www.dailycorinthian.com
Opinion
Reece Terry, publisher
Mark Boehler, editor
4 • Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Corinth, Miss.
Obama would rather run against Newt than Mitt BY DICK MORRIS AND EILEEN MCGANN Does President Barack Obama get a vote in the Republican primary? Apparently, he wants one. His campaign organization has targeted Mitt Romney for negative ads, a sure sign that he would rather run against Newt Gingrich than against Mitt. Obama may not be right. His political judgment is, after all, flawed. But he likely sees the race in ideological terms — as he sees the world — and would rather run against a strong conservative like Newt than someone with moderate credentials like Romney. How do we know? Obama is now running ads, through the Democratic Party, in Virginia, North Carolina, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin attacking Romney for changing his position on abortion. The ad begins with an announcer saying, in ominous tones, that he is about to describe the drama of “two men inhabiting one body.” But he’s not talking about multiple personality disorder. He’s attacking Romney for once having been pro-choice and now being pro-life. Apparently, Obama does not understand that Mitt — like Reagan, Nixon and Bush 41 before him — has abandoned his pro-choice position as he came to know more about the issue. But where are the ads attacking Newt? There aren’t any. It is unprecedented for a Democratic candidate to take sides in a Republican presidential primary. But Obama is doing it. He’s scared to death of Romney. All of the things that make his nomination more problematic among conservatives strengthen his credentials to defeat Obama in November. His former pro-choice posture, his embrace of gay civil unions (but not marriage), and his sponsorship of Romneycare in Massachusetts — despite its obvious differences from Obama’s program — make him more acceptable to independents. So Obama is determined to vote in the Republican Primary for Newt. Bill Clinton, doubtless following the same instincts, says positive things about Newt. The Democrats want to defeat Romney. But they may be wrong. Newt is the better debater and would doubtless destroy Obama in a face-to-face confrontation. And Newt’s creative thinking and original ideas might well appeal to an electorate used to sound bites that mean nothing and lead nowhere. (Dick Morris, former advisor to the Clinton administration, is a commentator and author of “Rewriting History.” He is also a columnist for the New York Post and The Hill. His wife, Eileen McGann is an attorney and consultant.)
Letters Policy The Opinion page should be a voice of the people and reflect views from a broad range in the community. Citizens can express their opinion in letters to the editor. Only a few simple rules need to be followed. Letters should be of public interest and not of the ‘thank you’ type. Please include your full signature, home address and telephone number on the letter for verification. All letters are subject to editing before publication, especially those beyond 300 words in length. Send to: Letters to the editor, Daily Corinthian, P.O. Box 1800, Corinth, Miss. 38835. Letters may also be e-mailed to: letters@daily corinthian.com. Email is the preferred method. Personal, guest and commentary columns on the Opinion page are the views of the writer. “Other views” are editorials reprinted from other newspapers. None of these reflect the views of this newspaper.
Worth Quoting Cooperation is doing with a smile what you have to do anyway. — Anonymous
Prayer for today Dear Lord, thank you for your wonderful love. In times of persecution, help us to trust you for strength and courage. Amen.
A verse to share And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took unto him his wife and knew her not till she had brought forth a son: and he called his name Jesus. — Matthew 1:24-25
Reece Terry publisher rterry@dailycorinthian.com
Exec pushes to transform education JACKSON (AP) — It’s been said so often that it’s cliché: Mississippi needs to invest in public education to improve its economic future. The warm-and-fuzzy sentiment gets polite applause from politicians, even from those who consistently vote to shortchange the state’s school funding formula and from those who are unwilling to challenge the status quo by pushing for stronger school administrators or innovative teaching methods. Still, when one of Mississippi’s most successful business executives speaks out for stronger education system, and invests millions of his own dollars to help create the change he’s seeking, that grabs people’s attention. Former Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale is helping the state chamber of commerce, the Mississippi Economic Council, promote ideas in Blueprint Mississippi, an outline of proposals to improve the state. MEC will present Blueprint to legislators in January, offering it as a ready-made policy package. Blueprint calls for creating
an early childhood education system; setting more rigorous standards for admission Emily Wagster to and graduPettus ation from university Under the Capitol Dome programs that train teachers; setting a system of merit pay for teachers; bringing in more educators from Teach for America, which sends graduates of top universities to teach in some of the neediest parts of the U.S.; and eliminating the election of local school superintendents by 2015. Barksdale has long advocated improving education by boosting literacy. In 2000, he donated $100 million to create the Barksdale Reading Institute, a group that has provided books and teacher training for some of Mississippi’s neediest schools. “If a child can’t read, it doesn’t much matter what else you’re trying to teach them. They can’t learn science, they can’t learn history, they can’t learn math,” Barksdale said in November at the MEC’s Hobnob, a ca-
sual gathering of business and political leaders. The Barksdale Reading Institute is now investing in leadership programs for principals. “One person can go into a failing school, a principal that’s really a transformative go-getter, and can make a huge difference,” Barksdale said. He rejects the notion that some children can’t learn because of their background. “Let’s go find out why one school district does better than another when they’ve got the same demographics. Demographics is a code word for ‘black or white,”’ Barksdale said, adding that the phrase “free and reduced lunch” is “a code word for ‘poor.”’ He said some people expect poor districts to have lower academic performance than more affluent ones. “But then you say, ‘Wait a minute. Let me show you another district. It’s got the same percentage of children in poverty, or the same percentage of African-American children. And this district does well and that one doesn’t -- and by the way, this one doing poorly might spend more
money per child.”’ Barksdale said. “How’d that happen? “You see, that one factor refutes all these arguments about that ‘poor, black children can’t learn,”’ Barksdale told the mostly white MEC audience. “Of course they can. Any child can learn. And the sooner we face up to that, the sooner we’ll get on with our business.” Barksdale is calling on lawmakers to put $12 million into Teach for America, saying it has helped energize schools. He said the $12 million needs to be on top of the money going into the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, a complex funding formula adopted in the late 1990s. MAEP is designed to ensure schools receive enough money to meet midlevel academic standards, but the formula has been shortchanged in recent years. “There are a lot of people say, ‘Oh, we throw money at education. We don’t get anything for it.’ You ever heard that?” Barksdale said. “We, by the way, give less than any state in the nation, except for three, per child. So let’s not kid ourselves. We’re not throwing any money at anybody.”
Better to be good at pasta than war If patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels (and it is), then telling other people’s jokes is the last refuge of columnists (who are often mistaken for scoundrels, for some reason). Let me tell you a joke. It’s a terrorist joke that belongs to John Cleese, the British actor and Monty Python comic genius. It’s called “Alerts to Threats in 2011 Europe.” “The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have therefore raised their security level from ‘Miffed’ to ‘Peeved.’ Soon though, security levels may be raised yet again to ‘Irritated’ or even ‘A Bit Cross.’ (The English have not been ‘A Bit Cross’ since the Blitz in 1940, when tea supplies nearly ran out.) “Terrorists have been recategorized from ‘Tiresome’ to ‘A Bloody Nuisance.’ (The last time the British issued a ‘Bloody Nuisance’ warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.) “The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from ‘Run’ to ‘Hide.’ The only two higher levels in France are ‘Collaborate’
Beth Cossitt
Mark Boehler
business manager bcossitt@dailycorinthian.com
editor editor@dailycorinthian.com
Willie Walker
L.W. Hodges
circulation manager circdirector@dailycorinthian.com
press foreman
and ‘Surrender.’ (The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed Donald France’s Kaul white flag factory, efOtherWords fectively paralyzing the country’s military capability.) “Italy has increased the alert level from ‘Shout Loudly and Excitedly’ to ‘Elaborate Military Posturing.’ Two more levels remain: ‘Ineffective Combat Operations’ and ‘Change Sides.’ “The Germans have increased their alert state from ‘Disdainful Arrogance’ to ‘Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs.’ They also have two higher levels: ‘Invade a Neighbor’ and ‘Lose.’ “The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.” I know, I know. It’s humor that relies on national stereotyping and you
shouldn’t do it. It’s like Polish jokes. (Poles, by the way, tell Bulgarian jokes.) But that’s why ethnic jokes are funny, at least to the less sensitive. They allow one to feel superior to other people without having to actually do anything that’s superior. If you make a joke about French cowardice, it makes you look brave. Are the Germans warlike? Sure, to peaceful people like us. All nonsense, of course. The French are no more cowardly (or brave) than anyone else. Their quick surrender to the Germans in 1940 can be attributed to the fact that only 25 years before they’d fed an entire generation of their young men into German machine guns and cannon. They weren’t cowardly, they were exhausted. (And their reluctance to take part in our invasion of Iraq can be written off to good judgment, rather than lack of courage.) Germans, on the other hand, while they earned their reputation as bellicose bullies, have pretty much outgrown it. They are now one of the most peaceful nations in Europe and one of the more cautious about
World Wide Web: www.dailycorinthian.com To Sound Off: E-mail: email: news@dailycorinthian.com news@dailycorinthian.com advertising@dailycorinthian. Circulation 287-6111 com Classified Adv. 287-6147 Classad@dailycorinthian.com
signing up for a fight. The Italian reputation as ineffective warriors has a basis in fact also, I suppose, but their real problem is that they are terrible at picking allies. Do you really want to get enthusiastic about a war when Hitler is the guy running the show? Italians are wonderful people — warm, welcoming, and possessing of a great ability to enjoy life. If that makes them indifferent soldiers, I say more power to them. There are a lot of people in the world who are good at war. Being good at pasta is better. I once made up WhiteAnglo-Saxon-Protestant jokes as a counter-attack against Polish jokes. (I am Polish, kind of.) I’ve forgotten all of them except one: “At a White-Anglo-Saxon-Protestant’s funeral, how do you accommodate all the friends who want to be pallbearers? “You take two handles off the casket.” If there’s anyone I’ve failed to insult, I apologize. (OtherWords columnist Donald Kaul lives in Ann Arbor, Mich. http://otherwords.org)
How to reach us -- extensions:
Newsroom.....................317 Circulation....................301 Advertising...................339 Classifieds....................302 Bookkeeping.................333
Editorials represent the voice of the Daily Corinthian. Editorial columns, letters to the editor and other articles that appear on this page represent the opinions of the writers and the Daily Corinthian may or may not agree.