Civility

William Raspberry, a noted nationally syndicated columnist, died the other day.  Although he stopped writing as frequently a while ago, he will be missed.  I didn't always agree with him, but he had a habit of making me rethink my positions.  He was a writer I respected.  Here is an example of his ideas:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/18/AR2005121800884.html
Rereading this column, it is a reminder to me, one I often forget--as to many others.  I will keep this column handy and hope to learn from it again and again.

So, the ACLU is filing civil rights lawsuits against the school districts in Highland Park and Detroit on behalf of parents of school children there.  More to the point, the lawsuit addresses what the ACLU claims is "a right to read."  Hmmm....  Are we making up yet another right?  There are lots of potential problems with this, but those are for another afternoon.  Already, in the newspaper and in blogs, critics of the lawsuit are asking, "Where were [those] parents?"  Initially, the reaction is to ape that, "Yeah, where were they?"  Some say that their children's inability to read is the parents' fault, for sending the kids to school and then forgetting about them, assuming they are learning to read.    There is probably a lot to this, but, again, that's for another afternoon.  Upon some thought, why wouldn't parents think the schools/teachers are teaching their kids to read?  After all, they have them for 6 or 7 hours a day, five days a week?  After all, the MEA (and other local and national teachers' unions) keep(s) telling us how "great" every teacher is.  Maybe there is something to this lawsuit after all.

Why are so many people shocked that football at Penn State trumped all else?  Is that a surprise?  C'mon....  Certainly not on the same despicable level, but isn't football king all over?  Look at the newspapers.  Does a day pass when there isn't some college football player not dismissed from the team for "violations of team rules," that is, was arrested for a crime?  How many football players are admitted to colleges having no discernable academic skills, certainly none that would suggest the ability to do college work?  I've always wondered why alumni from their precious, so-called "elite academic" universities (like the one in Ann Arbor), aren't outraged at this.  It certainly casts aspersions on their elite schools.  Perhaps someone in a position of authority will take on the football machines and the farces they are making of college education.  But, I won't hold my breath.