Robert Watson, Ph.D. Lynn University

February 21, 2010

Robert Watson, Ph.D.
Lynn University
3601 North Military Trail
Boca Raton, Florida 33431

RE: Another broken Lent resolution – Some relfections on your musings today in the Sun-Sentinel

My dear Professor,

Not even one week past Ash Wednesday and I am yet again a victim of concupiscence. I suppose I could say that life’s circumstances have zeroed in on me again but I believe that most wounds are self inflicted.

I promised myself to stay away from my favorite vertical pleasure - the poleaxing of modern American Liberals – until noon on Easter Sunday. The nuns who taught me to avoid the near occasions of sin would be disappointed if they had seen me reading your column today. Now I’ll have to go back to my hairshirt.

Meanwhile…

#1 – “And parents of children in failing schools are railing against Federal efforts to improve science education.”

“Federal efforts” always means more money. Either through taxes or borrowing from the Chinese “Federal efforts” always, always, always means more money.

With 1957, the year the Russkies launched Sputnik, the year when everyone decided that it was time to learn Calculus and Inorganic Chemistry, as the base line budgeting year, can you indentify any year where money spent on “improving science education” has gone down? Please be specific.

Perhaps the relationship between money spent on education and measurable education results should be examined. Nowhere in this country is there a higher expenditure per student than in Washington, D.C. The modern American Liberal mantra of more money per student equals better educated students does not explain the absence of the Obama daughters from some of the really fine schools in the district. Maybe you can. Get back to me on that also.

#2 – You say that the states benefitting most from Federal tax dollars are “leading the revolt against reason”. Why do those “states in the North and West [who] always contribute the most to the tax base without getting nearly as much in the way of government services and programs” permit this? If they are so God Damn smart why do they let those red neck, gun toting, snake handling Yahoo goobers beat them like a rented mule when the dinner bell sounds?

#3 – You speak of “many unemployed Americans [who] are furious with the efforts of by the president to spend money on employment-generating [and sorely needed] public infrastructure projects”. We have just celebrated the first anniversary of the Stimulus program. What happened to all those “shovel ready’ projects that were going to be funded by Ash Wednesday of 2009? Weren’t they the ones that were going to be finished by Easter of 2009? Didn’t the calorically challenged administration spokeschick tell us last year that unemployment would level off 8%? What happened there?

I suggest your sentence should have said “People are furious with government”. That’s as good an explanation of what happened in the Senate election in Massachusetts as any as I have heard. Plus, the changing of the state law concerning special elections is but one more example of modern American Liberals getting hoisted on their own petards.

Do you have a cat o’nine tail I can borrow?