Only in a Liberal's Mind

I received my latest copy of the MN House of Reps Session Weekly newsletter in the mail yesterday. Sure, I could read it all online but I'm one of those that still likes to get at least some of my news from dead trees. There was an interesting piece about whether Minnesota schools should all but abandon the No Child Left Behind Act in favor of more local control and accountability. I was never a big fan of federal mandates for education and the fact that Minnesota and many other states are stripping provisions at all levels says a whole lot about the effectiveness of federal intervention in the schools. There are supporters and detractors on both sides of the aisle regarding this issue and the point of this post isn't to persuade you one way or the other. What I did find in the story was this telling quote from Rep Marsha Swails (DFL) of Woodbury:

Rep. Marsha Swails (DFL-Woodbury) said the state is in the middle of a budget crisis, and now is not the time to start making changes.

“I do believe that schools are improving under it, I do believe that with all of my heart,” she said.

I just had to laugh (sadly) at that statement. What is it about liberals that make them think if they just believe it hard enough that it will come true? While the true standard for most intelligent people would be quantitative measurements of progress (or lack thereof) the typical liberal response is to ignore the facts and figures and insist that their fantasy world is reality. For certain we've seen as this year's legislative session has gone forward the DFL members are certainly not part of the reality based community.