Barack Obama likes The Wire, which is, IMNSHO, the best show on television.
His favorite character? Omar.
One of Omar’s best lines: “You come at the king, you best not miss.”
… if research says they work, then yes:
“I will not allow my predispositions to stand in the way of making sure that our kids can learn,” Mr. Obama, who has previously said he opposes vouchers, said in a meeting with the editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “We’re losing several generations of kids, and something has to be done.”
In the past, Obama has opposed vouchers and still considers himself a skeptic on their effectiveness.
Not that it should matter, since nowhere in the Constitution is there any mention of education or federal authority therein.
“I know that money corrupts….I would rather have a clean government than one where, quote, First Amendment rights are being respected, that has become corrupt. If I had my choice, I’d rather have the clean government.” - John McCain
Let’s not forget what Aaron predicted (just last month) about tomorrow’s Nevada caucuses.
David Boaz has it:
Sen. John McCain boasts about the breadth of his support: “We’re depending on Republicans, Democrats, independents, Libertarians, vegetarians, Trotskyites,” he said in Michigan.
Alas, the 71-year-old senator is not up on the latest lingo. The Trotskyites prefer to be called neoconservatives now.
Reason Magazine’s Julian Sanchez and David Weigel have the scoop. It’s not pretty.
The revelations made in The New Republic today are extremely troubling for any fan of human liberty.That Ron Paul allowed those statements to be made under his name is, at the very least, an abysmal statement about his ability to manage his own public identity. At worst, it could show a true side of the man I never imagined possible.I am fairly certain that these statements - whether they were truly endorsed by Ron Paul or not - will kill his campaign. His response thus far has been less than encouraging.Reason’s Matt Welch has an excellent rundown of reaction thus far.
So Obama used drugs. Stanton Peele makes a good case on behalf of “So what?”
According to the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future Survey, in 2007 about half of high school seniors had used an illegal drug. More than seven of 10 seniors had consumed alcohol, and 55% had been drunk. In fact, 44% drank alcohol in the past month. These figures rise and fall over the years: In 1980, the spring of Mr. Obama’s 18th year, two-thirds of seniors had used an illicit drug and more than 70% had consumed alcohol in the past month.
There has been massive drug and underage alcohol use by Americans over the years–more than 110 million Americans, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, have used illicit drugs. Yet the overwhelming majority of them–like Messrs. Bush, Clinton and Obama–have grown up to be productive citizens. Some believe there’s no need to know about their youthful misconduct.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney takes this one step further. “It’s just not a good idea,” he said, “for people running for president of the United States, who potentially could be the role model for a lot of people, to talk about their personal failings while they were kids, because it opens the doorway to other kids thinking, ‘Well I can do that too.’”
Well, this is not the whole story. Neural research indicates that adolescent brains program kids to try risky behaviors. It is unlikely we will soon prevent large numbers of teens from drinking and using drugs. Yet, subtracting the approximately 20 million current drug users from the 110 million plus people who once used, almost 100 million Americans have left drugs behind. Perhaps it can be good for young people to learn that as they mature they can, and will, straighten out and fly right?
