The Peter Principle maintains that in a hierarchy, one rises to a maximum level of incompetence. The domestic and foreign policy of George W. Bush gives rise to a new principle I call the W Principle: In a "compassionate conservative" hierarchy, one rises to a maximum level of cruelty.

The trajectory of Bush's cruelty in political office goes back to his first years as governor of Texas and continues to the present. Just minutes before his evening speech declaring the "shock and awe" bombing of Iraq, Bush zestfully clenched his fist and exclaimed, "I feel great!"

The cruelty of Bush's education policy is no less real. Susan Neuman, former assistant U.S. secretary of education for elementary and secondary education, told Education Week that she joined the Bush administration because the "No Child Left Behind" act embodied a "fundamental belief in social justice."

Neuman went on to explain that the Reading First portion of the act "provides a historic opportunity to prevent reading difficulties in the first place." These problems could be prevented, Neuman insisted, by applying a "research base" that has made clear that "coherent, consistent, and explicit skills-based instruction of greater duration and intensity does improve achievement." Bush's education legislation, according to Neuman, offered "high-quality education" as "an entitlement for all children, regardless of their life circumstance."

Fine sounding words, but unfortunately none is true, starting with the bedrock myth of the "research base." In my book Reading the Naked Truth: Literacy, Legislation, and Lies (Heinemann, 2003), I provide a thorough analysis of all the scientific studies in this "research base," the one used to justify the skills-emphasis direct instruction (DI) - such as the Open Court program - that is mandated in Bush's "Reading First" legislation.