After casting her ballot for Barack Obama, Amanda Jones said simply, "I feel good about voting for him." Ms. Jones, of Cedar Creek, Texas (a town just south of Austin), is African-American, and what gives her vote some historic punch is that she's 109 years old. Her father was a slave. Her mother was born right after Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. She's been through it all--Jim Crow segregation, women's suffrage, the Great Depression, the poll tax, FDR, the civil-rights movement, desegregation, 13 years of George W (five as guv, eight as prez), and now: Barack Obama. This last change fills her with joy, she says.
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Invasion of the gooberheads
Time to present another Gooberhead Award for people in the news who’ve got their tongues running 100 miles per hour but forgot to put their brains in gear.
This month’s Goober is Rep. David Vitter. This Louisiana Republican sponsored a sneaky amendment to George W.’s education-reform law, dubbed the “No Child Left Behind Act.” It got practically no media coverage when it was added to the 670-page bill, but since it affects every America high-school kid, you might want to know about it.
It seems that a small percentage of U.S. high schools don’t allow military recruiters on campus. Despite this local prerogative, the military still exceeds its annual recruiting goals, so there’s no national issue at stake.
But Rep. Vitter got his tights all twisted, saying that these schools are showing an “offensive” “anti-military attitude.” So Vitter has imperiously decided to overrule local officials and require that all schools not only allow recruiters in their buildings, but also hand over the private contact numbers and addresses for every student.
The Pentagon already is using Vitter’s amendment to demand student contact info—usually without informing students or their families. Recruiters say they’ll pursue students at home, even if the parents object.
To fight such Big Brother invasions, call the Center for Democracy and Technology: 202-637-9800.