My Daily Domestic Diigolet 03/13/2008

As a young man, Abraham Lincoln went to war a captain and returned a private. Afterwards, he was a failure as a businessman. As a lawyer in Springfield, he was too impractical and temperamental to be a success. He turned to politics and was defeated in his first try for the legislature, again defeated in his first attempt to be nominated for congress, defeated in his application to be commissioner of the General Land Office, defeated in the senatorial election of 1854, defeated in his efforts for the vice-presidency in 1856, and defeated in the senatorial election of 1858. At about that time, he wrote in a letter to a friend, “I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth.”

Winston Churchill failed sixth grade. He was subsequently defeated in every election for public office until he became Prime Minister at the age of 62. He later wrote, “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never, Never, Never, Never give up.” (his capitals, mind you)

Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything.” He was fired from his first two jobs for being “non-productive.” As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” Edison replied, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”

Albert Einstein did not speak until he was 4-years-old and did not read until he was 7. His parents thought he was “sub-normal,” and one of his teachers described him as “mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in foolish dreams.” He was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School. He did eventually learn to speak and read. Even to do a little

Daniel Boone was once asked by a reporter if he had ever been lost in the wilderness. Boone thought for a moment and replied, “No, but I was once bewildered for about three days.”

An expert said of Vince Lombardi: “He possesses minimal football knowledge and lacks motivation.” Lombardi would later write, “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get back up.”

After Carl Lewis won the gold medal for the long jump in the 1996 Olympic games, he was asked to what he attributed his longevity, having competed for almost 20 years. He said, “Remembering that you have both wins and losses along the way. I don’t take either one too seriously.”

 After Fred Astaire’s first screen test, the memo from the testing director of MGM, dated 1933, read, “Can’t act. Can’t sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.” He kept that memo over the fire place in his Beverly Hills home. Astaire once observed that “when you’re experimenting, you have to try so many things before you choose what you want, that you may go days getting nothing but exhaustion.” And here is the reward for perseverance: “The higher up you go, the more mistakes you are allowed. Right at the top, if you make enough of them, it’s considered to be your style.”

When Pablo Casals reached 95, a young reporter asked him “Mr. Casals, you are 95 and the greatest cellist that ever lived. Why do you still practice six hours a day?” Mr. Casals answered, “Because I think I’m making progress.”

but great minds rise above them.”
~ Washington Irving

GLENN: That great Soviet State of California. They have been blazing the trail for Stalin and Marx for years.

STU: As I would say, comrade, our surge has worked in California.

GLENN: That was perfect. Comrade, great news from the west, west Western front. As some of those hate mongering speech-loving people have pointed out earlier this week, California has decided parents do not have the constitutional right to teach their children at home.

STU: Oh, comrade, it will be a day very, very soon where that whole constitution thing, we don’t have to worry about it anymore.

GLENN: Do you have the — and I want to make it very clear. This is not an English-only program. That would be wrong. Do you have the English version of this song? The Soviet national anthem?

STU: Comrade, I sent it to you over our state-run Internet service last week.

DAN: Yeah, I should have it by a week.

GLENN: Okay, good. Check into that, will you?

So they actually had the audacity to say that you don’t have the constitutional right to teach your own children at home. Comrade.

STU: Yes, comrade.

GLENN: Some would say —

STU: Yes.

GLENN: Some would say that God gives man his rights. God gives man his children and God gives man the right to raise his children as he feels fit and man lends those rights to the state and man can take those rights back because they don’t even belong to him truly; they belong to God.

STU: Well, comrade, people who believe that get shot.

GLENN: Silly, isn’t it?

STU: Here in the Soviet Union.

GLENN: (Laughing). Oh, my goodness. California, what are you doing? Recent decision in California does two things. It removes the parent as the primary decision maker as what’s best for their own children. You love that. Two, it gives the state the sole power to decide what it is able to teach your children. There are 166,000 students in California alone that are homeschooled. Courts have a long history of telling parents what they have to say or how little they have to say in what is taught in the public classroom. Even the liberal ninth circuit court ruled that parents — I’m quoting, parents have a right to inform their children as they wish on the subject of sex. However they have no constitutional right to prevent a public school from providing its students with whatever information it wishes to provide, sexual or otherwise, when and as the school determines it is appropriate to do so.

So not just sex but anything. Anything. The Sixth Circuit held that parents do not have the fundamental right generally to direct how a public school teaches their child.

Isn’t it very telling that the judge doesn’t tell parents that they should send their kids to school to get a better education? Nowhere in here is “Because public school could provide a better education.” Well, why wouldn’t the judge say that? I mean, isn’t that the greatest reason to send them to public school? Because it’s a better education? Yeah. Can’t really say that, can you? No. Because generally speaking, nationally speaking on the national average, homeschool kids do better on tests. Homeschool kids do better in college. Homeschool kids do better at work. Why? Because homeschooled kids haven’t been coddled, haven’t been talked down to, they’ve had rules that actually make sense and apply. They’re enforced! They’ve got to get the job done. They’re held accountable. They’re what I like to call in the real world.