Who is extreme?

The smoke is clearing from Tuesday's primaries, and much of the media is focusing its senseless ire on "extreme" candidates such as Delaware Republican Christine O'Donnell. For instance, CBS News' referred to the Senate candidate as "ultra-conservative." Has CBS ever called a Democrat an "ultra-liberal?"

In New York, ultra-sleazy Charlie Rangel who is the subject of a House Ethics committee for not reporting income on a villa he owns in the Caribbean and New York City rent-control abuses, easily won his primary race. That's extremely bad news for decent Americans.

In Washington, extreme forces toppled the city's incumbent mayor, Adrian Fenty.

In today's Washington Times, James Richardson looks where CBS won't:

The Fenty administration saw the firing of some 200 underperforming teachers and advocated merit pay for individual performance as measured by students' test scores.

With Tuesday night's upset, Mr. Fenty's reforms - and his once-rising star in the party - fell into the bureaucratic chasm he had worked for years to close.

Whereas Mr. Fenty had four years before accomplished what no other mayoral candidate had in District history by winning all 142 precincts, the mayor lost Tuesday night after the teachers unions carpet-bombed his campaign with upward of six-figures-worth of negative advertising. Mr. Fenty's fall from grace, both quick and hard, netted him a 7-percentage-point loss - roughly the same margin by which Democrats nationwide are trailing their Republican challengers.

Related posts:

Rangel's scams enough to drive one to drink
USA Today: Unions protect bad teachers
Newsweek takes on teachers unions
T-Paw proposes Minnesota teachers reapply for tenure every five years
Teachers union blocking education progress in Detroit

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