Standardizing Mediocrity; Why national standards won’t fix American education.

NRO  "Some states do have higher standards than others. But the same pressures that drive down state standards would likely plague national standards — and if national standards were defined down, they would undercut states with higher standards, such as Massachusetts. This would let the goal of uniformity trump the pursuit of excellence." ....
"National standards wouldn’t improve academic achievement. They would merely strengthen federal control over education." via Heritage

What Our Media Taught Me

Victor Davis Hanson  "...but thanks to the watchdog media during various ethical problematics in the Bush administration — from the federal attorney firings to Halliburton — I now realize that there can be no tolerance for even the appearance of moral ambiguity. So let the tough media inquiries continue."

Boehner to Sir Paul: Apologize to the American People

Human Events  " “Like millions of other Americans, I have always had a good impression of Paul McCartney and thought of him as a classy guy, but I was surprised and disappointed by the lack of grace and respect he displayed at the White House,” Boehner told HUMAN EVENTS. “I hope he'll apologize to the American people for his conduct which demeaned him, the White House and President Obama.” " He may be a classy guy, but he's still a limousine liberal.

Israel Alone

Obama 'stands with Israel'...except when he doesn't. "When its most powerful ally sits on the sidelines and does little to back Israel's moves, the world will notice this and act accordingly. What a tragedy to have this bunch of starry eyed amateurs running our foreign policy as the enemies of the US and Israel are strengthened by one misstep after another."
Israelis, Foxnews and GOP only friend in the world? "Israeli everyday people feel under siege and all alone in the world. Betrayed - thrown to the wolves by every nation, desperate for defense against an   onslaught of Jihadis bombarding with rockets, exploding on buses and ambushing at sea while pretending to be 'peace activists'."
IDF video one of most-watched on Youtube  "IDF clips of clash aboard a Gaza flotilla aid ship viewed by some 3 million people Wednesday. Al Jazeera video of same incident comes in fourth with 616,000 views."
Statement by Prime Minister Netanyahu: "No Love Boat"  "...Hamas is smuggling thousands of Iranian rockets, missiles and other weaponry - smuggling it into Gaza in order to fire on Israel's cities. These missiles can reach Ashdod and Beer Sheva - these are major Israeli cities. And I regret to say that some of them can reach now Tel Aviv, and very soon, the outskirts of Jerusalem. From the information we have, the planned shipments include weapons that can reach farther, even farther and deeper into Israel."
“They had murder in their eyes”   "The attackers had already seized two pistols from the commandos, and fired repeatedly at them. Facing more than a dozen of the mercenaries, and convinced their lives were in danger, he and his colleagues opened fire, he said. S. singlehandedly killed six men. His colleagues killed another three."
Glenn Foden Cartoon.

An Islam of Their Very Own; Obama’s counterterrorism chief trivializes jihad.

Andy McCarthy   "Our political leaders can continue to trivialize jihad as if it were some benign struggle to brush after every meal. They can continue to ignore the core tenets that make sharia antithetical to a free, self-determining society. But they can’t do that and do the only job we need them to do: protect our lives and our liberties. "

REMEMBERING D-DAY

Boortz.com "While visiting the American cemetery in Normandy, a French gentleman and his friends came upon Amos, and when he realized that Amos was a WW2 veteran who fought in Normandy, the French gentleman gave Amos a letter. My brother Joe read the letter to us and as we all listened, we all cried. You can see the thankfulness in the French gentleman, as he holds Amos's hand and thanks him as he leaves. A truly enchanting moment."
Roosevelt's D Day prayer for our troops Is it possible for an American president to speak these words today?

HERE WE GO

Neal Boortz  "Now the challenge is to figure out how much oil has spilled and then calculate how much money the government has lost in royalties from that oil. Think that's a good idea? OK .. how about this. Some employees of a restaurant screw up and burn the joint down. It's going to take a year to get it reopened again. Should that restaurant be responsible to the state for lost sales tax revenues until they get cranking again? Don't you just love politicians?"

Dick Lamm's Plan to Destroy America

Snopes.com  " 'Next to last, I would place all subjects off limits. Make it taboo to talk about anything against the cult of 'diversity.' I would find a word similar to 'heretic' in the 16th century - that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking.Words like 'racist' or 'xenophobe' halt discussion and debate." H/t to Paul Van Alstine, wherever he is. 

God bless Israeli TV, which is using humor as a line of attack against the flotilla lies

Bookworm Room "Please, please, please, please, spread this video:" We Con the World.

More on this from Hot Air "No one, including Israel’s critics, was seriously fooled into thinking they were on a bona fide humanitarian mission; even Hamas itself couldn’t be bothered to keep up the pretense, which is why they rejected the aid from the flotilla when Israel eventually tried to deliver it. It can’t be a con if everybody’s in on it.
"Below that, via the Right Scoop , you’ll find another palate cleanser in the same vein. You may, if you wish, consider it your allegory of the day."

Is President Obama's Carter moment nearing?

David S. Broder "Nothing is going to help Obama unless and until the engineers come up with a method for shutting down this gusher of pollution. He clearly couldn't prevent it, and he was slow in signaling its severity. But he owns it now, and until it is over, the man who aspired to be the next John Kennedy or maybe Franklin Roosevelt will have to hope he doesn't end up as Jimmy Carter."

Sir Paul McCartney's Churlish White House Comment

American Thinker "But it was all marred by an extraordinary bit of churlishness. Knights -- he is Sir Paul, after all -- are supposed leave churlishness to the churls. McCartney told the assembled toffs in the East Room that it was especially nice to receive the award from Barack Obama. "After the last eight years, it's nice to receive this award from a president who knows what a library is." Ugly comment. Ugly response. The assembled worthies roared their appreciation."....
"Paul McCartney might be surprised to match his college grades against those of George W. Bush -- at Yale University or at the Harvard Business School. What's that you say? McCartney never went to college?"

Obama's 'Chicago Way' Plunders the Private Sector

Michael Barone "So it's natural for a Chicago Way president to assume that higher taxes and a hugely expensive health care regime will not make a perceptible dent in the nation's private sector economy. There will always be plenty to plunder."....
"The problem with Obama's Chicago Way is that Chicago isn't America. The Chicago Way works locally because there is an America out there that ultimately pays for it. But who will pay for an America run the Chicago Way?"