Monday, December 17, 2012

Which Side Are You On?

We all know what happened on Friday, and instead of rehashing all of the events, lets put it into a little perspective using the current Wisconsin climate.  Capper wrote a great post about this issue, but I wanted to expand

Scott Walker was elected in 2010 and took office in 2011, after a month of tax cuts and giveaways to his friends and donors, phase two of his agenda kicked in.  Scott Walker's goal was to "divide and conquer" the state.   His first target was Wisconsin public workers which largely included the state's educators. 

“Well, we're going to start in a couple weeks with our budget adjustment bill. The first step is, we're going to deal with collective bargaining for all public employee unions, because you use divide and conquer.” Scott Walker to Diane Hendricks. 
After the tragedy, we are now starting to hear tales of courage in the school by, wait for it, the teachers(public employees) of Sandy Hook Elementary school(all members of AFT - American Federation of Teachers).

Luckily for the survivors of the Sandy Hook massacre,  the educators/public employees on staff had more character than our Governor and did not subscribe to the same disgusting philosophy.  

Out of the chaos and horror emerged an incredible act of selflessness and bravery by one teacher who spent her final moments trying to protect her young students from harm.

Victoria Soto, 27, a first-grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., ushered her students into a closet, and in so doing placed her body between them and the assailant.


As you know here, there is more, there is always more:

Scott Walker has attacked teachers, saying they are "failing our children" and when a rightwing shock-jock said "most of them are not nice people," Walker refused to condemn the remark and instead brought the radio host an on-air Christmas gift of glazed nuts.


"Most Wisconsin public school teachers are absolute lunatics. People at least now are beginning to say this. I've been talking about this for years. Most of them are not good people. Most are not fair minded. Most of them do not care about the children. Most of them are sickening union thug money jerks who couldn't care less about the public good." Mark Belling.  

  When the shots rang out, School Psychologist  Mary Sherlach threw herself into the danger.
          Janet Robinson, the superintendent of Newtown Public Schools, said       Sherlach  and the school's principal ran toward the shooter. They lost their own    lives, rushing toward him.
Even as Sherlach neared retirement, her job at Sandy Hook was one she loved. Those who knew her called her a wonderful neighbor, a beautiful person, a dedicated educator.

Fox Nation: "Warning, Frothing Radicals Running Wild." On its Twitter page, Fox Nation promoted its March 9 post calling protesters "Rabid Leftists" by stating, "Warning, Frothing Radicals Running Wild." [Media Matters, 3/9/11]

Glenn Beck: "Some Of The Teachers" Protesting In Wisconsin "Are Just Useful Idiots." On the February 28 broadcast his radio show, Glenn Beck stated: "Some of the teachers, some of the people who are there, really are just useful idiots. They don't know what's really going on. They don't know that this is a coordinated effort." [Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, 2/28/11]
 Michelle Malkin: Protesters "Stormed" Capitol For Demonstration; Teachers Used Students As "Kiddie Human Shields." In a February 16 post about protests in Wisconsin, Malkin wrote that the SEIU "and its allies stormed in for a sleepover protest" at the state Capitol building. She later wrote of teachers staging a protest: "Kiddie human shields become kiddie sacrificial lambs." In a later post, Malkin called the protesters "union thugs." [MichelleMalkin.com, 2/16/11, 2/16/11]
  
Judge Napolitano Attacks Public School Teachers: "What Incentive Is There For Them To Do A Good Job?"

Jay Severin: "A lot of" teachers are "losers" and "little Napoleons." On the June 25 edition of his WTKK show, Jay Severin said of teachers: "These little Napoleons -- think about these teachers and how they act, a lot of them. This is their little, tiny kingdom. A lot of them are losers, and they're little, tiny Napoleons, and you go into the school and this is their only chance in life, is to boss around parents."

Bill O'Reilly claims studies indicate that "most" high school and college teachers "bring in a anti-American viewpoint." On the October 24, 2007, edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly asserted: "[I]t seems to me, and the studies indicate, that most teachers -- high school and college in the United States -- are left-wingers. That they bring in a anti-American viewpoint to the sense that they don't preach about the nobility of America, they teach about the deficits. Now, I think you have to teach both." O'Reilly introduced the segment by saying, "[W]ith many public schools teaching diversity, tolerance, and self-esteem rather than history, civics, and geography, lots of American kids know little or nothing about their country, including what they owe their country." O'Reilly did not indicate which studies show that most teachers "are left-wingers."

Jim Quinn insists the public school system is filled with feminists who would "make male behavior illegal." On the November 6, 2008, edition of Clear Channel's The War Room with Quinn & Rose, co-host Jim Quinn read from a blog post describing a Georgia teacher who reported to her principal and campus police that one student's artwork might contain gang symbols. Quinn called the incident evidence of "the chickification of schools, the feminization of society, and the war on masculinity." He then stated that "the goal of the public school system -- the feminists in the public school system -- is to make male behavior illegal, a crime." (editors note, all educators who died in the horrible massacre were female).
 Neal Boortz says teachers unions are "the single most dangerous entity, group of people, in this country right now." On the April 16, 2008, broadcast of his radio show, Neal Boortz said, "I think the most dangerous -- the single most dangerous entity, group of people in this country right now are the teachers unions." He continued: "I think teachers unions do more damage to this country than the Los Angeles Lakers. They do more damage to this country than all the drug pushers together. ... If I had a button right now, two buttons -- push this button and it gets rid of all the drug dealers; push this button, it gets rid of the teachers unions -- I'm getting rid of the teachers unions."

Much more here!

Diane Day, a school therapist, told the Wall Street Journal that she and several other teachers were in a meeting with Mrs Dawn Hochsprung and Mrs Sherlach when the shooting began.
“We were there for about five minutes chatting and we heard, 'pop pop pop',” she said. “I went under the table.”
But the principal and the school psychologist ran toward the sound of the gunfire with complete disregard for their own safety.
“They didn’t think twice about confronting or seeing what was going on,” Ms Day said.
Rabbi Shaul Praver, who visited the scene, said that Mrs Hochsprung and Mrs Sherlach were killed in an "execution-style" shooting.

 Sen. Glenn Grothman said they are trying to shut people out because the place is "becoming a pigsty." He also called protesters staying overnight in the Wisconsin Capitol "slobs." When pressed to clarify he remarks, he insisted all those people were just a bunch of "college students having a fun party."

I suspect that the good people of New Berlin don't need a bunch of out-of-district union toadies to tell them how to run their school district.  I also suspect that the taxpayers of New Berlin don't need don't need the WEAC bosses of the world to tell them what's best for their community.  Nevertheless, the outside agitators will be there tonight - perhaps in force.
Maybe it's time for the taxpayers of New Berlin to arrange for some pest control.  The plague of locusts is definitely coming! - Jeff Wagner

 I’m curious how many of the teachers will actually show up at the Capitol to protest compared to how many of them will treat it as “a mental health day.” (And no, I don’t take seriously the threat of the doctor’s note requirement by the school district.) - Jimmy Wigderson


Lauren, after years of working as a substitute teacher, -- while working other jobs to earn a living -- landed a permanent substitute teaching job at Sandy Hook Elementary School in October.
"It was the best year of her life,'' said Teresa Rousseau, Lauren's mother and a copy editor at The News-Times.
Lauren grew up in Danbury, attending local schools before going to the University of Connecticut, then getting her master's degree in teaching from the University of Bridgeport. She lived in her family home in Danbury, with Teresa and her partner, William Leukhardt.
"She had so many interests --

Read more:
http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Lauren-Rousseau-The-best-year-of-her-life-4120850.php#ixzz2FHpXpave



 But above all of the despicable writing and quotes from above(believe me there is plenty more, feel free to share other quotes I have missed), the following sums it up, in terms of what the republicans/tea party  have wrought upon our nation}



Just a couple of weeks ago, the Newtown school board, like school boards all over this country, was considering cutting the school’s elementary music program and library program. It should be noted that both the school librarian and the school music teacher, whose jobs were on the line at the school board, stayed with the kids they were teaching when the attack began.

Yet in an attitude all too typical of many Americans’ thinking, one man, in a discussion section of the local paper, discussing the local School Board’s $1-million budget cutting plans last spring, wrote to a teacher last spring:

You, as a public sector employee, don’t generate ANY revenue. Every penny of the budget of your public sector enterprise is TAKEN from producers. It’s other people’s money versus money your organization EARNED. Your salary is not market based. Your salary, nor your benefits, nor your job, is in jeopardy during contracting economic times. If I want a raise I have to prove I have contributed more to the bottom line, and then it doesn’t matter unless the entire firm has grown the bottom line sufficiently to give me that raise. You are insulated from that reality. Your private (sic) sector salary only goes up. How is that fair? Especially in light of the fact that you don’t even generate the revenue that pays for your constantly rising salary?

Some of those “non-revenue-generating” unionized teachers, and the school’s non-revenue-generating principal, just died defending those kids.
I wonder if their tax-obsessed critics would have done the same?

Can you imagine such a vile LTE in one of our paper?  Me too!









16 comments:

  1. Hear Hear!! Excellent post.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Every single day I hear a Right wing crazy say something intimidating and intentional about eliminating LIBERALS. I have NOT heard a Liberal say the say about the Right wing crazies. How long are we going to allow these people to talk, inciting violence and hate, and then arm them as they walk amongst us.

    Who and what are we protecting with this.

    I understand there is free speech, but Mike Huckabee said something along the lines that the Newtown tragedy happened because there is not enough GOD in our schools.

    It made me sick, my God would not justify the brutal murder or women and children for ANY reason.

    And these are the CONSERVATIVE RELIGIOUS LEADERS, people look up to for guidance and information.

    Need I say more.

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  3. The demonizing of our public school teachers is the leading edge of class hatred. Any political movement that engages in this slander is sick and degenerate. A society that allows this to happen without widespread rebuttal is well down the road to disintegration.

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  4. As a middle aged woman who is knowingly returning to school to become a teacher, I am not doing it for the money. I am becoming a teacher to help teach our young people about what I love, and then, hopefully, pass some of that passion and that thirst for knowledge on. Greedy I am not, however I am politically aware, and will not lay down and let these hatred-spewing bigots destroy the honorable profession of teaching our young people.

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  5. Well done. Let's also remind folks what our teachers put on the line every day, and the responsibilities they have in setting the example for our future.

    Then compare it to the average WMC corporate TAKER. All those rw scumbags should be made to eat their words, and this is a great article to remind us of the hate that spews from the GOP media every day about people who contribute a whole lot more to society that those hosts and their dead-end followers ever will.

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  6. Let me get this right: you are grandstanding on the tragedy at Sandybrook Elementary School to talk up Wisconsin teachers?

    I feel confident that many of the people, teachers and administration, who work in our public shools are dedicated, and love working with our kids.

    But you go too far. What happened in Connecticut does not validate anyone but the individuals involved. Your attempt to make a larger point, and especially to attack the statements of republican lawmakers is clumsy and misplaced.

    Yeah, the demonizing comments against teachers during the 2011 uprising were idiotic. But two wrongs do not make a right.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The right, especially in WI and i am assuming throughout the country (because nothing we did here was unique there was a solid ALEC plan of attack that resonated throughout the country), spent the last two years demonizing public workers and especially teachers.

      I believe they spent extra time attacking teachers, because they fought back! Need I remind you of things like this - http://cognidissidence.blogspot.com/2012/05/cowardice-as-art-form.html

      How many times have you heard that the protests were "just about the money"?

      What happened in CT does validate everyone. These teachers were not trained in what happens when a lunatic comes in with an assault rifle, yet what they did was not care about their own lives they did what was best for the kids and some lost their lives because of it.

      Contrast that to the lawmakers of WI who passed crazy bills in seconds and then ran out the basement tunnels......

      Its funny a teacher does something stupid, and the right wing takes that story and runs it up the flagpole as indicative of all teachers....

      some teachers give the ultimate sacrifice for their kids and now is 'not the time to politicize it".

      Let's just honor them quietly, not talk about it and hopefully everyone forgets quickly so we can continue to demonize teachers and attack public education!

      The day people like Scott Walker and Glenn Grothman get punished electorally by the stupid things they say, is the day we can take politics out of discussions like this.

      I am sick of the right wing crazies loving these teachers in death and hating them a week ago.

      Delete
  7. I get what you're trying to say, but I wish we could just put politics aside in this tragedy. If something like this can't pull us together, then for God's sake, what can? :(

    ReplyDelete
  8. Are you kidding me? Put politics aside? That's how we got into this mess in the first place. Teachers are natural born care givers. They don't wish to enter into the world of politics. It is unfortunate that politicians feel that they know better than us HOW to teach and interject themselves into everything we do!! God bless every teacher across this country. WE have been forced into politics and will do whatever necessary to deliver what's right for the nation's children.

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  9. And who can forget Wisconsin's resident RWNJ GOPtesP Kim Simac who compares teachers to Nazis. If that's what Simac believes, perhaps she should remove her ass from our state and relocate to a southern slave state where she can worship her guns with her massive brood with buddy Amy Kremer. On second thought Kim and Amy would destroy each other, which could be fun to watch.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for that ...i had forgotten about Simac, there is so much republican bad i could only capture the tip of the iceberg here.

      Delete
  10. jeff i got a bad hurt inside of me right now.

    you know who the true enemy is in our country.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Shame on anyone who tries to GAIN from the Newtown tragedy. The WI teachers union can rest on its own merits, but this post is the lowest thing Ive read in a long time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the compliment. See the WI teachers union can rest on their own merit, its the demonizing that people like Governor walker has done to them full of BS that has cost them.

      The heroes of the day in CT, many were in the teachers union. The lowest thing i have seen were the quotes about teachers, i wonder if you left them the same comments?

      Come back to our blog anytime, and understand that Jay Severin is bringing nothing to your life in terms of fact or entertainment!

      Delete
  12. This post is 2nd only to the Westboro Baptist Church when it comes to shameless, self-serving exploitation. It is also intellectually insulting, relying entirely on the fallacies of composition, division and hasty generalization. The author should consider removing it...or perhaps leave it up as a warning to others about where the hatred, fear and insanity of politics can eventually lead someone.

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    Replies
    1. As the author thank you for the compliment. I was trying to point out the hatred, fear and insanity of politics that the right has exhibited towards America's teachers.....It appears i was successful.

      Delete