The Daily Top Five: Jan. 26, 2007

1. Philadelphia has a homocide problem. The root cause, according to Mayor John Street: (wait for it) Iraq. Read more at Redstate and here is the link to the original story.

2. So often, big time Supreme Court cases overshadow the individuals involved. Edspresso offers a look into the thoughts of one of the teachers involved in the Washington State teachers union dues cases, a decision on which we are awaiting from the Court.

As I stood shivering in the frigid morning air, my mind scrolled back to all the events that have transpired to bring me to this moment. In particular I remembered a conversation I had with a seasoned veteran teacher at my school who told me that the wheels of justice turn slowly, but they do turn. My reminiscing was brutally interrupted by the cutting wind that was blowing at 5:00 a.m. as I held on tightly to my cup of coffee, hoping to suck out every ounce of heat I could. Here I was standing with a number of teachers on the steps of the Supreme Court of the United States, hoping to get a seat to hear oral arguments in a case that had it origins some 14 years ago.

Read the whole thing.

3. When looking for material for this column, Philip Mella never fails to deliver. While I consider the Democratic Congress a potential problem in most areas, their stance on Iraq is a real problem for me. Mella shares my concern and summarizes well:

The first is that never in American wartime history has an opposition party pre-emptively dismissed a president's strategic realignment during combat operations. Besides the Constitutional authority provided by Article II, Congress has always afforded the president the latitude to make course corrections based on evolving circumstances on the ground.

Skeptics should examine America's numerous missteps during WWII in the Pacific. From Guadalcanal to Tarawa, tens of thousands of servicemen were killed due to poor planning, an unpredictable enemy, and belated strategic corrections. The difference is that we all knew who the real enemy was, and a measure of humility and patience led us to rally around the president to provide the support necessary to prevail.

In contrast, Congressional Democrats haven't even allowed President Bush's plan to unfold before they lodged summarily dismissive criticism and sarcastically vilified it with an enthusiasm that was as unnecessary as it was unbecoming.

A fair amount of the bloviating is based on a touchy feely view of the world. But we as a nationa cannot afford to look at the world in any way other than the stark reality we face. Do I want peace in Iraq? Yes, but first we have to kick the crap out of terrorists in Iraq or we will be doing this all over again in 15 years.

4. A black, female, Republican, tenured, professor--there aren't many out there I assure you--has agreed to a settlement in her wrongful termination suit. What may have capped her win:

In announcing the settlement of her case, the Virginia Association of Scholars — one of the groups backing Cobbs — said that information obtained by Cobbs’s lawyer showed that the university’s provost, W. Eric Thomas, replaced Cobbs with a woman with whom he is living.

Did the provost think something like that wasn't going to come out. Settling was a smart idea in this case, because Cobbs probably would have taken the school to the cleaners.

5. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Web presence at this stage may be counterproductive. Anyone remember Ned Lamont?