Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

The Statist urges Americans to view themselves through the lenses of those who resent and even hate them. He needs Americans to become less confident, . . . and to accept the status assigned to them by outsiders—as isolationists, invaders, occupiers, oppressors, and exploiters. The Statist wants Americans to see themselves as backward, foolishly holding to their quaint notions of individual liberty, private property, family, and faith, long diminished or jettisoned in other countries. . . . -- Mark R. Levin Mark Levin in his book, " Liberty and Tyranny, A Conservative Manifesto ," demonstrates the tyranny of Statists by their positions on current issues. According to Levin on his radio show, he wrote 98 percent of the book before Barack Obama became President. Obama’s name appears only twice, but his positions are apparent on many of the issues discussed. How does the Statist operate? He attacks the Founding Fathers as slaveholders, and he favors revolutions because they cle...

Twenty-five years ago, in 1983, the Nation At Risk warned us our schools were falling behind. The National Governors’ Conference in 1989 declared we would be first internationally in math and science by 2000. The warning was heard but not heeded. We were further behind than ever. Many countries have been surging ahead of us including Liechtenstein , Estonia , Macao-China , Finland , Singapore , South Korea , Taiwan , Japan , and HongKong. We try. Chester Finn , Jr., started his career in the new U.S. Department of Education by investigating and reporting on all the good published studies on “what works.” The Department distributed over 500,000 copies, with little impact. Is all lost? There are a few signs of resuscitation in “Going for the Gold, Secrets of Successful Schools,” by Barry Newstead, Amy Saxton, and Susan Colby in the Spring issue of EDUCATION NEXT, pp. 38-45. The authors analyzed the successful schools for the elements that make them successful. The schools are KIP...

Jason Horowitz asks in the New York Observer what do the Democrats propose to do in Iraq now that they have seized effective control of the legislature? Some of the answers are surprising “It’s a very different calculus, meanwhile, for those Democrats harboring hopes of capturing the White House in 2008. As the killing in Baghdad intensifies—and almost everyone believes that it will continue to do so—some potential candidates are trying to articulate coherent positions now. They understand that this issue isn’t simply going to disappear in the next two years, and they argue that opposition alone doesn’t constitute a credible foreign-policy position. “‘The question is, are you just going to fold up and leave regardless of the situation on the ground, or can you, through diplomacy, try and craft a more favorable exit?’ said Gen. Wesley Clark, one likely Presidential nominee. ‘My argument is that you can.’ “General Clark has a unique perspective among prospective candidates. He acted a...