Re: Orchestrated Blame Game Signals End Times for NCLB?

["Horn, James" <jhorn@monmouth.edu>]

Well-said, Quan.  As one who continues to engage the Borg on a daily basis, I agree we are far short of any territorial claim.  Now, in fact, is just the time to rally the previously-dispirited troops.

Jim


-----Original Message-----
From: arn-l-owner@interversity.org on behalf of QCao009@aol.com
Sent: Sat 12/2/2006 12:09 PM
To: arn-l@interversity.org
Subject: Re: [arn-l] Orchestrated Blame Game Signals End Times for NCLB?
 
 
In a message dated 12/2/2006 9:41:30 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
jhorn@monmouth.edu writes:

Last evening I was listening to Mark Shields on the News Hour talk  about the 
last days of American involvement in Vietnam, when the optimistic  and 
reality-defying propaganda was replaced by laying for the failure of our  
imperialistic hubris on the Vietnamese people who were the victims of our  failed 
policy. Shields pointed out that the same is happening now in Iraq, as  right wing 
bloviators line up to disparage the Iraqi people, themselves, for  not 
accepting our goal to set up for them a culturally-blind dollar-ocracy  that we could 
patronize for the next fifty years while draining away their oil  supply.


Jim:
 
Thanks for sharing your perspective.  The problem with a blame game,  any 
blame game, regardless which side carries it out, is that it conveniently  
displaces responsibility and allows mediocrity.  The fact that Henry  Kissinger is 
an advisor to the WH, the fact that Newt Gingrich and William  Bennett continue 
to be paraded on cable and network to peddle their  privatization schemes 
tell us clearly that "progress" means reversal of  direction and "higher 
standards" is a codework for more inane and  repetitive testing with no end result in 
mind.
 
Looking backward to learn from the lessons of Vietnam and the lessons of  
others wars which have been fought since then(one which doomed the Soviet Union  
for which Reaganites claim victory), looking at the lack of reconstruction in  
New Orleans and looking at another two years of wandering in the etherzone of 
 this President's mindless mind, one cannot help but wonder what power we 
each  have as citizens of this democracy to force real change to happen.  This  
past election is merely the beginning and if we rest on our laurels and think  
much change has been accomplished, we are sadly wrong.  The day we can  claim 
any modicum of victory is the day Chicago must accept George Schmidt back  in 
the classroom, the day we allow Susan Ohanian a place at the table at USDOE,  
the day we allow our Teachers of the Year to speak and not simply to repeat 
the  spin in exchange for the morsels throan at them by corporate CEOs.  Until  
then, sadly, the change we talk about is nothing more than a feeble and sad  
attempt to connect with a younger generation throughout the world which  
continues to look for a generation of their  elders to grow  up.  
 
NCLBs come and NCLBs go, the thoughtlessness driven by the greed and the  
thirst for power behind NCLB will remain.  That's why NCLB fails.  
 
Quan