Burnet Bulletin
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
The San Bernadino,
Calif. high school district
is now discussing the
implementation of
Ebonics - the street lan-
guage of young African
Americans - to be taught
as if it were a foreign lan-
guage.
This is sheer idiocy, and
anybody who would even
consider such an outra-
geous idea has certainly
never been to Africa. This
Ebonics nonsense will do
nothing but hold back
black youngsters, keeping
: them behind such immi-
grants as the Vietnamese,
, who are struggling to
make their way in a
nation whose language
they know they must
learn to get ahead.
the chil-
dren don't
go to the
govern-
ment
schools
they are
obliged to
go to pri-
v a t e
schools,
and their
tuition
must be
paid by
Michael
Reagan
their parents. As a result
of this, Kenyans have lift-
ed their literacy rate to
almost 79 percent because
they understand that edu-
cation is the most impor-
tant means to lift them
and their land out of well.
poverty and into a pros- When I visited a Masai
pedophiles out there
would kidnap and rape
them. School children in
Kenya are safer than our
kids here in the United
States because they don't
put up with pedophiles
over there.
The children are more
polite, they understand
the importance of educa-
tion and the importance of
learning the English lang-
uage for business purpos:
es in the future.
Moreover, every child is
multilingual. They speak
Swahili, their native lan-
guage, they speak their
tribal language, and they
speak English and some-
times a foreign tongue as
When I read this perous future, village in a remote area I
Ebonics story I recalled The two things that learned that these pas-
driving around in Nairobi, most amazed me during toral people who raise
Kenya, just a week or so my African safari were cows have a keen under-
ago. first, seeing the many standing of the impor-
I saw a billboard adver- children walking to school tance of education, so
tisement for Sony that in the uniforms all stu- much so that in their tiny
read "Da Man and da dents must wear, and thatvillages where the build-
Music." I asked a young all the way up through ings are all made from cow
Kenyan what he thought high school they would dung they are happy
of that condescending ad
and he said, "Oh, we
speak the King's English
here. We never speak that
way."
As I traveled around
Kenya I learned that in
Kenya English is the offi-
cial language, and certain-
ly not Ebonics - a gutter
language Kenyans never
heard of.
Education is mandatory
for all children and is paid
for by the government. If
have to walk two or three
miles to get to their class-
rooms carrying back packs
and books, all with big
smiles on their faces.
Second, if you stop to
give them a little gift such
as a pen, they come up to
you and smile and say
"thank you."
That would not happen
in this country. To begin
with you'd be afraid to let
them walk to school for
fear that all those
about it because Jesse
Jackson isn't there to tell
them they shouldn't live
in houses made of cow
dung - they all have one-
room schoolhouses.
They have built them
just outside their villages
and the kids go to school
every day. I visited one of
these schools where the
students were between
four and eight, and was
amazed to see that just as
in my school days they
had the ABCs posted on
the wall along with a 1-to-
100 chart. Every one of
those children could count
to 100, they knew the
English alphabet, and
they were learning
English and arithmetic. I
could not help but think
that there is not a single
public school in America
where children that age
would know the English
alphabet or count to 100.
Why would San
ca~lecartoons.com ~1
Bernardino consider doing
such a great disservice to
the black community? It is
sure to hurt their black
students by not teaching
them how to speak the
proper English they need
to get by.
It's interesting that if
real Africans get it, why
can't African Americans
get it?
I think the answer is
that the American educrat
establishment doesn't
want them to.
Mike Reagan, the eldest
son of the late President
Ronald Reagan, is heard
on more than 200 talk
radio stations nationally
as part of the Radio
America Network. Look for
Mike's new book "Twice
Adopted". Order auto-
graphed books at
www.reagan.com. Email
Comments to
mereagan@hotmail.com.
e
e
nominees
Whenever I have visited rule of law, so the state can- racy to succeed, it must har,courts,with.a great deal of The importance of the expec d,
emerging .democracy, I not easily confiscate private nes the C vo, om eeptsq i id li- powe vh ome' peeple courts explains why we must ceml l rthor
ave no me conms ency on proimr y, ims was extremely vidual rights and majovit beli B has been abused, take the rel l'acement of re pe 'for ' .:rule of
two points: first, everybody
easily understands the need
for democratic voting and
free speech; second, they
have a much harder time
understanding the rule of
law, which is just as essen-
tial for a democracy to func-
tion.
I once met with members
of the Russian Duma and
emphasized how eager
Americans were for Russia's
fledgling democracy to suc-
ceed. One member replied,
"No you don't. Americans are
not investing here."
I replied that for American
companies to invest, there
has to be an independent
judiciary and respect for the
difficult
for the
Russian
parlia-
mentari-
ans to
under-
stand.
W e
have
grown up Senator
in the
United Kay Bailey
States in Hutchison
a society
of laws, not of men. We take
that concept for granted. In
most emerging democracies,
the rule of law is an alien
idea, almost incomprehensi-
ble. But if you want democ-
rule - and it can do this only
through respect for the rule
of law.
The rule of law involves
four basic requirements:
Equality under the law; a
respect for individual rights;
an independent and honest
judiciary; and transparent
court proceedings.
This concept was built
into our Constitution which
established the judiciary as a
co-equal branch with the leg-
islative and the executive.
Because of this, the Supreme
Court can strike down laws
through "judicial review" if it
decides the law violates our
supreme law, the
Constitution.
Judicial review provides
Some believe the courts have
taken judicial review so far
that some judges are legis-
lating from the bench rather
than interpreting and imple-
menting the laws passed by
elected representatives. If
the public begins to view the
courts simply as a different
avenue for partisan political
contests, instead of a fair
arbitrator of legal questions,
their faith in the impartial
rule of law will erode.
This would be an
unhealthy development.
Many times in our history,
court rulings have been
unpopular, but the general
respect accorded to the law
allowed the public to accept
its decisions.
retiring Justice Sandra Day
O'Connor very seriously. The
Senate has a responsibility
to examine the president's
nominees closely to deter-
mine whether they are qual-
iiied by experience, knowl-
edge and temperament to sit
on the high court.
The Constitution says
Congress should ascertain
whether the nominee is
qualified and fair, not fight
to make sure he or she has a
certain set of approved views
on a laundry list of hot-but-
ten political issues. If this
process is perceived by peo-
ple as a partisan contest, it
will only serve to diminish
the respect the people have
for the justice the court is
which buttresses our govern-
ment and legal system.
This concept is so impor-
tant to the stable functioning
of representative govern-
ment that I joined with the
Southern Methodist
University Dedman School
of Law to establish a Rule of
Law program to bring jurists
and officials from developing
countries to the United
States. The hope of all who
participate in this program
is that our foreign guests will
build their understanding of
the rule of law, and help this
vital principle take root in
their countries and foster the
growth of strong and stable
democracies around the
world.
e
Staff Reporter
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Contributing Writers
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Composition
Editor
General Manager
Mark Atwood
Wayne and Monica Craig
Marcie Masterson, Dee Cowan
Lonnie Brown
Cindy Hepner, Tim Malant,
Barbara McBride
Chris Crews
StanWoody
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Letters From
North America
by Peary Perry
' That a revolting devel-
opment this is" was a line
from an old time television
program back in the sixties.
I suggest to you that it sums
up the current state of
affairs for today. Last week
the great state of Texas
increased their annual vehi-
cle inspection fee from
$12.50 per vehicle to $28.50,
an increase of $16.00.
Now, I think you'll be sur-
prised to learn where a good
deal of this money is going
to go. New roads? Nope.
More highway patrol-
men? Nope. We now have a
program that will pay up to
$600 for repairs to your car
if you can't pay for them
yourself.
We also now have a pro-
gram that will buy you a
replacement vehicle in the
event yours isn't worth fix-
ing. How many of these do
you think will have to be
replaced?
Is this a car dealers
dream or what? My heart
leaps at the thought of this
fine gesture. Now, can you
imagine what we're going to
see around the state?
How many vehicles that
don't need repairs are going
to get repaired now that the
great state of Texas has
agreed to pay to fix them so
they meet inspections?
Kind of like going to the doc-
tor or hospital and saying
your insurance is only good
for 28 days or $100,000.
What do you think your
bill is going to be and what
is the maximum number of
days you'll be in the hospi-
tal?
If you guessed $100,000
and 28 days, you're good. I
walk into a drug store over
the weekend and find that
most of the over the counter
sinus medicines are now
under lock and key since the
bad guys started them to
convert the ingredients into
something called crystal
methamphetamine.
Seems this is the new
drug of the day. The news-
papers this past week are
all about this current epi-
demic and how we need to
build more rehab units to
handle these poor hopeless
addicts.
Our hospitals, rehab cen-
ters and prisons are over-
crowded now with our citi-
zens who have given up on
being a positive contribution
to our society and are now
relaxing in the luxury of the
generosity of the taxpayers.
The social programs we
have instituted to provide
for those who could care less
about themselves much less
the rest of us who are foot-
ing the bill are threatening
to bankrupt us. Talk to a
teacher in this state or any
other state and they'll tell
you they are struggling to
keep up and make it on
what they are paid.
Here we have the basic
foundation of our society
who are being paid less than
it costs to house and feed
one person a year in our
prisons.
We could send all of our
prisoners to Harvard for a
higher education on what it
costs to lock them up.
The reality is that we
have a 50% or higher illiter-
acy rate among the prison-
ers who are released aider
they serve their terms. If
they couldn't read when
they went into prison, how
do we expect them to com-
pete in a global economy
when they get released?
It's a tragedy in my mind
to lock someone up for 25 or
30 years and release them
without teaching them to
read and write. If the
schools failed them the first
time, why not make them
learn before they can be
released?
It seems to me that our
society is built upside
down. Instead of reward-
ing good behavior and
helping those who are
helping themselves, we
are going out of our way to
provide an environment
for those who are self-
destructive and not trying
to be a productive part of
our society. I arrive at
work this morning and
find a notice from my elec-
tric company explaining
how many millions they
give out to those who can't
pay their utility bills.
I bet if I asked for any of
this largesse I'd be turned
down flat. It's ok if you
don't work and want to do
drugs, we'll takecare of
you. It's ok if you want to
abandon your children,
we'll get someone to take
care of them. It's even ok
if you don't want to pay for
your air-conditioning,
we'll pay for it.
Don't worry about try-
ing to get a job or an edu-
cation; you can just exist
on what we hand out to
you a little at a time. We'll
pay your rent and now
we'll pay to get your car
inspected, repaired and a
newer one if you need one.
Meanwhile the rest of
us are out here slugging
away at it each day, pay-
ing taxes, fighting regula-
tions, rising oil prices,
global trade, impossible
medical insurance, corpo-
rate fraud while trying to
keep our heads above
water.
Sometimes I think the
guy in prison has a better
deal. It makes you wonder,
doesn't it? Comments go
to pperry@austin.rr.com
