Moderates in Kansas Decide They’re Not in GOP Anymore – washingtonpost.com

WICHITA — Paul Morrison, a career prosecutor who specializes in putting killers behind bars, has the bulletproof resume and the rugged looks of a law-and-order Republican, which is what he was until last year. That was when he announced he would run for attorney general — as a Democrat.

He is now running neck-and-neck with Republican Phill Kline, an iconic social conservative who made headlines by seeking the names of abortion-clinic patients and vowing to defend science-teaching standards that challenge Darwinian evolution. What’s more, Morrison is raising money faster than Kline and pulling more cash from Republicans than Democrats.

I am sure some Democrats are heralding this as a victory for their party. A move toward moderation is something the Republicans (and Democrats) have been needing for some time – but both have to be asking themselves: At what point have we moved so far to the middle that we’ve lost what we want to stand for?

Joe Lieberman found out how far to the middle you have to move before his party took a hard stand against him.

To me, it seems like we’re ready for – and in need of – a better third (or even fourth) political party.

Or if not a third political party – then maybe a critical mass of off party candidates (Green, Liberatarian, Independents, etc.) that are running at local and state levels who will challenge the traditional notions and corruption of the Two-Party political system.

It is something to hope for in our lifetime.

On a related note – check out the Free State Project in New Hampshire.

George F. Will – Democrats Vs. Wal-Mart – washingtonpost.com

The argument he makes could be extended and be made about the differences between progressive liberalism and market driven capitalism as well.

You must talk about it wholesale.

Destroy everything and start all over.

Go in with zero pre-conceived ideas. Have only a list of results in mind for what a great K-12 education system should accomplish.

Do you even need grades (e.g. K-12)?

Do you even need grades as in A through F?

How big should a class be?

Who should teach? or lead? or mentor? or simply point the way to the books and other resources?

What should their training be?

Only by asking these questions can you talk about school reform.

Otherwise, all other discussions (class-size, periods per day, curriculum, teacher qualifications/pay and even school design) are just an exercise in futility.

An article yesterday in the Washington Post makes this same argument:

We Can Pay Teachers More

The federal government orders an immediate evacuation of the city.

Those that can leave, do.

Those that can’t – or choose not to because it is their home – stay behind.

Lawlessness breaks out, and the federal government declares it off-limits.

The military cordons off the area forbidding anyone from entering or leaving.

It is of course fictional.

But watching the news accounts of what is happening along the gulf coast and in New Orleans itself – it is hard to avoid the similarities.

From The Washington Post Chris Lawrence of CNN reported on the fire from a rooftop on a police station, where he said officers were “barricaded” because of people “shooting at the station.

“It’s very hard to tell [what's happening],” he said. “The Fire Department can’t get near the building without a police escort.”

The New Orleans airport, meanwhile, was being converted into a major military staging point for the arrival of supplies and troops.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the city and everyone left behind.

An 85-year-old grandmother who bought the Grand Theft Auto-San Andreas video game (which was rated M for over-17-year-olds) for her 14-year-old grandson has sued the game’s manufacturer for “false, misleading and deceptive practices”, asking unspecified damages on behalf of herself and all consumers nationwide. The game was recently re-rated A-O (Adults Only) after hidden areas of the game were discovered to have (and we have to be careful here because the email blockers get us every time) “revealing” scenes. Next up: video games, music CDs and DVDs with little chips that announce what they’re rated in case you can’t see the big M on the package.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.