Racism Defined

On Humor & Fascism

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann was spanked this week for a series of email exchanges he recently had with hecklers. It’s hard to imagine why someone who considers himself to be a “serious journalist” would behave like this, but apparently some of his critics got the better of him. The New York Post wrote:

Olbermann's antagonists, who asked not to be named, repeatedly claimed in their June 8 E-mails that dead Al Qaeda terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was Olbermann's "hero," prompting the television star to advise: "Hey, save the oxygen for somebody whose brain can use it. Kill yourself."

When forced to apologize, Olbermann defended himself this way:

“(H)ow many of us could receive literally hundreds of them questioning our patriotism, religion and ethnic origin, without succumbing to the natural wish to confront such hate?"

Confronting Hate

First of all, real men don’t describe their testosterone, smart people don’t discuss their IQ, and patriots need not explain their patriotism. Olbermann’s need to confront questions of his patriotism, religion, and ethnic origin suggests something more akin to self-doubt than a confrontation with evil.

As I explained here, one of the most vital components to an effective fighting force is troop morale. When liberals like Olbermann use the First Amendment to undermine our efforts in Iraq, it hits our troops like a roadside bomb. Real patriots can disagree and argue, but they don’t call their Commander-in-Chief a criminal, or the war we are fighting immoral – which is probably why Olbermann’s self-doubt prompted him to lash out.

I explained here how well-meaning pacifists become our enemy, but George Orwell went further:

Pacifism is objectively pro-Fascist. This is elementary common sense. If you hamper the war effort of one side you automatically help that of the other. Nor is there any real way of remaining outside such a war as the present one. In practice, ‘he that is not with me is against me’. The idea that you can somehow remain aloof from and superior to the struggle, while living on food which British sailors have to risk their lives to bring you, is a bourgeois illusion bred of money and security…

What I object to is the intellectual cowardice of people who are objectively and to some extent emotionally pro-Fascist, but who don’t care to say so and take refuge behind the formula ‘I am just as anti-fascist as anyone, but—’. The result of this is that so-called peace propaganda is just as dishonest and intellectually disgusting as war propaganda.

Although Olbermann thinks he confronted hate, he actually attacked Americans who have good reason to question his patriotism. I wasn’t privy to the email exchange, but those who subordinate their country and servicemen for envy or greed (ratings) probably lacks spiritual values as well.

But if he wants to confront hate, Olbermann should try waving the American flag in France, Iran, or Hollywood for a few hours. Instead, this is how Olbermann confronted hate:

• Given how far you are from knowing your a- from your elbow about my industry, you couldn't be stupider, wronger, or dumber...
• Go - your mother.
• You 'Americans' still watching that evil f- O'Reilly?

I’d heard nothing about Olbermann’s tantrum until a friend emailed it to me and those on his email list. About Olbermann, my friend wrote:

Perhaps if he spent less time bashing O'Reilly and Bush, and more time reporting the news in an unbiased fashion, his ratings would creep up to half of O'Reilly's. Real America recognizes good journalism, detailed investigations, and they scorn and ignore fraudulent, vitriolic schmucks with agendas.

Although the NY Post piece was funny, a college professor replied:

As I repeatedly notice, you right-wing extremists have very little sense of humor.

Because the professor didn’t get the joke I, as a former liberal who spends his life surrounded by liberals, felt somewhat qualified to help him understand liberal and conservative humor. I explained it this way:

Liberal vs. Conservative Humor

Liberal humor relies mostly on anti-Bush haiku and the progressive envelope of sex, drugs, bodily functions, and fart jokes. This is what they call, “Adult Content.” One might argue that Garrison Keillor doesn’t use those devices, but lefties would also describe his audience as mostly “right-wing Christian conservatives.” Garrison won’t degrade his content to “Adult Entertainment” because, 1) he respects his audience and, 2) George Carlin has already cornered the market for prurient theophobic dementia. Like Bill Clinton, liberals love George, but most wouldn’t trust their children or livestock alone with him.

Conservative humor relies on fact-based tragicomedy where conservatives expose the pink underbelly of liberal banality. For example, conservatives laugh at the fact-based anecdotes from the Darwin Awards because hearing about stupid people doing dumb things is very funny. Liberals use the same site to find new friends, new voters, or for instructional purposes. Seinfeld succeeded because liberals thought he was really cool, yada yada, and conservatives enjoyed the addled characters.

Conservatives love Ann Coulter for the same reason that well-behaved children enjoyed watching their pretty twenty-something-year-old school teacher swat spoiled brats. No scream is louder (and nothing is funnier or more satisfying) than a disruptive and spoiled adolescent who receives his first spanking because his parents aren’t around to protect him. But to liberals, the event can drive them to outlaw school spanking – which they did. This is also why felons are overwhelmingly liberal (except for newsworthy anomalies like Duke Cunningham).

Which brings us back to Keith Olbermann, who behaves like he suffered his first spanking. Like our spoiled adolescent, he feels humiliated by his behavior, a boss’ forced apology, and his precarious ratings. Many of our friends find this humorous, while you seem to have suffered trauma that prompted you to post your own widely-received tantrum. And believe me, when you and Keith start to whine, conservatives find it funny, your cluelessness makes it funnier, and your status as a college professor makes it funnier still.

We don’t expect you to understand or laugh, for I haven’t included any anti-Bush haiku or adult content.

I hope this explanation helps. But I warn you, the evolution from liberal to conservative is a one-way street. Once you grow up, senility or drug use is you only hope for return.

The professor hasn’t responded yet…

Academia Semillas: McDonald's Defense

Dick McDonald is a friend and mentor who has helped clarify my understanding of the Social Security dilemma more than anyone.

Unlike his thoughtful examination of other topics, he recently wrote this defense for Academia Semilla del Pueblo, an ethnocentric anti-American pseudo-school that KABC reporter Doug McIntyre has exposed. As much as I respect Dick, I believe his pro-Semilla position is wrong.* I’ve posted his comments and my response here:

(DM) Aguilar clearly stated that his school is a Pre-Cortez, Aztec school. He stated that American educators used to have a saying "kill the Indian to save the man" and he doesn't believe that. He is resolute about retaining the INDIAN strain in the Mexican culture; even if he has to do it in Los Angeles. His obvious goal is to teach Indian pride; he can't screw with math and science. Now (is)teaching Indian pride an un-American activity? O'Reilly jumped to the conclusion that he was teaching American kids not to be Americans. I wonder if Bill has the same attitude toward American Indian schools. You can try to indoctrinate kids; but they will eventually succumb to their American environment.

(Ex-Lib) The problem with Aguilar’s "pre-Cortez Aztec views" is that he promotes the mythology more than its history. The Aztecs were a brutal, imperialist, slaveholding people that conquered hundreds of their neighboring communities – preferring to capture their prisoners alive so that they could sacrifice (torture, mutilate, and kill) to satisfy their pagan gods. They enslaved those who offered useful skills. Cortez and his tiny band could not have conquered the Aztec Nation without the enthusiastic cooperation of neighboring tribes that had grown weary of these depraved pillagers. Aguilar’s cherry-picked curriculum is like a Nazi school that celebrates Hitler’s Volkswagen without mentioning his invasion of Europe or genocide.

Recently I wrote an article about ethnic cleansing in Mexico. Yes there is a concerted effort to cleanse Mexico of those citizens with INDIAN blood. This school wants to be a pre-Spanish Aztec INDIAN school. Those pure-breed Castillians can go fly a rock. Aguilar is not interested. Why return to a country that hates you because of your Indian blood?

And why should Americans allow him to promote his ethnocentric contempt of the country that delivered him from evil? His connection is to the American Indians who rightly claim WE are the immigrants. Is it such a stretch to accept that INDIANS in this entire hemisphere call us all immigrants? Is it terrible for them to try to retain their cultural heritage? This school doesn't appear to be a madrassa. What is the real beef? I'm sure some of you will enlighten me.

America’s Indians included peaceful and imperialistic predators. And because the cradle of civilization was far from American soil, even the Indians are immigrants. Europeans were only the latest immigrants. So if we’re all immigrants, what sets America’s immigrants apart? Can you say Democracy, Bill of Rights, the Constitution; the eradication of diseases like polio, leprosy, or the defeat of Communism and Nazism? What about our willingness to pledge our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to deliver freedom to people around the world? Yes, the Navaho Tribe made contributions, but their most important was their participation as Americans in the defeat of Imperial Japan. As for the Nahuatl language – it’s used in America by Mexican gangs to promote their criminal enterprises – but maybe you’d rather call the Mexican Mafia Freedom Fighters. Does this help enlighten you?

Multiculturalism in its purest sense isn't going to destroy American culture. It is going to rescue those endangered species we believe are worth saving. It should not, however, include adopting the Islamic nonsense sweeping our culture. Not allowing men or young boys into a basketball game where Islamic women are playing because they might rush the girls in a heat of passion because their bodies are not covered is beyond sick, beyond multiculturalism, beyond reason.

The difference between Islam and the Aztecs is that the Conquistadors (and the thousands of indigenous Mexicas who helped them) snuffed out the Aztecs before their social disease could spread to 1.5 billion people around the planet. And if I’m counting reasons why multiculturalism is less virtuous than America’s melting pot, that single reason is good enough for me.

* Shortly after posting this response and others, Dick recanted his arguments.

See also:

Academia Semilla
Defending Academia Semillas I
Defending Academia Semillas II
Defending Academia Semillas III

Getting Loaded at Santa Monica High

by Zabelle Huss
(reprinted with permission)

It’s a crisp, clear, palm-tree swaying Santa Monica day. High school students are arriving by foot and by car. Some parents drop their kids off for their day at school, waving at their sons or daughters and watching as they disappear into the packs of waiting friends. Soon, last minute cigarettes are thrown to the ground and snuffed out and the morning din calms down as kids start filing into the classroom. The teacher bursts through the door, briefcase in hand, and greets them.

’morning…I hope you all saw the news last night. What you’ve all got to remember is that Bush is more evil than Saddam, he causes more problems for us than anyone else, and he’s the one we should be fearing right now.

According to the student I interviewed for this article (I’ll call her Faith), this teacher is only one of many of the teachers at this school who very openly share this point of view.

“Most students have absolutely no respect for Bush,” Faith told me. “Liberals are referred to as ‘free thinking’ at my high school. When Conservative students dare to speak up, they’re told they’ve been brainwashed by their parents and the media.” (Obviously, this ‘media’ must not include Paul Begala, Phil Donahue, Judy Woodruff, Dan Rather, Peter…well, I could go on and on, of course.)

It was during school choir rehearsals, while singing patriotic songs, including “The Star Spangled Banner”, that the music teacher said they were going to sing these songs whether or not there continued to be complaints that “America isn’t our country and we don’t want to sing about it.” Many students are talking about how they’re moving to Mexico or Canada when we’re adults and can get away from this country. Other complaints in singing these songs were “God is not our father.” It was just a few months ago when the high school hosted a folk singer from the sixties who sang peace songs during assembly and suggested to the students that “we should try for peace by talking to the people who hate us”. Make love, not war. He was echoing what they think are their original ideas. He was treated with silence and respect.

David Horowitz, of Frontpage Magazine came to school recently. At that appearance, Horowitz was treated with anything but silence and respect. David could barely be heard over the jeering and attacks. It became necessary for the principal to calm the group down. Even Faith finally had to stand up and beg the audience to show a little respect for the speaker, to just give another point of view a chance, as they laughed and asked Mr. Horowitz ridiculous questions. They did not heed her request, but Mr. Horowitz very warmly thanked her after the assembly.

At the front of the auditorium with David Horowitz was Steven Miller, one of the few Conservative students who has spoken out against extremist views taught to the students by their teachers. Steve Miller is often on the Larry Elder talk radio show, out of Los Angeles. Larry Elder has had him on to expose some of what’s going on in schools today. Faith, a classmate of Steve Miller’s, told me that anyone agreeing with him is said, with derision and disgust, to be a Steve Miller follower. He is regarded as one who “causes trouble,” “makes our school look bad,” “doesn’t reflect any of the ideas we have around here.” Steve Miller has stuck it out and continued to challenge his teachers. He is one of approximately three Conservative students in all of their classes.

The secretaries in the high school office complain to Steve that he is creating great problems for them. They tell him that, the day after his appearances on the Elder show, the phones don’t stop ringing with people complaining about what they’ve heard. I can’t help wondering if it’s the parents of the students who are calling, or outraged conservatives who listen to the show or, more hopefully, fair-minded people of both sides who recognize that high school is not for indoctrination but for education and understanding of all sides of a subject, to teach our kids how to form their own opinions.

It’s not just Anti-American sentiment that’s been noticed at Santa Monica High School. One of the English teachers, often voted “Teacher of the Year,” is a Buddhist. His huge Yin/Yang poster is allowed on the wall in his classroom along with other Buddhist symbols. His ‘ten or so’ little statues of Buddha are allowed, too. I can’t help wondering what would happen to this teacher if he had ten little statues of Jesus on his desk. There is no celebration or even honest analysis of every religion, only the teacher’s. He can have any Buddhist representation he likes in his class, but “Bush”, according to him, “is a hypocritical Christian.” Buddha teaches against war, so “there is no just war.” The students listen; they believe this amiable teacher. Buddha’s right. Bush is a dishonest Christian. The teacher wins. This is the liberal open mindedness that’s celebrated on campus, closed to anything but the way the teacher thinks.

When the Bible was recently brought in, it was chapters and verses dealing with the peace of Christ which got cited. Faith couldn’t help wondering that the Bible can only be brought in to echo a teacher’s point of views. It would be forbidden in any other case.

Faith tells me that there is a distinct lack of conversation allowing both sides of any political or religious conversation. She told me she thought that’s what education was. She wonders why the liberal point of view is suddenly the only point of view. There are no other ways of looking at anything and, if you do, you’re a Right-wing whacko. Or worse, you’re a Right-wing Christian Conservative, perish the thought. They can have no viable, decent argument to add to the conversation. They’re Conservatives, you see. The teachers tell us they’re ridiculous. They have nothing of any consequence to bring to the table. And the kids suck this up like they do the last drag of that Marlboro, filling the lungs and smoking up their brain.

It’s a history teacher who was asked to please not wear a cross to school. The students found it ‘noninclusive’ and ‘distracting.’ One wonders if the crosses Madonna wears on her videos are considered distracting. I guess it’s only when one’s cross reflects a faith in Christianity that it’s suddenly banned. The Pledge of Allegiance seems to be distracting, too.

Over the loud speaker, twice a week, someone recites the pledge. It’s optional. “They play it,” Faith told me, “but everybody talks right over it, so you can’t hear it at all.” That’s the pledge of allegiance to America. Who wants to say a pledge to a country like this, after all? Who wants to die for America? That’s what was discussed when the draft was brought up by one of the teachers.

“You’re going to be killed, so you’d better figure out a way to get out of the draft,” started the conversation one day in class. The teacher got their attention. “Let’s start a dialogue here about how to avoid the draft”. The entire class time was spent discussing ways to avoid the nonexistent draft. No English or history was discussed; just ways to avoid fighting for this undeserving, corrupt country. At least they didn’t create a whole hour for this discussion like they do for the after-school group, which is meeting on a regular basis to discuss the corruption of American capitalism.

Just recently, an Armenian immigrant student who is a teacher’s aid, finally had heard too much and told the class and the teacher what he thought of the constant America bashing. Who knows if any of the students really heard him and got his point? As the student addressed the teacher and the class, after hearing a particularly anti-American diatribe, he spoke passionately and earnestly. I paraphrase here, because I wasn’t there, but these are the points Faith told me that he made:

I am offended that the teacher’s talking about how bad America is, and that we should respect Sadism Hussein more than we do President Bush. I am from Armenia, and I can tell you that America is a blessing to me. I lived in poverty, with little economic opportunity. I lived in a black-market situation, where people were depressed and repressed and can only dream of total freedom and the promise just the thought of America brings them! I would go to war and die for America, for what it has meant to me. I can’t understand any of you. How can you have your attitudes against our country when you have been lucky enough to grow up here? Is this what you think education is? Don’t you know that what you are hearing is only the teacher’s one-sided opinion? Don’t you want to hear all sides to everything? Isn’t that the American way?

To this, the teacher announced that the Armenian student was misinformed and that he needed to read more to learn just how bad this country really is.

This teacher is paid by American taxpayers, and he’s shaping the minds of America’s next generation.

So, we have just another American high school and what’s going on there. We have a young high school student who told me these things because she’s upset by them and has little voice of her own. And, every day, the students leave that palm-swaying, “free-thinking” environment, light their Marlboros up, and feel like they were educated today. They were, but for whose benefit?

***

Written by Zabelle Huss, this essay is as relevant today as it was when first printed in March, 2003. No evidence suggests that Santa Monica High School nor LAUSD school has changed its policies. Reprinted with permission from Zabelle Huss.

Clean Energy for LA

In their latest effort to find alternative energy solutions, the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP) is now promoting Green Power. For $3 a month (for every $50 on my bill), LADWP will explore wind, solar, and hydro-electric plants.

Although I don’t plan to send money for these costly, inefficient, and unsightly alternatives anytime soon, I would send them an extra $100/mo to build a clean, safe, and cost-efficient nuclear plant on this Malibu property.

Notes from Iraq

Mohammed posted his insider’s impressions on President Bush’s recent visit to Baghdad.

For those of us who have grown weary of the left wing media’s anti-American reports, the right margin contains a number of Iraqi and Middle East blogs. While I cannot vouch for their accuracy or content, I appreciate their unfiltered perspective. It’s worth a look! (Thanks Rod!)

Why Do Liberal Media Despise Soldiers?

Rabbi Aryeh Spero’s explains why the liberal media hates soldiers.

(Hat tip to War Chick)

Defending Academia Sinsemillas II

As you probably read here, Annie and I disagree about the merits of Academia Semillas del Pueblo, LAUSD’s deliberate attempt to discredit the charter school movement by granting a charter to racist and incompetent administrators. In our latest exchange, Annie exposes herself for the moonbat she is.

ANNIE: You cannot compare a KKK school to Academia Semillas del Pueblo. The Klan is NOT about white pride, it's about hatred of other races. That's completely different. Unless you believe this charter teaches hatred... I doubt that. You need to come up with an analogy that's going to fly.

Ex-Liberal: Your hegemonic semantics are noteworthy. The KKK is a Democrat invention that enforced the segregation that led to educational disparities and black disenfranchisement, not unlike the way LAUSD accomplishes it today. Semillas promotes the Aztec culture that fought, conquered, enslaved, and destroyed more than 400 neighboring communities during the 15th and 16th centuries. Aztec warfare was primarily used to capture live human sacrifices for their pagan gods. Had they been good neighbors, it’s doubtful that Cortez’ tiny band could have destroyed their genocidal empire. As for today’s pseudo-Aztec Aztlan/MECHA cult, their words speak for themselves. Internet searches and library visits will provide further information about today’s Mecha/Aztlan movement.

ANNIE: You have not one shred of evidence of a direct relationship between a focus on pride and low API scores. Besides, how do you account for the dismal API's of the 5 other charters I mentioned? Are they focusing on pride and not excellence as well?

Ex-Liberal: Your “they fail too” argument is sophomoric. Jaime Escalante taught calculus, not pride. But by teaching excellence, his students developed the skills necessary to succeed. Their pride comes from their accomplishment, not their complexions. Like other hate groups, Semillas focuses on racial pride – unless of course, you are white, Christian, Jewish, or patriotic. Semilla’s academic record speaks for itself. If you review my Education Paper, you’ll find hours of correlative evidence that ties failing charter and voucher schools with low funding and deliberate incompetence.

ANNIE: …. You are taking one piece of this charter's mission and just running with it, blaming it for everything that has to do with failure in this school, and without taking any other factors into consideration. That is not only faulty logic, but creates inflammatory rhetoric.

Ex-Liberal: What other factors, Annie? I lived in El Salvador and Mexico. Latinos are born with just as many brain cells as everyone else. They possess the same qualities that white children have.

ANNIE: I don't know where you get your facts, but I, for one, support the charter movement.

Ex-Liberal: You obviously haven’t read anything that I have posted and have completely missed my point. You will find dozens of facts and resources if you study this before your next response. I support the charter and voucher movement. But while LAUSD underfunds and rejects dozens of charter applications from highly motivated and credentialed public and private school administrators, LAUSD grants them to dysfunctional failures like Semillas. The LAUSD’s opposition for charters is clear. LAUSD demonstrates the folly of charters by granting them to unqualified hacks and blocking them elsewhere – just as they did to blacks during segregation. But if LAUSD’s $18,431/year per-student budget were assigned to high-performance educators, charter and voucher schools could afford to pay $100k+benefits to teachers throughout Los Angeles. And if six or seven fully-funded charters were available in low-income communities like El Sereno, parents could choose between high-performance (800-900 API) charters and abandon squalid non-performers like Semillas (500-600 API) as fast than an F-rated eateries.

ANNIE: I do not believe (Semillas) is being run by "incompetent racists". I don't believe charters are "deliberately" crippling Latino children. If anything, charters bring choice to an almost unbearable educational situation for many children.

Ex-Liberal: That’s because you haven’t studied LAUSD’s problem or understand the Democrat Party’s history of educating minorities. Democrats outlawed black education because they knew smart blacks wouldn’t work as domestics and farm laborers (sound familiar?). After Republicans won the Civil War, Democrats created and enforced policies that perpetuated educational failures for blacks – like those now seen at Semillas. And although Republicans forced Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954, Democrats continued to educate their rich white children, while instilling incompetence and failure among minorities with pseudo-educational pretexts like multiculturalism, Ebonics, and a schizophrenic distrust for everything that makes the United States great. These policies disenfranchise millions of brown-skinned children just as Democrats did a century ago. To Democrats, education has always been a device used to control their brown-skinned laborers.

ANNIE: (Semilla) is nothing more than a threat to white conservatives. They just can't stand to see public funds used to instill cultural pride into the children of illegal immigrants. Why? Because they're afraid that these kids will grow up, decide not to work in low-paying, demeaning jobs, and instead go to law school and become immigrant rights activists. That's the real resonance.

Ex-Liberal: Oh Annie – thank you for finally exposing yourself for the moonbat you are. This is an issue of education, not skin color. Educated grown-ups don’t need immigration activists, and excellence is not a “white conservative value.” LAUSD and Semillas isn’t a threat to white conservatives – it’s a threat to the United States and, therefore, a global threat. While millions of Indian and Chinese students are competing for excellence, you and Semillas want children to be proud of being so retarded that they will need lawyers to navigate through life. Your argument parallels Edmund Ruffin’s argument for slavery; that blacks are too stupid and lazy to survive without slave-owners. And like those slave owners, you would rather have slaves that feel good about themselves (pride) than give them the education and tools to succeed. LAUSD and Semillas perpetuates the Democrat Party’s long war against the education of dark-skinned children. Your arguments are as old as your motives. And by crippling these children, you promise them a future of slave labor and jeopardize the very reasons why immigrants come to the United States.

Get thee to a library! (or find an immigrant activist lawyer to read some books for you)

Defending the Semilla Academy

As you may have read previously, Annie took exception to my criticism on El Sereno’s Aztlan/MECHA madrassa – and she still defends it:

Oh, come on, Clark. We have the perfect target situation here. We have an immigration debate, which on conservative talk radio is HUGE.

This is not about immigration. Semilla is important not because of talk radio, but because of the profound double standard: If the LAUSD granted a charter to the Ku Klux Klan and, after five years, children graduated with little more than white-power pride, wouldn’t you be upset?

And then we have this little publically-funded (SIC) charter school, whose goal is to teach pride in one's hispanic culture and heritage in a dual-language environment, and its API score is in the toilet.

The API score is in the toilet because they focus on pride and not excellence. When my mixed-race children attended school, our objective was to give them the education and tools necessary to compete in life. Although they spoke Tamil in our home, they spoke English at school. They learned about their heritage at home and the three R’s at school. And because they gained a solid education, their pride was earned by default. Semilla proves that teaching pride and esteem does nothing more than graduate children who feel good about being intellectually crippled.

If it had a bulls-eye painted on its walls it couldn't be an easier target for the anti-illegal immigration brigade.

Let me get this straight: LAUSD grants a charter to incompetent racists who deliberately cripple Latino children, and you complain about the messenger's motives?

Why did those who questioned Semillias scores not also question the scores of the five other charter schools with equally dismal API's?

LAUSD’s failing schools is an old story. What sets Semilla apart from LAUSD's customary mediocrity is that 1) a reporter was threatened, assaulted and robbed while investigating the school, and 2) people like you enthusiastically defend a bigoted school that retards Latino children and victimizes reporters who report it.

It's all about ratings, Clark. And right now, pushing people's anti-immigration buttons builds ratings.

Ratings depend upon stories that resonate with listeners. Institutionalized bigotry that is directed at innocent children resonates with most reasonable people. If Err Amerika and the mainstream media (MSM) had the courage to expose Semilla for the crippling madrassa it is, they probably would not be closing their doors and firing people. CB

Ex-liberal thanks Annie for her powerful defense.

(Go to Part II)

Durham's Double Standard

Ari Kaufman penned this thoughtful article about the Duke rape case in Durham, North Carolina, where District Attorney Mike Nifong now appears to be the only criminal in the case.

Prosecutors like Nifong have no problem prosecuting factually innocent defendants. The problem is that prosecutors often rely on conviction rates as evidence of their effectiveness. But while cops who plant evidence and violate civil rights can be sued, fired, or incarcerated, prosecutors rarely endure a bad comment from fellow lawyers who pretend to supervise them at the State Bar.

Prosecutors argue that they cannot perform their duties without these legal protections. I disagree. Cops perform their duties every day knowing that they could be prosecuted for using excessive force or violating someone’s civil rights. Why aren’t prosecutors be held to the same standard?

I don’t know if the Duke players are guilty or innocent, but if the witnesses’ statements are true, the prosecutor has more than enough evidence to drop the charges. And if Nifong concealed exculpatory evidence to make his case stronger, it suggests malpractice tantamount to planting evidence.

Cops who manipulate evidence to prosecute the factually innocent are fired. Prosecutors who do the same thing are protected. Why do they need the double standard? Aren’t there enough morally-coherent lawyers who don’t need these kinds of protections?
Oops! I think my question just answered itself…

LAUSD's Reptilian Defense

As the controversy surrounding LAUSD’s Academia Semillas del Pueblo Charter School continues, many people still support this La Raza-funded Aztlan madrassa.

In our LAUSD Parent Group, Annie explained the attack on Academia Semillas was "rooted in racism tied to the immigration debate."

(Sigh)

If you spend time in the Middle East, you’ll learn that every bad thing on the planet is tied to Israel and Jews. From stubbed toes and drought to broken light bulbs and cancer, Jews are the epithet that explains every Muslim anxiety.

Annie’s reliance of racism to explain outrage over a dysfunctional school is as primitive. Her response kills rational dialogue, for those who disagree not only risk wasting the time necessary to deprogram established superstitions for stupid people, but also the risk of predictable allegations of racism directed at themselves. Most people simply don’t have the time, courage, or energy necessary to challenge Annie’s bullying bigotry.

How long must we negotiate these bugaboos? Why must 21st Century Americans negotiate 14th Century black cats and sidewalk cracks? Why can’t we say that it’s criminal to expose children to the inculcated retardation of El Sereno’s Aztlan madrassa?

Academia Semillas has a 2005 base API of 597 with a 607 goal. If LAUSD’s Wonderland Elementary delivered those scores, parents would be morally justified to torch the school and lynch its administrators. And at LAUSD’s targeted improvement rate of ten points/year, El Sereno’s parents must wait 35 years to achieve Wonderland’s academic success.

Academia Semillas isn’t about demographics, but of the $18,431/year that LAUSD embezzles from children imprisoned in places like El Sereno. It’s not about the color of a child’s skin, but of the deliberate intellectual vandalism of their beautiful young minds.

Los Angeles has thousands of highly qualified educators. At $18,431/year per-student budget, Academia Semillas’ 250 children represents $4.6 million/year in tax revenues – more than enough to meet the special education, infrastructural, and operational needs of a successful school, while offering $100k+/year income/benefit packages for teachers and administrators who perform. And with local competition from other charter, private, and public schools, parents would have a selection of schools to choose from. Good schools would thrive while mediocrity would die as fast as D-rated restaurants.

Criticizing and closing D-rated restaurants is about vermin and salmonella, not racism. It’s time we grow up and stop making excuses for bad schools. It’s time to look at LAUSD and Academia Sinsemilla for the intentional failures that they are.

Thank you!

I want to thank all of you for your kind words and support. Although I jumped into the campaign late with no political experience, we made a respectable showing.

What was not respectable was the turnout. In a district of 450,000, only 46,668 (11%) voted. As our troops risk their lives bringing democracy to Afghans and Iraqis, the majority of Angelenos were too distracted to bother. So when they complain about issues, ask them who they voted for and send them this link for permanent absentee ballots. On the bright side, Props 81 and 82 went down in flames, as did the Democrats who tried to take over in San Diego.

In the meantime, I will continue my work as a writer, investigator, and friend. Thank you for your continuing faith and friendship.

LAUSD's Racist Charter School

It’s no secret that the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and teacher unions oppose charter schools.

As I’ve written here and here, LAUSD controls a $13.4 billion budget – 727,000 students ($18,431 per child). Only a tiny fraction of these funds gets into our children’s classrooms, while a large chunk goes through the teacher unions that fund Democrat candidates who oppose charter schools – whose students achieve significantly higher scores than their LAUSD peers. LAUSD opposes charters because they fear losing control of 1) their budget and 2) the Democrats who empower them.

Is there a better way to discredit charter schools than by granting charters to incompetent educators?

The Academia Semillas del Pueblo Charter School, an anti-American public school that cripples Mexican children with primitive anti-American dogma offers an elegant solution. LAUSD hopes that Academia Semillas will prove that charters are not an effective solution to LAUSD’s failures.

Think of it this way: If LAUSD opposed black educators but was pressured to hire them, what better evidence would they need for black incompetence than to hire illiterate felons? And when parents get angry about the results, LAUSD could blame “black educators.”

Don’t be fooled - this was deliberate!

American Federale

A friend asked me to drive him to the Social Security office in Van Nuys today. He has a back injury and suffers too much pain to stand or drive himself to the office.

He sat down while I stood in line. A racially mixed crowd sat across the room, while my friend sat alone on the other side. He placed his leg on an empty chair as his doctor suggested, careful not to offend those across the room.

My friend is white. After a few minutes, the Latino security guard approached and asked him to put his feet on the floor. We explained his injury the guard shrugged his shoulders and left.

After a few minutes, he returned.

“I need to explain you something,” he said with an accent. “The other people think that because he is white he can put his feet on the chair.”

This would not have happened 30 years ago. But after Democrats made Los Angeles a sanctuary to illegal immigrants and after LA’s public school system graduated millions of uneducated half-wits, I was now tasked with explaining in grammar school English why someone’s bigotry was not my problem.

But as I glanced around the room at the Spanish language signs and brown faces, I accepted the futility of challenging this American Federale who relinquished his common sense to the dark-skinned bigotry that permeated this American government office.

Maybe I should have bribed him.