I don't normally discuss politics here, because I have friends and relatives whose views differ wildly from my own who read this site regularly, and I'd rather alienate them by discussing the size of my frighteningly gargantuan nursing bras than alienate them by pointing out that they are WRONG and TERRIBLY ILL-INFORMED and QUITE POSSIBLY COMATOSE.
But-
This has me gobsmacked. Our illustrious, intellectual, and well-read leader* has decided to eliminate the Reading is Fundamental program in its entirety. I remember getting to take home RIF books as a kid. I LOVED it. It was like Christmas. It's probably one of the reasons that I enjoyed reading to the point that I got a relatively useless but hard-earned college degree in English.
It's the program that let me read Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. RIF was awesome. And now it's getting the axe.
The irony is, Our Fearless Leader's mother and his wife worked for RIF, on boards and advisory counsels. This is the guy that can say with a straight face that he wants to leave no child left behind, but kneecaps a program that, since the 1960s, has been putting good books in the hands of kids who need them at no cost to the kids.
Stupid Jackass.
*I know, I threw up in my mouth just then, too.
Posted by Jen at May 7, 2008 5:07 PM