Probably not the last word on this topic

I'd be interested to hear what all the die-hard McCain supporters have to say about the soon-to-be-former Gov. Sarah Palin these days.

Not those at the national level. I want to hear from the locals, from people in my town or yours who were quick to back her up, to say they liked her, that McCain had made such a fantastic choice of a "maverick" to help him run the country.


Upon playing her latest hand, she showed exactly what she is made of. Which, bottom line, is not much. She lacks substance; she lacks stamina. She can be an anti-intellectual all she likes. But the fact is, I — and most other Americans — in fact, want an intellectual to run the country. We want someone smarter and more experienced than we are. John McCain actually embodied those characteristics; Sarah Palin did not and never will.

And I think it's a fact beyond notice at this point. Take a look at the Wall Street Journal
— their take is absolutely right.

Palin is delusional. She will never see herself as others see her. But lucky for us, enough of the rest of the country does that we are safe from her lack of experience, lack of vision, lack of thoughtfulness.

But we never know what lies ahead, do we?

Throwback

It is 2009. Of this fact, I am quite sure.

Then I read the headlines in the news. And for a moment, it feels as if we've gone back in time about 40 years.

It's funny. We claim to be such a great nation - liberty and opportunity for all, a place where anyone's dreams can come true. But apparently, we are still not above looking at a group of black children and deciding we don't want to associate with *their* kind.

So far, my children are being taught better. They support the rights of women, of minorities, of gays and lesbians.

But why must we wait until they are in charge before things change?

A Festooned Fourth

Of all the things I missed while living abroad, the Fourth of July is the one I always come back to.

Nothing is quite like Independence Day in the USA. Perhaps I'm just nostalgic, longing for the idea of a holiday steeped in vintage Americana - the feel of small-town America circa 1910. Or maybe it is truly an appreciation of everything this less-than-perfect but still promising country has to offer.

In any event, I felt strangely empty not celebrating July 4th. I missed the parades and the fireworks, the rousing patriotic tunes and the red, white & blue.

This year, for the first time, we are part of the Ninth Street Hill Festooned Fourth, a display of flags and colors. Up and down our street - a fairly busy, main thoroughfare through the city and just south of downtown - the houses are decorated with flags. Over 600 flags - and yards and yards of red, white, and blue bunting - adorn houses and porches of the neighborhood, a true Victorians statement of patriotism.


Small flags line the sidewalks up down the six blocks of Ninth Street Hill.


One of my favorite flags is the Bicentennial Flag - I have very fond memories of the summer of 1976.


On our own house hangs the flag of The Bucks of America, the only all-African-American regiment of the Revolutionary War.

There are so many reasons I am proud of my country. I am in absolute awe of our Constitution and the way it was so brilliantly crafted. I admire our founding fathers and mothers and all they gave for our freedom, their wisdom and they established this fledgling nation and lived through many years of unrest to realize their dream. And though others would challenge it, I still believe in the principles on which this country was founded: freedom of speech, separation of church and state, and the right of all to pursue their individual beliefs and dreams of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

And every four years, I am reminded that we have a peaceful transition of power, something not all countries can claim. We have the right to vote for our leaders, and we have the right to voice our dissent. These are rights not to be taken for granted.

So each time I see those flags flying, I am reminded of what my life here means and how very fortunate we are. Which is probably why I became nostalgic on those holidays spent on foreign soil. And why I appreciate where I came from even more.

Long may it wave.

Filibusters

A mere eight months after the November elections, and the Senate is full.

Democratic challenger Al Franken has been declared the winner in the Minnesota Senate race, defeating Republican incumbent Norm Coleman. The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled him the winner Wednesday after a protracted recount battle.

The margin of victory was razor-thin, with a mere 312 votes separating Coleman and Franken, out of nearly 2.9 million votes cast. It's hard to blame Coleman for challenging the outcome of the election. However, the results should have been decided in a speedier manner - eight months is a long time to wait for the outcome of an election.

Franken has said he will work hard to represent all the people of Minnesota. As he should - he received only 43 percent of the vote. There was a third-party candidate, and Franken would be wise to remember that 57 percent of voters wanted someone else in the Senate.

Much has been made of the Democrats' new filibuster-proof majority. People are up in arms about the power the party now has and how it can be abused. But there are a couple of things to keep in mind:

First of all, there is no guarantee that all Democrats will agree on everything. Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter may be a Democrat now, but there are no guarantees he will vote with them all the time. Nor will Joe Lieberman, or Jim Webb, or Bernard Saunders, or Evan Bayh, or any number of other fairly moderate Democrats.

Secondly, the filibuster is in the Senate rules. There is no reason for either party to not use it. Democrats would use it against Republicans, and the Republicans have every right to try and use it against the Democrats. This isn't something modern-day Repubs. or Dems. came up with just to get under the skin of the opposition - it was written into the rules of order years ago; the modern filibuster practices go back to around 1917, though it has been around in some form since the 1780s.

And the 60 votes needed to end the filibuster? Also in the rules. (Though 67 votes were needed until that rule was changed in 1975.) To argue that one party or the other is abusing power is absurd - they are only using the power that has already been established.

Al Franken brings no guarantees to the U.S. Senate. But he does bring the much-needed 100th vote to the chamber. A chamber that needs to get busy taking care of business.

Cheers for the United Way

Attended the Vanguard Reception for the United Way earlier this week.

It was a lovely, albeit low-key event. I enjoyed having a couple (or three) glasses of wine, chatting with friends, gazing at the art at Westwood.

But mostly, it was gratifying to be in the company of so many people who give so much of their time, talent, and money to support the United Way and the work it does for the cities of Lafayette and West Lafayette.

I was humbled to be a part of it.

The Taste

There is nothing better than an outdoor festival. And the annual Taste of Tippecanoe is one of my favorites.

This was my first year to attend with the new(ish) Renaissance Place, which takes up a large area that used to encompass much of the activity. No matter - the organizers have shut down more streets, scattering the food and stages, and it all worked.

(We are lucky we live so near downtown - we walked, so parking woes were not part of our evening.)

The food was, as always, well .... tasty. I had a gyro and Gary got Indian food; the girls chose Fazoli's, which they followed up with ice cream. Gary and I went for Cannoli from La Scala - my favorite. We even found a table.

Then we were free to wander the streets, chatting with friends. We walked across the bridge over to the Chef's Stage, where we enjoyed free Coke Zero while watching an ice-carving demonstration. We then stopped and listened to a bit of the Lincoln Street Band, which I would have listened to much longer had others in my group not wanted to leave. From our perch on the bridge we had a fantastic view of the fireworks - even the throngs of people that crowded the steps weren't unbearable as we left.

I would have stayed longer - I wish we had arrived early enough to see Travelers Dream, and I would have loved to see Woodstove Flapjacks. But what we saw was fun.

Downtown festivals are the best that Lafayette has to offer. I look forward to many more.

In Defense

I am going to make enemies with this post.

But I'm going to say this anyway: David Letterman's joke? Not that big a deal.

When he - or his writers - made the joke about Sarah Palin's daughter getting knocked up by A-Rod, I think we all knew which daughter he meant. He did not mean the younger one, the one who was at the Yankess game. He meant the older one, Bristol, the one who is already a single parent.

Now, to be fair, the joke was a little tacky. And I can understand how some people might take offense. And no, Bristol was not the daughter at the game; it was Willow, the 14-year-old.

However, to suggest that Letterman is a pedophile, or that he encourages statutory rape, is absurd. He got the identity of the daughter wrong, but in late-night humor, much exaggeration is employed. How many truths have been stretched to have fun with politicians, celebrities?

And the humor goes both ways - both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were run through the ringer. And with good reason.

It comes with the job.

Politicians' young children should be off limits. And they are - I have not seen jokes about Palin's younger children, or her son who is in Iraq. I didn't see jokes about Chelsea Clinton or about John McCain's teenage daughter. The Obama girls are seldom seen, thus not the butt of jokes.

Bristol Palin, however, is a different story. She has used her teen parenthood as a springboard to some sort of notoriety, appearing on the front of People magazine, become a spokesperson for teen abstinence. She is the one making the rounds of the morning talk shows. She has become a cause celebres, famous for being famous.

Which makes her fair game. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

If you find Letterman's jokes tasteless - and many people will - then turn him off. Boycott his sponsors. But to imply that he is a pedophile? Seems a bit much. As a parent, Ms. Palin, rather than making this any more an ordeal than it need be, you might be wiser to simply not respond. Take the high road - Letterman didn't, yet he's the one who is seen as less reactionary in this scenario.

And for someone watching her political future, one less misstep might be advised.

Speaking Up

You could see the gates in the background as President Obama spoke at Buchenwald last week.

The gates read Jedem das Seine. Literally, it means, "To each his own"; figuratively, it means, "Everybody gets what he deserves." At Dachau, near München, the gates read Arbeit Machts Frei, or "Work makes one free." Messages steeped in irony.

It was with a mixture of pride and sadness that I watched the President make that speech, in a place where unspeakable horrors took place. It was significant that he stood there, making it clear that his administration does support Israel, does support the plight of the Jews. And he reiterated that he could not tolerate the views of those who would deny the Holocaust:

"We are here today because we know this work is not yet finished. To this day, there are those who insist that the Holocaust never happened—a denial of fact and truth that is baseless and ignorant and hateful. This place is the ultimate rebuke to such thoughts; a reminder of our duty to confront those who would tell lies about our history."

My pride was mingled with sadness, as it often is, when I am reminded of the atrocities that took place some 70 years ago. And the sadness returned yesterday, when an 84-year-old white supremacist opened fire at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, killing Stephen Johns, an African-American security guard, the man who opened the door to allow the gunman in.

Here we are, 64 years after the end of World War II, more than 40 years after the Civil Rights movement. And still, we have people filled with such hate. People who hate indiscriminately, with a bias against those of another race, religion, or sexual orientation - to name a few.

Where does it end?

Did we not learn from the Nazis, and their needless hate and fear of another religion? Why the hatred against those of another race? Why the need to judge people based on what they look like, or what religion they practice, or whom they love? Why not judge people on, to quote the great Dr. Martin Luther King, the content of their character?

Jedem das Seine. Everyone gets what he deserves. Do we not all deserve the same thing? The "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness" as outlined in the Declaration of Independence?

The shooter in the Holocaust Museum was in his 80s. With luck, the hatred, the divisiveness belongs to a different generation. I can only hope that with my own children, such prejudices will fade away, and that truly we will see people as we should: as equals.

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

Then they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
I did not protest;
I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
I did not speak out;
I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out for me. - Martin Niemöller, 1892-1984

No Child Left Behind?

It's official: We have a failing school in our midst.

Not that this is a secret, by any means. I've followed the news reports, and I've received my official notice from the school corporation: Miller Elementary has failed to achieve the mandated Annual Yearly Progress as outlined by No Child Left Behind. I've also received notice that the school my child attends has been identified for improvement.

Miller Elementary is our neighborhood school. According to data compiled by the Lafayette School Corporation, Miller has higher numbers of students who receive free/reduced lunch, are minority, have limited English proficiency, and are in special education. Because of these statistics, and with such a high number of at-risk students, it is no surprise to anyone that Miller has failed to meet the AYP guidelines.

I should back up a bit. Miller School is located at the juncture of several neighborhoods. There is the neighborhood where we live, older homes, mostly owner-occupied, some rental. Housing prices range from $150,000-600,000; annual incomes include everything from hourly employees to physicians and attorneys. The neighborhood just south of Miller is also mostly owner-occupied houses; it is a more modest, working-class neighborhood with property values ranging from $60,000-100,000. A third distinct area feeds into Miller, with the houses that are west and north of the school. Many of these are rental; many are much more modest. This area tends to be a bit more transient.

Up until 2005, Miller's district comprised primarily these three areas. In the fall of 2005, students from nearby Washington Elementary, a school further north of downtown Lafayette, were sent to Miller when LSC made the decision to close Washington. This move placed more of these at-risk, lower-income students at Miller.

Four years later, and Miller is still struggling to reach these children. The result? The school corporation, under the guidelines set forth by No Child Left Behind, must decide how to deal with Miller School, its principal, and its staff and their combined failure to improve test scores. The options include replacing the staff at Miller (which implies that the staff is wholely responsible for the students' failure), closing the school and reopening it as a charter school, or hiring a professional management company to come in and help turn the school around.

All the responsibility for the failure of these students - more than 80 percent of whom are eligible for free/reduced lunch - is being placed on the staff. Yet I had a very good experience with this same group of teachers. I knew them as a dedicated group of professionals, teachers who were entirely vested in not only the success of their students, but in the school as a whole. My own children attended Miller from 2000-2006. All three of them passed the ISTEP every time they took it; all three of my children have gone on to be placed in gifted/talented programs.

Who is responsible for the success of my children? Did their grades and test scores come about because of the teachers they had? Or did they succeed because of encouragement they got at home? If the latter is the case - which is likely a major factor - then conversely, wouldn't the failure of some students also be in direct proportion to the help they get at home?

It seems like such an easy conclusion - and it's one I know the school corporation understands. I've heard superintendent Dr. Ed Eiler give a talk about how schools are measured and what students bring into the school; already, by age 5, children bring in habits and background from their home life that affects their school performance. Given the transient circumstances in which many of these students live, their income level, and the general lifestyle to which they are exposed, it's no wonder many of them find success in school to be a challenge.

I should note here that while it's easy to blame parents, the socio-econcomic status of these students makes the entire equation very complex. These are not all parents who do not care about their children, but often parents who are too overworked or underwhelmed or simply ignorant of what their role as a parent should be. If proper parenting has not been modeled, how do these adults know how to do what is best for their children? If no one read to them as children, how do they know that's what they should be doing for their children?

Bottom line? The No. 1 factor in a child's success in school is involvement of the parents. Which is why home-schooled children typically do well - they have the undivided attention of an adult who is completely vested in their success.

In short, the problem here is not the staff at Miller School. The problem is with this law, the fact that legislators, and not educators, have taken it upon themselves to come up with the matrix by which we determine a student's success. It's a categorical flaw in our social stratification, in which the divide between the haves and the have-nots continues to widen.

I don't claim to have all the answers. But one thing I do know? Closing Miller School will not change a thing.

And what's so wrong with the Midwest?

I'm from the Midwest.

This isn't something I say with braggadocio in my voice, nor something I confess with shame. It's a mere fact.

I was born in Nebraska, grew up and went to university in Missouri. As an adult I've lived in Illinois and Indiana.

For the record, I have been out of the Midwest. I've lived in Texas, and I've even lived out of the country, in England in Germany. I have traveled - a lot - and have visited 35 of the 50 states.

And when you get right down to it, life here in the middle United States is not all that different than life anywhere else. People have careers and families, friends and houses, hobbies and vacations. People here are educated, or not; they are cultured, or not. And they are nice. Or not so much.

Which is why I get irked when I get the impression other Americans are looking down their down nose at we Midwesterners. Or when I read a piece like this one from Chris Erskine with the Los Angeles Times.

(It was at a wedding reception in Chicago. As if somehow the mere fact that your drivers license says "Chicago" - or one of the surrounding suburbs - makes you superior in some way. Dropping into the conversation that we had just moved back from a two-year stint in Europe earned us some points. But is that really necessary in order to garner some modicum of respect?)

Erskine's piece details his trip to West Lafayette for his daughter to check out the Purdue campus. It was probably intended to be tongue-in-cheek as he made little observations about the town, the campus, the wholesome, friendly, farm-grown folks he encountered on his sojourn through the farmland. His less-sophisticated counterparts.

He meant to be funny. To entertain. But you know? I can do without those on the coast, the elitists from New York and California, who seem to feel a need to poke fun at people who live in those "big, square states" or the "flyover states."

I mean, really. Cracks about a waitress and her "corn-fed" smile, or about the lack of designer jeans on campus - what is that about? Does he really for one minute think that everyone here works in agriculture? Or that no one here can afford designer jeans?

Maybe there were brands his little darling had never seen before. Ever think of that?

I could also do without the comment about "prairie princesses" in Ohio. Is all of Ohio a giant prairie? How did he know those girls were even from Ohio?

It doesn't do much good to be too thin-skinned and get all worked every time someone ignorantly bunches all residents of a single state into one category. Nor does it serve any purpose to be the one doing the lumping.

I'll just need to remember to note the diversity I see around me - people from various ethnic groups, from differing backgrounds and income levels.

And be glad I have the sense to know that not all writers from Los Angeles are superficial.