The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/299712
OpiniOn C-2 Wednesday, April 23, 2014 The Press-Dispatch Points to ponder—by Rev. Ford Bond Observations by Thomas Sowell Think Big by Ben Carson Statistical frauds Recovering USA's exceptionalism continued on page 3 Aiming high A woman's perspective—by Mona Charen Toward a less taxing April 15 There's an MRCT V video circulating on the Internet that features a man with a microphone asking college students in Washington, D.C., to name just one mem- ber of the United States Sen- ate. At least half a dozen are stumped. When he asks how many senators each state has, the same crew is equal- ly flummoxed. One hundred percent of the students could name the hit song from the movie "Frozen," though. These surveys about how ignorant Americans are have become hardy peren- nials. Survey data confirm that large numbers of Americans lack even ru- dimentary knowledge of what used to be called "eighth-grade civics." A sur- vey by Common Core found that 25 per- cent of American high school students thought Christopher Columbus sailed after the year 1750, and about a third of them did not know the Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of speech and re- ligion. We can all have a good laugh at the expense of the ignorant kids, but, of course, if they are truly undereducated (and these surveys can exaggerate), it's largely the fault of our schools. It's nice to be reminded, from time to time, about what good schools and good teachers can achieve. In McLean, Va., a suburb of the Dis- trict of Columbia, Langley High School has for the past 22 years conducted a program called "Case Day." The brain- child of teacher Steven Catlett and for- mer clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court General William Suter, Case Day in- volves the entire school (but most inten- sively the seniors in government class) in studying a pending Supreme Court case. Government teachers Allison Co- hen and Micah Herzig, both former law- yers, try to choose cases that will en- gage teenagers. In past years, students have argued District of Columbia v. Heller (the gun control challenge), Morse v. Frederick (the "bong hits for Jesus" case), and Grutter v. Bol- linger (an affirmative ac- tion question). Four students were as- signed to argue the cas- es before a panel of nine "justices," which includ- ed two students and al- so law professors, prac- ticing lawyers and mem- bers of the school board. Suter played the role of chief justice. This year's oral argument was Ri- ley v. California, a Fourth Amendment case contesting the police search of a cellphone. The students familiarized themselves with a dozen or so Supreme Court precedents. As one explained, "We were told that in six weeks we were going to get a crash course in college, law school, and 20 years of practice." All agreed that studying the precedents changed their initial impression of the proper outcome of the case. They were also unanimous in saying that they now hope to be lawyers—with their teacher acknowledging a little sheepishly that she may have conveyed the misimpres- sion that law school is fun. Before the drama of the mock oral argument, guest speakers elucidat- ed the issues by offering some con- text on common law privacy, search- and-seizure cases and the facts of Ri- ley v. California. Then, as the robed justices entered the chamber (well, school library), all rose. A student clerk intoned the "oyez," saying, "All persons having business before the Honorable, the Supreme Court of the United States, are admonished to draw near and give their attention, for the Court is now sitting..." Sparks flew! The arguments fea- tured exactly the sort of thrust and parry that characterizes the actu- al Supreme Court. Student advo- cates were challenged by justices attempting to probe the weakness- es of their arguments (while much of the school watched on monitors). Grace Sununu and Anna Cox, rep- resenting Riley, were asked why the digital contents of a phone de- serve any different consideration from ordinary papers that the court has held may be searched incident to arrest. Was it the sheer amount of data? What if someone were car- rying a paper diary with tiny print- ing? Of William Miner and Ben Park- er, appearing for California, it was demanded, "Suppose someone is arrested for jaywalking? Does that mean their entire private life (which can be accessed on a cellphone) is open to search? " Though they could scarcely com- plete a full sentence without being interrupted, the students dropped case names and legal doctrines with impressive poise and confidence. The student justices (Natalie Fahl- berg and Myunghoon Kim) drilled their colleagues mercilessly. The Langley court ruled 5 -4 in fa- vor of Riley. That other court a few miles east will hear oral argument in the case on April 29, when the six students who participated will sit in the audience as the guests of Justice Antonin Scalia, a loyal supporter of Case Day. This is not a high-tech, expensive program. Any school with good teachers and access to a library could do it—and should. It's amaz- ing what students are capable of, when asked. Intolerance: The New Norm If one is still unsure wheth- er the media has reached the level of intolerance, he/ she needs to look no further than the recent resignation of Mozillia's CEO Brendan Eich. It seems the media discovered that Mr. Eich in 2008 donated money for Cal- ifornia Proposition 8, which sought to ban same-sex mar- riage. When confronted with his obvious homopho- bia said that "he would not and has not let his political feelings influence his work- ing practices." Since he did not issue an apology, the left- wing media and gay lobby went to work, and soon he was out of a job. So goes American jour- nalism of the 21st Centu- ry. Charles Krauthammer in a recent column takes on the politically correct media "Thought Police on Patrol." He opens his column reveal- ing that recently 110,000 petitioners demanded the Washington Post to ban all articles that question global warming. How is that for tolera- tion and encouraging dis- senting views? Krauthammer notes the obvi- ous: "the left is entering a new phase of ideo- logical agita- tion—no longer trying to win the debate but stopping de- bate altogeth- er, banishing from public dis- course any and all opposition." Krauthammer mentions that the left has enlisted some heavy artillery in its demand that people stop de- bating Global Warming be- cause it is a fact. He wrote, "The debate is settled," as- serted propagandist in Chief Barack Obama in his latest State of the Union address. "Climate change is a fact." Really? There is nothing more anti-scientific than the very idea that science is settled, static, impervious to challenge." Anyone with even a curso- ry class in high school sci- ence was taught science, because perfect knowl- edge does not exist, can- not "prove" anything. Sci- ence affirms research con- clusions based upon a stated hypothesis, experimenta- tion, and analyzing data that is linked to the best evidence available. Interesting enough, Krau- thammer mentions in his "Climate Change" column of February 20 that science is akin to religion. It has its dogmas, mantras, and any- one who dares to disagree is anathematized and ban- ished to the darkest re- gions of existence by his/ her peers and the disingen- uous media. The thought police, which I think is a much better de- scription of the media and ac- ademia than politically cor- rect, has thrown off any pre- tense of debate and by de- cree demands the unwashed masses to bow to the "truth." To resist means one faces the weight of punitive sanctions ranging from social ostra- cism to unemployment and becoming unemployable. One term that is being em- ployed consistently against skeptics [for example glob- al warming] is he/she is a de- nier, which is at- tune to holocaust denial, which is linked to hate speech. Hate speech in Ger- many, France, and a few oth- er nations of Eu- rope can cost one three to five years in prison. Can you find the thread being woven here? The god of the age is sur- prisingly not money, but science. If someone in a white lab coat [including black jack boots], holding a clip-board while standing in front of similarly attired professionals makes a state- ment based upon "science," then we are supposed to fall down and do obeisance Krauthammer adds that "the moral and philosophi- cal merits of gay marriage" has also been settled. To contest or disagree with the controlled media with their lock on science will result in being attacked with an eth- ical and metaphysical ar- gument enmeshed in love, commitment, and equality. Try to oppose their rea- soning. You will instant- ly become a racist, homo- phobic, bigoted, misogynic, right-wing, gun-toting Nean- derthal. And those are your good traits. Sadly, the world seems to be trapped to infinitely run in circles. The famous Scopes Monkey Trial long surpassed as the "Trial of the Century" by O.J Simp- son, sought to paint itself as science against revealed religion. The media in this David vs. Goliath match-up painted the religious as su- perstitious buffoons. Attorney Clarence Dar- row said of his motives, "We have the purpose of prevent- ing bigots and ignoramuses from controlling the educa- tion of the United States, and you know it, and that is all." I understand completely; reli- gion in education makes big- In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville, the famous French his- torian, came to America to study our na- tion. Europeans and others were fasci- nated with the success of the fledgling nation, then barely 50 years old and al- ready competing on the world stage. Such a thing had never before oc- curred, and Tocqueville was deter- mined to discover the secret. He was duly impressed by our governmental structure, including the separation of powers, but he was in awe of the pub- lic educational system, which rendered its recipients completely literate by the completion of second grade. This depth of education was generally only found among the aristocracy in Europe. Let's put aside the diversionary argu- ments about lack of educational access for all, which was a huge mistake, and concentrate on the tremendous advan- tage afforded our predecessors by edu- cation. Early settlers not only mastered reading, writing and arithmetic, but al- so shared practical skills, all of which enabled them to traverse and tame a rugged and frequently hostile terrain from sea to shining sea. As isolated communities sprang up throughout the nation, they were able to thrive through innovation, industry and compassion. The "can-do" attitude involved hard labor, but it also includ- ed a sense of responsibility for those who through injury or other hardships could no longer care for themselves. The spirit of caring, although dimin- ished, remains an important part of who we are today. Tocqueville was impressed by the fi- ery sermons that emphasized the word of God and not the social mores of the day. He concluded his American anal- ysis by saying, "America is great be- cause she is good. If America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great." America was different because we openly acknowledged the role of God in our lives. Some will say, "Carson is a religious fanatic because he believes in God and the Bible." Interestingly, the very same people are quick to invoke the name of God and recommend prayer at times of national and personal tragedy. Hypocri- sy is their frequent companion. Some will say America can never make claims of "goodness" owing to her history of slavery. Although it was by far the worst atrocity in our histo- ry, we paid a horrendous price in lives lost or destroyed in a Civil War that all but incapacitated a young nation. The guilt, shame and humility that result- ed from this dark American episode will teach us and stigmatize us well in- to the future. Learning from mistakes is a sign of wisdom and goodness. What is disturbing in the pursuit of goodness is the turning of a blind eye toward corruption, much like the Ro- mans did before the fall of their empire. Episodes such as the Internal Revenue Service scandal should alarm all Amer- icans, regardless of political affiliation. The fact that one party has character- ized it as a "phony scandal" tells you a great deal about the loss of honesty in our society. The fact that one party is willing to use its majority status to cram a health care bill down the throats of the minor- ity party and the American people and then refuses to acknowledge the obvi- ous illegitimacy of a bill passed large- ly on the basis of false information pro- vides a barometer on the lack of impor- tance placed on virtue in our society to- day. How can such a society in any way claim to be good? How can a society that kills millions of innocent unborn babies and then labels anyone opposing the practice "anti-woman" claim even a modicum By Ed Feulner Historically speaking, April 15 has never been a day marked by good fortune. The Titanic sank on that day in 1912 (after striking an iceberg shortly before midnight on April 14). Abra- ham Lincoln died after be- ing mortally wounded the day before. And, of course, there's Tax Day. "The income tax has made more liars out of the Amer- ican people than golf has," Will Rogers once quipped. Actually, most Americans try hard to fill out their tax- es properly. Unfortunately, the tax code has grown so mind-numbingly complex that it seems almost as if the system is rigged to make them fail. It's not, but it might as well be. The code is so long, notes House Ways and Means Committee Chair- man Dave Camp, it's 10 times the size of the Bible. Even if you could easily grasp all the rules, they're never the same from year to year. There have been more than 4,400 changes to the code in the past de- cade alone (about one a day), leaving even tax profession- als scrambling to catch up every year. What if we had a code that seemed as if it was de- signed on purpose, one that was simple, fair and easy to understand? Then Tax Day wouldn't have to be such an annual nightmare. Here are several ways that tax reform would ben- efit Americans: Right now, the complexi- ty of the tax code, with its many loopholes, deductions and credits, acts as a damp- er on the very kinds of ac- tivities that create a strong economy: working, saving, investing and taking on risk. But if tax reform reduced the higher marginal rates that many Americans pay, the resulting increase in incentives would provide a much-needed boost to the economy. Families that earn more wouldn't be punished for doing so. That would put the American Dream with- in reach of more taxpayers. A tax reform that makes the code less Byzantine will naturally make it easier to understand and, therefore, easier to file your taxes. The 13 hours that the average taxpayer takes to gather re- ceipts and other paperwork, read the rules and fill out all the necessary forms would be drastically reduced. "There would be no need for pricey software, and on- ly those families with the most complex financial ar- rangements would require paid tax preparers," writes tax expert Curtis Dubay. "Highly skilled lawyers and accountants could put their considerable talents to more productive uses, which would further boost the economy." True tax reform would end the practice of the gov- ernment picking winners and losers in the market, and seeking to reward or punish families that make certain economic decisions. There would be no more push, for example, to buy certain products deemed environmentally friendly, or to choose child care out- side the home. Each fami- ly, and not the government, could make its own decision about what's right for it. Tax reform that reduces continued on page 3 continued on page 3 continued on page 3 The "war on women" political slogan is in fact a war against common sense. It is a statistical fraud when Barack Obama and other politicians say that wom- en earn only 77 percent of what men earn— and that this is because of discrimination. It would certainly be discrimination if women were doing the same work as men, for the same number of hours, with the same amount of training and experience, as well as other things being the same. But study after study, over the past several de- cades, has shown repeatedly that those things are not the same. Constantly repeating the "77 percent" sta- tistic does not make them the same. It sim- ply takes advantage of many people's igno- rance—something that Barack Obama has been very good at doing on many other is- sues. What if you compare women and men who are the same on all the relevant characteris- tics? First of all, you can seldom do that, be- cause the statistics you would need are not always available for the whole range of oc- cupations and the whole range of differenc- es between women's patterns and men's pat- terns in the labor market. Even where relevant statistics are avail- able, careful judgment is required to pick samples of women and men who are truly comparable. For example, some women are mothers and some men are fathers. But does the