I was recently in a discussion with someone over at the pundit about Obama’s educational program. The title of the article was asinine: “Obama education policy bad news for science.” The blog was based on a bullshit article, which is on website known for its right-wing bullshit.
The discussion started as “his plan is bad” in vague terms and eventually led to how Obama is trying to kill the American Dream and wants us to regress and let our enemies beat us in every contest. More bullshit.

Side note: the person I was discussing this with has my respect, if not for his opinion then for his cool-headed methods of expressing it.  As a rule, people who are able to stick to their opinion without twisting what you’re saying into something you’re not saying are generally easier to have a discussion with.  If he had a blog, I’d link it.

Curious as to what the opposition had to offer, I visited John McCain’s campaign website to see what he had to offer and compare it to Obama’s. I didn’t expect to discover there is no comparison.

It reads like a tri-fold pamphlet, whereas the outline for Obama’s plan is far more comprehensive. I was reading through the page and thought to myself,”does this guy even have a plan?” It tells what McCain believes, but doesn’t say anything about what he intends to do, except in the vaguest of terms.

“Place parents and children at the center of the education process.”

What? What does that even mean?

“As president, John McCain will pursue reforms that address the underlying cultural problems in our education system - a system that still seeks to avoid genuine accountability and responsibility for producing well-educated children.”

Okay, which ones for which ones? And furthermore, this is a grand misunderstanding of the role of a school. It’s not a degree factory. You still have to be a good parent. Schools can’t do it all.

The only thing that this page seems to say is “we want school choice. Yay NCLB.” The rest is padding.

Obama’s, on the other hand… well, see for yourself.

While I don’t agree with cutting funds to NASA and over-meddling in their space program (which is what prompted the pundit article), and have a few reservations about certain areas of the program, overall it’s pretty solid.

Maybe when John McCain figures out how the economy works, separate Sunni from Shiite, and figure out Iran’s actual role in Iraq (hint: it isn’t Al Qaeda), maybe he’ll get around to learning how the educational system works so he can have one of his aides write up something that sounds good.