I think we were all warned that the final week of the Supreme Court term would turn us all into hypocrites, and it certainly delivered on that promise. The conservatives had to like the Voting Rights Act case decision and liberals had to like DOMA, and both sides had something to like and dislike about… Continue reading The Complicated Court
Author: Robert I. Grundfest
I am a teacher, writer, voice-over artist and rationally opinionated observer of American and international society. While my job is to entertain and engage, my purpose is always to start a conversation.
Now Who Are The Activists?
Remember when conservatives across the nation accused liberal justices of being activists? Of making law without interpreting it? Of imposing their political ideology on court cases instead of taking a uniquely 18th century view of the constitution? Good times, no? Welcome to the conservative majority. Today’s ruling in the Voting Rights Act case shows that… Continue reading Now Who Are The Activists?
Hurry Up and Wait: Putting the Brakes on Teacher Evaluation
As if educators, including me, several times, haven’t been clear enough that rushing into an untested teacher evaluation system is a terrible idea, along comes our esteemed Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan to finally get the message: schools need more time to implement, experiment and, yes, evaluate the new system before it becomes operative and… Continue reading Hurry Up and Wait: Putting the Brakes on Teacher Evaluation
The Lesson We Never Learn
After 29 years in the classroom, and with a pretty savvy political sense, if I may be so bold, I consider myself a keen observer of most things educational, but this story about Philadelphia’s schools made me shiver with anger from the first paragraph: Andrew Jackson School too agitated to eat breakfast on Friday, an… Continue reading The Lesson We Never Learn
The High Tech Flower Children Are High
The naivete of the computer geniuses who thought they were extending the ethos of the counterculture by creating an open, honest, democratic society with the Internet is rather stunning. The tech giants were the ones who promoted connectivity, but were never quite as open as they purported when it came to how they were using… Continue reading The High Tech Flower Children Are High
And This Is A Surprise, Why?
Yes, I try to be a good liberal every chance that I can, but honestly, I can’t help but think that this NSA surveillance business is a big yawn. We live in an electronic, connected world. We provide information via phone, cable TV, Internet, e-mail, texts, check boxes (especially after we’ve all thoroughly read the… Continue reading And This Is A Surprise, Why?
Xi Loves You Yeah, Yeah, Yeah
Yes, that would be the number one hit on Radio Beijing this week as Chinese President Xi Jinping visits the United States on Friday to meet with President Obama. Their agenda will not be full of arms control or contentious issues like North Korea, Iran or who owns which teensy islands in the South China… Continue reading Xi Loves You Yeah, Yeah, Yeah
Lose the Young, Lose the Future
It shouldn’t have taken a report like this to uncover what’s wrong with the Republican Party, but now that it’s been released, it would be great if the power brokers on the right will heed its call. The problem is that this is the other major American political party and their dysfunction is having a… Continue reading Lose the Young, Lose the Future
The Party’s Over
The signs of decline are everywhere. No ideas. No strategy except saying no. Extreme candidates. An unbending view of the constitution that allows no other interpretation. An aging, angry, declining electorate. Technology that doesn’t work and that isn’t attracting the best young talent in Silicon Valley. A pollster who was so wrong last November it… Continue reading The Party’s Over
The Smoking Gun Shoots Blanks
There’s something telling about Mitch McConnell saying that the health care act will be the major issue in the 2014 midterm elections. It means that he realizes that the GOP will smoke its triple scandal orgasm cigarette and move on before the year is out. It also means that he operates in the same blindered… Continue reading The Smoking Gun Shoots Blanks
My Commencement Address
Now that it’s graduation season, the press can’t help but write articles like this one that discuss the terrible job market and how recent college graduates don’t feel prepared to enter the workforce. To that I say, welcome to reality. College is not job training; it’s academic training, and any university worth its books will operate… Continue reading My Commencement Address
The Worst Political Era Ever. Except For All The Others
After two weeks of not writing, a function of both intellectual blockage and a terrifically busy work schedule, I find myself confronted with the same news and political reality as existed 14 days ago, only more so. Stories about how dysfunctional our political system is litter the websites, newspapers and social media outlets we visit.… Continue reading The Worst Political Era Ever. Except For All The Others