Good gosh, did Donald Rumsfeld, the thankfully politically departed HMIC (Head Man In Charge) of the disastrous Iraq war, take the American people for for dolts? Gullible idiots? Come on, we deserved better than that.
The Washingon Post got its hands on a series of memos the defense secretary wrote during his time in the hot seat at the Pentagon. Rummy looks like a dummy in these missives, referred to as "snowflakes":
We're getting our heads handed to us in Iraq and he writes in a 2004 memo that the challenges there are "not unusual." No disrespect, sir, but I'm sure the boots on the ground would beg to differ.
After retired generals called for his head, Rumsfeld's remedy was to change the channel: "Talk about Somalia, the Philippines, etc. Make the American people realize they are surrounded in the world by violent extremists."
According to the Post, Rumsfeld flirted with the idea of redefining the terrorism fight as a "worldwide insurgency." He then urged advisers "to test what the results could be" if the war on terrorism were renamed.
Rummy's form of governance has an Orwellian ring. I guess we're lucky he was shown the door before he could rename the Defense Department the Ministry of Love.
Parents more involved with their children, huh? Moms and Dads spending more time with their children and reading to the young ones. You can't beat that. There was, however, a point down further in the story that makes me a uneasy:
"...there were significant increases in students taking classes outside the regular school day, including lessons in music, dance, languages, computers and religion."
I'm all for personal enrichment. I'm not, however, for kids becoming little robots with their days so jammed up they have to carry palm pilots to keep up with their next appointment. Dang, what happened to the days when kids just went outside and played or curled up with a book at their leisure?
Oh, I'm showing my age.
I wasn't at the newser today of black elected officials who gathered to show support for Del. Onzlee Ware, but I heard about it. Hmmm....seems like Sherman Lea is coming back into the mainstream political fold just in time for his own re-election campaign next year. No man is an island.
I wholeheartely back same-gender classes at William Fleming High School. It's not an issue of separate-but-equal. It's an issue of reversing a crisis that looms over our urban neighborhoods. Many of the naysayers don't make it into those neighborhoods often, if ever, so they're talking out of their neck when they disparage ideas that will help at-risk kids. My only regret is that the program isn't available at an elementary school.
The jury is still out on the tangible results (i.e. test scores) of such classes. However, the intangibles cannot be overlooked. Young men who often are not in an environment that values education surely benefit from being in the presence of other reinforcements with the common purpose of learning. Same with young women.
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