ayers has moved his war against America to the classroom.
Please indulge me in a short review of the history of public education Young Mom, it is important in understanding where we are and where we might be going. Bill Ayers has intense admiration for John Dewey. John Dewey, the most influential shaper of the public schools in America, saw the public school system as the vehicle for indoctrinating children into a new democratic, secular faith. He understood that the success of his effort would require children to be liberated from the prejudices and values of their parents. In his book, A Common Faith, Dewey advocated a radically secular vision for the public schools and the larger public culture. His concept of a humanistic faith stripped of all supernatural claims, doctrines, and theological authorities, would replace Christianity as the dominant culture-shaping worldview. “Here are all the elements for a religious faith that shall not be confined to sect, class, or race,” he claimed. “Such a faith has always been the common faith of mankind. It remains for us to make it explicit and militant."
Young Mom, Senator Obama believes in the Ayers philosophy of education. Senator Obama spent 6 years chairing the CAC, a Board committed to spending huge sums of money on the Ayers approach. Ayers is a disciple of the “critical pedagogy” movement. From Sol Stern at the Manhattan Institute, “critical pedagogy” describes how the “oppressive hegemony” of the capitalist social order "reproduces" itself through the traditional practice of public schooling.” Simply put, this is critical pedagogy's way of saying that capitalism and corporations exercise thought control through the schools. The answer, stop teaching traditional math and science. Infuse politics and social justice into all levels of education.
From “Revolution”, the Voice of the Revolutionary Communist Party in 2006 (aren’t most close associates of Presidential candidates interviewed by “Revolution”), in an interview with William Ayers (http://rwor.org/a/063/ayers-en.htm), some comments by Ayers on John Dewey, “John Dewey was one of the brilliant, brilliant writers about what democratic education would look like and was himself an independent socialist. But he never resolved a central contradiction in our work, the contradiction between trying to change the school and being embedded in society that has the exact opposite values culturally and politically and socially from the values you’re trying to build in a classroom. This contradiction is something progressive educators should address, not dodge. So this is what got me going.”
Young Mom, the Obama/Biden plan proposes to address the dropout crisis by proposing legislation to provide funding to school districts to invest in “intervention strategies” in middle school. This includes strategies such as personal academic plans, teaching teams, parent involvement, mentoring, intensive reading and math instruction, and extended learning time. Obama and Biden will double funding for the main federal support for afterschool programs, the 21st Century Learning Centers program, to serve one million more children. What will children be doing in these programs? Will their time be structured by disciples of the Chicago Citizen of the Year in 1997, or perhaps the master himself?
Young Mom, you need to know that Senator Obama has no intent of allowing your children the options for education that he has for his children. Senator Obama holds this view despite the demonstrated achievement successes of numerous programs which have injected competition into the education system. Senator McCain wants to aggressively explore such programs. Teacher unions in public schools do not. In the Obama plan, your children will be relegated to an extremely expensive, failed public school system. This system will be subsidized by more tax dollars, controlled by teachers unions, and will be a laboratory for the failed experiments Senator Obama and William Ayers previously conducted in the Chicago public schools.
Quaere Verum
Part I of a IV Part Series
Dear Young Mother,
I read with great interest a letter recently shared with me by Rob’s mother. You had written the Obama campaign asking why you should consider voting for Senator Obama. The letter was referred by an Obama campaign worker, Rob’s mom, to Rob for reply. Rob’s reply, thoughtful and detailed, displayed enthusiastic support for Senator Obama. His letter to you led me to thoughtfully consider the true differences between the McCain and Obama candidacies. Rob reported that he was “relatively” conservative. “Relative” is the operative word. I hope the thoughts of true conservative might be of value to you in considering your choices in this election. I apologize in advance for the length of this discussion, but a conservative making this case operates at a severe disadvantage. Much of the case you have heard from Rob, some accurate and some not, is repeated regularly in the mainstream media. Therein lies the great quandary we find ourselves in now as voters. Rewind twenty eight years. President Carter was facing Ronald Reagan in the Presidential race. It would be impossible to imagine then that the New York Times would print an editorial from President Carter on the Iranian hostage crisis and then refuse the submission of Governor Reagan with a statement:
“It would be terrific to have an article from Governor Reagan that mirrors President Carter’s piece,” NYT Op-Ed editor David Shipley explained in an email late Friday to Reagan staff. “I'm not going to be able to accept this piece as currently written.”
This was the reply to Senator McCain after he submitted an op-ed piece on the Iraq War in response to an op-ed from Senator Obama published earlier this year by the New York Times. Mainstream media has lost any sense of equipoise and has betrayed the American people in the Presidential election of 2008. I will try to offer analysis and opinion on a number of topics raised by Rob, but found it necessary to go into some detail. I apologize for what I anticipate to be a lengthy discussion but without some background, my words would likely seem like unsupported political rhetoric. I have broken the essay up into topics. My hope is you will be able over the next ten days to get through topics you might deem most important to you and your children.
The election before us is about two political ideologies. Conservatism espouses the belief that we are a land of liberty where natural rights of individuals precede and supersede the power of the state. We are a constitutional republic in which government power is limited and employed for the purpose of providing legitimate public goods rather than for the benefit of insiders and narrow interest groups. We are a free market in which persons, individually or collectively, have the natural right to sell goods and services to willing buyers, and in which the individual pursuit of economic opportunity benefits all. And we are a free society where citizens solve social problems not only through government but also by working together in families, neighborhoods, churches, charities, and other private, voluntary organizations. Alternatively, liberalism operates from the position that the power of the state supersedes that of the individual and only through the state will a utopian vision be achieved. The state is the best judge of how to achieve that end. Certainly the intent is that the state exists to wield that power for a larger good. The state has a role of primacy as protector, educator, physician, moralist, economist, banker, and even purveyor and supporter of arts. One of the consequences of the ever increasing liberal direction in this country has been a modern government of which democracy’s children increasingly ask for everything and from which they accept everything.
For true conservatives, John McCain is a flawed candidate. He has supported a number of positions which fly in the face of thoughtful conservatism. That said, he understands there is a role for government, but believes that role should be relatively limited. This philosophy underlies his belief in a low tax environment which stimulates economic growth and limits the temptation of those in power to expand their power. McCain’s principles naturally lead him to freeze and review current levels of government spending which are unsustainable. John McCain is certain that pursuit of success in a free market best rewards individuals, though he also believes that there are those unable to make it who should be assisted. He believes in a strong defense that ensures that we will remain a free society. His core beliefs explain his commitment to a realistic energy policy required to maintain free markets and national security. John McCain appreciates the tradition and the tenets of the founders of this nation and insists that the Constitution is the source of legal reckoning in this nation, not empathy and “living” interpretations. John McCain’s respect for individual liberty is best epitomized in his unwavering support for the right of unborn infants to live and born alive infants to survive.
Rob espouses clear support for Senator Obama in his letter. That is fair. He is and should be proud of the opportunity to support his candidate. There are a number of statements and positions he espouses to Young Mom that require significant clarification. I address a couple of questions to Rob in this letter. My hope is that the numerous concerns I raise would help him re-evaluate his position and rediscover his past conservative roots. My hopes for this election and intent in writing are no to take issue with Rob personally, but in replying to his comments, it seemed clear to me that while Rob may have been a registered Republican, he has no conservative leanings. Quite simply, a conservative, even one struggling with his political identity, could never make the statements Rob makes. To attempt to enhance the power of his arguments by suggesting to you that he is a “relatively conservative Republican” who has abandoned his core beliefs for the visionary leadership of a candidate who contradicts all conservative principles, is simply disingenuous and unsupportable by any of his commentary.
To the issues….
Education
Rob expresses deep admiration for the Obama plan. Regarding education, Senator Obama’s plan revolves around increased monetary support for what he reports is an unsatisfactory system. Senator Obama blames the “No Child left behind” policy which passed with an overwhelming bipartisan majority (87-10) in 2001. It passed because the education system was already diagnosed as severely ill before “No Child Left Behind”. Senator Obama reports that the problem with the legislation is that the Bush administration has failed to maintain adequate funding. Really. Well, over the time of this law, Congress increased federal funding of education, from $42.2 billion in 2001 to $54.4 billion in 2007. This equates to an increase which outpaced inflation by 5%. Based on discussion in some circles, one might believe the legislation has had funding cut. While funding could have been increased further, the fact is we spend more per pupil to educate in this nation than any other country. Many of our worst schools spend the most money. Obama calls for more Head Start money, but Head Start doesn’t produce any long term benefits. There is lots of data to support this. It does allow the state access to children at a much earlier age, however. Obama and Biden support transitional bilingual education and will help Limited English Proficient students get ahead by holding schools accountable for making sure these students complete school. This approach to educating non-English speakers also has proved a dismal failure, unless we plan on a requirement that we all will have to learn Spanish. No Child Left Behind sadly allows schools flexibility in this area and rather than fail students, many alternative language options are being offered. The end result is that non-English speakers are saddled with the racism of diminished expectations. John McCain has called education the civil rights issue of this century. He is correct. Senator Obama, however, is willing to allow children across the nation to continue to be subjected to a failed state education system controlled by an NEA driven agenda. Senator Obama refuses to consider the injection of competition into the system via proven voucher programs that would allow the inner city kids of DC the same opportunities his kids have.
What about college. Yes, the Senator is proposing a $4000 college tax credit for those who will agree to serve the community. His website reports that 100 hours of community service would be required. One way to look at this is that college students would earn $40/hr for duties that likely pay much less in the private sector. The nature of such service is not defined. Not sure Rob has ever served, but 100 hour stints in the military are not easily accommodated. This past Memorial Day Senator Obama gave the commencement speech at Wesleyan. As a military veteran I was flabbergasted that he told these young Americans that there are “so many ways to serve” that are available “at this defining moment in our history.” There’s the Peace Corps, there’s renewable energy, there’s education, there’s poverty — there are all kinds of causes you can take up “should you take the path of service.” Senator Obama never mentioned the military…on Memorial Day speaking at a college commencement. So I doubt the Senator is considering military service as an option. One might, however, reasonably suspect that such service would include working for ACORN to recruit Democrat voters. One might more reasonably ask does everyone need to go to college?
Senator Obama is poised to make college education the next addition to the Bill of rights, after home ownership. These are great aspirations but they should be earned by individuals with individuals making honest choices about what is best for them and what it is they can afford. Would some high school graduates be better served by other types of technical and job training rather than four years of achieving a certification with uncertain evidence of ultimate benefits? We have built an expectation that everyone needs to go to college, but all colleges are not create equally and the same diminished expectations which have hindered the ultimate mission of grade and high school education are now prevalent in colleges. These are questions I would like my next President to be willing to consider Young Mom.
So Young Mom, the recurring theme in education programs for Senator Obama is more support of the status quo, no choice and a much larger investment in the current failing state education system. There are no new ideas here and there is no motivation for schools to improve. There will be a call for more “investment” by Americans with no reason to hope for different results. This is what you can expect from Senator Obama in the realm of education.
Young Mom, you should also know what the philosophy of an Obama education program would be. For insights into this we need to look at an epoch in the Obama history which he has worked very hard to conceal. While he has been criticized for his lack of executive experience, Senator Obama did chair the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC) from 1995-2001. The Senator, a young lawyer with no prior education experience, was hired by Bill Ayers to run this project. We won’t discuss how this job offer came about now, but the CAC ultimately spent $110 million dollars in efforts to reform Chicago schools. The bottom line of the report on the effort was “that among the schools it supported, the Challenge had little impact on school improvement and student outcomes, with no statistically significant differences between Annenberg and non-Annenberg schools in rates of achievement gain, classroom behavior, student self-efficacy, and social competence. This indicates that there was no Annenberg effect on achievement.”
What were the principles of the Obama-Ayers Education reform work in Chicago? Well, Ayers was the mastermind behind the project. He submitted the grant. He chaired the Collaborative portion of CAC, which set education policy. Senator Obama was responsible for fiscal control of the project. Ayers is a despicable, cowardly terrorist. This should disqualify him from the company of thoughtful patriotic Americans, but his past history is not the concern now. What is of concern is that Ayers has moved his war against America to the classroom.
Please indulge me in a short review of the history of public education Young Mom, it is important in understanding where we are and where we might be going. Bill Ayers has intense admiration for John Dewey. John Dewey, the most influential shaper of the public schools in America, saw the public school system as the vehicle for indoctrinating children into a new democratic, secular faith. He understood that the success of his effort would require children to be liberated from the prejudices and values of their parents. In his book, A Common Faith, Dewey advocated a radically secular vision for the public schools and the larger public culture. His concept of a humanistic faith stripped of all supernatural claims, doctrines, and theological authorities, would replace Christianity as the dominant culture-shaping worldview. “Here are all the elements for a religious faith that shall not be confined to sect, class, or race,” he claimed. “Such a faith has always been the common faith of mankind. It remains for us to make it explicit and militant."
Young Mom, Senator Obama believes in the Ayers philosophy of education. Senator Obama spent 6 years chairing the CAC, a Board committed to spending huge sums of money on the Ayers approach. Ayers is a disciple of the “critical pedagogy” movement. From Sol Stern at the Manhattan Institute, “critical pedagogy” describes how the “oppressive hegemony” of the capitalist social order "reproduces" itself through the traditional practice of public schooling.” Simply put, this is critical pedagogy's way of saying that capitalism and corporations exercise thought control through the schools. The answer, stop teaching traditional math and science. Infuse politics and social justice into all levels of education.
From “Revolution”, the Voice of the Revolutionary Communist Party in 2006 (aren’t most close associates of Presidential candidates interviewed by “Revolution”), in an interview with William Ayers (http://rwor.org/a/063/ayers-en.htm), some comments by Ayers on John Dewey, “John Dewey was one of the brilliant, brilliant writers about what democratic education would look like and was himself an independent socialist. But he never resolved a central contradiction in our work, the contradiction between trying to change the school and being embedded in society that has the exact opposite values culturally and politically and socially from the values you’re trying to build in a classroom. This contradiction is something progressive educators should address, not dodge. So this is what got me going.”
Young Mom, the Obama/Biden plan proposes to address the dropout crisis by proposing legislation to provide funding to school districts to invest in “intervention strategies” in middle school. This includes strategies such as personal academic plans, teaching teams, parent involvement, mentoring, intensive reading and math instruction, and extended learning time. Obama and Biden will double funding for the main federal support for afterschool programs, the 21st Century Learning Centers program, to serve one million more children. What will children be doing in these programs? Will their time be structured by disciples of the Chicago Citizen of the Year in 1997, or perhaps the master himself?
Young Mom, you need to know that Senator Obama has no intent of allowing your children the options for education that he has for his children. Senator Obama holds this view despite the demonstrated achievement successes of numerous programs which have injected competition into the education system. Senator McCain wants to aggressively explore such programs. Teacher unions in public schools do not. In the Obama plan, your children will be relegated to an extremely expensive, failed public school system. This system will be subsidized by more tax dollars, controlled by teachers unions, and will be a laboratory for the failed experiments Senator Obama and William Ayers previously conducted in the Chicago public schools.
Quaere Verum
Part I of a IV Part Series
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