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 he
political obstacles to school choice are not to be underestimated,
and we’ve given them attention. But the obstacles can be overestimated
too. They will be overestimated by anyone who takes seriously a
new poll from Phi Delta Kappa. The poll’s major finding: People
like the existing public-school system just fine, thank you, and
would rather reform it (72 percent) than seek alternatives to it
by (24 percent).
The poll question
doesn’t let school-choice supporters give the answer that most of
them would be happiest giving: that creating alternatives to the
public schools is a way of improving them. Support for choice would
rise substantially if choice were presented as a prerequisite for
public-school reform, or at least as a component of it, rather than
as an alternative to it. And even PDK’s poll finds that 52 percent
of public-school parents favor “allow[ing] parents to send their
school-age children to any public, private, or church-related school
they choose,” with the government paying for all or part of the
tuition in the latter two cases.
Panning
Pot
The conservative columnist Don Feder has figured out why National
Review opposes the war on marijuana. It’s not the traditional
libertarian fear of federal power. It’s not the traditional conservative
skepticism about utopian projects, not concern about the unintended
consequences of seemingly benign policies, not the belief that the
state tries to do too many things that are better handled by families
and communities. It’s because NR’s editors want to “look
cool.”
He
writes, “Why are some conservatives, like the National Review
crowd, taking the magical mystery tour? Beating the drums for legalization
makes them look cool-or so they think. It’s a way of gaining acceptance
in a culture whose institutions are controlled by the ’60s generation.
In its first issue, the editors of National Review said they
intended to stand athwart the course of history, shouting, ‘Halt.’
Now, they’re standing there with a joint in one hand, a copy of
High Times in the other and a Beavis and Butt-head grin, asking,
‘Heh, heh, what’s happenin’, man?’”
Some critics
demand detailed refutation. Some demand witty put-downs. And sometimes,
the only thing to say is: What an idiot.
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