DREAM Act is a nightmare waiting to happen
Re: “Reid’s illegal immigrant student bailout,” Sept. 17
Leave it to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and his cohorts to politicize a Defense Department budget bill by linking it to his backdoor, de facto amnesty DREAM Act.
At a time when support for illegal aliens cannot be found beyond the borders of Capitol Hill (save for such far-left sanctuary cities as San Francisco; El Paso, Texas; and Alexandria), Senate Democrats are pushing this nightmare on the American people in an attempt to curry favor with Hispanic voters. The DREAM Act plows through the wickets, creating a clear path for illegal aliens to garner citizenship as a reward for their criminal behavior.
This is wrong on so many levels, including taking seats in college classrooms away from deserving, legal students. Attaching it to a defense bill so Democrats can claim Republicans don’t support the troops when they vote against the bill is dangerous. The Democratic majority is playing politics with national security.
Sanford D. Horn
Alexandria
Dumbing down has been going on for a century
Re: “Higher education bubble poised to burst,” Sept. 3
Michael Barone’s analysis of America’s higher education problem is on the mark, particularly in exposing the academic elite and bloated college administrations. However, the core of the problem is more sinister: dumbing-down students, socialist indoctrination and creating armies of young social justice activists.
Higher education did not simply abandon a coherent, content-rich general education curriculum. This was intentional. It has been planned and slowly carried out for a century. Students who manage to graduate from high school without being functionally illiterate and go on to college are the meat and potatoes for academia to dupe and consume.
Certainly, the education crisis is far more dangerous to our free society than the current economic crisis. If not corrected and overcome, it will eventually enslave us with the tyranny of government.
Daniel B. Jeffs
Apple Valley, Calif.
Ground zero mosque backers should back down
The president has stated that everyone must have the right to practice his or her own religion as he or she wishes. This is both the law of the land and the American way.
However, the idea of building a mosque at ground zero is carrying things too far, and indeed, going off the deep end. That is hallowed ground. It does not belong to any religion, but rather to the victims of the 9/11 disaster, which number even more that those killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Expecting to build a mosque at ground zero would be like expecting my fundamentalist Baptist congregation from wanting to build a church in Arlington National Cemetery. So let’s be sensible and keep all of our expectations within proper bounds.
Judson M. Brandes
Baltimore
Correction
The Sept. 17 “Newsmakers” incorrectly stated that Meg Whitman was the Republican Senate nominee in California. Ms. Whitman is running for governor.
