Warning: Rant Ahead

My entire professional career has been focused on public education, in one way or another. I come from a family where nearly everyone was involved in public education - teachers, administrators, classroom aides, even custodians. So it's fair to say that I believe deeply in our public school system, and sincerely believe that public schools can be - and should be -the foundation of our democratic society.

But every now and then, I get so angry at the public school system that every fiber of my being bristles. Now is one of those times. Because we have reached the point, in the never-ending quest for achievement and accountability, that kids in school can no longer afford to get sick. Son #2 has had a fever, sore throat and a nasty cold for several days now, but because of the homework backlog can no longer afford the luxury of staying home to nurse himself back to health. He's already fallen behind, and another day away from school will just exacerbate the problem.

This is insanity. It's shameful. And everyone in the system with good intentions who has laid a brick in this road to hell - and I don't excuse any small role I may have played - should take a deep, long look in the mirror and ask themselves whether it's really worth it.

Roger Ebert Is An Idiot

Roger Ebert is a great film critic - among the handful of all-time greats.

A great political commentator he is not.

In his column today, Ebert takes on Sarah Palin, which I don't have a problem with. Candidates for national office are fair game.

But then, this:

And how can you be her age and never have gone to Europe?

Um, well...I'm four years older than her, and I've never gone to Europe.

But Ebert doesn't stop there.

You don't need to be a pointy-headed elitist to travel abroad. You need curiosity and a hunger to see the world. What kind of a person (who has the money) arrives at the age of 44 and has only been out of the country once, on an official tour to Iraq? Sarah Palin's travel record is that of a hopeless provincial.

Well, I think the only proper thing to say to that is "Mr. Ebert, with all due respect, would you kindly go f*ck yourself?" Perhaps I am a hopeless provincial, not that Mr. Ebert would know. But apparently his vast store of knowledge does not stop with the world of cinema. No, he also knows what evils lurk in the hearts and minds of all of us, and is qualified to comment on my travel habits, not knowing a single thing about me or my life. Oh dear...is Ebert GOD?

The truly enraging thing about this is that Ebert probably just cost the Democrats votes. Maybe a lot, maybe a handful, maybe just one. But smart as he is, he's apparently not smart enough to see that dreck like today's column is feeding right into the McCain campaign's hands, proving the very thing that he takes pains to disavow. He'll go to his grave denying it, but in fact he is the worst kind of elitist, one who would presume to know better than the rest of us what makes a life worth living.

It's enough to piss off the good humor man.