what?

I was just skimming the headlines and noticed that our legislature cut funds for IB programs in high schools because they are afraid of "promoting the UN agenda." What?

IB program are college prep programs that allow students to get a great education at a public school, which is sadly a rarity in Utah. In my class at Brown, there were three kids from Utah. Two were from my private high school (including myself), the other was from West's IB program.

And beyond the fact that these are excellent programs that help students get into excellent colleges, the idea that these programs promote anti-American ideologies...

Skyline High School IB coordinator Ruth Dallas and Rebecca Odoardi, director of Davis School District gifted programs, said IB is definitely not anti-American.
"I have seen nothing in any of these courses to indicate there would be any anti-American sentiment," Odoardi said. "In fact, quite the opposite is true."

And beyond that, the UN isn't anti-American, nor does it have such an agenda. Member countries might have an anti-American agenda but they don't have any power within the UN. And for that matter, the UN doesn't have any power to begin with.

Bush gives Buttars advice

Sen. Buttars, you should listen to Mr. 19% on this one, we all should:

The era of rampant lynching is a shameful chapter in American history. The noose is not a symbol of prairie justice, but of gross injustice. Displaying one is not a harmless prank. And lynching is not a word to be mentioned in jest. As a civil society, we must understand that noose displays and lynching jokes are deeply offensive. They are wrong. And they have no place in America today.

--President George W. Bush, February 12, 2008
Appearantly, Buttars doesn't know how to quit when he is behind. From SL Tribune Opinion Columnist Rebecca Walsh's column today:

"Lynch mob is a Western term," Buttars said Tuesday night, after he ditched a meeting with the NAACP on his mea culpa tour. "That's not a racial term in my opinion. How do I know what words I'm supposed to use in front of those people?"

Really, why are all these people still defending him when he continues to make matters worse? It is like Trent Lott going on BET, really painful to watch.

the gift that keeps on giving

Sen. Buttars is now pushing back after trying to lay low last week. After his "black baby" comment, he gave the standard non-appology appology (I am sorry that you were offended, you oversensitive liberals) then hid out. Now even though his Republican collegues have asked him to announce he would not seek reelection, Buttars refused. West Jordan's state senator went so far as to compare the calls for his resignation by NCAAP and others to a lynch mob. That's right, a mob that used to severely beat, then hang black men and boys for merely whistling at a white woman or less.

I know Rob is in charge of candidate recruitment and some offices are more high profile, but I would tell him that Buttars' seat should be one of, if not the top target this fall. Every Republican in the legislature can be put on record about what they think of Buttars, every one of Buttars' donors can be asked if they approve of such statement. Sure, African-Americans make up .9% of the state population, and that number is probably less in Buttars' district, but I doubt that those who took offense was limited to Blacks. And really, the comment is just part of a series of actions by Buttars that are offensive and demeaning.

People don't like to be respresented by embarressing politicans, which is why they usually resign or pledge to not run again. Some times, like Rick Santorum, they get kicked to the curb by their constituents hard.

deja vu all over again

We all love to quote Yogi Berra but this one really is odd.

As you have probably heard already, George H.W. Bush officially endorsed John McCain today (the news leaked last week, but they wanted a big "President's Day" story). But the weird part is John McCain is sounding like a combo of both President Bushes. Of course, you know that McCain and Dubya are kindred spirits on the Iraq war, but did you know that John McCain made a "read my lips" pledge? That's right, he said "no new taxes."

And we might have a Clinton running against him. It is like 1992 all over again.