Back in my working days...

I had zero respect for executives and other high-ranking employees who were consistently late to meetings. No matter how high up the food chain a person is, being late still wastes other peoples' time. And then to have to bring the miscreants up to speed on the already boring and repetitive proceedings! It just reeks of arrogance and self-importance, doesn't it, when someone is always late? It was almost like a badge of honor to be able to get away with being late. "See how important I am, I can't even get here on time and it doesn't matter."

So even if I had been an Obama supporter I think I'd have jumped ship after seeing this one:



via Ace of Spades.

Once when reminiscing about those working days, my girlie (who was maybe 4) asked "Back when you was a man?"

VDH: "The Messianic Style"

From The Corner: Victor Davis Hanson on Obama's Messianic style.

Individually, the extra-electoral efforts are irrelevant. But in the aggregate, they start to add up. In 1996 Obama goes to court, challenges the petition signatures of mostly African-American voters, and gets all his rivals eliminated from the ballot and so de facto runs unopposed.

In 2004 sealed divorce records were strangely released destroying the chances of his chief Democratic rival Blair Hull; then in the general, lightning again struck, and Republican front-runner Jack Ryan's sealed divorce records were likewise mysteriously released—and he too crashed, in effect, leaving Obama without a serious primary or general election rival.

There's more.

Obama on homeschooling

Think he's really for it?

"Now, I don't believe that government can or should try to solve all our problems. I know you don't either. But I do believe that government should do that which we cannot do for ourselves - protect us from harm and provide a decent education for our children...."

Hm, seems like lots of people are providing decent educations for their children without the government's help. If my kids' recent standardized test scores are any indication - and I don't think test scores are the best indicator of learning, but people in the government school systems seem to think so - we are doing just fine, thanks. Beyond fine.

Real change is finally giving our kids everything they need to have a fighting chance in today's world. That begins with recognizing that the single most important factor in determining a child's achievement is not the color of their skin or where they come from; it's not who their parents are or how much money they have. It's who their teacher is.

Of course this was from a speech to the American Federation of Teachers. And he has to be sure to get their votes, so what else could he say?

Quotes stolen from Spunky Homeschool, but seen lots of places.

Also, see Semicolon's Monday's List: Obama in his own words

Update: More of that speech to the AFT:

In fact, his [McCain's] only proposal seems to be recycling tired rhetoric about vouchers and school choice. Now, I've been a proponent of public school choice throughout my career. I applaud AFT for your leadership in representing charter school teachers and support staff all across this country, and for even operating your own charters in New York. Because we know well-designed public charter schools have a lot to offer, and I've actually helped pass legislation to expand them. But what I do oppose is using public money for private school vouchers. We need to focus on fixing and improving our public schools; not throwing our hands up and walking away from them.

Real change is finally giving our kids everything they need to have a fighting chance in today's world. That begins with recognizing that the single most important factor in determining a child's achievement is not the color of their skin or where they come from; it's not who their parents are or how much money they have. It's who their teacher is. It's the paraprofessionals and support staff and all of you in this room. It's those who spend their own money on books and supplies, come early and stay late comparing lesson plans, who devote their lives to our next generation and serve as role models for the children who need one most because you believe that's what makes the extra difference. And it does. After all, I have two daughters. I know what their teachers mean to them.

Note that his two daughters do not attend public school (from ABCNews Political Radar):

The elite charter school (Chicago Lab School) costs between $15,000 to $20,000 a year in tuition. Michelle Obama currently sits on the board.

Now I don't really care if politicians and other wealthy people send their kids to private school. I don't begrudge them that privilege. But I don't like it when they complain about others abandoning the public school system when they have done just that. Of course people who send their kids to private school, or homeschool them, still support the local schools with their tax money. But, obviously the Obamas have a lot more financial flexibility than the people he claims to want to help.

But then there's this: why would we expect him to be comfortable with the idea of kids learning from their parents and not from state-approved teachers? Why would we think a President Obama would want homeschoolers teaching something other than the government line?

Am I getting paranoid? I am more than willing to be wrong on this.

Obama and Psalm 2

A few weeks or days ago I saw a news article about a McCain supporter's home being graffitied. I noticed "Psalm 2" written on the house and thought that was odd. Finally I got around to looking it up:

The Reign of the LORD’s Anointed

Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,

"Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us."

He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.

Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,

"As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill."

I will tell of the decree:The LORD said to me, "You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.

You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel."

1Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.

Serve the LORD with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

I know there are goofballs on both sides of this campaign but really, I am more scared about people invoking the Psalms in support of Obama than of college girls claiming to be McCain supporters cutting themselves for attention.

PS: I don't know why that spacing is so weird.

Reading ahead in our History book

We use Susan Wise Bauer's Story of the World series for History. The 4 volumes of the series are supposed to be covered in 4 years, but we'll probably do it in 6. It's hard not to get stuck in some time periods. We are getting close to the end, though.

Tonight I decided to read ahead a bit to our next chapter: the Russian Revolution. Somehow this sounds strangely relevant:

Lenin tried to tackle the problems of Russian poverty in a new way. To make sure that the rich people of Russian didn't own all the land while the poor people had none, the Communist Party decided that all of the land in the whole country would belong to the government! The government would allow people to use the land equally. Instead of individual Russians building business, making money, and perhaps forcing other Russians to work for little pay, the government would own and run most of the business - not just the electric and water company, but hospitals, school, grocery stores, bookstores, and even hot dog stands. [Hot dog stands in Petrograd? - ed]

This new way of living, "communism," was supposed to make sure that the government, instead of a small group of powerful people, had control over Russia. But who was in the government? That's right - a small group of powerful people, Lenin and his followers!

And look at how well that worked out for the Russian people! This will make for some great discussions, though I probably shouldn't scare my kids by comparing Lenin with Obama, Pelosi and Reid.

This is getting tiresome

Just couldn't resist the reaction to Candidate Obama's latest: his response to the 2nd grader when asked why he is running for President:

America is …, uh, is no longer, uh … what it could be, what it once was. And I say to myself, I don’t want that future for my children.

What a stupid thing to say. Why would we want such a negative attitude in the White House? Really, why? I don't think anyone walks around saying America is perfect; there are always things wrong that can be improved. Like our Presidential candidate offerings.

I am not a Rush Limbaugh fan but I have to say I like his response:

...It’s a 7 year old Senator. Ya tell her because you love the country. You tell her because this is the greatest place on Earth. That we’ve got challenges, but you want to help the country through it. You don’t tell a 7 year old that her country isn’t what it once was. You do not lie to 7 year olds and tell them that your country sucks. You just don’t do it Senator.

Maybe some people don't think he's lying. That's OK. It's still a stupid, arrogant, ignorant, wrong thing to say.

Here is a comment from the linked site. (There are a lot of comments; I didn't read them all but this one caught my eye.)

Haven’t read all the comments yet, forgive if I repeat, but the first thing I noticed was his stuttering and stammering just trying to answer a simple question for a 7 yr old. No teleprompter; no eloquent speeches. Really! I suck at public speaking and I could have answered that question easily.

A candidate for the school board should have been able to answer that question without stuttering, stammering, and going all negative. For postmaster. For dog-catcher. OK, I'll stop.

Funny and not so funny

WWBD?

Scrappleface on Pastor Wright

Don't usually get into the satire sites much, but my husband left this for me to read and I think it is just too funny:

Video: Obama's Pastor Teams with Veggie Tales

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, recently-retired pastor of Sen. Barack Obama’s home church in Chicago, announced that he’s teaming up with the producers of the Veggie Tales children’s videos to promote his own brand of biblical race relations for boys and girls.

There's more.. The last line keep cracking me up.

I kinda miss Veggie Tales. We watched them a lot, but the kids are over that now. I wish we'd kept a few of the classics around. This morning I found a few great clips. My personal fave was that classic power ballad, My Cheeseburger, sung by Mr. Lunt. The Larry Boy theme had a pretty good r&b groove, too.

We're so mean

I just can't resist reading all the blogs detailing Michelle Obama's complaints about the US. My favorite so far is at Jammy Wearing Fool. There are some great comments there too.

Of course I have a hard time mustering any sympathy for her hard life, her student loans, her high summer camp expenses for her kids. I don't have anything against people with a lot of money, but I have no respect for wealthy people who "talk poor." I don't think Republicans do that. There are a lot of rich conservatives, but I don't hear them pretending they are struggling.

Anybody know where I can get a "mean people suck" bumper sticker to send her? I live kinda far from Berkeley now.