Andrew Klavan on the fall of the LSM Empire:

Viva the New American Revolution!

By Andrew Klavan

The week just past was a great one for the New American Revolution -- that guerrilla assault by alternative media minutemen on the amassed redcoats of the Empire of Lies.

Leading the charge was Internet publisher Andrew Breitbart.  Breitbart, of course, exposed lefty New York Congressman Anthony Weiner as a lowlife and liar -- but of equal importance, he re-established himself as the muckraker of integrity he is.  After Breitbart suffered slanderous blackballing from left and right alike for his handling of the Shirley Sherrod affair, it was a genuine thrill to see him vindicated.  Standing before the biased reporters he'd scooped once again, he challenged them, "The media says, 'Breitbart lies, Breitbart lies, Breitbart lies, Breitbart lies.' Give me one example of a provable lie. One -- one!"

Zombie on Why the Kids are not alright.

How a Teachers' Rally Made Me Anti-Education

by Zombie

...

But one belief never changed: Good education is necessary for a healthy society. This isn't even a left/right issue: even conservatives will say that an educated America means an economically robust America means a strong America. And I still believe that.

...

The only way to break the stranglehold that leftists have on public schools is not to get rid of the leftists (which is impossible) but to get rid of the public schools. And how can we get rid of them? By making them so terrible that no parents in their right minds would allow their children to attend. And how can we accelerate the decline of public schools (beyond the atrocious decline already caused by the progressive masters)? By letting their funding dry up. Simple.

News from the Higher Education bubble

The Higher-Ed Dilemma

By Matthew Shaffer, NRO

...Those of us who question the price and value of higher education don't disagree that people with B.A.s do much better in life, especially in employment. We disagree about the source of that advantage: The B.A. may mostly correlate with and signal for, rather than impart important qualities. (Really we all agree it's some mix of the three factors -- our differences are of emphasis.) The data Carey presents are perfectly consistent with this view. We skeptics think this: Since employers can no longer measure job applicants' IQs nor put them through long apprenticeships, graduating college is the way job-searchers signal an intelligence and diligence that college itself may have contributed little toward. Employers are (to use a little economic jargon) partially outsourcing their employee search to colleges.

Michael Barone comes in praise of Gingrich

As Gingrich exits, remember his gifts as well as flaws

By Michael Barone, the Wasington Examiner

Gingrich may keep campaigning -- at the Republican Jewish Coalition today and at a candidates' debate in New Hampshire tomorrow night -- but his campaign is effectively over, just a month after he declared he was running.

But in the long run, what is most interesting about Newt Gingrich is not his flaws but his strengths. What enabled this Army brat with no real hometown to become a major political figure who did much to shape American public policy?