Freedom Plaza in DC

Freedom Plaza in DC

The Smell of Fear

President George Bush: Frank, please consider filling a post I'm creating. It may mean long hours and dangerous nights, surrounded by some of the scummiest elements in our society.
Lt. Frank Drebin: You want me to be in your cabinet?

- The Naked Gun 2 and 1/2

Nostalgia for ex-president George H.W. Bush and his administration has gotten out of hand. I realize his son has been an unmitigated disaster as president himself, but we really have to keep things in perspective. The father only seems better since everything that the son touches manages to fall apart. There's a reason why the voters gave H.W. the boot in '92...

In the winter of 2004, journalist Tom Frank wrote an article in The New Repbulic basically exploding some of the more recent myths about Bush the Elder. I recommend reading it.
http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=express&s=frank122704

Frank makes the case that W is actually a better president than H.W., which I disagree with. I should note, however, that since the article is a couple of years old, some things he mentions ended up being much worse than he thought they would be. His opinion might be different today.

In addition, I think that it is important to raise this issue as people laud not only Bush I, but also James Baker (an overrated political hack) and Brent Scowcroft (an adherent of the "realist" view of foreign policy, who would have no problem seeing thousands die if it doesn't fit in America's national interests...as defined by him).

So I recommend that all those liberals suffering from this nostalgia knock it off and find some real people worth having in the government. Like say the junior senator from Illinois...

Athletics, Employment, OR School

We need a greater focus on academics in this country. Last week I overheard a couple of parents talking. The basic gist of the conversation was that schools are not properly teaching students to balance their time. Those parents believed that it is the school's responsibility to teach students how to balance their schoolwork, sports, academics, and social lives. The discussion then fell to talking about how schools gave too much homework and that their kids were falling behind because they were too tired to do the work when they got home from sports practice or their after-school jobs. Their solution? Give kids less homework or lower the standards expected of them on homework.

In high school, I had a part-time job and was on a sports team (and Captained the team my senior year), not to mention taking all AP/Honors/UConn co-op classes. Not only did I manage to get all of my homework done, I mantained a high GPA. I realize that many students don't have the ability to maintain all of these things, but it is not up to schools to set these priorities.

My parents set down very clear rules: if I didn't maintain the equivilant of a 3.0 in school, I was off the team and I was giving up my job. Period. There was no discussion, no wiggle room.

Here in Montgomery County, MD, as with the district I grew up in, the minimum GPA to play a sport is a 2.0 or you are removed from the team (at least, in theory ... some schools in the county haven't played so nice). You can also receive a work permit if you are a senior, enabling you to leave school early and earn both life experience and money.

But the focus must be on academics. It's bad enough that NCLB is eliminating helpful teaching methods in favor of forcing standardized testing, but it is the parents that need to stand firm and hold higher educational standards.

2006 Election Contest

I will be hosting an Election Night Viewing. For those invited to the viewing there will be a contest to win a $25 gift certificate to Target. Here are the rules:

All predictions for the contest must be received via email (to me) by 11:59pm (EST (Eastern Standard Time) on November 6th, 2006. One submission per person.

US Congress Contest

60% of your score will be determined by the House of Representatives Portion
40% of your score will be determined by the Senate Portion

The formula for your total score will be = ( ((Senate Portion Score) * .6) + ((House Portion Score) * .4) ). Whomever has the highest score wins the gift certificate.

Senate Portion (Currently it is D: 44 R:55 and I: 1)

Democrat: X
Republican: Y
Independent / Other: Z

X + Y + Z = 100 (it must equal 100 or your prediction is automatically disqualified).

Scoring: Thus if the actual (a) is D:50 R:49 I:1 and your prediction (p) was D:51 R:48 I:1 your score would be 98 for the Senate races. The formula is 100 - ( | Dp - Da | + | Rp - Ra | + | Ip - Ia | ) . Please note: The | | symbol is for the absolute value of.

House of Representatives Portion (Currently it is D: 202 R:232 and I: 1)

Democrat: X
Republican: Y
Independent / Other: Z

X + Y + Z = 435 (it must equal 435 or your prediction is automatically disqualified).

Scoring: Thus if the actual (a) is D:215 R:215 I:5 and your prediction (p) was D:210 R:220 I:5 your score would be 97.71 . The formula is 100 - (( | Dp - Da | + | Rp - Ra | + | Ip - Ia | ) / 4.35 ). Please note: The | | symbol is for the absolute value of.

A new addition! It's great to have so many team members with a wide array of viewpoints. As H. Abiff noted, he and I have known each other for several years now. His comprehensive knowledge of history and politics will add a lot to the discussion. Also, his being to the left of myself will make this a lively debate. Stay tuned!

Greetings... H. Conway was nice enough to invite me to post on this blog ...

I, like H. Conway, am a high school history teacher, currently working on his MS in Special Education in a prestigious eastern university (I don't want to give away too much about myself). My politics tend to be leftist, though not quite as radical as they were in college (I'm reminded of the joke: What's the difference between a Liberal and a Conservative? 20 years). I also have Capitol Hill experience, as well as Lobbying experience ...

And the only hint that you'll get as to what my alias means is to say that I am a 3rd Degree Master Mason. :-)

Anyway, I've known H. Conway for several years now, and I look forward to contributing to his blog!

I would also like to welcome to the Heroes' Handbook fold, David, a veteran blogger and authority on the housing market.

He has seen much success with his own two blogs and I am excited to have him join in our political discussion.

I would like to announce the formation of our Heroes' Handbook contributors team.

As some of you may have noticed, we're going by pseudonyms. This is not for the purposes of pretending that we're cool or mysterious (I don't think...), but rather because some of us have the need to remain anonymous either to our students (like myself) or to the political party that he or she represents.

So, without further ado I would like to introduce Whorush (who has yet to post), RUGWdem (who just published his first posts today!) and me, H. Conway.

Feel free to say hi! :)

My first blog post! Wow!

As an active member of a political party organization, I will often be restrained in some of the points and opinions I can give but i will do my best to throw some perspective out there, sometimes simply play "Devil's Advocate," and hopefully enlighted with the experience I have gained in the professional politics field.

My first real post will be coming your way soon. Keep posted.

There is one thing I will consistantly be amazed by. That is the utter simplicity some poeple view politics. The thought process seems to be, "if we only go talk to them, and tell them why they are wrong and we are right, they'll have to come to our side." If only this were true.

Friends of mine have come to me and said, "why don't the Democrats speak up against the way the Republicans are ruining this country!" As much as I never thought I would be saying this, I agree with Nancy Polosi's plan (unmoving forehead, consistenently frightened eyebrowed look and all). The only way Democrats will win this November is to not stand up and argue with everyone about why Bush and his cronies are wrong, but to sit in the front row of the boxing match and and cheer as one Republican beats up another.

The Democrats never offered an alternative to Bush's social security plan and the plan was stopped amongst Republican infighting. The Democrats have never offered a plan for Iraq, and the Republicans are going to lose the House of Representatives this Novemeber over it. The old addage, "give someone enough rope and they'll eventually hang themselves," has never been more true.

To those that say, "the Democrats never put up a fight and now Bush has his suspension of Habeus Corpus, the ability to declare anyone an enemy combatant, and basically the ability to trample all of our civil liberties," I say to you, you can not govern unless you win. Once the Democrats are in power, you can change it back. But the more the Democrats say, the easier it will be for Karl Rove to throw their words back into their faces. The longer the Democrats stay silent, the longer Republicans have no choice but to argue with themselves...and touch children inappropriately. But I digress.

Yelling and screaming about the disturbing laws this rubber-stamp congress has passed along for Bush to sign now, mere weeks before election day, does nothing except weaken our chances of taking back one or both houses of Congress and raise the chances that instead of leading the the 110th Congress, we will spend another 2 years as minority bitchers. Constantly complaining, but having no method or outlet to change anything. Sometimes the best weapon isn't the argument over why someone is wrong and you are right, but to shut the hell up and let your opponents fight amongst themselves.

I just have to ask this question:

What are some opinions on Jimmy Carter? Those of you who already know me know where I stand (he stinks). But I'm always curious what others think. So do tell! And please explain why.

Also, I'm curious how much liberal nostalgia there is for George H.W. Bush. (I don't like him either!)

I promise longer posts on these two ex-presidents shortly. Just thought I'd take a little survey first.

Great news:

I'm giving a US History test on Tuesday!

Bad news:

I'm getting observed on Monday...

It will be during the Review game, which is Jeopardy-style. Last time I got observed (which was last March or April) it actually went well and it was also during a Review game. I decided to take the chance again by having my new supervisor come in for a class like that. Anyway, I think that even my naughty kids will be good for me during the observation. After all, certain ones of them came through for me last year. Well see...

Today was the day of the debate. I tried to set it up similar to the Institute for Political and Legal Education class that many high schools have. Alas, it often breaks down into insults being hurled across the room, but at least it's entertaining... Anyway, I thought my morning class did surprisingly well, but the afternoon class was kind of annoying. The two classes actually take turns being difficult on different days.

Although there was much complaining in both classes about having to take a position with which they did not agree, one girl in the morning class was a good sport and made a solid speech in front of the class. I was so proud :)

I'm thinking of doing a similar set up for a debate on the Spanish-American War in another couple of weeks. If it doesn't go smoothly I might just drop the format. Or maybe I'll just keep it for the first class if they can handle it.

Today in class I had my juniors write an opinion essay. The catch was that I assigned them to take a certain position on an issue...and it was not necessarily one with which they actually agree. For example, we are currently discussing the women's rights movement in the US and, specifically, the right for women to vote. I decided that I would assign all the guys to write in support of women's suffrage and all the girls to write against it. There was some (actually a lot) of complaining about having to defend (or support!) a position with which they did not agree, but that would have happened no matter what the assignment was... Anyway, some of them seemed to understand why I assigned the essay this way. We'll see how they do tomorrow when we have our organized debate in class!

I am reading an interesting book right now called "Lincoln and His Generals." I started it only recently, but it's really good so far. Right now I'm reading about George McClellan and his relationship with Lincoln (which was mostly bad, and sometimes even sarcastic). The book is divided into segments with each one being written by a different historian. The one I'm up to will focus on the early campaigns of the war, and it looks like special attention will be paid to the Peninsula Campaign. This was a particularly disastrous campaign for the Union. General McClellan was trying to find the best route to capture Richmond and so he decided that instead of taking the overland route, he would do an amphibious landing on the Virginia peninsula. He reasoned that this way he would be able to avoid the bulk of the Confederate army (which was between DC and Richmond), and consequently have an easier shot at the Confederate capital. Unfortunately, after some initial success moving up the peninsula he was turned back once Robert E. Lee took over the South's forces.

OK, so this is my first real post (intros don't really count...)

Let's jump right into things. I get the sense that many people are discouraged by the progress (or lack thereof) in the war on terror. I am particularly frustrated because the Bush administration has demonstrated itself to be completely inept with everything it attempts to handle. A change needs to be made now.

Unfortunately, we can't wait until the next election to bring in a new commander-in-chief (be it Dem or GOPer) so we need better people around the president. ASAP. For me what is most discouraging is that it seems that we should be doing so much better. The United States has the ability to win this war, but lacks the leaders necessary to do so.

I am reminded of the Civil War, specifically with regard to the generals of the time. (I would never talk smack about Lincoln...) It was not until Ulysses S. Grant became the main Union general that we were able to win that war. The problem before he took over was that almost none of the other generals appreciated what was necessary to defeat the Confederacy. What amazes me is that one person could make such a difference to really turn the tide of the war and, eventually, finally end it. Right now I am looking for our modern day General Grant... Let me know if you have any suggestions who that one person might be who could change things and help us win.

It is clear now as during the Civil War that our troops are totally capable. We just need to give them the right leadership to do the job.

Welcome to my blog! This site will be primarily devoted to politics, government, philosophy and history. I will give my take on world events and then try to put them in some historical perspective. But in a fun way :) I have created this blog with the purpose of raising many issues thatI feel are not discussed as much as necessary, but I also hope that it can serve as a means to help organize political action in a positive way.

I will be posting under the pseudonym "H. Conway"...if you know what this literary reference is or why you think I picked it please let me know! I'm always curious what people's interpretations are. But anyway, I welcome a wide range of comments on this blog. Please, however, keep them relatively friendly even if you disagree with either myself or another commenter.

By the way, if anyone wants to discuss movies, too, I am open to that!

OK, so that's the deal with "Heroes' Handbook"! I look forward to hearing from everyone and I hope you enjoy the weblog!